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ITV Play and This Morning will both have their interactive quizzes restored having been cleared by ITV’s internal review.ITV suspended all interactive programming last week following allegations that there had been irregularities regarding its premium rate phone lines (see ITV Suspends Premium Rate Phone-Ins).Although the ITV Play channel is still off-air, some of its programming… Continue reading ITV Review Clears Interactive Quizzes

Each week, NewsLine brings you a round-up of the latest news from the City affecting the media industry.The main media City news this week was all financial, with RTL, the owner of Five, announcing that it recorded growth in earnings of 12.3% in 2006 (Full Story).United Business Media saw revenues grow by 17% to £739.1… Continue reading Media In The City

Virgin Media will launch its own Freeview box, which could be a “stop gap” measure to provide digital TV ahead of its IPTV service to be launched next year, according to reports in the trade press.The company is thought to be considering several options, including a Freeview box combined with PVR, similar to its V-Plus… Continue reading Virgin Media Close To Launching Own Freeview Box

At the end of this month the fifth terrestrial channel will have been broadcasting for 10 years. During that time the landscape of British television has changed drastically.Sky Digital now dominates the pay-tv market, ITV Digital launched and collapsed, Ofcom replaced ITC and reality television is overtaking TV schedules around the world.During its early years,… Continue reading Five 10th Birthday – From Sunset Beach To Grey’s Anatomy

ITV has appointed Rick Mitz as senior vice president, American programming for ITV Channels.In this new role Mitz will be working as part of director of acquisitions, Jay Kandola’s team to bring the best of US acquired programming to ITV’s portfolio of channels.Mitz, who is based in Los Angeles, has spent the last 13 years… Continue reading ITV Appoints Head Of American Programming

Consumers in the Asia-Pacific region will increasingly opt for higher-end set-top boxes that support personal video recorder (PVR) and high-definition features, according to a new study from ABI Research. This trend will be driven to a large degree by China, which will see the region’s largest increase in subscriber numbers. Serene Fong, broadband research analyst,… Continue reading Asia-Pacific Set For Growth In High-End Set Top Boxes

A range of measures have been announced in response to the premium rate phone-in debacle, with ICSTIS saying that it will introduce systematic monitoring of broadcasters and a licensing regime for premium rate service providers.The ICSTIS chairman, Sir Alistair Graham, said his priority was to ensure viewers got a “fair deal” from broadcasters, after the… Continue reading ICSTIS Outlines Plan To Tackle Phone-In Controversy

The Guardian is to invest £15 million in its websites over the coming 18 months, as it aims to ensure its digital services keep pace with change.Speaking at the Online Publishers Association conference, the Guardian Media Group chief executive, Carolyn McCall, announced the planned investment and said that it was imperative if the organisation was… Continue reading Guardian To Invest £15 Million In Its Websites

Five made a €1 million (£680,000) loss in 2006, with its owner, RTL, putting this down to the slowdown in the advertising market and the cost of launching the two digital channels, Five Life and Five US.Five’s revenues were down to £318 million in 2006, from £324 million in 2005, whilst its share of the… Continue reading Five Makes €1 Million Loss

US internet advertising revenues for 2006 are estimated at $16.8 billion, a 34% increase over the previous record of $12.5 billion in 2005, according to new figures from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The 2006 Q4 revenues totaled just under $4.8 billion, making it the highest quarter reported. Fourth-quarter revenues for 2006… Continue reading 2006 US Internet Ad Revenues Increase