Chris Townsend, BSkyB’s marketing director for digital services, has left the company after just one month. He was previously commercial director at British Interactive Broadcasting.It is believed that his departure is due to the fact that there was an overlap in duties with the post of marketing director, which is temporarily held by Roger Fishman.BSkyB:… Continue reading Digital Man Leaves BSkyB
Euro MPs on two committees have declared that the Euro-Directive which bans tobacco advertising across Europe is illegal.MEPs on the Legal Affairs and Monetary Affairs committees have said that the move could not be passed as a single market, health or internal trade measure and therefore could not become law.A second vote on the subject… Continue reading Tobacco Ad Ban Illegal, According To Euro MPs
The Radio Authority is advertising a new small-scale Independent Local Radio licence to serve the town of Telford, in Shropshire.The licence is being offered on the FM waveband and is expected to cover an area with an adult population of around 115,000.The closing date for applications is 11 August 1998.RA: 0171 430 2724
Fledgling media planning consultancy Unity has announced that it has won the planning account for Carphone Warehouse, which has an ad budget of around £14 million.The win adds weight to the argument, first espoused by Martin Sorrell, that specialisation is the way forward for the advertising industry (subscribers see MRG Conference Dublin 1997 – Opening… Continue reading Unity Wins Major Account
BSkyB has taken legal action against British Digital Broadcasting (BDB) over the extent of compatibility of the two companies’ set-top box receiver equipment. Sky is claiming that BDB has broken a contractual stipulation agreed when BSkyB was forced to leave the BDB consortium in June last year (subscribers see BSkyB Leaves The Alliance). BDB questions… Continue reading BSkyB Issues Writs Over BDB Set-Top Boxes
Future Publishing has announced that it will be relaunching its Total Bike! magazine from the May issue, which goes on sale tomorrow.The new-look magazine, which will have a new logo and increased pagination, will now include a range of lifestyle features. These will include items on health and fitness, star profiles, fashion, travel and each… Continue reading Future Relaunches Bike Magazine
A new pay-per-view film service service is being planned by St. James’ Investment Partnership and will run under the name of Digital Broadcasting Company (DBC). St. James is run by two former BSkyB executives, Richard Dunn and Richard Brooke; DBC is also part-funded by the venture capital group, MediaVentures.Planning to launch on the digital networks… Continue reading Digital Broadcasting Company Plans ‘Distinctive’ Movie Service
Telewest this morning announced that it would be buying up rival cable operator General Cable for an agreed £649 million. This will mean Telewest overtaking Cable & Wireless Communications as the UK’s largest cable operator.At present Telewest owns and operates 28 franchises which, along with stakes in other operators, means that its networks cover 4.4… Continue reading Telewest Buys General Cable For £649m
Overall viewing share is divided typically this week, with ITV taking 31.9% against BBC1’s 29.8%. Channel 4 (9.8%) and BBC2 (11.1%) still keep Channel 5 at bay with its share of 4.4%.Although Channel 5’s viewing share remains at more or less the same level as previous weeks, it has managed to get three programmes above… Continue reading TV Viewing Summary W/E 05/04/98
London News Radio has made a deal with Air Canada which will see the airline sponsoring the International Business Bulletin on News Direct 97.3FM. The aim is to target businessmen flying to Canada.The ident will be heard four times a day, introducing and closing the twice hourly business bulletins broadcast during drivetime.The deal was negotiated… Continue reading LNR Business Bulletin Teams Up With Air Canada
