Following the success of relaunching Home and Away on Channel 5 (see Channel 5 Says G’Day To Home And Away), Dawn Airey has hinted that she will be on the look out for other ratings winners to poach in order to boost the station’s audience in future.The benefits to Channel 5 of the Australian soap’s… Continue reading GEITF Report: Channel 5
The Kent Messenger Group (KM) is merging two of its most popular titles to form what it claims will be “the best-selling weekly paper in Britain.”The Medway Messenger, published in two editions, morning and afternoon, will replace the Kent Messenger and Medway Today providing 220 pages dedicated to the Medway towns.KM managing director, David Lewes,… Continue reading Kent Messenger Group Merges Titles
C4 May Be Hit By Spectrum FeeChannel 4 may find itself with a £100-200 million charge for the use of its broadcasting spectrum under the new communications legislation proposed by the Government, according to a report in today’s Financial Times.Other commercial broadcasters are already subject to the spectrum fee, but Channel 4 has so far… Continue reading C4 May Be Hit By Spectrum Fee
WPP, which released its interim results last week showing pre-tax profits of £2.46m (see WPP Posts Strong Interims), saw shares drop 2.7% in week on week analysis, to finish at £7.22, a loss of 20p on the previous week.Pearson, which rebranded its TV division to FremantleMedia last Tuesday (see Pearson TV Rebrands), also saw losses… Continue reading Sharewatch
Cable operator Telewest is abandoning its interactive TV venture, Smashed Atom, less than a year after its launch, due to insufficient funds.The joint venture with Atomic Tangerine, an branch of the Stanford Research Institute, will close in the next few months, resulting in the loss of 46 jobs unless a buyer can be found.A spokesman… Continue reading Telewest Folds Smashed Atom
MXR, the digital radio group, today launches the West Midlands digital radio multiplex, delivering digital programming to an area with an adult population of around 3.3m.The consortium, whose shareholders include Chrysalis, Capital Radio, Guardian Media Group, Jazz FM, Soul Media and UBC Media, was awarded the licence by the Radio Authority in February (see MXR… Continue reading MXR Launches Third Digital Radio Multiplex
David Liddiment’s stirring MacTaggart lecture may have captured the largest number of column inches for this year’s Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival (GEITF), but the issue of TV’s soul was not necessarily the one which occupied the delegates over the bank holiday weekend.Events on the festival programme provide a respite from the relentless networking that… Continue reading GEITF Special: Who’s Next At Four?
ITV’s Saturday night Premier League offering, The Premiership, attracted even less viewers than at its launch last week (see ITV’s The Premiership Fails To Score) when it aired for a second time during the weekend. The 7pm show attracted an average of just 3.1m viewers or a 19.3% share during what is usually key family… Continue reading Premiership Slips Down Ratings League
In the absence of the minister for culture, media and sport casting light on the future of UK digital TV, David Liddiment’s MacTaggart Memorial lecture became a focal event of this year’s Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival (GEITF).In a passionate speech which impressed all but a few BBC executives, he declared “Saving the soul of… Continue reading GEITF 2001 MacTaggart Lecture
Peter Bazalgette, creative director of Endemol Entertainment, was revealed as the winner of a special TV executives Weakest Link screened to open this year’s Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival (GEITF).Jim Hytner, shortly to move from his job as marketing and commercial director of Channel 5 to the same job at ITV (see Hytner Quits 5… Continue reading Weakest Link Opens Edinburgh Festival
