ITV delivered a ratings masterstroke on Saturday night, flooring the competition with its Dancing On Ice finale, followed by Tony Blair’s appearance on chat show Parkinson.The ice skating showdown saw former soap star Gaynor Faye scoop victory, watched by an average adult audience of 10.1 million.Delivering a share of 44.4%, the programme destroyed competition from… Continue reading Dancing On Ice Final Freezes Out Competition

The Mail on Sunday has launched its You magazine as a standalone title, hitting newsstands in London this week with a new look and low cover price.The title will continue its distribution within the Mail on Sunday, however, in addition to being available for £1 every Tuesday.The title has been given a radical facelift, with… Continue reading Mail On Sunday Extends You Magazine To The Newsstand

Niche magazine publisher Future has bolstered its music portfolio with the acquisition of American heavy metal magazine, Revolver.Announcing the purchase to the City this morning, Future revealed a price of £2.3 million had been paid for the title, along with its related website at revolvermag.com.The purchase of the title from Harris Publications sees six year… Continue reading Future Bolsters Music Mags With US Acquisition

French entrepreneur and Havas chairman Vincent Bollore has outlined his plans for the coming year, announcing a streamlining of Havas’ management, and hinting at a push for a Board position at UK-based Aegis.The businessman, who has increased his holding in Aegis over recent months, told French newspaper Le Fiagaro that his 26% stake in the… Continue reading Bollore Eyes Seat On Aegis Board

Vincent Bollore plans to tighten and streamline Havas management structure, saying in a recent interview with a French newspaper that he wants the advertising company to be run by a smaller, tighter group. The Havas chairman wants to reduce the number of administrators and limit the number of committees within the Paris based company’s management.… Continue reading Bollore Reveals Management Plans

Market information group, Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS), has announced an increase of 20.7% in full year profit for 2005, with strong growth in its syndicated research division offsetting a weak UK market. Adjusted operating profit for the year rose by 9.5% year on year, reaching £112.6 million, up from £102.8 million, while the group’s adjusted… Continue reading TNS Enjoys 20% Profit Increase In 2005

Telecoms giant BT is to roll out vastly increased broadband speeds to wholesale customers across the country, raising the stable speed of individual lines to a maximum of 8 Megabits per second.The speed boost follows successful trials, with BT upgrading more than 5,300 local telephone exchanges, supporting 99.6% of the UK’s homes and businesses, to… Continue reading BT Boosts Broadband Speeds Across Britain

Shareholders in cable giants NTL and Telewest have given the companies the go ahead to merge, with a 99% vote of confidence expected to see the transaction completed today.The move will see Telewest shareholders acquire 25% of the combined companies, while NTL shareholders will own around 75%.NTL chairman James Mooney said yesterday: “The combination will… Continue reading Shareholders Give Cable Merger Thumbs Up

Virgin Radio is to run a cross media promotion to launch search engine Ask.com’s new look, devoid of its once synonymous butler mascot, Jeeves.The promotion will run on air through evening DJ Ben Jones’ show, with listeners posed trivia questions and directed to a special Ask.com microsite where the search engine can be used to… Continue reading Virgin Radio To Promote New Ask Engine

Channel 4 has announced a second series of new comedy series, The IT Crowd, capitalising on the show’s strong performance amongst younger audiences, and its growing popularity online.The show, which is produced for Channel 4 by Talkback Thames, is written by Graham Linehan, co-creator of critically acclaimed Channel 4 comedies Father Ted and Black Books.… Continue reading Channel 4 Reloads IT Crowd For Second Series