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Bertelsmann, Germany’s largest media company, today announced third quarter losses of E384 million but has expressed confidence that business will pick up in the last few months of the year. Bertelsmann, whose interests include Channel 5 owner RTL, made an operating profit of E102 million but accounting write-downs meant that the company’s net debt had… Continue reading Bertelsmann Upbeat Despite Mounting Debts

Carlton and Granada are poised to take the plunge and propose a single ITV sales house to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), according to reports today. It is understood that the submission will arrive at the OFT at the end of the month. However, it is widely expected that any merger will be referred… Continue reading ITV Ready To Push For Single Sales House

Net losses at debt-laden cable operator, Telewest Communications, fell by 34% to £397 million during the third quarter of the year, the company announced in its interim financial results this morning. Whilst turnover rose by 4% to £1.0 billion and operating loss dropped by 25% to £187 million, the company’s debt has risen by 9%… Continue reading Telewest Reduces Losses Ahead Of Restructure

Revenues at News International’s UK titles have plunged 50% in the last three months as a result of the high profile tabloid tussle with Trinity Mirror. Figures out today show that The Sun lost more than £20 million in revenues after cutting its cost nationwide in a bid to compete with the Daily Mirror. “Slightly… Continue reading Price War Drives Down News International Income

The European Commission has cleared the way for RTL Group to complete the acquisition of a 47.3% stake in German news broadcaster n-tv. Back in August, RTL agreed to buy the TV and radio assets of publishing group Georg van Holtzbrinck, including the stake in n-tv, for E170 million (see RTL Acquires German Media Group).… Continue reading RTL Cleared For N-TV Acquisition

Telewest Communications has sold its 16.9% shareholding in SMG to institutional investors for 85p per share, the group confirmed this afternoon. The sale, which was given the go ahead by shareholders in September (see Telewest Set For SMG Disposal, Denies More Redundancies), raised £45.1 million for the UK cable operator. This money will be put… Continue reading Telewest Raises £45m From Sale Of SMG Stake

BSkyB is expected to post a 205,000 net subscriber gain in its first quarter results, taking the number of customers for its digital satellite service to 6.3 million, according to Lehman Brothers. The broadcaster had 6.1 million subs as at June this year (see BSkyB Results Beat Expectations With 6.1m Customers Now Signed) and the… Continue reading Good Growth Expected In Sky’s Q1 Results

A consortium of German magazine group, Bauer Verlag, and Bavarian bank, HVB Group AG, has emerged as the successful suitor to the KirchMedia business, following months of bidding (see Kirch Move Prompts World Cup Rights Auction). KirchMedia, the insolvent arm of the now-collapsed KirchGruppe empire (see Kirch Investors Abandon Rescue Plans), is now in exclusive… Continue reading Bauer Consortium Takes KirchMedia

New research from comScore has revealed that online sales of recorded music fell sharply in the first nine months of 2002, rekindling fears that consumers are flocking in droves to online file-sharing services (see Fall In US Music Sales Blamed On Internet Downloaders). comScore recently found that US e-commerce revenues totalled $18 billion in the… Continue reading Online Music Sales Hit A Low Note

Vivendi Universal, the troubled media giant, admitted yesterday that it is under scrutiny in the United States over its accounting practices. The US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York has opened a criminal investigation and will work in conjunction with the Miami office of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is carrying… Continue reading Vivendi Facing US Probe