A replacement is being sought for Andreas Whittam Smith as editor of The Independent. The search has begun partly because senior journalists at the paper have been individually approaching the main shareholders warning that editorial renewal will not be possible without changes at the top.Yesterday journalists on the papers, in an unprecedented move, passed an… Continue reading No Confidence In Whittam Smith
Chelverton Investments, which controlled LBC before it went into receivership, has written to the Radio Authority calling for the London licence which has been awarded to London News Radio to be re-advertised. The row comes because of the announcement last week that Reuters is to acquire London News Radio. LBC claims that LNR has now… Continue reading Radio Authority Rejects London Licence Complaints
The Daily Mail and General Trust is to buy T Bailey Forman, the company that publishes the Nottingham Evening Post, for £92.85 million. The Daily Mail and General Trust owns Northcliffe Newspapers who will take over the actual running of the titles. The deal has yet to be confirmed by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission,… Continue reading Daily Mail Buys Regional Publisher
BBC Radio is proposing to introduce changes to the radio industry’s audience research system, RAJAR, to get listening figures for national radio stations published on a monthly basis. Michael Green, Radio 4 controller, will put the plans forward at RAJAR’s next board meeting, this month. National and London station’s data is currently released quarterly, with… Continue reading BBC Wants Monthly RAJAR Data
Talk Radio UK has been awarded the third national commercial radio licence, the Radio Authority has announced this afternoon. Talk Radio UK, a 100% based speech and talkback service, put in the highest bid, at £3.82m, £1m higher than any other bidder.The award is not on highest bid alone; content and ability to provide backing… Continue reading Third National Radio Station Announced
Granada’s chief executive, Gerry Robinson, yesterday revealed that should the government relax rules on TV ownership further, Granada’s next target for takeover will be Yorkshire Tyne Tees Television.Geoff Brownlee, Yorkshire’s Director of Corporate Affairs, told MediaTel that should the rules change, Yorkshire will be happy to talk to anyone interested in forming alliances. Granada’s intentions… Continue reading Granada Eyes Up YTTV
Sue Elms, Research Director of Initiative Media, is leaving to become Chief Executive of SP Consultants. Her role there will be to develop and promote business in new areas, new projects and marketing. The media department of Abbott Mead Vickers is losing two members of staff; Mara Vaivars is leaving to live in America with… Continue reading Appointments
The Daily Mail and General Trust, owner of the Daily Mail, yesterday increased its ownership of commercial radio. Harmsworth Media, a subsidiary of the Daily Mail and General Trust, bought the radio investments previously owned by MAI for £6.8m.MAI had gained the stakes through its purchase of Anglia TV, but did not see itself as… Continue reading Daily Mail Increases Local Radio Portfolio
David Berg, GMTV controller of research and marketing, is to join the BBC at the end of July as scheduler of BBC1. He will advise Alan Yentob on winning and retaining audiences, in a job similar to that of Dick Emery, director of marketing strategy at the ITV Network Centre. The BBC is also shortlisting… Continue reading Appointments
The Independent Television Commission has today advertised a licence to provide a Commercial Additional Service on spare capacity within the broadcast signal for Channel 4 and S4C.A CAS licence is usually used for subscription services or closed user groups. The spare capacity on C4 was originally advertised in 1992 but no bids were received; the… Continue reading ITC Re Advertises CAS Licence
