Kelvin MacKenzie’s Wireless Group, which owns the national talkSPORT radio station, has branded RAJAR’s proposals to introduce electronic measurement by 2007 as “excruciatingly longwinded”.The broadcaster claims that RAJAR’s timeline for upgrading its existing diary system of audience measurement could have been put in place four years ago when it first began campaigning for the introduction… Continue reading Wireless Group Slams RAJAR’s Roadmap To Change

ITV1 is planning to drop its celebrity idents as part of a rebrand timed to coincide with the launch of ITV3, its new digital channel for older viewers, later this year.The broadcaster has used a range of its biggest stars to promote its flagship ITV1 brand for the last two years. However, the celebrity idents… Continue reading ITV To Drop Celebrity Idents As Part Of Rebrand

Publishing group, Highbury House Communications, announced this morning that it will fail to meet expectations this year and as a result will not be paying an interim or final dividend, despite seeing a 24% jump in revenue during the first half of 2004. The group, which predicted a 27% year-on-year growth in profits from January… Continue reading Highbury House Admits It Wont Be Able To Meet Full-Year Expectations

Outdoor advertising group, Maiden, has saw pre-tax profits for the first half of 2004 climb by a staggering 75%, reflecting the continued growth in the outdoor market. From January to June this year, pre-tax profits reached £2.1 million, as strong advertising bookings continue, with 100% of last year’s total revenue already scheduled in. Turnover was… Continue reading Maiden’s Profits Benefit From Strong Outdoor Ad Market

Multi-media group, Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH), has said that an ‘excellent’ performance in radio and press has fuelled 2004 expectations and the group now predicts full-year revenues to be a healthy 9% ahead of last year. In a trading update issued this morning, the group said like-for-like radio revenues are estimated to be up 9%… Continue reading SRH Confident Of Revenues Growing By 9% In 2004

In a trading update, radio to magazine group, Emap, has said that group revenues for the first half of this year are expected to be up 2%, with celebrity gossip magazine Closer being cited as a key driver. Emap’s consumer media division, which includes Closer, is expected to be up 6% year-on-year for the six… Continue reading Closer Drives Revenues At Emap

Britain has emerged as one of the fastest growing markets for broadband internet access, with new research showing that by the end of 2005 there will be more than 8.2 million broadband subscribers in the UK. The latest figures from Informa Telecoms Group’s Baskerville unit show that nearly 5.6 million of these will be connected… Continue reading One In Five UK Homes Now Have Broadband Access

Kelvin MacKenzie’s talkSPORT is attempting to take the Football Association to task for selling national broadcast rights to FA Cup games exclusively to the BBC, in a move that it claims damages its advertising and sponsorship revenues.The national speech-based station has lodged a formal complaint with media regulator Ofcom, claiming that selling all the games… Continue reading talkSPORT Tackles BBC And FA Over Football Rights

Channel 4 may finally get a slice of the BBC’s £2 billion a year licence fee if it goes ahead with controversial proposals to take control of the Corporation’s flagship youth station Radio One.The broadcaster is reportedly considering the radical option as part of a plan to safeguard its financial future. Other ideas have included… Continue reading Channel 4 Could Get Slice Of BBC Licence Fee

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising has added its weight to wide-spread calls for media regulator Ofcom to abandon plans to tighten the alcohol advertising codes, claiming the current proposals create too much difficulty for advertisers and their agencies.In its submission to Ofcom’s public consultation on new codes for broadcast television advertising, the IPA slams… Continue reading IPA Blasts Plans For Alcohol Advertising Crackdown