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ITV is understood to be close to finalising a deal for Friends Reunited with internet entrepreneur Peter Dubens.Duben’s private equity firm Oakley Capital is in exclusive talks with ITV to agree a deal for around £15 million, a £160 million loss on the price the broadcaster paid for the site in 2005, according to the… Continue reading ITV to sell Friends Reunited at £160m loss

Profits at FT Publishing fell 40% in the first half of this year, with sales down 13%. FT Publishing is the newspaper and magazine division of Pearson and owns the Financial Times and has a 50% stake in the Economist. The division’s adjusted operating profit fell from £30 million in the first six months of… Continue reading FT publisher’s profits fall 40%

Five has been forced to slash its programme budget by 25% this year as a result of the ongoing advertising downturn.The commercial broadcaster has reduced its budget to £165 million, down from £220 million last year, which is the biggest percentage fall of any broadcaster in the UK.However, Five’s newly reduced budget still sits above… Continue reading Five cuts its programme budget by 25%

BBC One’s New Tricks secured the highest ratings during the all-important prime time slot last night with more than 7 million peak viewers.The second episode of the new eight-part series attracted over 6.7 million average viewers and a impressive 28.7% audience share during the 9pm to 10pm slot, beating ITV1’s revamped Sunhill police drama to… Continue reading Overnights: New Tricks tops The ‘new-look’ Bill

Thinkbox, the marketing body for the main UK commercial broadcasters, is launching a series of free research events examining how TV advertising works for specific advertising categories.Each event will draw on the latest research by Thinkbox and the wider marketing industry into how TV advertising achieves success for specific markets.This includes insights drawn from Thinkbox’s… Continue reading Thinkbox launches free research events

Arqiva has unveiled plans to launch a new consumer video-on-demand service following its acquisition of Project Kangaroo’s technology.The broadcast transmission company hopes to launch a new platform with free and paid-for content from broadcasters and independent content providers, according to reports.BBC Worldwide, Channel 4 and ITV – the partners behind the failed broadband TV venture… Continue reading Arqiva plans VoD launch with Kangaroo technology

Publicis Groupe has reported an 8.6% fall in global organic revenue growth for the second quarter of 2009 and although it is forecasting a slow recovery from September it expects no positive growth until mid-2010. The first six months of the year saw organic revenue growth fall 6.6% year on year. Revenue for the period… Continue reading Publicis Groupe reports fall in global revenue growth

The total advertising sector in North America is expected to decline 10.2% in 2009 with the online advertising sector down 3.2%, according to a new forecast. The Strategy Analytics forecast also says that Central & Latin America is expected to be less affected by the global financial crisis than the developed world. Nevertheless, real GDP… Continue reading North American ad sector to fall 10%

A new report forecasts that US marketers will spend $65 billion on their own websites this year. The Outsell Inc report, based on an online survey in April of more than 1,200 advertisers, revealed that this figure will be nearly as much as marketers’ spend on TV advertising. It found that US marketers will spend… Continue reading Marketers predicted to spend $65bn on websites this year

ITV1’s new Wednesday evening line-up proved to be a hit last night with Midsomer Murders attracting a high of 6.2 million viewers during the prime-time slot.The first of two new cases for detective DCI Tom Barnaby, played by John Nettles, pulled in more than six million average viewers and a 27.5% audience share between 8pm… Continue reading Overnights: Midsomer Murders returns with 6.2m viewers