Both Carlton and Granada enjoyed share price rises yesterday after their 50:50 joint venture ONdigital announced that it is to give away free set-top boxes to customers who sign up to ONdigital for 12 months (see Newsline). Carlton rose by 25˝p to 553˝p, and Granada added 19p to its price, rising to 1238p by the… Continue reading Sharewatch
ITV is to launch a new celebrity show based on the weekly OK Magazine. The new masthead show, called OKTV! will be made by Carlton Television, and has been under discussion at ITV for the past twelve months.Whilst in planning, ITV commissioned pilots from both Northern & Shell’s OK and Hello!, its closest rival. Controller… Continue reading ITV To Launch OK Masthead
Speaking at MediaTel’s Media Question Time last night the chief executive of ONdigital, Stephen Grabiner’s explanation of the box give-away – announced only that morning (see Newsline)- was attacked by fellow panelist Ray Snoddy (Times media editor). Grabiner said that research showed boxes at £199 were the “single biggest hurdle” to people thinking of investing… Continue reading Grabiner Attempts To Justify Digital Set-Top Box Give-Away
At last night’s Media Tel Media Question Time, Talk Radio’s CEO Kelvin MacKenzie made no secret of his contempt for the BBC, and its monopolistic position in the media industry.Speaking in the BBC’s own Radio Theatre, MacKenzie expressed delight at the concept of the BBC being dismantled, and looked forward to the dismemberment of the… Continue reading ‘BBC Is Monopolistic And Anti-Competitive’ Says Kelvin MacKenzie
Channel 4 is claiming 1998 was another excellent year in its annual report. Turnover increased by 6.8% last year to £590.5 million, and pre-tax profit was £26.3 million for 1998 (1997; £29.2 million). The channel’s audience share for the year was 10.3%.Channel 4 launched its first pay television venture, Film Four, in November last year… Continue reading Channel Four Reports ‘Excellent Year’
Classic FM is to launch Classic London this summer, giving advertisers the opportunity to target the London commercial radio audience.Manning Gottlieb Media (MGM) is working with Classic FM to advise on the positioning and roll out of Classic London to advertisers and media buyers.Classic FM, which is owned by GWR, has a weekly reach of… Continue reading Classic FM Rolls Out London Opportunities For Advertisers
Digital terrestrial television broadcaster, ONdigital, has today fired a return salvo against its rival, BSkyB, with the announcement of a range of incentives for consumers to buy into the ‘TV revolution’. The most significant of these are plans to offer customers free set-top boxes as from this Friday 28 May, when they sign up to… Continue reading ONdigital Returns Fire In DTV War
Carlton Communications, which is releasing its six-monthly financial results on Wednesday, dropped 10p on Friday to 528p. Carlton, which half owns digital terrestrial broadcaster ONdigital with Granada, is expected to report a hit on pre-tax profit following the launch of the digital service late last year. Granada also suffered a 20p drop in its share… Continue reading Sharewatch
Monday MediaTel presents its inaugural Media Question Time to be held at the BBC Radio Theatre, Broadcasting House tonight. More details to follow…A TV Round-Up for April 1999 will be available on Newsline.Wednesday Carlton Communications releases its interim financial results. Merrill Lynch predicts that pre-tax profit for the first half of 1999 will be £118.8… Continue reading The Week Ahead
