Satellite broadcaster BSkyB has secured a foothold in the growing German pay-TV market by taking a near £1 billion stake in the country’s leading subscription broadcaster, Kirch.Sky is to pay DM2.9 million (£930 million) for a 24% stake in KirchPayTV. The deal between Kirch and BSkyB follows months of discussions which were stalled, over the… Continue reading BSkyB Moves Into German Pay-TV Market
FIFA, the international governing body for football, has announced that it is to allow pay-television channels to bid for the broadcasting rights to the 2002 World Cup. The move raises the possibility of all but a handful of matches being broadcast solely by pay-TV cable and satellite companies, although FIFA has guaranteed that matches involving… Continue reading FIFA Signals The End Of Free To Air World Cup
The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) has this week relaunched its website at www.ipa.co.uk. The site, which is designed and hosted by MediaTel Net, provides IPA members and guests with access to information about the Institute’s activities, services and publications.The IPA represents the interests of advertising agencies to the Government, media owners and unions,… Continue reading IPA Relaunches MediaTel-Designed Website
Pay-TV group Flextech, which announced the acquisition of international television programme distributor Minotaur last week (see Flextech Buys Distribution Company), saw its shares soar during Friday. Stock closed at the end of trading last week up a massive 267˝p (24.7%) at 1,350p.The announcement by cable company Telewest on Friday that it is lining up ecommerce… Continue reading Sharewatch
The shake-up in the world of ITV, caused by Carlton and United News & Media’s proposed £7.8 billion merger (see Media Merger May Hit Regulatory Obstacles), is continuing to have an effect of media companies’ stock this week. Granada, which has effectively been left out in the cold by the merger, strengthened 13˝p to 528˝p… Continue reading Sharewatch
Cable company Telewest Communications has this morning announced partnership with a raft of High Street and online businesses to drive the ecommerce facilities of its interactive television service. Thirteen companies, including Abbey National, lastminute.com, Hertz and Thomas Cook, are already on board for the roll-out of the service in the first quarter of next year.Available… Continue reading Telewest Builds Interactive Service To Rival Open
Following its AGM yesterday, the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) has decided on the new members for its Council. Competition for places on the Council was strong this year, particularly in the business press sector where nine candidates competed for just three seats (see Publishers Vie For Place On ABC Council). Similarly, the three regional… Continue reading ABC Announces New Council Members
Channel 5 has signed a £12.6 million deal with Warner Brother International Television securing exclusive rights to the terrestrial premieres of the studio’s 1999 film output. The contract is a boost for Channel 5, which has agreed with the Independent Television Commission (ITC), as part of its licence, to show a feature film every evening.Warner’s… Continue reading C5 Takes Exclusive Warner Films Terrestrial Rights For £12.6m
The world’s largest market research company, ACNielsen Corporation, has acquired Media Monitoring Services (MMS), a provider advertising measurement services in the UK, for an undisclosed sum.MMS, a privately held company, offers comprehensive coverage of the UK’s advertising industry. It tracks advertising activity, spending and creative content across the print, television, radio, direct mail, cinema and… Continue reading ACNielsen Acquires Media Monitoring Services
BSkyB has won the rights to broadcast the Ryder Cup golf tournament for the next four years, or two competitions. The deal will be a blow to the BBC which is understood to be hoping to win back sports rights under new director-general Greg Dyke. Sky took the live broadcasting rights to Cup away from… Continue reading Sky Extends Ryder Cup Contract By Three Years
