Shares in regional newspaper group Newscom rose sharply as Gannett asked permission from the DTI to make a bid for the company (see Gannett Seeks Permission To Bid For Newscom). Prices closed up 235p to £12.52˝p.Flextech’s prices climbed 7˝p as merger talks heightened (see Telewest And Flextech Reveal Merger Talks); shares closed at £14.20p on… Continue reading Sharewatch
Sky Sports has secured a three-year deal with the Football Association of Ireland for the UK rights to Irish international games. Under the terms of the agreement the broadcaster will hold the live rights to all home internationals involving the Republic of Ireland up to the end of the 2002 season, all home World Cup… Continue reading Sky Sports Gains Irish Football Rights
US publishing giant, Gannett, has written to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to seek permission to make formal takeover bid for UK regional newspaper publisher, Newscom. Gannett has decided to find out whether a Competition Commission investigation would prevent such a takeover before placing a formal offer with the Stock Exchange.Earlier in the… Continue reading Gannett Seeks Permission To Bid For Newscom
Satellite broadcaster BSkyB has acquired a 10% stake in UK computer games portal and community, gameplay.com. As part of the deal, Sky and gameplay have entered into a strategic alliance through which Gameplay will become BSkyB’s computer and video games ecommerce partner across Sky’s online interests, including www.sky.co.uk. The partnership includes Gameplay committing to a… Continue reading BSkyB Buys Into Gaming Portal
Cable company NTL has this morning announced a major carriage contract with pay-TV programme supplier Flextech. The deal gives NTL access to all of Flextech’s channels, including the UKTV portfolio of stations produced in partnership with the BBC. There will also be a joint marketing initiative set up to promote the channels and particularly their… Continue reading NTL Signs Major Carriage Deal With Flextech
Reed International moved to the top of the FTSE yesterday after the publisher laid down its internet strategy. Share prices in the group, which plans to invest between £150-200 million on its net plans, rose 59žp to 443p, despite a profits warning.BSkyB jumped 63p to a record 938˝p after the broadcaster bought a 10% stake… Continue reading Sharewatch
As predicted the recently-merged Trinity Mirror group has consolidated the remainder of its regional newspaper sales into the Amra sales house (see Trinity And Mirror Expected To Merge Sales). Amra, which is owned by Trinity (see Trinity Acquires Amra), is to take over from the Mirror Group’s regional sales operation by handling Trinity Mirror’s 45… Continue reading Trinity Mirror Consolidates Regional Sales Into Amra
Newcastle United has formed a media partnership with NTL, in which the cable group will increase its stake in the club and obtain sponsorship and marketing rights in return for a £25 million interest-free loan. NTL will invest £5 million in Newcastle for an additional 3.6% stake; the repayment of its loan to the club… Continue reading NTL Unveils Media Partnership With Newcastle United
The Informa Group has bought the Newsletters division of the Financial Times, adding 60 newsletters, 600 management reports and 24 directories to its portfolio. Informa will pay a total of £13.5 million to Financial Times Business (FTB) for the titles which were put up for sale in September.Informa emerged as one of the likely suitors… Continue reading Informa Acquires Financial Times Newsletters
EMAP has this morning announced plans to develop a new digital media initiative targeting the UK’s television production market. In a joint venture with Channel 5 and netdecisions, EMAP will launch produxion.com in January 2000.The website has been developed over the last six months to provide the UK’s television programming market – estimated to be… Continue reading EMAP To Launch Web Portal For UK TV Production Industry
