A survey conducted by Cable & Wireless Communications as part of its £50m launch campaign, has revealed that 88% of respondents would rather have better quality programmes rather than more channels. Over 1.5 million surveys were sent to homes throughout the UK; 323,727 (22%) of these were returned. This is considered by C&W as an… Continue reading People Want Better Programmes, Not More Channels
The European Commission has proposed the compulsory labelling of food made from genetically modified soya beans or maize. This follows on from the Commission’s adoption of the Regulation on labelling of such food, in line with Article 4 of Directive 79/112 EEC, which allows the Commission to introduce particular labelling requirements for specified foodstuffs. As… Continue reading EU: Compulsion Proposed
The ITC and the Broadcasting Standards Commission, together with a group of broadcasters, comprising the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and BSkyB, have published a new analysis of how different viewers regard TV violence.The study, the first of a two-part project, was conducted by Andrew Irving Associates and demonstrates how the nature and content… Continue reading New Research Into TV Violence
Culture Secretary Chris Smith has announced the cultural and audio-visual agenda for the period of the UK Presidency of the EU, starting on 1 January 1998. The UK’s Presidency will feature a seminar of EU Culture and AV ministers in Macclesfield, 17-18 March, an audiovisual conference “Challenges and Opportunities of the Digital Age”, in Birmingham,… Continue reading UK: Government Sets Council Agenda
A proposal for a Directive harmonising aspects of rules on copyright and related rights in the Information Society has been presented by single market commissioner Mario Monti. The proposal would adjust and complement the existing legal framework, with particular emphasis on new products and services containing intellectual property (both on-line and on physical carriers such… Continue reading EU: Copyright Directive Resented
The decision by the EU to introduce a Directive to phase out tobacco advertising and sponsorship by 2006 against objections from Germany and Austria – has so angered the German cigarette industry that it plans to take legal action against the ban, even if the German government does not. According to Ludger Staby, chief executive… Continue reading DE: German Opposition Grows
The Times may face a further attack on its pricing scheme as a number of national newspaper owners are taking their complaints to the director-general of the Office of Fair Trading, John Bridgeman. Newspaper Publishing, publishers of The Independent, Telegraph Publishing and the Guardian Media Group have made an offer to meet with Mr. Bridgeman… Continue reading National Newspapers Seek Meeting With OFT
Cordiant, which closed at 110p on Friday, split into two stock-market listings yesterday and started trading as Cordiant Communications and Saatchi & Saatchi (subscribers see Cordiant Announces Demerger).Reception to the new shares was cool however, with Cordiant closing a penny down to 109p while Saatchi & Saatchi finished unchanged at 110p. Early trading this morning… Continue reading Tentative Start For New Cordiant Shares
The Danish Government has announced that it will organise an international conference on electronic signing and encryption next year. In particular, the conference will address the issues of a European regulatory framework for electronic signing, cross-border use, the promotion of electronic commerce in the EU, cryptographic products and services for business, data protection and public… Continue reading EU: Danes Propose e-commerce Conference
The EC has published a Green Paper on convergence between technologies and ownership in the information, media and telecommunications sectors. The powerful advance of digital technologies is drawing these three sectors closer together, with the Internet providing one of the most important impetuses for development. Given that more than 15 per cent of the total… Continue reading EU: Green Paper On Convergence
