More Media Business articles

In its Q3 results, Vivendi Universal, revealed an upbeat outlook despite the gloomy ad climate which currently prevails. The company, Europe’s largest media group, has beaten Q3 forecasts and is on track to meet full year expectations. Q3 fell in line with the market; organic earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and ammortisation (EBITDA) grew by… Continue reading Vivendi On Track To Meet 2001 Earnings Targets

WPP has again extended its acquisition offer for UK media buying group Tempus, as the Takeover Panel considers the company’s appeal against the dismissal of the Material Adverse Change clause it was hoping to invoke (see Takeover Panel Rules Against WPP). WPP was hoping to withdraw from the agreed takeover offer on the grounds that… Continue reading WPP Extends Tempus Offer As Appeal Is Considered

According to Forrester Research, declines in the tech sector will arrest during Q3 2002 and an upturn will begin in 2003. However, double-digit rises will not be visible until 2004 when growth will reach around 12%. “Forrester estimates that 12% of the IT sector’s volume in 2000 represented overspending, which amounts to a hefty $62… Continue reading Tech Market Will Recover In 2003, Says Forrester

German media group, Bertelsmann, may be interested in making a takeover bid for the UK’s Carlton Communications, according to a report in yesterday’s Observer newspaper. The article claims that the two companies have held ‘informal discussions’ recently, but that there are no ongoing negotiations. Bertelsmann is currently prevented from tying up with the ITV giant,… Continue reading Bertelsmann Looks At Carlton Merger, Says Report

Rupert Murdoch has walked away from what many considered the ‘dream’ deal of his career – one which would have made him the greatest TV mogul ever, reaching more people in more countries than anyone else in history. For the past six months Murdoch’s News Corp has cogitated, negotiated and restructured in order to engineer… Continue reading Murdoch Walks Away From ‘Dream’ DirecTV Deal

Rupert Murdoch, frustrated by delays and months of torturous negotiations, has walked away from what many considered the ‘dream’ deal of his career – one which would have made him the greatest TV mogul ever, reaching more people in more countries than anyone else in history. For the past six months Murdoch’s News Corp has… Continue reading Insight Analysis: Murdoch Walks Away From ‘Dream’ DirecTV Deal

As predicted, WPP has launched an appeal against yesterday’s decision by the Takeover Panel concerning its desired withdrawal from the 555p-a-share offer it made for Tempus in August. The panel ruled that WPP was not permitted to invoke the Material Adverse Change clause in its initial offer for Tempus and that the £434 million takeover… Continue reading WPP Appeals Against Takeover Panel Decision

Troubled digital terrestrial broadcaster, ITV Digital, has beaten its internal subscriber growth targets for the third quarter, according to a statement released by co-owners Carlton Communications and Granada this morning. The companies say that ITV Digital gained 82,000 customers in the quarter to September, pushing its total customer base to 1.2 million, up 36% year… Continue reading ITV Digital Reduces Costs And Grows Subs 36% In Q3

SMG has today announced that its review of staffing levels (see SMG Offers All Employees Voluntary Redundancy) will result in a maximum of 95 redundancies across its operations by the end of 2001. This represents around 5% of the media company’s total workforce. Of the 95 redundancies, 17 are management positions. Whilst a further 52… Continue reading SMG Makes 95 Cost-Cutting Redundancies

Acquisitions play a large part in the fortunes – or otherwise – of WPP this year. First half revenues were up over 56%, largely due to the contribution made by last year’s big name acquisition Young & Rubicam (see Shareholders Approve WPP/Y&R Deal), along with several other smaller companies acquired along the way (see WPP… Continue reading WPP Warns Results May Suffer In ‘Very Difficult’ Year