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Bidders are now lining up to make offers on Vivendi Universal’s entertainment assets, even though the group has so far maintained that they are not for sale. According to US press reports this week, Vivendi is being approached by at least for suitors for its US entertainment assets, which include Universal Pictures, USA Cable, Studios… Continue reading Bidders Move On Vivendi For Entertainment Assets, Say Reports

Premiere, the German pay-TV operator, said yesterday that takeover talks were proceeding smoothly and it expects to have a new owner confirmed by the end of March. Last month, a deal was brokered by which the private equity house Permira will take a 70% stake in Premiere, which was formerly part of the fallen Kirch… Continue reading Premiere Deal Nears Completion

Spain’s Auna Operadores de Telecomunicaciones SA has been forced to buy back a 6% holding in its liquidated digital terrestrial TV business, Quiero TV (see Forecasts), from Carlton Communications, according to a report from AFX News. The story is sourced from La Gaceta de los Negocios, which claims that Auna was obliged to return the… Continue reading Carlton Pockets €7.3m Quiero TV Reimbursement

Graham Wallace, the man largely blamed for the recent travails of Cable & Wireless, is to step down following pressure from shareholders. Wallace has been at the telecoms group for five years and became chief executive in February 1999. He was in the forefront of attempts to establish C&W as a leading carrier of internet… Continue reading Beleaguered C&W Chief To Exit The Fray

The Bellwether report, issued today by the IPA, has dampened hopes for a recovery with one in four of the UK’s leading companies revising their budgets downwards during the final quarter of 2003. According to the report, total current marketing budgets were revised down for the second consecutive quarter. However, the drop was not as… Continue reading IPA Bellwether Report: Down But Not Out

Didier Bellens, chief executive of pan-European broadcaster, RTL Group, yesterday painted a fairly flat picture of the European broadcasting marketing, saying that conditions remain tough and that there is little visibility on future advertising trends. In the trading statement covering the year to 31 December 2002, ahead of the group’s results in March, Bellens also… Continue reading No ‘Sustained Recovery’ In European Broadcasting Markets, Says RTL

The number of subscribers to BSkyB’s digital satellite service is set to grow by 14.3% year on year in the second quarter of 2003, according to operating forecasts by Merrill Lynch analysts. Sky’s financial results are due for release on 14 February and the broker predicts that the total number of direct-to-home (DTH) customers will… Continue reading BSkyB Subs To Grow 14% In Q2, Say Merrill Lynch Forecasts

As expected, Stephen Carter, ex-managing director of cable company NTL, is to be named chief executive of the new communications super regulator Ofcom. Although Ofcom have refused to comment on the appointment, an official announcement from chairman Lord Currie is expected in the next few days. Commentators have suggested that the leadership battle was a… Continue reading Carter Set For Chief Executive Role at Ofcom

There has been a fresh development in the ongoing Kirch saga with reports stating that Haim Saban has re-entered the bidding for the indebted media group. This latest twist comes despite the fact that Henrich Bauer Verlag had agreed a deal to take control of KirchMedia (see Bauer Consortium Takes KirchMedia). However, the publishing giant… Continue reading Saban Back In The Running For Kirch

Business-to-business adspend increased by 1.6% year-on-year and totalled $656,870.4 million in November, according to new figures from American Business Media (ABM). The rise followed a decline of 9% in October (see Decline Eases Slightly In US B2B Advertising) but advertising page volumes were down by 4%. The biggest surge occurred in the travel sector which… Continue reading B2B Sector Boosted By Advertising Upturn