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A group of university academics has urged the Government to rethink proposals in the forthcoming Communications Bill that will allow Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation to buy terrestrial television station Five. Writing in a letter to the Financial Times, academics from London Business School, Goldsmiths College, the University of Westminster and the London School of Economics,… Continue reading Academics Call For Five Protection In Comms Bill

Granada has hired John Bridgeman, a former director general of the Office Of Fair Trading (OFT), to advise it on the tricky regulatory path to its proposed merger with ITV partner, Carlton (see ITV Merger Set For Competition Commission Referral). It is understood that Bridgeman is one of a number of influential figures to have… Continue reading Former OFT Director To Advise On ITV Merger

Trinity Mirror is due to release its full-year financial results on 27 February and analysts at ABN AMRO are forecasting that pre-tax profits (before exceptionals) will be down by 3.0% at £148.1 million, whilst total sales will fall by 3.7% to £1.1 billion. New chief executive, Sly Bailey, will give her first presentation for the… Continue reading Analysts See Trinity Mirror Profits Down By 3% In 2002

Pre-tax profits at advertising and communications giant, WPP, tumbled by 50% to £205.4 million in the year ended 31 December 2002, indicating the severity of the worldwide recession and its impact on advertising and marketing services. The group this morning said that conditions are to remain tough throughout the remainder of this year. Budgets are… Continue reading WPP Profits Fall 50% In The Face Of Recession

The UK’s top ten advertising agencies saw their combined billings revenue fall by 1.1% – or £27.1 million – in 2002, according to the new top 300 table published by Campaign. The figures, compiled by Nielsen Media Research, show that whilst the advertising downturn has pushed the top agencies’ revenues into negative growth for the… Continue reading Top 10 Ad Agencies See Billings Drop, Whilst Media Agencies Rise

The success of the new digital terrestrial platform, Freeview, has hit ITV harder than expected and is hastening its loss of audience share, according to a report from influential broker, Morgan Stanley. In its latest guidance note, the broker states that the new digital terrestrial platform is having a negative effect on ITV, which is… Continue reading Freeview Launch Hits ITV Harder Than Expected

Top City media analyst, Neil Blackley, has told the Times newspaper that the ‘dire’ decline in the media markets is ‘easily as bad’ as the 1971-2 recession, with little prospect of any ‘quick-fix’ solution. In an interview with the paper ahead of his departure from Merrill Lynch, Blackley said that the only ‘crumb of comfort’… Continue reading Neil Blackley Sees ‘Dire’ Decline In Media Industry

The planned formation of a dominant satellite television group in Italy looks set to go ahead without regulatory obstruction, according to an article in the Financial Times today. It is the merger of News Corp’s Stream division with Telepiù, the pay-TV arm of Vivendi Universal, that will create the country’s largest satellite operator – Sky… Continue reading News Corp’s Telepi

The continuation of ‘extremely difficult’ market conditions has caused 2002 revenues at advertising network, Cordiant Communications, to fall by 11% to £533 million. The figure was further dented by key account losses in the US, the group said in a trading update this morning. Despite the fall in revenues, operating profits look set to meet… Continue reading Cordiant Revenues Dip 11% In 2002, Disposals Underway

Anglo-Dutch publishing group, Reed Elsevier, has this morning posted a strong set of 2002 financial results, with organic growth outperforming the market in each of the group’s publishing divisions. After adjusting for currency changes, revenues rose by 13% in the year, whilst pre-tax profits increased by 2%. Reed says that it has achieved the targets… Continue reading Reed Elsevier Sees Good Growth Despite Tough Markets