Rival talent contests Strictly Come Dancing and X Factor went head to head on Saturday, and although both saw respectably high audiences, the BBC’s ballroom-based finale secured a resounding victory over ITV’s singing showdown.Securing average adult viewers of 9.6 million, BBC One’s Strictly… was head and shoulders above X Factor, which drew 7.7 million viewers… Continue reading BBC’s Strictly Wipes The Dance Floor With X Factor

Daily Newspaper MarketBritain’s quality sector was the only area of the national daily newspaper market to see an increase in readership during the six months to September, with rises for the newly compact Guardian, as well as small-form rivals the Independent and Times.Readership declines prevailed elsewhere, however, with the Financial Times suffering particularly heavy downturn,… Continue reading NRS National Newspaper Round-Up: September 2005

Digital TV provider Homechoice has announced a new one year content deal with Entertainment Rights to secure additional titles for it’s pre-school video on-demand kids channel, Scamp.The deal will see Entertainment Rights supply Homechoice with new titles such as Budgie the Little Helicopter and The Cubeez for use on its on-demand platform.The new deal also… Continue reading Homechoice Signs Kids Programmes For Christmas

Satellite giant BSkyB this morning announced subscribers of more than eight million, surpassing its targets to reach record levels of direct-to-home (DTH) customers.“Sky is achieving strong growth,” explained James Murdoch, Sky’s chief executive. “Nearly one in three homes and counting have chosen Sky and we are especially well placed to broaden Sky’s appeal as entertainment… Continue reading Sky Subscribers Pass Eight Million

British media regulator Ofcom has launched a consultation on product placement within UK television, gathering feedback from the industry on its possible introduction as an alternative revenue source for broadcasters.Product placement is currently prohibited under European regulations, although a draft revision published earlier this year proposed a liberalisation of the law.The new regulations could enable… Continue reading Ofcom Launches Product Placement Consultation

Daily Newspaper MarketThe majority of Britain’s daily national newspapers saw declines in readership during the six months to October, with only the compact quality titles managing to increase their audiences.The Independent notched up the largest increase, adding 21.2% to its total year on year, which now stands at 708,000. Elsewhere, the Times added 11%, while… Continue reading NRS National Newspaper Round-Up: October 2005

US advertising expenditure in 2005 is expected to reach $276 billion, a rise of 4.6% on 2004, with overseas adspend increasing by 5%, hitting a total of $293.8 billion, according to the latest forecasts from Universal McCann. Despite not achieving the predicted growth of 6.4% for US adspend and 5.8% for overseas, worldwide advertising expenditure… Continue reading McCann Expects US 2005 Adspend To Rise By 4.6%

Satellite giant BSkyB this morning announced subscribers of more than eight million, surpassing its targets to reach record levels of direct-to-home (DTH) customers. “Sky is achieving strong growth,” explained James Murdoch, Sky’s chief executive. “Nearly one in three homes and counting have chosen Sky and we are especially well placed to broaden Sky’s appeal as… Continue reading Sky Subscribers Pass Eight Million

Regional newspaper publisher, Johnston Press, has announced plans to acquire the entire issued share capital of publishers of the Scotsman newspaper and www.scotsman.com, Scotsman Publications. The deal will see Johnston purchase the company for a cash consideration of £160 million, with the newspaper publisher claiming the acquisition will be “earnings enhanced” within the first year.… Continue reading Johnston Buys Scotsman Publications For £160 Million

United Business Media (UBM) this morning released a trading update, informing investors that, while the company continued to meet expectations, growth within the print sector is becoming “challenged”. The company stated that its difficulties were in line with the industry, however, explaining that other sectors such as exhibitions, online and news distribution have seen profitable… Continue reading UBM Meets Expectations Despite Pressure In Print