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Hollinger chairman Lord Black faces a frosty reception from shareholders tomorrow as concerns mount over falling ad revenues and huge debts at the international media group. Operating revenues at the Telegraph Group, Hollinger’s UK newspaper division, totalled £84 million in the first quarter of 2003, down from £86.6 million in the same period last year.… Continue reading Telegraph Group Sees No Upturn In 2003

Airtime advertising revenue growth at Granada scraped into positive figures during the first half, with the company today reporting a 1% rise to £442 million. Despite the weak ad figures, Granada’s turnover and earnings were significantly stronger than expected by Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers analysts (see ITV Ad Revenue To Drop 2% In 2003,… Continue reading Granada H1 Earnings Rise, June Ad Revenue Down

The Department of Trade & Industry has announced that the bid by regional publisher Newsquest for 45 titles currently owned by Independent News & Media has been referred to the Competition Commission. It was revealed two months ago that IN&M was selling its UK regional newspaper business in a deal worth £60 million (see Independent… Continue reading Competition Commission To Investigate Latest Newsquest Deal

Recent forecasts show that more than $50 billion will be spent on online purchases in the US this year and there are signs that internet retailers are prospering at the expense of their offline rivals. A report from The Media Audit shows that 29.6 million US homea have made five or more online purchases in… Continue reading INSIGHTanalysis: US Ecommerce Estimates & Forecasts

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has begun the formal review process of News Corporation’s proposed acquisition of the US satellite operator DirecTV. News Corp supremo Rupert Murdoch announced last month that a deal had been struck which would give his company a satellite foothold in the United States (see Murdoch Seals Acquisition Of DirecTV). The… Continue reading Murdoch Puts The Case For Sky America

UK magazine publisher, Highbury House Communications, says that trading in the first quarter of the year has been encouraging, with profits ahead of last year. The group says that the consumer portfolio is performing well, although difficult conditions remain in the business publishing market. However, a few business sectors have shown some improvement. Trading figures… Continue reading Highbury House Sees Encouraging Trading, Despite Iraq Glitch

Deals that see advertisers agreeing to commit a proportion of their budget to ITV in return for air-time discounts, could be banned by the Competition Commission if the proposed merger of Carlton and Granada is allowed to go ahead. The ban is one of a number of suggestions being put forward by the Commission, which… Continue reading Competition Commission May Ban ITV Share Deals

The widely anticipated consolidation of the commercial radio industry suffered a set-back this morning, with confirmation that the Competition Commission has blocked GWR’s bid to buy Chrysalis Radio’s Galaxy 101 and merge it with Vibe FM. GWR, which jointly owns Vibe Radio Services with Scottish Radio Holdings, announced its intention to buy the Bristol-based dance… Continue reading Watchdog Blocks GWR-Backed Acquisition Of Galaxy 101

Regional newspaper publisher Johnston Press continues to perform competently and is on target to achieve year-end targets, according to analysts at Merrill Lynch. The ‘modest’ growth seen in the first quarter (see Johnston Press Remains ‘Acquisitive’ As Profits Rise) has been maintained throughout April and May. Advertising revenue is up 2% in 2003, in line… Continue reading Advertising Upturn Helps Johnston To Prosper

Online retailer Lastminute.com yesterday reported its second successive quarterly loss as the war in Iraq and the SARS virus impacted on the travel industry. Although higher than envisaged, the deficit of £4.2 million (before goodwill, exceptional items and taxation) represented an improvement on the same period last year when losses totalled £5.3 million. Total transaction… Continue reading Losses Fail To Dent Confidence At Lastminute