Global advertising giant WPP has succeeded in winning the highly lucrative rights to electronics firm Samsung’s world-wide media account, worth around £380 million, following a closely fought battle with incumbent agency, Omnicom.The win brings to a close seven months of contest between WPP, pitching against Publicis, and previous contract-holder Omnicom.Samsung’s account will now be divided… Continue reading WPP Clinches Samsung Account After Seven-Month Wrangle

Future Publishing has announced the appointment of David Fernando as the sales director of its London advertising operation with immediate effect.A new face at Future, Fernando joins from technology publishers IDG Communications where he was publishing director, with over 15 years experience in commercial publishing, having previously been on the board at Premier Magazines, now… Continue reading Future Appoints Fernando As New Sales Director

Scottish Radio Holdings has this morning reported record results for the past year, as group revenues grew by 14%, beating the group’s expectations of 9%. For the period ending 30 September 2004, turnover was up 15% to £96.3 million, spurred on by strong revenue growth in both the radio and press divisions which was up… Continue reading SRH Exceeds Expectations With Record Results

Dixons, the electrical superstore, said yesterday its sales had slowed and warned margins would come under pressure in the run up to Christmas as consumer spending seems to have lost pace in the past few weeks. The festive period, which is traditionally the busiest for retailers, seems to have been stunted by recent interest rate… Continue reading Slow Down Of Electrical Goods May Hit Sky’s Subscriber Targets

Media regulator, Ofcom, has laid out phase two of its new telecommunications guidelines as the market moves from analogue to digital and has warned telecoms giant British Telecom (BT) that it must let rivals have ‘real equality of access’ to BT phone lines. As BT currently owns the majority of the telephone and broadband lines… Continue reading Ofcom Urges BT To Open Up Its Monopoly To Rivals

Using the internet as a source of entertainment has overtaken business and investment as the second largest paid content category on the web during the first half of 2004, according to the US Online Publishers Association (OPA). The entertainment category, which was fueled primarily by growth in the music sector, grew by 78.3% to £182.8… Continue reading Entertainment Spurs Online Paid Content To $853 Million In H1 2004

David Chance, chairman of Top Up TV and former BSkyB executive has claimed that Freeview homes will outnumber their Sky Digital counterparts by December 2005, stating that increased interest in pay-TV from terrestrial viewers was fuelling growth in his company’s low-cost premium channel offering. Speaking at a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch, Chance stated: “Freeview box… Continue reading Freeview Penetration Set To Equal Sky Next Year

The market for cable set-top boxes is bouncing back in 2004, according to market research firm In-Stat/MDR, as worldwide shipments for this year are expected to grow by 11% to reach 10.87 million. The latest report from In-Stat shows that North American cable television operators are fuelling growth with orders for personal video recorder and… Continue reading HD and PVRs Boost The Cable Set Top Box Market

SUBtv, the national student union TV channel, has secured a wide-ranging sponsorship deal with mobile phone network 3 to see the company sponsor its new Video Jukebox service in 65 student union venues nation-wide.The sponsorship deal will reach an audience of 1.2 million across SUBtv’s network, with the campaign featuring 3’s Japanese style “critter” characters… Continue reading SUBtv Signs 3 For Video Jukebox Sponsorship

A new lifestyle magazine aimed at 15-24 year olds will make its debut this month, as Red Hot Publishing begins distribution of FFWD magazine, a free offering combining sport, fashion and health for the notoriously fickle youth market.The new title takes the form of a glossy A5 magazine, distributed free to readers through sports and… Continue reading New Sports Title To Tackle Fickle Teen Sector