David Montgomery, chief executive of the Mirror Group, has exercised a share option with over 500,000 Mirror Group ordinary shares. Montgomery bought the shares at 61p each and promptly sold them on 19 December 1997 for 195p each.Mr Montgomery also sold 10,000 of his existing ordinary shares at 195.5p per share. The deals have scooped… Continue reading Mirror Group Chief Executive Uses Share Options
Suzanne Warner has been appointed as deputy chairman of the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) for a period of four years from 1 January 1998. Recently Warner was director of group government relations at Cable & Wireless.Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Chris Smith says that Warner “will prove an invaluable asset to the… Continue reading BSC Appoints Deputy Chairman
Emap Computing has sold its computer titles to US group CMP Media. The managing director at Emap Computing said that the sale reflected Emap’s business strategy.Information Week, the title launched in March by Emap Computing and CMP Media jointly, will now become owned entirely by CMP (subscribers see Emap Looks Stateside).Emap Computing: 0171 388 2430
Microsoft’s online magazine Slate will begin charging its readers from next year. The magazine launched in 1996 and had intended to become a subscription service after a trial period but the plan was initially shelved.Michael Kinsey, the editor of the cultural weekly, now believes that there is a growing acceptance among Web users that content… Continue reading Microsoft Webzine To Charge For Access
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
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.
