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Active Value has refused to accept defeat in its attempt to scupper WPP’s bid for Cordiant despite the decision of two prominent executives to withdraw their candidacy for places on the board. Richard Wheatly, the ex-Jazz FM chief, and Stephen Davidson, a former WestLB Panmure executive have announced that they will no longer be standing… Continue reading Active Value Running Out Of Options In Cordiant Saga

Subscriber growth at BSkyB is set to beat consensus expectations when the group releases its full-year financial results on 11 August, according to Lehman Brothers analysts. The broker forecasts that Sky will add a further 128,000 customers to its digital satellite service, taking the total to 6.84 million. This growth prediction is at the top… Continue reading BSkyB Results To Beat Consensus, Says Lehman Brothers

Further trading information from key advertising businesses confirms that Q2 is shaping up to be very similar to Q1, that is to say relatively flat throughout, according to Merrill Lynch analysts. As mentioned earlier this week – when the broker tweaked its US ad growth forecasts (see Merrill Lynch Tweaks Advertising Forecasts) – the US… Continue reading Agencies See Flat To Negative Second Quarter

Shares in Cordiant Communications were delisted today as WPP moved closer to completing the takeover of the struggling advertising group. In an anticipated move, the London Stock Exchange said this morning that securities in Cordiant had been cancelled from their official listing. There can be no more trading in the company’s stock. There is now… Continue reading WPP Closes In On Cordiant, Shares Delisted

Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher in the US, has announced a 6.7% increase in second quarter earnings, boosted by stronger advertising at its UK operations. The company, which has a portfolio of 100 daily newspapers in the US, including USA Today, reported that profits grew to $324.3 million from $303.9 million in Q2 2002. Similarly,… Continue reading Gannett Revenues Bolstered By Newsquest Sales

United Pan-Europe Communications, the largest cable television company in Europe, has taken a step closer to emerging from bankruptcy after the Dutch attorney general advised the supreme court to reject a creditor appeal blocking the move. Earlier this year, UPC’s restructuring programme was approved by shareholders (see UPC On The Road To Recovery) and the… Continue reading UPC Ready To Emerge From Bankruptcy

US newspaper groups Dow Jones and New York Times Company have both reported Q2 advertising revenue figures slightly ahead of Merrill Lynch analysts’ expectations. NYT saw advertising revenues rise by 3.3% to $480 million during the quarter, $3 million better than analyst forecasts. However, whilst circulation revenues rose by 4.4% to $221 million, this was… Continue reading US Newspaper Publishers See Some Ad Gains

The Premier League could face investigation by European competition regulators if it accepts an all-encompassing £1 billion bid for live Premiership rights from BSkyB, according to a report in The Independent today. Friday saw the deadline for bids to show Premiership football for three years from the 2004/5 season. In a bid to appease the… Continue reading BSkyB Bids To Retain Premiership Prize

Yahoo! has agreed to purchase online advertising company Overture in a deal worth over £1 billion. The agreement will see Overture become a wholly owned subsidiary of Yahoo!, which will take-over as the largest global player in the rapidly expanding search targeted marketing sector. Overture’s chief executive, Ted Meisel, will continue to head up the… Continue reading Yahoo! Acquires Overture In £1bn Deal

Gloomy news has emerged from the latest edition of the IPA’s Bellwether Report, which shows that more marketers are reducing their budgets than are increasing them. The report, published today, found that 29% of companies questioned are revising their current budgets downwards, with just 18% reporting an upward revision. This leaves a net balance of… Continue reading INSIGHTanalysis: IPA Report Shows Few Signs Of Marketing Improvement