The compact revolution within the newspaper industry has not had the success that publishers had hoped for, with misleading increases in circulation figures disguising the sector’s increasing struggle with advertisers, according to a new paper published by The McKinsey Quarterly. The rise of the internet and subsequent influx of online news sites has resulted in… Continue reading Tabloid Format May Not Deliver Success

Magazine publisher, Highbury House Communications has announced the proposed sale of its business publishing operations, BCom, to Ergo Science Corporation for gross profits of £12.5 million. This will put the Group on track to achieve its stated strategy of reducing indebtedness and focusing on its consumer newsstand business. It is estimated that net proceeds are… Continue reading Highbury Sells Business Publishing Arm

Paris based advertising group, Havas has released a positive trading update for 2004, revealing that the company has increased organic revenue growth by 2% to €1,494 million, thanks to a positive quarter four which saw revenue increase by 4.6%, compared to the same period in 2003 (see Havas Organic Revenue Spurred On By Europe). All… Continue reading Strong Q4 Boosts Havas 2004 Revenue

Confidence in the European media industry looks set to continue this year, indicating that the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) arena will be worth watching in 2005, according to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers report released yesterday. PwC, the audit and corporate finance group, is anticipating in excess of 110 transactions in 2005,compared to the number of deals… Continue reading Confidence In European Media To Fuel M&A

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertisers (IPA) has launched a Valentines message board raising money for NABS, the charity for the marketing communications industry, providing support for anyone working in advertising, design direct marketing, media planning, buying and sales, public relations and sales promotion.Media folk can post a message on the IPA website for £5.00… Continue reading IPA And NABS Gear Up For Valentines

Internet provider AOL is the latest British internet service provider (ISP) to double the speed of its broadband products without charging online customers more. The following six months will see the company rolling out the upgrade to its 750,000(ish) UK broadband users.The increase of speed in the online technology coincides with AOL UK’s new distribution… Continue reading AOL To Double Broadband Speed At No Extra Cost

International media group, Pearson’s flagship publication, The Financial Times has announced that it will launch its annual Lunch with The FT promotion this Saturday, 12 February.The national promotion, sponsored by British Airways, involves 150 ‘hand-picked high quality restaurants offering special lunches for £12.50 or £15 and is part of a special 16 page colour food… Continue reading Financial Times Launches Lunch Promotion

The Advertising Association’s (AA) forecasting skills have today been criticised by IPC Media, warning that the industry body’s advertising expenditure predictions could be misleading. Questioning the Association’s ability to make accurate forecasts, in a letter written to Media Week, Christina Hartley, IPC’s group ad marketing director, says: “The latest 2005 figure for the sector [consumer… Continue reading AA Forecasting Criticised By IPC

The start of 2005 saw independent media communications specialist, Carat, releasing its global advertising growth forecasts for the coming year. The agency group predicts that global advertising expenditure will grow by 4.9%, as advertisers show few signs of cutting media budgets. However, Carat cautions that while the market is currently healthy, the price of oil,… Continue reading INSIGHTanalysis: Media Healthcheck – January 2005

Media and communications group, Aegis has announced the appointment of Robert Lerwill as chief executive, taking over from Doug Flynn who has held the position since 1999. The current chief executive of Aegis, Doug Flynn, will be joining Rentokil Initial as chief executive. During his time at Aegis, Flynn proved instrumental in developing the management… Continue reading Aegis Announces New Chief Executive