Highbury House Communications, publisher of Front and Fast Car, today issued an upbeat trading report. Trading in the last two months of 2003 had been in line with expectations, it said, and it expects profits for the full year to be as forecast. The company said that its shift towards becoming a pure consumer publisher,… Continue reading Highbury House FY Profits In Line With Market Forecasts

Independent News & Media (INM) is to sell its 50% stake in its Irish cable operation, Princes Holdings, to Liberty Media International for an undisclosed sum. INM had already confirmed that it did not intend to hold its investment in Princes Holdings – which trades under the brand name Chorus – for the long-term, as… Continue reading INM Sells Irish Cable Group Stake To Liberty Media

Radio revenues across the US remained weak during the final quarter of 2003, but the industry is showing signs of rejuvenation for 2004. Merrill Lynch predicts that US radio revenue growth during the fourth quarter will range from an increase of 1% to a decline of 2% year on year, compounded by weak local advertising… Continue reading US Radio Revenues Weak In Q4 2003, Says Merrill Lynch

The global economic recovery now appears to be shaping up, with the US leading the way, according to Jean-Philippe Cotis, chief economist for the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Cotis was keen to point out that in most countries the upturn is weaker than… Continue reading INSIGHTanalysis: Global Economic Recovery Shapes Up

ITV is investing in its interactive television capabilities by appointing Eckoh Technologies to provide interactive telephony services for the channel. Eckoh is one of Europe’s largest speech application service providers. Eckoh offers technology that will build on ITV’s existing interactive elements in programmes including This Morning, CITV and Ant And Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway. Eckoh… Continue reading ITV Builds Interactive TV Platform With Eckoh Deal

The battle to take control of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph took another turn yesterday after Hollinger International moved to scupper Conrad Black’s £260 million deal to sell the titles to the Barclay brothers. The reclusive Barclays claim to have reached an irrevocable agreement with Black to assume control of a range of titles including… Continue reading Hollinger Moves To Scupper Black’s Telegraph Sale

ITV’s commercial airtime revenues will barely grow during 2004, as its share of TV advertising dips from 51% to 50%, according to new a forward-looking report from Billetts Media Consulting. Billetts says that ITV’s revenues will rise by a meagre 0.3% in 2004, whilst multi-channel advertising jumps by 11.0% year on year. As a result,… Continue reading ITV Revenues To Remain Flat In 2004, Says Billetts

By 2014, there will be 15 million online gamers in the US, with the market being valued at around $9 billion, according to the Themis Report On Online Gaming 2004, distributed by DFC Intelligence. The report forecasts that US gamers will pay an average subscription fee of $23.50 per month by this time. Themis also… Continue reading US Online Gaming To Reach 15m By 2014

The collapse of the dotcom bubble has failed to quash technology investments in ecommerce technology, according to a new survey by Forrester Research. The report says that IT investments in ecommerce are alive and well, with ecommerce budgets outpacing the rest of IT budgets at present. Around three-quarters of companies are maintaining or increasing their… Continue reading Ecommerce Technology Investment Continues Apace

Channel 4 saw profits triple last year as its wide-ranging effort to reduce costs began to bear fruit, despite the ongoing downturn in the television advertising market. The terrestrial broadcaster is understood to have improved its performance after advertising revenues remained flat during 2003 and non-programme costs were cut to focus on core businesses. The… Continue reading Outlook Improves For Channel 4 As Profits Triple