United Business Media (UBM) reported a year on year rise of 7.2% in full-year profit this morning, revealing plans to return more than £300 million in capital to shareholders over the next two years. Pre-tax profit for the year ended 31 December increased to £152.1 million from £141.9 million a year earlier, while revenue for… Continue reading UBM 7.2% Increase In Profits

This Sunday will see Baileys Irish Cream become the first sponsor of The A-List, a new network radio chart show targeting adults aged 25 to 45.The sponsorship, which was negotiated by Carat, will see Baileys receive coverage for one year as the chart show is broadcast across 50 adult contemporary stations, including the Heart, Real… Continue reading Bailey’s First Sponsor For Adult Music Chart

BBC One dominated prime time viewing last night, as 6.7 million adults tuned in on average to see the last in the series of Life on Mars, the Corporation’s time travelling detective show.Facing off against the first part of ITV’s drama, Love Lies Bleeding, which drew 5.1 million on average, the BBC’s success rounds of… Continue reading BBC Scores Drama Win With Life On Mars Finale

The New Year enjoyed a strong start for text messaging, with over 3 billion texts sent during January 2006, according to the latest figures released by the Mobile Data Association (MDA).Person-to-person texts sent across the UK GSM network operators last month saw a healthy increase of almost 25% on the total sent during the same… Continue reading January Sees Over 3 Billion Texts Sent

Emap owned Kiss 100, has announced plans to launch a unique podcast to showcase new unsigned UK musical talent, with the show downloadable from the Kiss website or via iTunes.Andrew Jeffries, Kiss 100 programme director explained: “the aim of the podcast is to champion new music and to give unsigned talent a shop window to… Continue reading Kiss 100 Launches Talent Hunting Podcast

The BBC’s licence fee settlement could pose a real threat to thousands of jobs in commercial radio, with a new report claiming that as many as 9,000 jobs may be at risk.According to a major new study commissioned by the Commercial Radio Companies Association (CRCA), as much as £1.1 billion could be lost to the… Continue reading BBC Licence Fee Attacked By Commercial Radio

UK publishing group, Pearson, has reported a 23% increase in full year profits for 2005, living up to industry expectations. The healthy growth was fuelled by a strong educational market and a good performance in advertising revenues at the Financial Times.Pre-tax profits for the year to December 31 rose to £422 million from £350 million,… Continue reading Pearson Enjoys 23% Profit Increase In 2005

ITV has commissioned a celebrity version of the X-Factor, with the one-off event running on consecutive nights during the Spring.Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh will judge the show, which will follow the traditional format of Under 25’s Over 25s and Groups category’s.Commenting on the programme, Paul Jackson, ITV’s director of entertainment said: “The… Continue reading ITV Commissions Celebrity X Factor

ITV has announced that it is restructuring its digital channel team, with Steven Andrew being appointed as programme director of ITV digital channels.The newly created role will see Andrew oversee all programming output over the broadcaster’s digital offerings, reporting to Jonathan Lewis, director of digital channels.The restructure will also see Zai Bennett, currently editor of… Continue reading ITV Restructures Digital Team

Broadband and TV firm, Homechoice has announced plans to double its broadband speeds for its 1Mb and 2Mb customers, with the increase coming into force from March 1st, at no extra cost to customers.The new internet speeds mean that customers can enjoy faster download speeds, with downloading a full music track taking as little as… Continue reading Homechoice Doubles Broadband Speed