ITV1’s detective drama, Murder City, saw off competition from all comers last night, securing prime time victory with an average adult audience of 4.3 million, despite stiff competition from BBC Two’s The Apprentice, which drew 4.2 million.ITV also saw success earlier in the evening, with The Bill, Coronation Street and Emmerdale, outperforming all terrestrial competition… Continue reading Murder City Tops The Apprentice To Slay Competition

BBC Magazines has announced the sale of Origin Publishing to a management buy-out team led by current managing director, Andy Marshall.The move marks the completion of a streamlining programme undertaken following a commercial review in 2004, which saw all non-BBC related titles marked for disposal by the publisher (see Origin Titles Next On List For… Continue reading BBC Offloads Origin In Management Buyout

New research from the Newspaper Marketing Agency (NMA) claims the medium is an effective one for building brands, with the findings culled from an exhaustive two year study.Conducted in partnership with brand and communications research agency Hall and Partners, the NMA’s research shows that, with an investment of over £14 million, newspapers can provide a… Continue reading Newspaper Ad Study Shows Strong Brand Awareness

IPC Advertising has appointed Keith Yonish as its new director of creative solutions, poaching the award-winning ad boss from his previous position as creative director at Independent Solutions.Yonish will take responsibility for all advertorial, sponsorship and special projects across the publisher’s weekly magazines, as well as working toward a cross-company brief to drive creative thinking… Continue reading IPC Appoints Yonish As New Creative Director

Outdoor advertising group, JCDecaux, has enjoyed a strong start to 2006, reporting an increase of 16.5% in revenues for the first three months of the year. Revenues reached €442.2 million in the first quarter of 2006, compared to €379.7 million in the same period last year. JCDecaux’s street furniture division increased revenues by 7.4% to… Continue reading JCDecaux Sees Strong Start To 2006

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has published its first annual report since taking responsibility for TV and radio commercials, as well as non-broadcast advertising, revealing a sharp rise in complaints from the public.The watchdog’s Annual Report for 2005 shows a total of 26,236 complaints were lodged over the course of the year, marking an increase… Continue reading Ad Complaints Up In ASA’s First Year Of Broadcast Regulation

ITV’s coverage of the Champions’ League semi-final between Arsenal and Villarreal saw the broadcaster duelling with BBC One for the top spot last night, trading blows with the corporation’s medical drama Holby City, which narrowly topped the football’s average audience.Just over 5.7 million adults tuned in to Holby City on BBC One, delivering a 28.04%… Continue reading ITV Football Clashes With BBC

BBC director general Mark Thompson has pledged to undertake a massive rethink of the Corporation’s direction, with a focus on new media, on-demand content delivery and increasingly digital communication to avoid losing touch with a generation growing up with such technologies.The Creative Future blueprint is designed to deliver more value to BBC audiences over the… Continue reading BBC Plans On-Demand Drive To Catch ‘Lost Generation’

GCap Media has secured a six month sponsorship deal with Airmiles, covering Classic FM’s Smooth Classics at 7 show, worth around £1 million and scheduled to start on Monday.The deal will also incorporate Simon Bates’ breakfast show, with promotions and advertorials focusing on the top 20 destinations accessible using Airmiles.In addition, the sponsorship agreement includes… Continue reading Classic FM Signs £1 Million Sponsorship With Airmiles

The Evening Standard is to roll out a redesigned edition next week, with a “more stylish” use of colour throughout the title intended to attract more affluent, working Londoners.The redesign will come into effect on Monday, forming part of the title’s “evolution not revolution” towards offering its readers more of what they love from the… Continue reading Redesigned Evening Standard To Launch Next Week