More Industry News articles

January saw the release of the IPA’s latest Bellwether survey, which found that in Q4 2008 annual marketing budgets were revised down to the greatest extent ever recorded in the report’s nine-year history. The cut was the fifth successive quarterly reduction in spend, and 2009 is set to see further cuts, said the report (see… Continue reading INSIGHTanalysis: Media Healthcheck – January 2009

American sports broadcaster ESPN is understood to be interested in acquiring a single package of television rights to live Premier League football matches.The Premier League has asked for bids to be in by Tuesday for the right to televise its live matches for three years from August 2010.According to reports, the games are being split… Continue reading ESPN could bid for Premier League TV rights

The online gaming site category in the US has grown 27% during the past year to 86 million visitors in December 2008, while the total time spent playing PC-based online games jumped 42%, new research has found. According to the analysis of US usage of online game sites by comScore, Americans’ total share of internet… Continue reading Growth in US online gaming

Virgin Media has launched a new on-demand Sci-fi & Fantasy area on its cable TV platform.The new section features up to 150 hours of programming from Warner TV, FX UK, ContentFilm and Virgin Media TV.Virgin Media Television customers on the XL package, or those subscribing to TV Choice, will have unlimited access to classic shows… Continue reading Virgin launches Sci-fi on-demand

Specialist radio group UBC is to sell its traffic and travel news business to US radio company Global Traffic Networks for £9 million in cash.A deal was going to happen last year but was not completed at the time due to what UBC said were unfavourable economic conditions.However, both companies have now entered into a… Continue reading UBC to sell traffic and travel news business

Five chief executive Dawn Airey is surprised at the hostility towards a Channel 4/Five merger, calling the proposal a “credible solution” to Channel 4’s funding gap.In an interview with the Sunday Times, Airey also voiced doubts as to whether a Channel 4 partnership with BBC Worldwide would be of long term benefit to the broadcaster.“Merging… Continue reading Airey: Channel4/Five merger credible solution to funding gap

Over three quarters (78%) of the UK’s most trusted brands regularly publish a customer magazine, new research from Royal Mail has revealed.Organisations including British Airways, Tesco, Virgin, Norwich Union, British Gas and AA were all recently named trusted brands within their respective categories (non-FMCG categories) by Reader’s Digest annual survey. They were also found to… Continue reading Over three quarters of trusted brands publish customer magazines

UBC is to sell its traffic and travel news business to US radio company Global traffic Networks for £9 million in cash. The deal was meant to be finalised last year but was not completed due to what UBC called the unfavourable economic conditions at the time. The deal is now on again, however, with… Continue reading UBC to sell commercial division

There is no silver bullet for solving the revenue problems faced by newspapers, according to Brian Harrison, digital director at Telegraph Media Group.Speaking at an AOP event last week, Harrison argued that it is essential for the press to focus its energies on diversifying digital revenues in order to ensure survival.An important part of brand… Continue reading Diversyifing revenue streams vital for traditional media

Five chief executive Dawn Airey backs the potential merger of Channel 4 and Five, despite Channel 4’s continued reluctance.While the future of Channel 4 continues to stimulate debate among the industry, Five’s chief Dawn Airey has confirmed her positive view on the potential merger of the two broadcasters.Speaking to a Lords Committee yesterday, Airey said… Continue reading Airey backs Five/C4 merger