BSkyB has secured a £95m TV rights deal with the Football League to screen live matches from the Nationwide Football League and Worthington Cup.The four-year deal, which sees BSkyB picking up the pieces after the collapse of the League’s TV rights agreement with ITV Digital (see ITV Digital Dispute Goes Into Extra Time), will deliver… Continue reading BSkyB Helps Football League With £95m TV Rights Deal
UKbetting has acquired Sports.com’s betting arm for £670,000, taking its user base to more than 100,000.The acquisition of SCG Enterprises, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sports.com, is part of UKbetting’s aggressive expansion strategy and is intended to compliment the group’s existing online brands. The company’s customers will now be able to access betting… Continue reading UKbetting Acquires Sports.com’s Betting Arm
ITV has announced a sponsorship deal for its Tour de France coverage. Halfords is sponsoring programming on ITV1 and ITV2 on the event, which began at the weekend.Over 52 hours of live coverage and nightly highlights will go out on ITV2, while ITV1 will show four Monday night review programmes. The deal, negotiated by Carlton… Continue reading Halfords Sponsors ITV Tour de France Coverage
Channel 4 has strongly denied claims that the future of FilmFour and its digital entertainment channel E4 could be threatened by the ITC’s decision to award the digital terrestrial licences made available following the collapse of ITV Digital to the BBC and BSkyB (see NewsLine). However, today executives are believed to be meeting to decide… Continue reading Channel 4 Denies Future Of Pay TV Channels In Doubt
The successful bid by the BBC led coalition for the DTT licences formerly held by ITV Digital could mark a watershed in UK broadcasting, according to analysts at Lehman Brothers.The Independent Television Commission (ITC) last week awarded the available multiplex licences to the BBC, Crown Castle and BSkyB consortium. The three organisations are set to… Continue reading BBC/BSkyB To Reap Fruits Of DTT Victory, Says Lehman Brothers
Telewest was the best performer in yesterday’s media market with shares rising 9.09% to close at 3p following an announcement from the beleaguered cable firm that it is to start talks with bondholders and Liberty Media about restructuring its balance sheet (see Telewest Agrees To Discuss Refinancing).BSkyB improved 4.76% to finish at £6.02 after the… Continue reading Sharewatch
Attic Futura’s tvhits! magazine is undergoing a relaunch and from 9 July will pitch itself as “Britain’s only celebrity teen lifestyle magazine”.Lara Wilkins, the magazine’s publisher, commented: “We feel now is the right time to build on what we’ve achieved over the past 13 years. Not only will the relaunch give our readers more of… Continue reading Relaunch For Attic Futura’s Teen Celebrity Title
Pearson has today ended speculation that it was prepared to sell its FT Business magazines by confirming that the titles are to be retained within the organisation.A management team led by Stephen Hill, former chief executive of the Financial Times Group, had tabled a bid, believed to be in the region of £80 million, for… Continue reading Pearson Opts To Keep FT Business
Adam Phillips, managing director of the company behind the new BARB ratings systems, has resigned amid continuing controversy over the accuracy of TV viewing figures generated under the new panel.BARB has come in for considerable criticism since it introduced its new audience measurement system, which is run by contractor ATR UK, with broadcasters and advertisers… Continue reading MD Of Company Behind New BARB Ratings System Resigns
The UK Direct Marketing industry is “outperforming” its advertising counterparts with expenditure increasing by 10% year on year during 2001 to over £11 billion, according to figures released by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).Mike Barnes, director of marketing at the DMA, said: “To see a growth in direct marketing at a time when total advertising… Continue reading Direct Marketing Industry Shows 10% Growth In 2001
