Virgin Media has rebuffed Sky’s attempts to end the channel carriage dispute after James Murdoch, BSkyB CEO, wrote to Steve Burch, chief executive of Virgin Media, suggesting that the companies “meet in the middle”.In a letter released by Sky, dated May 10, Murdoch said: “The speedy return of Sky One, Sky News, Sky Sports News… Continue reading Virgin/Sky Channel Dispute Continues

Each week, MediaTel INSIGHT brings NewsLine readers a round-up of the latest news from the City affecting the media industry.This week saw Emap chief executive Tom Maloney quit the group with immediate effect, leading some to speculate that the company could soon be subject to a bid approach (Full Story).ITV also came under the spotlight… Continue reading Media In The City

The National Readership Survey (NRS) is to begin an experimental programme to produce UK audience figures for publishers’ websites.NRS says that if successful, this initiative means that the survey will be able to provide audience estimates and demographic profile data on the cross-platform reach of approximately 70 newspapers and magazines.The programme will attempt to estimate… Continue reading NRS To Produce Readership Figures For Publishers’ Websites

Emap’s Heat magazine is launching its website next Tuesday aiming to give its readers the latest celebrity news combined with the most up-to-date web 2.0 offerings.The new website, heatworld.com, will combine interactive blogs and user profiles along with many other interactive elements.The launch of the website will give Heat a digital presence across radio, internet… Continue reading Heat Gets Online Presence

woman&home, IPC Southbank’s monthly glossy targeting 40+ women, has appointed Pippa Jackson as editor of its website www.womanandhome.com.Pippa joins womanandhome.com from the popular BBC EastEnders website, where she has been for the past five years, most recently as senior producer.Prior to the BBC, Pippa was deputy editor of the Lifestyle channel at AOL Europe, responsible… Continue reading Woman&home Gets New Website Editor

Tom Maloney, Emap chief executive, has quit the group with immediate effect. He will be replaced by Alun Cathcart, currently non-executive chairman, as interim executive chairman.The move has lead some to believe that Emap could be the subject of a takeover bid.Following the announcement, shares in the group rose by more than 4% to 874p… Continue reading Emap Chief Executive Quits

Google has been in the news a lot recently following its acquisition of the online ad company DoubleClick and the announcement of its strong profits increase for the first quarter of the year. In light of Google’s recent manoeuvres, MediaTel INSIGHT spoke to Ovum analyst David Bradshaw about where the search engine giant could be… Continue reading Ovum Analyst Discusses The Future Of Google

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned an anti-smoking TV campaign by the Department of Health which showed a man being dragged along by a fish hook stuck in his cheek.The ad had 774 complaints made against it to the ASA, with the majority of complaints saying that the ads were offensive and distressing, particularly… Continue reading ASA Bans Anti-Smoking TV Campaign

Ashley Highfield, director of BBC future media and technology, announced today at the FT Mobile Media Conference that Matthew Postgate has been appointed as the BBC’s controller of mobile.Postgate will have specific responsibility for coordinating the corporation’s public service presence across mobile platforms.Highfield, speaking at the Dorchester Hotel in London, said: “Mobile is an increasingly… Continue reading BBC Appoints Controller Of Mobile

Sky’s plan to launch a pay-per-view service is under threat as Ofcom could be unlikely to alter the terms of the satellite broadcaster’s licence.Sky had planned to take its three free-to-air channels from Freeview and replace them with a pay-TV service available through a new specification set-top box.Sky announced that it would be launching a… Continue reading Ofcom Could Scupper Sky Pay-TV Plans