More Media Business articles

The war in Iraq has had a significant short-term effect on media industry confidence, with the majority of senior professionals expecting the UK economy to decline over the next three months. The findings of a study carried out by the Media Guardian and NOP show that 51% of media owners, advertisers and media planners expect… Continue reading War Knocks Media Confidence In The Short-Term

Having so far escaped the advertising recession relatively unscathed, the UK’s regional press may be in for a tougher period as economic and consumer factors turn against the sector. According to economists and media analysts at Merrill Lynch, the outlook for critical factors is now ‘overwhelmingly negative’. Around 84% of regional newspaper advertising revenues are… Continue reading Conditions ‘Overwhelmingly Negative’ For UK Regional Press

According to press reports, Dennis Publishing has launched a bid for for the magazine company, I Feel Good as it seeks to extend its portfolio of titles in the UK. IFG announced last week that it had received a bid for its assets, which include adult comic Viz and lads mag Jack. The Sunday Times… Continue reading Dennis Linked With Move For IFG

Omnicom Group remained the world’s largest advertising organisation in revenue terms in 2002, according to the newly-released Advertising Age Agency Report from AdAge. The report shows that Omnicom’s 9.4% rise in revenues extended its lead over number two network, Interpublic Group, which saw an 8.7% decline year on year. With WPP remaining in third place… Continue reading Omnicom Holds Global Ad Network Top Spot

The advertising industry in the US is beginning to move again following a ‘general paralysis’ immediately before and during the initial stages of the war in Iraq, according to analysts at Merrill Lynch. The broker says that this paralysis has now begun to dissipate, although caution over the state of the broader economy is still… Continue reading US Advertising To Move Out Of ‘Paralysis’ In Q3, Says Merrill Lynch

Almost three-quarters of UK businesses believe that their marketing spend will rise over the next twelve months by levels up to or exceeding the rate of inflation. According to a survey by Black And White Public Relations, 73% of respondents are expecting this rate of marketing growth, whilst 27% predict that budgets will remain static… Continue reading UK Businesses See Increasing Marketing Spend

The merger of Carlton Communications and Granada into a single ITV group is unlikely to receive regulatory approval with a combined sales house, according to Lehman Brothers. After analysing the OFT’s submission to the DTI, the broker believes that the two companies will struggle to get their merger plans passed without any conciliatory adjustments. In… Continue reading ITV Merger Unlikely With Combined Sales House, Says Lehman Brothers

Shares in regional newspaper publisher, Johnston Press, were down by 4.5p at 361.5p by 10.00am today, after Merrill Lynch analysts downgraded the group from Buy to Neutral. Worries that consumer spending patterns are about to take a dive underlie the broker’s downgrade (see Neil Blackley Sees ‘Dire’ Decline In Media Industry). Johnston Press derives around… Continue reading Consumer Dip May Put Squeeze On Johnston Press, Say Analysts

The downturn in advertising spend in the US has reached its bottom and is now recovering, Jack Myers quotes JPMorgan analyst Spencer Wang as saying this week. In the Jack Myers Report, Wang is said to be relatively cautious in the short-term, but believes that the long-term fundamentals for media companies remain intact. Looking at… Continue reading US Ad Market Is Recovering, Says Analyst

Over 70% of the UK’s SME ecommerce websites are profitable, according to a new report from the software developer, Actinic. The 2003 SME Ecommerce Market Report found that the rate of adoption of ecommerce among small and medium businesses has fallen from 26% to 21%. However, 71% of websites are profitable and 53% of companies… Continue reading Study Assesses SMEs’ Attitude To Ecommerce