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Shares in AOL Time Warner slumped today following news that the media group is to be investigated by the US securites and exchange commission. Last week, The Washington Post reported that AOL had boosted its revenue figures through unconventional deals between 2000 and 2002. It claimed that AOL had allowed a British entertainment company to… Continue reading AOL Time Warner Under Accounts Scrutiny

The High Court today began hearing the Football League’s claim against Carlton and Granada for the £178.5 million owed following the collapse of ITV Digital earlier this year (see Football League Kicks Off Action Against ITV Digital Owners). The League, which represents 72 clubs, insists that the television companies are legally obliged to honour the… Continue reading Carlton And Granada To Defend Football League Attacks

The terms of News Corp’s acquisition of Italian pay-TV group, Telepiù, are continuing to be negotiated with the business’ owner, Vivendi Universal, according to reports. News Corp was set to take control of Telepiù for E1.5 billion, although there are restrictions imposed by the Italian anti-trust authorities which will force News Corp to dispose of… Continue reading News Corp And Vivendi Renegotiate Telepiu Deal, Say Reports

Canal Plus, the French pay-TV subsidiary of Vivendi Universal, is to be broken up and its foreign operations sold in a debt reduction exercise. Vivendi’s chief executive, Jean-René Fourtou, has informed the French media regulator that the group plans to offload assets in Italy, Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and Scandinavia. It will then concentrate on… Continue reading Canal Plus Network To Be Fragmented

French television broadcaster, TF1, last night reported weak advertising revenues, with Q2 dropping by 4.1% to E419.2 million – an underlying decline of 11.0% when the World Cup effect is excluded, according to estimates by Lehman Brothers. TF1 is heavily reliant on advertising as a source of profit. The poor performance has led Lehman to… Continue reading TF1 Posts Weak Q2 Ad Revenues

Almost half of all UK internet users, some 9 million people, made an online purchase during 2001, according to the Which? Online annual internet survey (See One-Third Of The UK Now Online). Which reports that one in five adults now visit retail sites on a regular basis and with the range of goods increasing and… Continue reading Future Of Online Shopping Is ‘Rosy’, Says Report

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has cleared Clear Channel UK’s acquisition of Scottish Radio Holdings’ outdoor advertising business, Score Outdoor, it was announced this afternoon. The deal was agreed in May for an initial price of £33.5 million cash (see Score Outdoor Sale To Create Third Force In UK Market).

Jean-René Fourtou, the new chief executive of Vivendi Universal, yesterday met with senior management for a strategic review amid speculation that he is planning to sell off parts of the debt-ridden media group. Vivendi is some E16.7 billion in arrears and talks over a financial rescue package are ongoing. Nonetheless, the FT reports that the… Continue reading Vivendi Assesses Break Up Options

US interactive spending by the consumer and business-to-business sectors is set to double in the next four years, according to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA). Spending on direct marketing with interactive media is set to reach $8.4 billion in 2006, an increase from the projected $4.04 billion for 2002. In the meantime, interactive media sales… Continue reading US Companies Turning To Interactive Marketing, Says DMA

Advertising and sponsorship on the internet is being allocated higher budgets by a majority of UK marketers in the second quarter of 2002, according to an analysis of data released by the Institute Of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) last week in its Bellwether Report (see Insight Analysis: Bellwether May Show Slowly Returning Confidence). In the… Continue reading Insight Analysis: Internet Remains A Very Small Proportion Of UK Marketing Budgets