The Newspaper Society is triumphant that 1997 has been a ‘renaissance’ for the regional newspaper industry. The Society’s director David Newell said: “It has been a tremendous year for the local and regional press: advertising revenues are up, newsprint prices are low, sales are stabilising, new ventures and alliances abound, and profits are rolling in.… Continue reading Regional Press Prospers But NS Is Wary Of Complacency
Revenue Total terrestrial TV revenue for November, excluding GMTV, came in at £228.9m. Of this, ITV brought in £164.5m (down 0.5% year on year), C4 £53.3m (up 12.6%) and C5 £11m (up from £10.7m in October). GMTV’s estimated revenue was £8.7m, down almost 3% year on year.Among the ITV franchises there was very little change… Continue reading TV Round-Up – November
Johnston Press has made a £52 million agreed offer to buy Home Counties Newspapers. The offer will be made on the basis of 500p for every Home Counties share, which is a 108% premium on Friday’s close of 240p. There will also be the opportunity for Home Counties shareholders to buy stakes in Johnston.Johnston says… Continue reading Johnston Makes £52m Offer For Home Counties
Golden Rose Communications, owner of Jazz FM, and Scottish Radio are believed to be at the front of the queue to take over Melody Radio, the London station owned by construction group Hanson.A number of companies are thought to have submitted bids at the end of last week and the station, which was put up… Continue reading Interest Builds In Melody
Viscount Astor has argued in favour of masthead programming on all channels as part of a level playing field in TV broadcasting. Speaking in a House of Lords debate last week, the Viscount was keen to see a one-law-for-all policy on masthead programming. At the moment it is only allowed on the BBC and non-terrestrial… Continue reading Lord Calls For Level Playing Field For Masthead Programming
Johnston Press has made an offer to buy Home Counties newspapers and Southern Newspapers has begun negotiations to buy the Bailey Newspaper Group, it has emerged this morning. More details will appear on Newsline when they are confirmed.
Tesco has unveiled plans to install kiosks in banks which will allow users to check the stock of their local Tesco supermarket and order their shopping accordingly. The scheme is being pioneered by head of Tesco Direct, Gary Sargeat, and will be piloted in a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland in Corstorphine, Edinburgh.The… Continue reading Tesco Banks On Online Shopping
Classic FM is looking to build its audience share with a range of changes set for the New Year. These include the return of Paul Gambaccini to host the weekend chart shows; a new breakfast show with Nick Bailey and Henry Kelly; Sunday afternoons with David Mellor; and a new Friday evening music review slot… Continue reading New Look For Classic FM
Southern Newspapers has announced the takeover of Gloucestershire-based Bailey Newspaper Group (BNG) for a total of £35m. The deal means that Southern Newspapers will move from tenth to eighth ranking in the table of the UK’s top 20 regional publishers.Southern’s current titles circulate at around 2.4 million copies weekly; BNG’s free and paid for titles… Continue reading Southern Acquires Bailey Newspapers For £35m
Objections from European countries mean that a fourth national UK commercial radio station will not now be possible. The Radio Authority has said that objections from countries such as France, Luxembourg and Spain mean that a strong enough signal will not be possible for the licence to launch.The Radio Authority had launched a consultation paper… Continue reading Fourth National Licence Ruled Out
