Grey Global, WPP’s two week old acquisition, has lost one of its leading advertising accounts – food and confectionery maker Mars – however, this wasn’t enough to worry investors yesterday, as the share price in the world’s second largest marketing group rose from 2.5p to 514.5p. According to today’s Financial Times, although the announcement was… Continue reading Grey Loses Top Client Just Weeks After WPP Take-Over

Contrary to positive reports on the speed of digital television (DTV) take-up in homes across the US, the Digital Transition Coalition (DTC) has spoken out and said ‘DTV has a long distance to go before it becomes a reality.’ The DTC, which was formed by a wide range of companies and public interest groups who… Continue reading US Feeling The Pressure Of Digital Switch-Over Target

ITV’s talk-show stalwart, Trisha Goddard, is leaving the network after more than six years at the centre of its daytime schedule to join rival commercial broadcaster, Five.Goddard, who has had her own show on ITV since 1998, has agreed a two-year deal with Five that will see her join the channel in early 2005 to… Continue reading ITV Talk-Show Stalwart Jumps Ship To Five

The Financial Times has teamed up with Motorola to make its latest business news available to the mobile phone operator’s customers.The new service will allow users with the latest Motorola handsets to download up-to-the-minute news directly to their phones in the form of a special ‘ticker’ that will run along the bottom their screens.Commenting on… Continue reading Financial Times Brings Business News To Mobile Phones

Capital Radio has appointed Richard Mintz as marketing director for its developing brand stations, which include Xfm, Choice FM and Capital Gold.The newly created position will see Mintz, formerly of BBC Worldwide and Celedor International, assume responsibility for marketing all three developing brand networks under the guidance of managing director Graham Bryce.Mintz said: “I am… Continue reading Capital Appoints Marketing Boss For Developing Brands

UK advertising expenditure is expected to rise by 4.4% next year with online media owners expected to be the main beneficiaries.The latest forecasts from the Advertising Association predict continued growth during 2005 after the industry saw total spend accelerate during the first half of this year, due to increased spend on brand promotions and better… Continue reading UK Adspend Expected To Grow By 4.4% Next Year

The BBC has indicated that it would rather pursue partnerships or joint ventures for its commercial arm Worldwide rather than sell it or see it floated on the stock market, as previous reports have suggested. Speaking at a Royal Television Society dinner yesterday, the BBC’s director-general, Mark Thompson, confirmed the publicly-funded broadcaster was reconsidering ownership… Continue reading BBC Prefers Partnership Deals For Worldwide, Says Thompson

The popularity of text messaging in the UK continued to grow during August, despite this traditionally being a quiet period as schools break-up and families head-off on holiday. According to the latest figures from the Mobile Data Association, text messaging figures during the month climbed to record the second highest monthly total for 2004 of… Continue reading No Summer Break For Text Messaging Growth

Media super-regulator Ofcom has today published controversial proposals for the launch of an entirely new public service broadcaster to be run by commercial operators as a rival the BBC in the digital age. The radical suggestion has been put forward as part of a wide-ranging set of proposals designed to protect the future of public… Continue reading Ofcom Plans New Public Service Channel To Rival BBC

Television on DVD (TV DVD) is set to become a new high-growth category, according to a new report, with many US programmes hoping to make a successful transition in to this market, similar to that made by hit-shows Friends and the X-files. According to investment bank, Merrill Lynch, consumer spending on TV DVD is expected… Continue reading TV Shows On DVD Set For High Growth Period