In a national newspaper first, the Observer is to launch a standalone magazine title. Observer Sport Monthly will be free with the Sunday newspaper from 7 May but will also be available separately from June.The 68-page title aims to break with the conventions of sports writing and widen the readership by focusing on the social… Continue reading Observer Rewrites Sport With Monthly Title
A consultation document has been issued to look into ways of improving the take-up of digital television in the UK. The ITC, OFTEL and the OFT have joined together to determine which factors could improve the affordability, accessibility and availability of the medium, as the Government attempts to meet its deadline for a switchover to… Continue reading Consultation Launched To Improve Take-Up Of Digital Television
Elisabeth Murdoch is to leave BSkyB at the end of June. Currently managing director of Sky Networks, into which Sky Entertainment was merged last year (see St Luke’s Handed £50m Creative Account Following Sky Restructure), she said “It is with some lament that I leave such a winning team.”The daughter of media mogul Rupert Murdoch,… Continue reading Elisabeth Murdoch To Quit Sky
This week sees the launch of ONrequest, the world’s first digital terrestrial pay-per-view service. A joint venture between ONdigital and SDN, the service went on air on Bank Holiday Monday with the screenings of Shakespeare in Love and The Rugrats Movie.Deals have been signed with Paramount and Universal to bring top movies to DTT viewers… Continue reading ONdigital’s PPV Service Unveiled
The number of residential internet users in the UK has risen by 17% in the past half year and once logged on, people are spending more time online than ever before. In addition to this, the idea that most users are young ABs no longer holds true. These are the latest findings of research company… Continue reading UK Internet Population Grows One Fifth In Six Months
There was a rebound yesterday amongst media and internet stocks in the FTSE 100 index. BSkyB ended up 163p at £17.38, Reuters rose 51p to £12.00 and Pearson jumped 123p to £23.34. Cordiant rose 43p to £3.47 while Telewest Communications rose 19½p to £4.09.As the news emerged that Taylor Nelson Sofres will not be involved… Continue reading Sharewatch
The end of a century which saw the birth of mass- and multi- media has even made the advertising industry nostalgic. As a result, the last six months has seen the compilation of several “best ever ad” lists. Saturday night’s “Top 100 TV commercials of all time” put together and aired by Channel Four with… Continue reading Feature: Advertisers And Viewers Differ On All Time Best Ads
The UK’s largest magazine publisher, IPC, is believed to be in negotiations for a trade sale of the group. Possible bidders include Telewest and German group Bertelsmann, and the sale price has been placed at up to £1.5 billion.The group, which publishes titles including Loaded and Marie Claire, issued a statement in response to press… Continue reading Telewest In Talks As IPC Considers Trade Sale
The Broadcaster’s Audience Research Board (BARB) has awarded RSMB, Ipsos-RSL and AGB SpA Holding its four new audience measurement contracts. One of the current contractors, Taylor Nelson Sofres, has held contracts since BARB’s foundation in 1983, but will have no further involvement once this one expires.RSMB is also a current contractor, having taken on establishment… Continue reading BARB Awards New Audience Measurement Contracts
Following confirmation on Thursday that WPP was in talks with Young & Rubicam regarding a takeover (see WPP Confirms Discussions With Y&R), WPP shares rose 61p to £10.34. However, over the weekend it emerged that the discussions in New York had collapsed late on Friday night.Other companies performing well were BSkyB, which added 79p to… Continue reading Sharewatch
