The BBC continued to dominate primetime schedules last night, with Holby City and Dalziel and Pascoe conspiring to create a miserable evening for ITV’s competing programmes.The Corporation drew 6.9 million adult viewers on average with Holby City, followed by 6.6 million for Dalziel and Pascoe, trouncing ITV1’s coverage of the Champions’ League and Take My… Continue reading ITV Floored By BBC Drama Double Bill

Channel 4 has extended its contract for news programming with ITN for a further five years, guaranteeing production of its award-winning Channel 4 News to the end of 2010.The new contract is worth over £100 million, encompassing news content across Channel 4 and More4. The new agreement also covers new media activities such as online… Continue reading ITN Scoops £100m Channel 4 News Deal

Niche digital channel Motors TV has secured the pan-European TV broadcast rights for the Le Mans 24-hour motor race in 2006 and 2007, providing a boost to the channel, which will run a week of programming to celebrate the event this year.The channel’s coverage will begin on 12 June, culminating in the race itself on… Continue reading Motors TV To Drive Audiences Up With Le Mans

Media watchdog Ofcom has unveiled its Annual Plan for 2006/7, placing the transition to fully digital TV and the development of IP-based communication networks at its core.The regulator reports the nation “embracing digital in all its forms and with enthusiasm,” citing the uptake of broadband, digital TV, DAB digital radio and 3G mobile services as… Continue reading Ofcom Focuses On Switchover In Annual Plan

The Association of Online Publishers has released its 2006 Census, revealing a drastic shortage of skills required by the online publishing industry.The research reveals unfilled vacancies in almost three quarters of AOP member companies, compared with 58% in 2005.In addition, publishers rated difficulty in recruitment and retention as one of the biggest constraints on the… Continue reading Online Publishers Face Growing Gap In Skills

Publishing group, Bertelsmann AG Gruner+Jahr AG & Co KG, is reported to be considering buying the French arm of Emap’s magazine business. According to reports in the German newspaper, Handelsblatt, Bernd Kundrun, managing director of Gruner+Jahr, said: “We are open for acquisitions in France. Like all the others, we are looking at the magazines which… Continue reading German Publisher Shows Interest In Emap’s French Division

The concluding half of ITV’s detective drama The Commander aired last night, drawing a healthy 5.6 million adult viewers on average, but failing to top BBC detective stalwarts Dalziel and Pascoe.The Corporation’s detective duo notched up an average audience of 6.2 million adults, securing a 27.8% share to knock ITV, with a share of 26.3%,… Continue reading BBC One Wins Detective Drama Duel

Chrysalis Radio has signed a lengthy 12 month sponsorship tie-up with dating website DatingDirect.com, partnering to provide sponsorship of the evening show across the broadcaster’s Heart network.The sponsorship deal, worth seven figures, will see DatingDirect build its brand and drive traffic to its web site.Running across all three Heart stations, the campaign will receive airtime… Continue reading Dating Site Wins Heart For Perfect Partnership

ITV Sales has secured insurance firm Swiftcover as the new sponsor of its Formula 1 coverage, providing branding across on air programming and the broadcaster’s associated internet site.Negotiated by Mark Rosenegk, controller of sponsorship and branded content at ITV Sales, and Andy Thornes, TV director at Initiative Media, the deal will see Swiftcover sponsor race… Continue reading ITV Signs Insurance Firm For F1 Sponsorship

NTL:Telewest this morning confirmed an agreement with Virgin Mobile to see the two businesses merge, forming the nation’s first quadruple play broadcaster, offering TV, broadband, fixed line and mobile telephony. The merger will see NTL:Telewest adopt the Virgin brand in the near future, following a 30 year brand licencing agreement to “harness” the power of… Continue reading NTL Confirms £962m Virgin Mobile Takeover