Commercial radio needs to consolidate and diversify in order to overcome the challenges posed by the recession, according to former BBC head of strategy Mark Oliver.Speaking yesterday at The Radio Academy’s Radio Festival in Nottingham, Oliver, chief executive of media advisors Oliver & Ohlbaum Associates, said that radio stations should also concentrate on branded content… Continue reading Radio Festival: Consolidation is key for commercial radio

Microsoft has reportedly put digital agency Razorfish up for sale, with Publicis Groupe one of the favourites to buy it.Razorfish was acquired by Microsoft when it bought parent company aQuantive for $6 billion in 2007.A report in the Financial Times quotes an unnamed analyst as valuing Razorfish at $600-700 million based on sales of about… Continue reading Microsoft to sell digital agency Razorfish

UK advertising expenditure dropped 4% year on year to £18.6 billion in 2008, according to the latest figures from the Advertising Association.The Advertising Statistics Yearbook 2009 reveals that this compares to positive annual growth of 4.3% in 2007.The largest medium was press, attracting 37% of all advertising expenditure, followed by TV with 24% and internet… Continue reading UK advertising expenditure down 4% in 2008

B2B publisher Emap Inform is to charge users to access its websites, starting from September or October this year.Simon Middelboe, Emap Inform chief executive, told Press Gazzette: “I think we will be moving away from free content towards having paywalls on all of our print subscription titles over the next few months.”Some content would still… Continue reading Emap Inform could charge users to access content

Microsoft and Publicis Groupe have announced a partnership to cooperate on advertising and marketing opportunities in the digital world.A joint statement said that the partnership will centre on three key components of the digital marketing and advertising industry: Content: The creation, production and distribution of programming, across a wide array of capabilities, tools, and services… Continue reading Microsoft and Publicis announce digital partnership

The Internet Advertising Bureau has announced plans to establish a Game Advertising Council to educate marketers and ease adoption of advertising in and around video games.The IAB said the creation of the group has been driven by requests from the marketplace, IAB members and advertisers. It follows the launch of the IAB US Game Council… Continue reading IAB to create Game Advertising Council

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, has said that all content will be digital within 10 years.Speaking at the Cannes Lions Festival, Ballmer said that traditional media such as print have been slow to adapt to the modern world.“There won’t be newspapers, magazines and TV programs. There won’t be personal, social communications offline and separate. In 10… Continue reading Microsoft CEO: All content to be digital within 10 years

Tim Brooks, managing director of Guardian News & Media, has been confirmed as a panellist at MediaTel Group’s ‘Future of National Newspapers’ seminar on 16 July.Tickets for the event are available for just £99 for those who book by 6 July. To get your ticket, just enter this discount code: EARLY-8ZUR5 at the MediaTel Group… Continue reading GNM MD confirmed as panellist at ‘Future of National Newspapers’ seminar

Five has launched a website dedicated to television soap operas called Holy Soap, featuring news and gossip about its own and other channel’s soaps.The site is the new official online home of Five’s Australian soaps Neighbours and Home & Away, replacing the two programmes’ previous stand alone sites.It will also contain comprehensive news and gossip… Continue reading Five launches soap website

Guardian.co.uk was the most popular website of the audited national daily newspapers in May 2009, with Telegraph.co.uk enjoying a boost in unique users, according to the latest ABCe data.The Guardian saw its unique user figure fall slightly month on month although it was up by around 9 million year on year, to 27.2 million. In… Continue reading ABCe May 2009: Guardian stays on top