ITV has retained chocolate giant Cadbury as the exclusive sponsor of prime-time soap, Coronation Street, guaranteeing the confectioner’s coverage for a further two years in a deal worth £10 million per year.The deal sees Cadbury retain the Coronation Street coverage for its 12th year, covering all episodes transmitted on the ITV family of channels, including… Continue reading ITV Retains Cadbury As £10m Corrie Sponsor

Guardian Media Group (GMG) Radio has revealed a healthy performance for its stations, despite the tough conditions in the current commercial radio market, showing revenues for the October to December quarter of 2005 to be up by 22% year on year. The group’s strong trading results follow record annual figures for the year ended March… Continue reading GMG Radio Enjoys 22% Increase In Revenue

Market research firm, Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) is expected to reveal a modest rise in full-year profit in a trading statement, with a recovery in the second half of 2005 offsetting weak trading in the UK and North American markets. The final quarter of 2005 showed some signs of improvement in the overall market research… Continue reading TNS Hopes To Reveal Rise In Full-Year Profits

Global advertising company, WPP, has announced the promotion of Dave Allen to chief executive officer of Team Vodafone, and Simon Bolton to chief executive officer of Enterprise IG. Bolton will start his new role in late January and will be responsible for maintaining Enterprise IG’s leading market position and growing the business in North America… Continue reading WPP Reshuffles Management

Marketers look likely to extend their reach in the online advertising arena in 2006, with a new report from investment bank Credit Suisse claiming that overall online adspend will increase by 32% by the end of year, reaching $14.9 billion. In a survey of chief marketing officers at Fortune 500 companies, nearly half of those… Continue reading Online Adspend Set To Increase Through 2006

Visits to UK retail websites were up by 14% year on year in December 2005, outperforming earlier estimates that the sector would enjoy an increase of 12% during the Christmas month. According to online competitive intelligence monitor, Hitwise, visits to retail websites were up significantly in the week after Christmas, seeing a rise of 16%… Continue reading Visits To UK Retail Websites Up 14% In December

Marketers in the US and Canada spent a total of $5.75 billion on search engine marketing and optimisation in 2005, an increase of 44% compared to the same period last year. According to a new study from The Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organisation, paid search spending is forecast to reach $11 billion by 2010. Commenting… Continue reading Search Engine Marketing Spend Enjoys Strong 2005

The combined market of both digital satellite and terrestrial radio is projected to reach 22 million in 2009, up from just 5 million in 2004, according to high-tech market research firm, In-Stat. The company’s new report Digital Radio: Turning Up the Volume on Satellite and Terrestrial Radio Adoption, claims that the primary drivers for this… Continue reading Digital Radio Penetration Set To Rocket

Yesterday saw the Observer follow its weekday counterpart the Guardian in switching to Berliner format, ending the paper’s life as a fully-fledged broadsheet.The switch, backed by a high profile TV campaign, also sees the paper move to full colour publishing. The redesign sees the Business & Media and Cash sections merge, forming a business and… Continue reading Observer Makes Transition To Berliner Format

ITV secured a resounding victory in the celebrity TV face-off against Channel 4’s Big Brother last night, with its Soapstar Superstar scoring adult audiences more than 2 million higher that of the famous reality show.With an average adult audience of 6 million for its 90 minute duration, Soapstar Superstar crushed opposition from Big Brother, which… Continue reading Soap Star Singers Hit High Note For ITV