Mobile phone giant Orange has signed as the sponsor of Virgin Radio’s new Christian O’Connell Breakfast Show, marking the firm’s biggest-ever radio sponsorship deal, and the largest on-air and online brand marketing deal in the Virgin Breakfast’s history.The scale of the deal, Virgin claims, is testament to the appeal of Sony Award winning O’Connell, who… Continue reading Virgin Signs Largest Ever Breakfast Sponsorship

IPC Advertising has appointed Caroline McDevitt as its new managing director with immediate effect, seeing the media boss take a seat on the IPC Media Board.McDevitt joined IPC last May as director of group advertising (see IPC Picks McDevitt For Group Ad Director Role), and will now chair the IPC Advertising Executive, leading the company’s… Continue reading IPC Advertising Appoints McDevitt As New MD

Channel 4 looks set to cause controversy this Thursday, with the latest series Celebrity Big Brother rumoured to have signed shamed TV presenter Michael Barrymore.Newspaper reports this morning claim the former TV presenter and comedian will join Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith and comedian Johnny Vegas in the show, just weeks after Ofcom dismissed criticism… Continue reading Barrymore Tipped For Celeb Big Brother

The new year got off to a positive start for some of Britain’s largest broadcasters, as the Office of Fair Trading gave the thumbs up to the merger of NTL and Telewest, as well as BSkyB’s acquisition of Easynet just days before 2006 began.Announcing its decision, the OFT stated that “Both cases relate to the… Continue reading OFT Gives Green Light To Media Mergers

Digital was the watchword of 2005’s TV industry, as media regulator Ofcom revealed almost 66% of the nation’s homes now receive TV in digital format (see Ofcom Estimates Show 65.9% Of Britain With Digital TV).The surge in growth was fuelled in part by the launch of several high profile digital channels, as ITV3, ITV4 and… Continue reading End Of Year Round-Up: Television

ITV’s drama Rebus performed well last night, attracting an average adult audience of 8.1 million to dominate prime time viewing.Going head to head with BBC One’s film Catch Me If You Can, with a comparable audience of 5.6 million, ITV’s crime drama secured a share of 33.94% compared with BBC One’s 23.73%.However, The BBC’s earlier… Continue reading Rebus Reaps Rewards For ITV

Cinema admissions in November received a massive boost from the latest film in the Harry Potter series, with the Goblet of Fire fuelling a 4.3% rise in admissions year on year, as well as becoming 2005’s biggest film to date.The movie quickly stormed Britain’s box offices, grossing £31.6 million during November and smashing numerous records… Continue reading Potter Enchants Moviegoers To Smash Cinema Records

Britain’s newspaper market continued to see overall circulations decline throughout 2005, although a new wave of compact titles succeeded in bucking the trend, while new launches in the free-sheet market saw healthy starts.By far the largest change within 2005’s national newspaper market was the Guardian‘s switch to Berliner format, undertaken in September (see Guardian Hits… Continue reading End Of Year Round-Up: Press

BBC One saw victory with Eastenders on Christmas Day, drawing an average adult audience of 9 million adults to beat ITV’s Coronation Street, which scored 8.6 million 30 minutes earlier.The Corporation’s festive victory was helped at least in part by a special edition Dr Who, airing from 7pm-8pm and drawing 8 million against ITV’s Christmas… Continue reading BBC Wins Christmas Day Ratings Battle

Global advertising group, WPP, has announced that leading US marketing and interactive agency, Bridge Worldwide, will join it’s relationship marketing agency, Wunderman. Bridge Worldwide is a top 40 interactive agency, using the internet as the centre of its marketing programs, with clients including Procter & Gamble and other leading multinational companies. The purchase of Bridge… Continue reading WPP Extends Online Healthcare Offerings