The deal to create digital horseracing and betting channel, Go Racing, could be in jeopardy as the British Horseracing Board (BHB) has so far failed to fulfil a major condition of the arrangement in a move the Go Racing CEO has described as “plainly ludicrous.”Having reached an agreement with the majority of British racecourses (see… Continue reading Go Racing Deal Could Be Halted By Pre-Race Data Problem
John Hardie, commercial director at ITV has unexpectedly quit to take up a position at Walt Disney overseeing the groups TV operations across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. DCMS head of strategy and communications, Paul Bolt, has been appointed director of The Broadcasting Standards Commission. David Wheldon has been promoted to the role of… Continue reading Appointments Brief
ITV will issue the tender specifications for its national news contract in the next week and ITN will face competition for the first time.ITN, which is jointly owned by Carlton, Granada, UBM and Reuters will be challenged by Channel 3 News, a consortium formed by BSkyB, CBS, Bloomberg, Chrysalis and Ulster TV.An ITV spokesperson today… Continue reading ITV News Up For Grabs As Bidding Process Begins
Media analyst group ABN Amro has downgraded its global ad forecasts following a “weaker than expected start to 2001”. Estimates for global advertising growth, which had previously stood at 3.4%, have now been reduced to just 1.3%.Amro cites weaknesses in the telecoms and technology markets, shifts in media mix by FMCG companies and the current… Continue reading ABN Amro Downgrades Global Ad Forecasts
After announcing a pre-tax loss of £69m in its interim results yesterday (see Continued Ad Revenue Woe At Granada, But Results Are Top End Of Predictions), shares in Granada remained stable, holding at £1.67.The boat continued to rock for Bright Station with shares plunging 17.2% to close at 7¼p, with a loss of 1½p. This… Continue reading Sharewatch
Channel 5 has announced that it will move its main evening news bulletin to 7.30pm and introduce a new bulletin at 5.30pm. The extra bulletin allows the channel to sidestep an ITC decision stating that news must be shown during peak time.The new bulletins, which will begin on 16 July, mean that the channel will… Continue reading Channel 5 Sidesteps ITC Decision With New 5.30pm News Bulletin
Media news and information group, MediaTel, have launched a new online intelligence resource, which provides analysis of the latest advertising market trends and forecasts for the media market.MediaTel Insight is the first media forecast, ownership and business news service of its kind. It brings together the latest UK city news and UK ownership details, collates… Continue reading MediaTel Group Offers New Insight Into The Media Market
The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics show that the underlying rate of inflation bucked the recent downward trend during May, jumping to 2.4% due to rising food prices.Although still below the government’s target of 2.5% this has surprised the market after the preceding months showed consistently low growth in inflation. The headline… Continue reading Underlying Inflation Rate Shows Increase Due To Rising Food Prices
Granada has confirmed a gloomy outlook for TV revenues in the coming months with the release of its interim results today. In the face of a 5.4% drop in broadcast advertising revenue for the first half, the company is has warned of cost cutting measures, including, it is believed, the loss of 100 jobs, in… Continue reading Granada Confirms Difficult Market With Interim Results
Dr Kim Howells has been appointed Minister for Tourism, Film and Broadcasting as the Blair government settles in for a second term. Howells, MP for Pontypridd, has been given the role of Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), now headed up by Tessa Jowell (see Smith Replaced… Continue reading New Minister For Tourism, Film And Broadcasting Appointed
