Media super-regulator Ofcom has today revealed six bidders will compete to take control of the new local FM radio licence for the Ashford area in Kent.The six broadcasters battling for the coveted M licence include Ashford FM, Ashford Local Radio, Lark FM: KMfm, Time FM, A10 FM and East Kent Radio. All of the proposed… Continue reading Six Bidders To Compete For Ashford FM Licence

MediaTel Group has launched its third annual charity sports quiz. In the last 2 years the quiz has raised over £8,000 for charity. For the chance to win some great prizes, you need to predict the outcome of 25 sporting events taking place between December and May. Prizes include Ashes tickets, tickets to a Chelsea… Continue reading MediaTel Group Sports Quiz Returns

BBC Radio Stations Weekly Reach (000s) Year On Year Comparisons Station Survey Period Ending Sep 03 Ending Sep 04 % Ch 1Xtra from the BBC Q 331 312 -5.7 BBC 6 Music Q 154 228 48.1 BBC Asian Network Q 214 171 -20.1 BBC Asian Network UK H 495 473 -4.4 BBC Essex Q 252… Continue reading RAJAR Results Q3 2004: Performance By Ownership

Sky Media has appointed Paul Curtis to the newly created position of deputy managing director, following the departure of Mark Chippendale as head of advertising sales last month.Curtis, currently managing director of Viacom Brand Solutions, will report to Nick Milligan, managing director of Sky Media, with a brief to deliver more integrated solutions to advertisers… Continue reading Sky Picks Curtis As New Advertising Sales Boss

IPC’s veteran music weekly NME has secured Wella ShockWaves as the headline sponsor of its annual awards, which are to be broadcast on Channel 4 early next year.The event will be held on Thursday 17 February in London and will be promoted by a week of programming on Channel 4 featuring highlights from the awards… Continue reading NME Secures ShockWaves To Sponsor Annual Awards

The following tables show the best and worst performers, in terms of weekly reach and share of listening, of the local commercial stations broadcasting outside London. Top/Bottom 10 Weekly Reach (000s) % Change Station Survey Period Ending Sep 2003 Ending Sep 2004 % Change Star 107 (Cambridge/Ely) Y 14 39 178.6 Classic Gold 1431/ 1485… Continue reading RAJAR Results Q3 2004: Local Commercial Stations

A growing number of households in the US are swapping their landline telephone for a mobile phone, according to a new report from Mediamark Research Inc (MRI), as the number of homes without a landline nearly doubles over the last four years. In 2000, 4.2% of households had no landline but this figure has risen… Continue reading Landlines Losing To Mobile Phones

New projections out today from eMarketer show that 2004 is likely to be another boom year for US online advertising, with spending expected to increase by 28.8% year-on-year to $9.4 billion, while 2005 is predicted to climb by 21%. Paid search, which accounts for 42% of the market, is also expected to grow significantly over… Continue reading US Internet Ad Market Set To Grow By 28% In 2004 & 21% In 2005

Advertising on the internet is seeing significant growth but it is set to remain a modest part of newspaper revenues for many years to come, says a new report from the World Association of Newspapers. The Profiting from Digital report from the Shaping the Future of Newspaper (SFN) project says, publishers need to look for… Continue reading Newspapers Need To Be ‘Cleverer’ To Profit From Digital Content

Global information and news group, Reuters, has confirmed it is in exclusive talks with telecoms giant, BT about the sale of its financial extranet, Radianz, which was set up as part of a joint venture with communications group, Equant. As part of the deal, Reuters has agreed to purchase Equant’s 49% stake in Radianz for… Continue reading BT To Buy Reuters Financial Extranet