WPP has extended the deadline for its takeover offer of TNS by two weeks to 3pm on September 12.The move comes after just 8.6% of TNS shareholders decided to accept the group’s £1.1 billion offer before last Friday’s deadline.TNS has put out a statement today noting the “low level” of acceptances of the WPP offer,… Continue reading WPP Extends TNS Offer Deadline

Presenters JK and Joel are leaving Virgin Radio after less than a year at the station, to be replaced by Trent FM’s Jo Russell.JK and Joel were hired by Virgin’s former programme chief David Lloyd. They have previously presented the Sunday afternoon chart show and early breakfast slots on Radio 1.Russell, one half of the… Continue reading JK And Joel To Leave Virgin Radio

Carat has issued revised forecasts for global advertising expenditure in 2008 and 2009, with the worldwide prediction for 2008 revised downwards by just over a percentage point from 6.0% to 4.9%. 2009 is also very slightly reduced, from 4.9% growth to 4.8%.The main driver of the reductions for 2008 is downward revisions for ad spend… Continue reading Carat Revises Down Global Ad Forecast

German market research group GfK has announced that it is no longer pursuing a possible offer for TNS.According to a report in the Financial Times, GfK’s discussions with Apax, the private equity group it hoped would jointly bid for TNS, collapsed over price.The announcement comes after Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP made a £1.08 billion hostile… Continue reading GfK No Longer Pursuing Offer For TNS

comScore has released a study of global visits to Beijing2008.cn, the official website of the 2008 Olympic Games, revealing a tight race between China and the United States, with China taking the gold.The site offers Olympic content in five languages: Mandarin, English, French, Spanish and Arabic. The study examined the global breakdown of visitors to… Continue reading Official Olympic Website Proves Popular Globally

The IPA has launched an online sustainability portal to provide agencies with information on improving their green credentials.The portal has been created following an IPA survey sent to member agencies that revealed that over 90% of respondents would welcome help from the IPA in providing education around environmental issues.The guide aims to inform agency decision… Continue reading IPA Launches Green Information Portal

Five could launch a children’s channel based on its Milkshake pre-school programmes, according to its director of programmes, Ben Gale.Speaking at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, Gale said Five had begun a feasibility study into launching a digital channel based on the Milkshake brand, although he added that the service would only launch if… Continue reading Five Could Launch Children’s Channel

Dawn Airey is to take up her role as chief executive of Five in October, six months earlier than previously thought.Airey left her role as managing director of ITV’s global content division in April, having been with the broadcaster for just eight months (see Dawn Airey Leaves ITV For RTL).Gerhard Zeiler, chief executive of RTL… Continue reading Dawn Airey To Join Five In October

New figures from the Office of National Statistics show that 16.46 million UK households currently have internet access, representing 65% of households and an increase of 1.23 million households since 2007.Of all UK households, 56% have broadband internet access, an increase from 51% in 2007, while of the UK households with internet access, 86% have… Continue reading 16.5m UK Households Have Internet Access

The BBC is set to introduce series stacking to the iPlayer and programme sites from 13 September, allowing viewers to catch up on any episode after it has first been broadcast, for the duration of an entire series.Highlights of the BBC’s autumn schedule being series stacked include new BBC One dramas Merlin and Tess Of… Continue reading BBC To Introduce Series Stacking