Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown has asked the government to investigate whether there is a case for referring The Times‘ ownership by News International to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission (MMC).Ashdown has asked industry secretary Margaret Beckett to consider whether News International has broken the agreement it made when it bought The Times in 1981… Continue reading Ashdown Asks For Inquiry Into Times Ownership
British Digital Broadcasting has selected Pace Micro Technology to manufacture its digital terrestrial TV set-top boxes. BDB’s service is set to launch in the Autumn of this year.The Pace boxes will use the SECA encoding system which is not compatible with BSkyB’s digital satellite TV (subscribers see BDB Snubs Murdoch In Decoder Choice). This system… Continue reading BDB Chooses Pace For Set-Top Boxes
Monday: The Mirror Group releases final year financial results. The group has said that no announcement regarding the sale of its stake in the Independent is expected to be made (subscribers see Rumours Surround Future Of Independent Ownership).Home Counties Newspapers and Johnston Press will be making a submission to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission which… Continue reading The Week Ahead
U.S. media conglomerate Clear Channel Communications has made an agreed takeover offer for the UK’s leading billboard advertiser, More Group, for £446 million. If the deal is completed, Clear Channel will become the largest outdoor advertising operator in the world. Clear Channel also owns 185 radio stations and 18 TV stations.More Group, which owns the… Continue reading Surprise Takeover Of More Group For £446m
http://www.challengetv.co.ukLet’s face it, Challenge TV is pretty tacky. Repeats of old gameshows hosted by ageing second-rate celebrities is never going to be anything but gaudy. But that’s okay because it’s funny: attempting to lend more gravity to what must be the first ever (or, at most, second) Challenge TV Gameshow Awards ceremony by referring to… Continue reading Website Of The Week – Challenge TV
The Radio Authority (RA) will begin the formal process of licensing commercial digital radio by advertising the only national multiplex on 24 March.The existing national commercial stations (Classic FM, Virgin Radio and Talk Radio) are already guaranteed a place on the multiplex but there is also room for up to five new digital radio stations… Continue reading National Digital Multiplex To Be Advertised By RA
IPC Magazines has announced that Andy Sutcliffe, group editor of the three IPC cycling titles, is being seconded to the company’s Music & Sports special projects department for a twelve month period. As a result a number of post changes have been effected.Robert Garbutt has been promoted to editor of Cycling Weekly, from deputy editor.… Continue reading Post Changes At IPC Cycling Titles
A new survey by Optimedia, using its InTouch tracking service, has found that the process of choosing which newspaper to read is far more complex than simply opting for the cheapest option.The survey was prompted by the battle between Rupert Murdoch and his pricing strategy for The Times and the House of Lords which has… Continue reading Newspaper Choice Goes Way Beyond Cover Price, Says Survey
Alan Totten has been appointed sales director of Xfm, and will start the post on Monday 9 March. He moves from Katz Radio Sales where he held the post of account manager for Xfm national sales.Commenting on his appointment Totten says: “At Xfm we have a tightly targeted audience which is appealing to advertisers and… Continue reading Xfm Appoints New Sales Director
A study conducted by the Daily Telegraph into the readership habits of those who subscribe to an advance payment scheme, compared to readers who buy the paper at newsstands, has shown the former to be more loyal and avid readers.The questionnaire was mailed to a random sample of 2,556 Advanced Payment Programme subscribers and 3,246… Continue reading Newspaper Subscribers More Loyal, According To Survey
