More Media Business articles

There are small signs of recovering confidence amongst advertisers in the US, but they have yet to translate into any significant recovery in media spending, Aegis chairman Lord Sharman told the company’s AGM today. He added that market research spending is showing a modest improvement, helping to reduce the pressure felt on Aegis’ US market… Continue reading Aegis Cautious On Media Recovery, Europe Remains ‘Depressed’

ITV giants, Carlton Communications and Granada, will need to offer investors a new plan following the closure of their ITV Digital business last month (see Administrators Switch Off ITV Digital), according to analysts at Lehman Brothers. The broker says that part of this new game plan should be the strengthening of the core ITV channel… Continue reading Carlton And Granada Need ‘A New Plan’, Say Lehman Analysts

AFX News reports that the Guardian Media Group’s 180p per share cash offer for Jazz FM is going ahead, since no competing offer has yet been made that would have reversed the acceptance from Jazz FM’s main shareholder (see Guardian Media Group Makes £41m Offer For Jazz FM). The Board of Jazz FM has so… Continue reading Guardian’s Jazz FM Offer Goes Ahead

Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) has agreed to sell Score Outdoor, its outdoor advertising division, to Clear Channel UK (CCUK) for a minimum of £33.5m. It is intended that the transaction will create a business to rival Maiden and JCDecaux. Score Outdoor’s billboards across Scotland, the north west of England, the Midlands and the south west… Continue reading Score Outdoor Sale To Create Third Force In UK Market

A new report, Reality Bites, by the CBI and KPMG Consulting reveals that 87% of UK companies are now using e-business technologies in order to improve efficiency. The report claims that firms are now moving away from customer facing e-business initiatives in favour of projects that benefit suppliers and employees. Intranets, followed by electronic payment… Continue reading E-Business Initiatives Will Improve Customer Service, Says CBI

Radio revenues at Capital Radio fell by 7% to £59.6 million for the six months ended 31 March 2002, the group announced this morning. Group revenue dropped by 8% to £60.0 million during the same period, whilst underlying pre-tax profit fell 20% to £14.2 million. Capital says that combined radio revenues for April and May… Continue reading Capital Radio Profits Hit By Ad Decline

As expected, Telepiù has abandoned its agreed merger with Italian pay-TV platform Stream, following restrictions imposed on the deal by the country’s anti-trust regulator this week (see Italian Anti-Trust Ruling May Offer Vivendi An Exit From Stream Deal). Telepiù is owned by Vivendi Universal and Stream by News Corp and Telecom Italia (50:50). It is… Continue reading Vivendi’s Telepi

Carlton Communications Plc and Thomson multimedia have signed a joint agreement to acquire the cinema advertising interests owned by UGC of France and the Belgian broadcaster RTBF. The acquisition will be made via a new joint venture company, 50% owned by Carlton and 50% by Thomson. The deal comprises a cash consideration of Euros 100… Continue reading Carlton And Thomson Extend Cinema Interests In Europe

A $4.0 billion write-off of News Corp’s stake in Gemstar TV has left the corporation with a post-tax loss of $4.2 billion for the three months to the end of March (the third quarter of the group’s financial year). However, despite the exceptional write-off, revenues were up 17.7% to £3.85 billion and operating income was… Continue reading News Corp Profits Hit By Gemstar Write-Off

Publicis Groupe SA, joint owner of the Zenith Optimedia Group, yesterday reported consolidated revenues of E576 million for the first quarter of 2002, an increase of 4.6% over the E550 million reported for the same period in 2001. Taking into account constant exchange rates and identical unit reporting, revenues fell by 2.2% in Q1, slightly… Continue reading Publicis Revenues Up 4.6%, Beating Expectations