Scottish Media Group (SMG) has reported a 11% rise in underlying operating profit for 2005, driven by a 4% year on year increase in revenue, reaching £210 million. Television revenues for the Group grew by 3% in 2005, with operating profits jumping by 19%, resulting in SMG’s television business living up to expectations and outperforming… Continue reading SMG Sees Profit Increase Of 11% In 2005

Titan Holdings has bought outdoor advertising company, Maiden, for just under £50 million, with the deal accepted this morning by 57% of Maiden’s shareholders. Maiden is believed to be around £39 million in debt and has struggled in recent months, pulling out of the race for Irish rail and bus operator, CIE, at the end… Continue reading Titan Buys Maiden For Under £50 Million

Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) is in talks to sell the Scottish arm of its local newspapers division, despite its recent decision not to auction Northcliffe Newspapers. According to a report in the Financial Times, DMGT is rumoured to be considering a sale for up to £120 million. DMGT announced last month that, after… Continue reading DMGT Rumoured To Be Selling Scottish Newspapers Division

Global advertising firm, Havas, has reported revenue of €1,461 million for 2005, enjoying organic growth of 2.5% year on year. The group enjoyed income from operations of €152 million, giving a margin of 10.4%, compared with 10.5% for the same time in 2004. Net income increased by 8% year on year, reaching €59 million, up… Continue reading Havas Reports 2005 Revenue Of €1,461

Ulster Television has released its preliminary results for the year ending 31 December 2005, revealing a 19% rise in earnings thanks to its acquisition of TalkSport radio. The company reported pre-tax profit of £20.8 million for 2005 as a whole, up from £17.5 million in 2004. The increase follows UTV’s purchase of TalkSport last June… Continue reading UTV Enjoys 19% Earning Increase For 2005

Local search engine advertising is predicted to reach nearly $4 billion by 2010, up from just $420 million in 2005, according to a new report from Borrell Associates. This year, the report estimates that local advertisers will push almost $1 billion into the advertising channel, almost doubling spend from 2005’s figure. Borrell reveals that local… Continue reading Local Search Adspend To Reach $4 Billion By 2010

Emerging markets are seeing increased potential in the television marketplace, with a new study from Informa Media claiming that there will be more than 93 million homes worldwide in the ’emerging TV’ category by the end of 2010. Informa predicts that Africa and the Middle East will account for 43.7 million of this total, followed… Continue reading Increasing Potential In Emerging TV Markets

The average internet user now spends the equivalent of 41 days online each year, compared to 37 days spent watching TV. According to research conducted by TNS and Google, the average British internet user now spends 164 minutes online each day for personal use, compared to 148 minutes spent watching TV. The increased usage has… Continue reading Consumers Spend More Time Online Than Watching TV

Mobile phone game revenues look set to increase in 2006, with M:Metrics saying the overall trend for downloading is encouraging. Despite a slight drop in the number of US subscribers paying a downloaded game in January, M:Metrics claims that the average price paid for one-off game downloads has been rising since September 2005. According to… Continue reading M:Metrics Optimistic For Mobile Downloading

BBC One saw its audience see-saw last night, with new crime drama Mayo returning disappointing results, while David Attenborough’s latest jaw dropping nature documentary hooked viewers from the beginning.Starring impressionist Alistair McGowan, Mayo promised a darkly comic detective tale, but drew a disappointing 4.3 million adults on Sunday night, suffering at the hands of ITV1’s… Continue reading Viewers Say No To Mayo But Dig Planet Earth