Omnicom’s pooled buying arm, OPera Media, has announced the departure of its radio director Jonathan Gillespie, who leaves the firm with no new position to take up, ending his relationship with the company he joined at its launch last year.The radio chief’s departure is believed to have been amicable, with Gillespie now taking a break… Continue reading OPera Radio Director Steps Down

A new channel, dedicated to combat sports, is set to launch on Sky at the end of January, giving viewers easy access to boxing, wrestling, kickboxing and martial arts.Fight+ will feature a mix of live fights, lifestyle programming, films and documentaries, available for a monthly subscription of around £3 per month.The service also plans to… Continue reading Dedicated Fighting Channel Set For January Launch

The Guardian has dropped its yearly subscription charges for digital editions of the newspaper, instead allowing customers to pay for content in one-off payments, with some access packages costing as little as £1.50.The move, which also sees annual subscription costs to The Observer abandoned, is designed to make the newspapers’ online editions more easily accessible,… Continue reading Guardian Drops Subscriptions For Digital Edition

GMG Radio’s Smooth FM is to begin airing football coverage from August, with the station’s first sports-coverage provided by a deal with Chelsea FC to carry full commentary rights for the next three seasons.The deal marks the first time that all of Chelsea’s games will be broadcast in London on FM, and signals the first… Continue reading Smooth FM Signs Up For Chelsea FC Coverage

British publishing firm, Pearson, has made upbeat predictions for its performance throughout 2005, stating that pretax loss for the first half of the year was lower than expected, leading to confidence in the company achieving “strong growth” in 2005 as a whole. Pearson, who publishes the Financial Times and Penguin books, recorded a pretax loss… Continue reading Pearson Makes Upbeat Predictions For 2005

RTL’s acquisition of a 100% shareholding in Five earlier this week has sparked rumours of a takeover bid from the company for Telewest’s programming arm, Flextech. RTL secured complete control of Five after agreeing with United Business Media to acquire the outstanding 35.4% shareholding for £247.6 million (see RTL Seizes Full Control Of Five). The… Continue reading RTL Buyout Sparks Five / Flextech Bid Rumours

The latest estimates from internet research specialist, Point Topic, suggest that over 11 million people now use retail voice over IP (VoIP) services for at least some of their phone calls, marking an increase from just over five million in mid-2004. Point Topic’s figures are based upon the publicly available number of total VoIP subscribers,… Continue reading Worldwide VoIP Subscribers More Than Double

Lord Heseltine, chairman of Haymarket Group, and president of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) is to chair the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) Effectiveness Awards.The high-profile media figure will take the role of chairman for the judging panels, which will be made up of one group comprising client representatives and another with of… Continue reading Lord Heseltine To Chair IPA Effectiveness Awards

Emap’s Magic 105.4 has seen its seemingly unsolvable Mystery Voices quiz solved after 108 days, culminating in the largest cash prize of the last decade, as Bromley Council worker Barbara Way scooped the £81,200 prize to end the station’s marathon promotion.Barbara, aged 51, from Petts Wood, Orpington, finally cracked the Magic Mystery Voice quiz which… Continue reading Magic Promotion Keeps Listeners Glued For 108 Days

Maiden Outdoor has won the ten-year contract to handle Network Rail’s roadside advertising locations, a deal expected to generate around £350 million in advertising revenues.The contract, which runs from August, will cover 48 and 96-sheet sites in more than 3,000 locations. The contract represents nearly 10% of Britain’s UK roadside market.Welcoming the win, Maiden’s chief… Continue reading Maiden Secures Network Rail’s Roadside Contract