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Sir Martin Sorrell’s WPP has reported an 18% rise in pre-tax profits for 2011 to break the £1 billion mark for the first time.

Today’s ABC release paints a fairly poor picture for the regional newspaper market, with all but one newspaper group in our analysis posting percentage declines in the July to December period.

James Murdoch has stepped down as executive chairman of News International. However, he will remain as deputy chief operating officer of parent group News Corporation.

Tesco’s head of innovation Angela Maurer confirmed that the supermarket giant is rolling out customer Wi-Fi in stores. In December, the free Wi-Fi service was made available in more than 200 Tesco Extra stores around the country.

Speaking from the floor at MediaTel Group’s FMCG & Media event in association with O2 Media yesterday morning, Mindshare managing director, Ita Murphy, pushed the panel on ROI for mobile marketing in the FMCG area – one of the biggest stumbling blocks for agencies. She said clients are interested in mobile ideas around FMCG advertising but still need a clear sales measure.

An estimated 50% of all mobile phone users are now using smartphones to access the internet, which has enabled the growth of a new frontier in augmented reality, according to Golden Gekko’s Caroline Van Den Bergh.

Raymond Snoddy says despite the relentless rise of social media what comes through loud and clear is the importance, and at least for now, the continuing dominance, of print at the heart of the brand…

EastEnders was the most watched programme during Tuesday’s TV line-up, drawing in 38% of the available audience. 8.3 million viewers tuned in to see Ray realise the extent of Bianca’s obvious financial troubles. Over 60% of viewers watching the soap, airing at 7:30pm on BBC One, were female.

ITV has released its preliminary results for 2011 with external revenues up 4% (driven by non-advertising revenues) and national advertising revenues (NAR) up 1% – outperforming the TV advertising market.

VCCP’s head of planning Tracey Follows says the future isn’t mobile, mobile is happening now and is already all around us. The future of mobile in the hands of those that adopt, learn and truly use it to its fullest potential…