Saturday night’s double helping of Popstars gave ITV its highest peaktime share of the year so far, at 42.5%. The earlier 6.45pm edition attracted an audience of 10.9m – a 48.6% share – and at 9.15pm, 11.6m people, – a 46.7% share – tuned in to the show as it announced the five hopefuls to… Continue reading Popstars A Hit For ITV
Channel 4 is set to launch a new company, 4 Ventures Limited, to manage commercial activities outside of its core channel. It will house the group’s pay-TV services Film Four and E4 as well as its internet and interactive ventures.Channel 4 International Ltd, the group’s programme sales and co-production arm, and its film division, Film… Continue reading Channel 4 Launches Commercial Arm
European pay-tv group RTL jumped 7% yesterday as Bertelsmann took majority control of the company by increasing its stake to 67% (see Bertelsmann Acquires Controlling Stake In RTL). Prices closed at £63.72.The newly demerged Granada (see Granada Rises On Positive Ratings) was down however, dipping almost 5% to 186źp as Compass shareholders dumped unwanted media… Continue reading Sharewatch
The Financial Times is set to start charging subscriptions to its website, FT.com. Currently a free service, selected sections such as its archive, will soon be available on a paid-for basis.FT owner Pearson has brought forward the date it wants its websites to break even from 2003 to 2002. The group claims that FT.com now… Continue reading FT.com To End Free Access
Channel 5 has taken a stake in online venture Surpriseyourwoman.com in return for advertising. The broadcaster is to receive a 5% stake in the company, which alerts men to anniversaries and allows them to buy presents online.In return the website, which launched today, will be given £750,000 of free advertising on the channel, across a… Continue reading C5 Takes Stake In Surpriseyourwoman.com
Magazine publisher IPC has rebranded its Music & Sport division in order to aim squarely at the men’s market with titles including Loaded, NME and Later. Having shifted its sport and leisure titles to the Country & Leisure division last year, the division will now be known as IPC ignite! and have the strapline “better… Continue reading IPC Rebrands Its Lad’s Mags And Music Division
Year on year the NRS figures show that the six months to December 2000 did not represent a good period for national newspaper readership. With a drop of 5.2% across the whole sector, losses were suffered in all but three titles. These were the Guardian, which managed to add 1.6%, followed by the Observer, which… Continue reading National Newspaper NRS Round-Up – December 2000
Year on year the NRS figures show that the six months to December 2000 did not represent a good period for national newspaper readership. With a drop of 5.2% across the whole sector, losses were suffered in all but three titles. These were the Guardian, which managed to add 18,000 readers, or 1.6%, to reach… Continue reading National Newspaper NRS Round-Up – December 2000
In the midst of Popstars fever, the BBC is making plans for a re-launch of its flagship pop music show Top Of The Pops. The show will shortly move from its old home at Elstree, in order to accommodate a further weekly episode of Eastenders which is also filmed at the Hertfordshire studios. One possible… Continue reading BBC To Re-Launch Top Of The Pops
Telewest Communications was one of the best performers last week, its share price climbing 11% to 157p, following the issue of positive fourth quarter operating statistics (see Telewest Fourth Quarter Results Delivering On Target, Says Singer).European group RTL was down however, the market responding badly to news of its broadband deal with Bertelsmann (see European… Continue reading Sharewatch
