ITV chief executive Charles Allen has put forward a controversial proposal that would see ITV form a joint venture with the BBC to sell their most popular television programmes oversees.Allen told the Commons Select Committee on Culture Media and Sport that the two companies could team-up to sell programmes internationally if BBC Worldwide, the Corporation’s… Continue reading ITV Boss Proposes Controversial Joint Venture With BBC

News from Martin Sorrell, that March and April of this year are stronger than anticipated, was taken by dealers to mean WPP is likely to have results coming in above forecast. Speaking at a Merrill Lynch conference yesterday, Martin Sorrell said March and April were stronger than the first quarter average as momentum built. He… Continue reading WPP Likely To Beat Forecasts As Ad Recovery Is Stronger

British Sky Broadcasting(BSkyB) today announced plans to drive demand for digital satellite television through initiatives that will address free-to-air and premium pay-TV audiences. Speaking at an investor conference in London, James Murdoch, Chief Executive of BSkyB, said later this year the company will introduce a free-to-air satellite proposition that will support the Government’s proposed switchover… Continue reading BSkyB To Drive Digital Demand Through New Initiatives

A final deal for the Telegraph Group is imminent following bids yesterday from Barclays and private equity group 3i. US investment bank Lazard, which is handling the sale for Hollinger International, is expected to contact interested parties today in an attempt to ratchet up the price of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph and the Spectator… Continue reading Deal ‘Close’ As Barclays and 3i Bid For Telegraph

High-speed Internet use grew 42% last year as 8.3 million US homes and businesses signed up for broadband services, says the Federal Communications Commission. By the end of 2003 broadband use grew to 28.2 million homes, driven largely by new residential and small-business customers. Cable-based services continued to be the most popular form of broadband… Continue reading US Broadband Internet Use Rockets in 2003

By the end of March 2004, the total number of worldwide DSL lines reached 73 million, according to Point Topic’s latest analysis on the DSL market. Growth was almost 15% for the first quarter of 2004, with a record 9.5 million absolute increase in lines since the end of 2003. This is good news for… Continue reading DSL Lines Climb To 73 Million Worldwide

IPC Media has launched an online version of Wallpaper* in an attempt to further extend and market the flagship lifestyle title, which has seen circulation decline in the face of increasing competition.The publishing group claims that wallpaper.com will complement rather than duplicate the magazine, providing an extension of the print product, which focuses on interiors,… Continue reading IPC Rolls Out Wallpaper Online To Boost Brand

Starcom Motive has secured the £11 million Pizza Hut media planning and buying account following a head-to-head competitive pitch against Mindshare.The account came up for review at the end of April when PHD decided not to re-pitch for the business. This followed the fast-food chain’s controversial decision to conduct its second review in as many… Continue reading Starcom Secures £11 Million Pizza Hut Account

According to the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB), the growing popularity of digital stations is set to have a significant upward impact on total radio listening hours over the next few years. Speaking at the ‘The 21st Century Radio Listener’ seminar earlier today, RAB’s Client Services Director, Michael O’Brien, predicted total listening hours could grow by… Continue reading Digital Radio Forecast to Increase Listening

Should ITV’s recent decline in audience share continue, the broadcaster stands to lose up to £100 million in advertising revenue as advertisers seek to negotiate more competitive deals. Under Contracts Rights Renewal (CRR), a code introduced to prevent a newly merged ITV from exploiting its dominance over the commercial TV market, advertisers are able to… Continue reading ITV Could Face Ad Revenue Shortfall