Carlton and Granada were seen in focus yesterday, up 12.95% and 8.95% respectively after the Competition Commission cleared the way for their planned their £4 billion merger (see ITV Cleared To Merge With Sales Houses Intact)The news was greeted with optimism in the city and Morgan Stanley has increased its price target on Carlton to… Continue reading Sharewatch: Carlton And Granada Surge On Merger Decision
Vivendi Universal has completed a deal that will see NBC acquire its US entertainment arm and cut debt at the Paris-based media group. As predicted, General Electric, which owns NBC, has agreed to pay $3.8 billion in cash for the assets which include film studios, cable channels and theme parks (see Vivendi-NBC Merger In The… Continue reading Vivendi And NBC Tie Up Entertainment Deal
Viacom Brand Solutions has secured Wrigley’s to promote its Orbit Ice White and Hubba Bubba brands across the Nickelodeon and Paramount Comedy channels in a sponsorship deal worth six-figures.The initiative will see Orbit Ice White sponsor the Paramount Brighton Comedy Festival throughout October and Hubba Bubba run a promotion on Nickelodeon targeting children home from… Continue reading Viacom Secures TV Sponsorship For Wrigley’s Gum Brands
Aegis Group, the media communications and market research company, is to acquire international healthcare research business, ISIS Research, for an initial sum of £15.5 million. Aegis says that ISIS will become a key part of Synovate Healthcare, the group’s healthcare research division. The deal carries a deferred payment of up to £8.3 million over the… Continue reading Aegis Buys Healthcare Research Firm For £24m
Yesterday’s decision by trade and industry secretary, Patricia Hewitt, paves the way for what many regarded as the inevitable creation of a single ITV company, as Carlton and Granada prepare to merger.With only behavioural remedies imposed by Hewitt, the two ITV heavyweights have emerged from the year-long Competition Commission investigation with one of the better… Continue reading Feature: Getting Under The Skin Of The ITV Merger
A new paper from Parks Associates urges the recording industry to consider new business models rather than try to stem the tide of online downloading. Unlicensed file sharing services are widely blamed for declining sales of CDs and the sluggish growth of legitimate download services (see Online Music Market Growing Slowly). A recent report from… Continue reading Free Music Downloads The Only Solution, Says Report
The Telegraph Group has unveiled a raft of senior management changes that will see Hugo Drayton take over as the new managing director.Drayton, currently managing director of Hollinger Telegraph New Media, will replace the outgoing managing director, Jeremy Deedes, who is set to retire later this week after almost seventeen years at the company.Dan Colson,… Continue reading Telegraph Group Names Drayton As New Managing Director
BT group has signed a joint marketing agreement with Freeview, the free-to-air digital television service, and has plans to enter the pay-per-view TV market, according to reports this week. The telecoms giant, which already has a similar deal with BSkyB, will be selling set-top boxes on the BT website. Regular Freeview receivers offering the 30+… Continue reading BT To Sell Freeview Digital TV Boxes
The Competition Commission has called for a wide ranging review of the television advertising sales market after expressing ‘disquiet’ at the way the industry currently operates.The regulator said that Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading should launch an investigation into the way television companies sell advertising following the Government’s decision to allow Carlton and… Continue reading Television Advertising Market Set For Wide Ranging Review
Digital television will be received by more than half of all UK TV homes by the end of this year, with penetration set to rise to more than 82% by 2008, according to a consensus of recent market forecasts. Figures from Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers and ZenithOptimedia were compiled by the Competition Commission in its… Continue reading UK Television Platform Penetration Forecasts
