More Media Business articles

UK cable operator, Telewest Communications, has this morning posted its first half financials, after a period which newly-installed managing director, Charles Burdick, described as a ‘tough quarter’. Burdick has just taken over the top position at the indebted business, after previous chief executive, Adam Singer, was ousted by the Board (see Telewest Chief Executive Removed… Continue reading Loss Narrows As Broadband Grows At Telewest

The plight of media giant, AOL Time Warner has deepened with news that its accounting practices are to be investigated by the US Department of Justice. The announcement comes only a week after the Securites and Exchange Commission (SEC) launched a similar inquiry following allegations of malpractice at the AOL internet service (see AOL Time… Continue reading Justice Department To Launch AOL Probe

Gunter Thielen, the new chief executive of Bertelsmann, has categorically denied that the group is under pressure to sell high profile media divisions such as Channel 5 and Gruner & Jahr magazines. While accepting that the company would exceed self-imposed debt limits for the year, Thielen claimed that Bertelsmann would reduce its arrears through consolidation… Continue reading Bertelsmann To Consolidate, Not Sell, Says Chief

Radio advertising revenues rose by 23% in the three months to 31 July 2002 at Chrysalis Radio, following a 24% growth during March and April, the company announced in a statement this morning. These figures are considerably higher than second and third quarter forecasts from the Advertising Association (AA) and indicate that Chrysalis is currently… Continue reading Chrysalis Radio Ad Revenues Outperform Market

The Football League today lost their High Court case against Carlton and Granada’s collapsed ITV Digital venture over £178.5 million owed from a three-year broadcasting deal. ITV Digital, formerly known as ONDigital, went into liquidation in April when it announced that it could not fully honour the £315 million contract. A number of league clubs… Continue reading League Loses ITV Digital Battle

GWR is selling its 25% stake in DMG Radio Australia to Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT), holder of the remaining 75%, in return for a cancellation of debt to the company. As part of the deal, 5.8 million new shares in GWR will be issued to DMGT, raising its stake in GWR from 26.8%… Continue reading GWR Offloads DMG Radio Australia And Reduces Debt

BSkyB’s full-year financial results, released this morning, have beaten analysts’ expectations, with 214,000 subscribers added in Q4, taking the total to 6.1 million. This is around 40,000 customers more than consensus growth estimates. The customer growth figures imply a strong customer uptake from the failed ITV Digital business, according to analysts at ABN Amro. Average… Continue reading BSkyB Results Beat Expectations With 6.1m Customers Now Signed

Europe’s largest outdoor advertising contractor, JCDecaux has released half-year results showing a 0.9% decrease in advertising revenues. Overall revenue growth for the first six months of 2002 came to 3.3% with street furniture generating growth of 3.9% to E413 million. Revenue from billboard units also increased by 1.4% to E202 million. On the downside, revenues… Continue reading JCDecaux Reveals Falling Revenues

The advertising market is now showing some signs of improvement, albeit tentative. At the beginning of the month, Doug Flynn, CEO of ad network Aegis, said that the market is improving more quickly than had been predicted just a few months earlier. Flynn is in a good position to call market changes, according to ABN… Continue reading Insight Analysis: Media Healthcheck – July 2002

Trinity Mirror, the UK’s largest newspaper publisher, has noted signs of improvement in advertising conditions but stops short of forecasting an imminent recovery, following the release of first half results today. The company’s pre-tax profits fell to £78.4 million in the first six months of 2002, compared with £80.6 million for the same period last… Continue reading Trinity Mirror Remains Circumspect On Ad Prospects