Channel 4 will this month make deeper in-roads into the rapidly expanding area of advertiser funded programming with the launch of a series of health orientated docusoaps funded by FMCG brand Flora Pro.activ.The funding deal will see a series of five thirty-minute programmes entitled Fit Street broadcast by Channel 4. They will follow a group… Continue reading Channel 4 To Screen Flora Funded Fitness Show

New mothers tuning in to Discovery Health’s Baby Talk programming strand will be targeted by food manufacturer Heinz later this month, when the FMCG giant sponsors the broadcaster’s childcare output with its established Farley’s brand.The sponsorship includes on-air coverage, interactive applications and promotion through a one-off DVD created by Discovery as part of the deal.… Continue reading Discovery Finds Heinz As Backer For Baby Shows

Emap Advertising has announced the launch of an innovative digital radio initiative to provide subsidised advertising rates for DAB radio retailers in the all-important run up to Christmas.In an attempt to drive sales of digital radios in the UK and boost listening figures, the company is offering to pay half the total cost of any… Continue reading Emap Advertising Cuts Rates To Drive DAB Uptake

Chrysalis-owned Heart 106.2 is aiming to knock rival Capital 95.8 off the top spot in London by revamping its image and hiking up its adspend by around 20%.It is understood that Chrysalis has awarded advertising agency Clemmow Hornby Inge the £3 million account to lead a major relaunch of London’s Heart 106.2 FM and midlands… Continue reading Heart Pumps Up Adspend To Take On Capital In London

Virgin Radio is responding to the increasing popularity of music downloads by launching the nation’s first weekly chart rundown using Napster online sales figures.The Napster Online Music Chart, which launches later this month, will countdown the 20 most popular songs downloaded by Napster users from a catalogue of 750,000 tracks each week. The show will… Continue reading Virgin To Launch UK’s First Online Music Chart

Broadband Britain has come another step closer with the announcement that BT now has more than 3 million high-speed internet customers.The telecoms giant claims to have signed up an average of around 6,000 new customers each day over the last six months, in a move that has helped it add more than one million ADSL… Continue reading BT Helps Broadband Britain Become A Reality

The proposed £1 billion sale of the BBC’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, has generated a flurry of interest from commercial broadcasters, venture capital groups and investment banks.However, it is understood that some would-be buyers are being put off by confusion over the lucrative rights to successful BBC shows and products, such as The Office or… Continue reading Sale Of BBC Worldwide Raises Issues Over Rights

Sky Sports has signed an exclusive three-year deal to become the first UK broadcaster to screen live coverage of the new A1 Grand Prix motor racing series.The series launches next autumn and pits identical cars against each other in what is being billed as a true test of driving skill. The event is intended to… Continue reading Sky Sports Secures Exclusive Rights To New A1 Grand Prix

The Barclay brothers have poached Murdoch MacLennan, managing director of Associated Newspapers, to become chief executive of the Telegraph titles they acquired last month for £665 million.It is understood that the highly secretive twins have been talking to the 54 year-old newspaper veteran for some weeks and have now persuaded him to join the new… Continue reading Telegraph Raids Rival Associated For New Chief Executive

ITV has secured Richard Desmond’s OK! magazine as the exclusive broadcast sponsor of the Celebrity Awards 2004 – a new one off awards ceremony due to be screened on the channel later this year.According to ITV, the inaugural event will bring together the biggest UK stars from the worlds of television, music and sport to… Continue reading ITV Secures OK Magazine To Sponsor Celebrity Awards