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ITV partners Granada and Carlton Communications both announced rising profits today and hope to realise cost savings of £100 million from their imminent merger (see ITV Cleared To Merge With Sales Houses Intact). The two companies previously indicated that the tie-up would bring £55 million of annualised cost savings (see Carlton/Granada Move Closer To £2.6bn… Continue reading Granada And Carlton Reveal New Savings Target

The White House and the US congress have reached a compromise in their dispute over new media ownership laws after the row threatened to scupper a major spending bill. Both parties have agreed to a 39% cap on the proportion of the national television audience that a single network can reach. The Republican-led Federal Communications… Continue reading Deal Reached On US Media Rules

Former Starcom Motive vice chairman, David Connolly, has been named as the independent adjudicator responsible for overseeing airtime sales at ITV following the merger of Carlton and Granada. His appointment was made by Ofcom and the Independent Television Commission and is mandated by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry as a pre-condition of… Continue reading Connolly To Oversee ITV Airtime Sales

Richard Desmond, owner of Express Newspapers and Lord Rothermere’s Daily Mail & General Trust could be ruled out for the race to buy the Telegraph Group amid concerns they could face investigation by competition authorities. Both newspaper groups have shown an interest in the owner of the Telegraph titles, which is expected to be put… Continue reading Big Guns Could Be Ruled Out Of Race For Telegraph Titles

Revenues at the Wireless Group have risen by 24% during September, October and November, with the company’s flagship talkSPORT jumping by 28%, 42% and 38% respectively. In a trading statement released this morning, the company said that the local radio stations saw revenues up by 11% in September, 23% in October and 19% in November.… Continue reading Wireless Group Shares Rally On 24% Revenue Growth

UBC Media, the UK radio group, says that advertising revenues have shown a marked improvement in the last few months of its first half, but claims that trading conditions remain challenging despite a stronger performance since September. The group managed to reduce its pre-tax losses for the six months 30 September from £1.0 million last… Continue reading UBC Media Sees Ad Revenue Improvements As Losses Fall

Online music sales are unlikely to drive a revival in the music industry and revenues will continue to fall for the time being, according to a study by Informa Media Group. The report, entitled The Global Music Industry, claims that the value of global music sales will drop for the fourth year in a row… Continue reading Record Companies Cannot Bank On Digital Sales

The sale of two North London newspapers by Independent News & Media (INM) to Newsquest has been approved by the competition minister Gerry Sutcliffe today. The Hornsey Journal and the North London Weekly Herald can now be sold to Newsquest along with the Islington Gazette. Earlier this year INM agreed to sell its entire portfolio… Continue reading INM Cleared For London Papers Sale To Newsquest

Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) has become the latest radio group to report a strong set of financial results this week, following good postings from GWR (see GWR Profits Treble With Strong Local Group Performance) and Chysalis (see Chrysalis Profits Surge As Outperformance Continues). Like for like broadcast revenues were up by 6% during the year… Continue reading Scottish Radio Sees Airtime Revenue Up 6% In 2003

Richard Desmond, proprietor of Express Newspapers, is understood to have instructed his financial advisors to put together a bid for the Telegraph Group, amid increasing interest in the assets of parent company Hollinger International (see Black Leaves Troubled Hollinger As Predators Circle). The Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT) is also understood to be among… Continue reading Desmond Puts Together Bid For Telegraph Titles