Express owner Richard Desmond is looking to make acquisitions in television and radio, with the backing of up to £1bn from a German bank.Desmond, whose acquisition of the Express group last year (see Gossip And Girlie Publisher Takes On Express And Star) caused shockwaves initially due to the idea of a pornography publisher owning a… Continue reading Desmond Hunts TV And Radio Deals
The rate of subscription to digital TV is slowing and will need to be boosted if the Government’s original analogue switch-off target is to be met. New figures from Continental Research shows that the number of terrestrial TV homes planning to take up digital services in the near future has dropped year on year from… Continue reading Digital TV: The Good And Bad News
ITV Digital claims that it will reach its break even target of 2004, despite the widely reported difficulties experienced by the recently rebranded (see Comedy Duo Front ONdigital Rebrand) digital TV business.It was announced today that 48,000 new subscribers were signed up during the last quarter, bringing the total as at 30 June to 1.14m… Continue reading ITV Digital To Break Even By 2004
In keeping with other analysts and forecasters, Merrill Lynch has downgraded its ITV revenue forecasts citing “growing evidence of advertiser cutbacks or switching” in the TV advertising market.Merrill now forecast ITV revenue growth at -12.3% to September 2001 and see no reason to expect a recovery until around April 2002. Growth for the year to… Continue reading Merrill Lynch Downgrades Spell ITV Misery
Media buying agencies Optimedia and Zenith Media are to be merged by their parent companies, Publicis and Cordiant respectively, creating the world’s fourth-largest media communications group.The resulting business, NewCo, will be UK-based and 75% owned by Publicis and 25% owned by Cordiant. The minimum option price payable for Cordiant’s 25% shareholding in NewCo is £75.0… Continue reading Merger News From Optimedia And Zenith
UK National adspend broke the £17bn barrier for the first time in 2000, rising 10% on 1999, according to the Advertising Association’s Advertising Statistics Yearbook .The figures show that total adspend in 2000 was 1.82% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) compared with 1.74% in 1999.According to CIA MediaLab, adspend is cyclical and reflects the changes… Continue reading UK Adspend For 2000 Breaks £17bn Mark
Shares in UK media and communications group, Tempus, have soared this morning following reports that French advertising network, Havas Advertising, is to announce a takeover of Tempus for around £400 million. According to a report in this morning’s Financial Times, Havas is expected to confirm the takeover tomorrow.Tempus owns UK media buying agency, CIA, and… Continue reading Havas And Tempus Set To Merge
Research commissioned by Capital Radio Advertising and Independent Radio News (IRN) has found that adverts placed during news bulletins have a 40% higher recall rate than standard radio breaks.The research carried out by The Henley Centre explored the different “modes” in which listeners consume radio and how that effects advertising receptivity. Specific consumer modes, which… Continue reading Ads 40% More Effective During News
BSkyB launched its next generation set-top box yesterday, which incorporates personal video recorder technology (see BSkyB Launches New Set Top Box). Some scepticism was expressed about its viability, as unlike its predcessor, there will be a charge for subscribers to acquire the box. The market was fairly unmoved, and shares in the broadcaster ended at… Continue reading Sharewatch
Corporate communications website DELL.com was the top online advertiser for men during June, according to the latest figures from NetValue. 3,063 individual male at home users were exposed to the site through out the month and it achieved 22% reach of the total at home UK internet universe. MSN.com was just behind the leader, reaching… Continue reading New Media Round-Up 19/07/01
