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Shares in ITV have dropped 5% after BSkyB acquired a 17.9% stake in the broadcaster for £940 million. The move by Sky now makes a possible takeover by NTL of ITV (see NTL Telewest Could Merge With ITV) unlikely. The BBC quotes Sir Richard Branson, NTL’s biggest shareholder, as saying of the Sky deal: “BSkyB’s… Continue reading ITV Share Price Falls After BSkyB Acquires Stake

RTL Group, which is rumoured to be interested in acquiring ITV, has announced that it has sold its remaining 25% shareholding in Sportfive, the European sports rights marketing firm, to Lagardère SCA. Last week it was reported that RTL, Europe’s largest broadcaster, was in talks with private equity backers on a possible £5 billion bid… Continue reading RTL Sells Sportfive Stake To Lagardère

Reed Elsevier has announced that it is on track to deliver on its target of 5% organic revenue growth for the year, although its eduction division has suffered from underperformance and a weak textbook market. In an update on trading, Reed Elsevier said that it is performing well in the Science and Health markets, with… Continue reading Reed Elsevier On Target To Deliver 5% Revenue Growth

Merrill Lynch (ML) is again raising its US online ad forecasts, to account for the third quarter IAB results and its own higher fourth quarter growth estimate. ML is now forecasting Q4 growth of 30% year on year, up from 27%, and full year growth for 2006 of 34%, up from 31%. For the full… Continue reading Merrill Lynch Raises US Online Ad Forecast

RTL, the German media group, is apparently working with private equity backers on a possible £5 billion bid for ITV. The RTL bid, according to today’s Financial Times, would see private equity groups putting forward most of the funds needed to acquire ITV. A deal structured in this way would enable RTL to acquire a… Continue reading RTL And Equity Firms Could Make ITV Bid

Sir Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP, has named Michael Jackson, former head of Channel 4, as his preferred candidate for the chief executive role at ITV. According to reports in the trade press, Jackson, at the moment president of programming at InterActiveCorp, is being lined up to become chief executive if the NTL/ITV merger… Continue reading Sorrell Gives Jackson Backing For ITV Top Job.

Ofcom today announced a total ban on advertisements for food and drink products which are high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) in all children’s programming, broadcast at any time of day or night, which hold particular appeal for children up to 16. Ofcom has estimated that the impact on total broadcast revenues could be… Continue reading TV Junk Food Ban Could See Channel’s Lose £39 Million Per Year

Arqiva has announced the signing of a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with BT to acquire the full-time service components of BT’s satellite broadcast services business for £25 million in cash. The deal will include long-term customer contracts, operations and personnel located in the USA, France, Italy and the Netherlands, as well as the UK.… Continue reading Arqiva To Acquire BT’s Satellite Broadcast Business

The owners of digital music players (DMPs) in the US represent an attractive audience for consumer electronics advertisers, according to new research from comScore Networks. ComScore says that 27% of all US internet users currently own one or more DMPs, with online DMP owners slightly more likely to be male (53%) and more than one… Continue reading Owners of Digital Music Players Have High Affinity For Online Shopping

Clear Channel Communications has been sold for $19 billion, to private equity firms Bain Capita and Thomas H Lee. Last week it was rumoured that JCDecaux was on the verge of making a bid for Clear Channel Outdoor, which would have seen it become the world’s largest outdoor advertising company, worth an estimated £12 billion… Continue reading Clear Channel Sold For $19 Billion