Yahoo! has agreed to purchase online advertising company Overture in a deal worth over £1 billion.The agreement will see Overture become a wholly owned subsidiary of Yahoo!, which will take-over as the largest global player in the rapidly expanding search targeted marketing sector.Overture’s chief executive, Ted Meisel, will continue to head up the company’s operations… Continue reading Yahoo! Acquires Overture In £1bn Deal
The Financial Times has appointed Ben Hughes to the newly created role of worldwide advertising director.Hughes, previously director for Continental Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific, will now take on responsibility for FT’s print and online advertising sales operations around the globe.He will continue to report to Olivier Fleurot, chief executive officer for the… Continue reading FT Appoints Hughes As New Worldwide Ad Director
Gloomy news has emerged from the latest edition of the IPA’s Bellwether Report, which shows that more marketers are reducing their budgets than are increasing them. The report, published today, found that 29% of companies questioned are revising their current budgets downwards, with just 18% reporting an upward revision. This leaves a net balance of… Continue reading INSIGHTanalysis: IPA Report Shows Few Signs Of Marketing Improvement
The IPA’s quarterly Bellwether report, published today, has quashed hopes of an improvement in fortunes for the advertising industry by revealing that marketing budgets were revised down again during the second quarter of this year.The report attributes the cut in budgets, which was the worst since Q4 2001, to disappointing sales and revenue growth, as… Continue reading Bellwether Reveals Continuing Uncertainty For UK Marketers
A slowing of demand in the UK’s digital television market has caused sales at set-top box manufacturer, Pace Microtechnology, to fall by 41% over the last year to just 1.3 million units. Announcing its year-end financial results this morning, the group reported revenues down by 52.6% to £166.6 million for the twelve months to 31… Continue reading Pace Sales Dip 40% As UK Digital TV Market Stabilises
Kevin Lygo, Five’s outgoing director of programmes, has made his final move to distance the channel from its downmarket image and is to drop all remaining softcore pornographic content from the schedules before he steps down at the end of the month.Lygo, who is set replace Tim Gardam as director of television at Channel 4… Continue reading Lygo Strips Channel Five Of All Adult Content
UK publishing group Highbury House Communications (HHC) has made a £32 million offer for Paragon Publishing, which produces magazines in the videogames, personal computing and internet and home entertainment sectors. Highbury says that the deal will create one of the UK’s leading special interest consumer publishers and the third largest publicly-quoted consumer magazine publishing group.… Continue reading Highbury House To Buy Paragon Publishing For £32m
Advertising and marketing conditions in the second quarter are shaping up to be similar to Q1, with positive trends in the US whilst elsewhere remains mixed and quite weak, according to analysts at Merrill Lynch. Indications are of an upward momentum, with improved trading at the media companies likely to be followed by a similar… Continue reading MediaTel Insight: Merrill Lynch Tweaks Advertising Forecasts
WPP was seen in focus, up 5.61% week on week, despite concerns that its bid to take- over troubled advertising group, Cordiant Communications, may be scuppered by a mysterious investor, who is believed to be in cohorts with Publicis.Cordiant was seen up 6.67% week on week after Nahed Ojjeh, the Syrian-born chess promoter, increased her… Continue reading Sharewatch: WPP Rises Despite Cordiant Struggle
Roger Parry, head of Clear Channel International, has hit back at Capital Radio’s David Mansfield for ruling out a potential take-over by the American radio giant.Speaking at last week’s Radio Academy Festival in Birmingham, Mansfield said there would be a “major clash” if the world’s largest radio operator tried to swoop on Capital following the… Continue reading Clear Channel Boss Hits Back At Capital Radio
