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The Competition Commission has provisionally found that BSkyB’s acquisition by of a 17.9% share in ITV “restricts competition and therefore operates against the public interest”. The ruling could see Sky forced to sell its stake in the broadcaster at a substantial loss. Sky bought the stake for £940 million in November 2006. Peter Freeman, chairman… Continue reading Sky Could Be Forced To Sell ITV Stake

BSkyB has announced details of its new service that it hopes Ofcom will approve, bringing together TV, broadband and telephony services for DTT viewers.‘Picnic’ is said to build on the success of its broadband offer to DTH satellite subscribers that is capable of reaching 70% of the UK through Sky’s unbundled telecoms network.Despite the announcement,… Continue reading Sky Announces Details Of Proposed New Service

The latest in a series of ITV1 adaptations of Agatha Christie’s most famous sleuth proved unable to defeat the might of the one-time Python Michael Palin.Agatha Christie’s Marple pulled in an impressive average rating of five million adult viewers during the two-hour duration, with a peak audience of 5.3 million for the first 15 minutes.Despite… Continue reading Marple No Match For Ex-Python

New research published today by Informa Telecoms & Media shows that digital TV penetration of Western European households will break the 50% mark by the end of this year. The 11th edition of Informa’s Western European TV report forecasts that digital homes in the region will total 135 million by 2012, equivalent to an 86%… Continue reading European Digital TV Penetration To Break 50% Mark

Friday evening saw the England rugby team return to the pitch for their vitally important match against a very impressive Tonga team.England had to win to be sure of progressing through to a quarter final showdown with the Aussies, and win they did, although not without a few scares along the way.A peak of two… Continue reading Two Million ABC1 Men Watch England Beat Tonga

A new forecast from ZenithOptimedia predicts that the 2008 Olympic games will help lift television’s share of the global ad market to a record 38.2% in 2008. Online video and local search will drive 30% growth in internet ad expenditure this year, to nine times faster that the rest of the ad market. Between 2006… Continue reading Olympic Games To Lift TV’s Share Of Global Ad Market

Last week, SMG announced that its revenues were flat at £88.5 million, with the group understood to be postponing its plans to float its Virgin Radio business.SMG also announced that it appointed former Chrysalis radio chief executive Richard Huntingford as executive chairman of Virgin Radio (Full Story).Havas, the global advertising and communications services group, reported… Continue reading Media In The City: SMG Postpones Plans To Float Virgin Radio

Channel 4 is to celebrate its 25th birthday by giving viewers the chance to watch hours of their favourite shows.The hit programmes, including Father Ted and Brookside, will be aired each night on More4 from September 30 until the channel’s birthday weekend on November 2.Classic episodes of shows such as Brookside, Comic Strip, Queer As… Continue reading Channel 4 To Air Classic Shows For 25th Birthday

Trinity Mirror has announced that it will not be selling its regional news titles in the Midlands and South East, adding that it has agreed the sale of the Racing Post for £170 million. Trinity Mirror said that it had failed to secure high enough offers for its regional titles. In a statement released today,… Continue reading Trinity Mirror Abandons Regional Paper Sell-Off

Future has sold its French operations to WM7 for €18 million, as it continues its strategy of only investing in English language content. Of the €18 million, €13.2 million is payable in cash and up to €4.8 million is payable in 2010 dependent on the achievement of certain revenue targets by Future France. The group… Continue reading Future Sells French Business