Portsmouth & Sunderland Newspapers is advising shareholders to reject an offer from Johnston Press, saying it has received approaches from potential rival bidders. Johnston, which made an unsuccessful takeover approach to P&SN last November, announced fresh plans to buy a major stake in the company last week.Edinburgh-based Johnston said it had struck a deal with… Continue reading New Approaches For Portsmouth & Sunderland
The GWR radio group has welcomed the Radio Authority’s announcement last week to replace its Promises Of Performance with Formats as a means of regulating commercial radio output (see Newsline).Chief executive of GWR, Ralph Bernard, commented: “We welcome this announcement as a move in the right direction by the Radio Authority, although it remains to… Continue reading GWR Cautiously Welcomes RA’s New Formats
Monday A TV Round-Up for December 1998 will be available on Newsline and in the Television features list.Tuesday The Mirror Group is to hold a board meeting to discuss its current position in the takeover talks between Trinity International and Regional Independent Media (see Mirror Group Rejects £913m RIM Bid). Reports suggest that either chief… Continue reading The Week Ahead
Sir Robin Biggam, chairman of the Independent Television Commission (ITC), talked about the changes in broadcasting which have taken place over the last decade and their implications for the ITC as a regulatory body, at a Royal Television Society Dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London last week.Although he acknowledged that the watchdog has taken… Continue reading ITC Chairman Defends Watershed As A Method Of Regulation
EMAP Active’s managing director, Barry Dennis, has left the publisher after 34 years. At the same time he becomes chairman of EMAP Promotions. Video retailer, Blockbuster, is to sponsor The Movie Chart Show on Channel 5. The show will run for a 12 week stint starting from 24 January, and is to be presented by… Continue reading Newsline Brief
The Independent Television Commission (ITC) is to carry out an inquiry into the way BSkyB charges for its premium sports and movie channels.Currently, BSkyB’s premium channels are provided at an expensive rate for the first channel supplied, with subsequent channels in the genre offered for just a slight increment in price. For example, the satellite… Continue reading BSkyB To Face ITC Price Enquiry
IPC Magazines is cranking up its marketing drive for the women’s weeklies titles (see IPC Launches £9m Women’s Weeklies Drive), with TV campaigns for Now, Woman and Woman’s Weekly all starting next month. The titles join the campaign for Chat, which launched at the beginning of the year.The £1 million push for Woman, which follows… Continue reading IPC Extends Women’s Weeklies Promo Campaigns
Almost two thirds of UK adults now claim to know a little bit about digital television, according to the latest report by CIASensor for December 1998. However, there still appears to be confusion over what it actually is, with familiarity being highest amongst young males and cable/satellite viewers.The CIA survey involved in-depth interviews with families… Continue reading ‘Digital TV Popular With Early Customers’ Says CIA
The board of the Mirror Group has rejected the the takeover offer from Regional Independent Media as it stands at £913 million, or 200p per share (see Mirror Faces Possible Bidding War). Amid reports of boardroom dissension, the company has decided to seek a better price from RIM and is open to discussions on this… Continue reading Mirror Group Rejects £913m RIM Bid
Publisher of Emap Metro’s film titles Empire and Neon, Andy Semple, has moved to Dennis Publishing. He replaces Mark Williamson, who left Dennis seven months ago, as publisher on Maxim. Cabal Communications has delayed the launch of its new title Crime Weekly. The new magazine was due to be launched on 29 January, but is… Continue reading Newsline Brief
