Former Daily Mirror editor, Piers Morgan, has secured an agreement with Quantum Business Media to purchase its Press Gazette title, working in a partnership with PR heavyweight Matthew Freud to take control of the trade magazine for around £1 million.The deal is due for completion within days, according to reports, with Morgan telling the Times… Continue reading Morgan Scoops Press Gazette From Quantum

Friday’s launch of Big Brother‘s sixth series saw Channel 4 draw 7 million reality TV fans, securing a share of 36% but failing to top last year’s record launch night viewing of 7.2 million.This year’s housemates entered the Big Brother house at 10pm on Friday, going head to head with ITV’s Celebrity Love Island, which… Continue reading Big Brother Launches on a High But Falls Short Of Record

Celebrity Love Island is stealing the hearts of reality TV fans, with online searches for ITV’s latest offering shown to have increased 10-fold, according to leading online competitive intelligence service, Hitwise.Currently the term “Celebrity Love Island” is receiving 0.020% of all online searches, compared with searches for Big Brother only attracting 0.008%.Traffic to the official… Continue reading Celebrity Love Island Wins Reality Fans’ Hearts Online

VNU Business Publications has launched ActiveHome magazine, providing readers with a plain-English, jargon-free guide to the latest in digital home entertainment technology.ActiveHome and its sister website, www.activehome.co.uk, provides an essential guide to would-be buyers of the best kit available, with the magazine showing its readers how to install and enjoy their new digital home equipment.The… Continue reading ActiveHome Launched To Explain Digital Technology

Jeff Eales, Media Director, Sales & Research for UK & Ireland at Donovan Data Systems, is leaving the company at the end of June to join BSkyB as Director of Systems and Development.At DDS, Eales has been responsible for the development of eCommerce and business with media sales operations, having joined the company from Granada… Continue reading Sky Signs DDS Research Boss To Overhaul Airtime Sales

Telegraph Group Limited has announced the appointment of Alex Foster as the Group’s new head of classified advertising, leaving The Guardian after 11 years.Commenting on the position, Dave King, executive director of the Telegraph Group said: “She’s a fantastic addition to the new team and will bring a wealth of experience coupled with fresh thinking… Continue reading Telegraph Appoints New Head Of Classified Advertising

MediaTel INSIGHT’s well attended Future of Digital TV seminar was held during April, bringing together a panel of respected industry specialists to discuss issues central to the media industry, with particular importance placed on the impending digital switchover. Prior to the seminar, the INSIGHT team carried out the first survey of the UK’s top buying… Continue reading INSIGHTanalysis: Media Healthcheck – April 2005

Financial services company, Goldman Sachs has predicted 2005 to be a bullish year for online advertising, forecasting the market to increase by 28% year on year, to reach $12.3 billion. The report, based on 2,000 surveys by market research firm Synovate, estimates that online advertising could account for 7% of total advertising expenditure by 2009,… Continue reading Goldman Sachs Predicts Online Adspend To Rise By 28% In 2005

Online retail sales in the US are predicted to rise by almost 25% this year, with revenues forecast to increase to $109.6 billion, up from $89 billion in 2004, according to a new study released by Shop.org and conducted by Forrester Research. The projections are in line with analyst eMarketer’s latest online retail estimates, predicting… Continue reading US Online Retail To Rise By 25% In 2005

Media Group, OMD, has announced that it will begin testing a new form of media advertising that will deliver an advertising message, even when television viewers are fast forwarding through commercials. The announcement came at the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau’s local advertising sales conference held in Chicago, with David DeSocio, OMD’s US director of strategic marketing,… Continue reading Advertisers Fight Back Against PVRs