The Radio Authority has this morning cleared the £225 million acquisition of Ginger Media Group by Scottish Media Group, saying that the merger of the two companies would not be expected to operate against the public interest. However, the Authority has attached the condition that SMG must not conditionally sell advertising between Ginger’s Virgin 1215AM… Continue reading Scottish Media Gets Regulator’s Approval For Ginger Takeover
Month On MonthMonthly national newspaper circulation figures for February, released by the ABC this week, show a fairly solid performance from the News International titles. The Sun, Times, Sunday Times and News Of The World all show improving sales when compared to January’s figures.Elsewhere, the Financial Times continues to grow its circulation base, up 3.2%… Continue reading National Newspaper ABC Round-Up – February 2000
Stock in the media sector took a sharp tumble yesterday following a downgrading by Lehman Brothers International Europe from ‘underweight’ to ‘overweight’. This affected a number of media companies, notably BSkyB, Cable & Wireless Communications and Reuters.Lehman also dropped Carlton Communications from its recommended portfolio, causing shares in the company to slip down 7p to… Continue reading Sharewatch
TalkSport has called on the Office of Fair Trading to investigate the BBC’s successful bid for test cricket rights last week. Britain’s first national sports station bid substantially more for exclusive radio rights to the Series but lost out in favour of the BBC after what it claims was an “anti-competitive abuse of [the BBC’s]… Continue reading TalkSport Asks OFT To Investigate BBC’s ‘Anti-Competitive’ Deal
The world’s largest market research group, Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS), has announced an agreement to acquire US-based Competitive Media Reporting (CMR) for US$88 million (£56 million). CMR provides advertising tracking services in the US and will strengthen TNS’ presence in the media monitoring market.CMR’s current owner, publishing group VNU, was required by the Federal Trade… Continue reading Taylor Nelson Sofres Acquires US Ad Tracking Business
IPC’s Music and Sport Division has announced the departure of Loaded man he was”, and it is now on the look-out for a replacement.Having helped launch the title in 1993 Southwell spent four years as deputy editor before leaving to write a book about the creation of the magazine. He had been editor since 1998,… Continue reading Loaded Editor Quits
The Radio Authority has awarded the local digital multiplex licence for the Edinburgh area to the sole applicant, Score Digital. Score, which is owned by Scottish Radio Holdings, will deliver digital programming and data services to the region, which has an adult population of around 1.1 million.The group’s proposal consists of eight programme services for… Continue reading Score Wins Digital Licence For Edinburgh
The Independent Television Commission (ITC) has recommended that Chris Smith make a proscription order against foreign satellite channel Adult X. The regulatory body has decided that the channel is an unacceptable service under the terms of the Broadcasting Act.The Commission believes that Adult X is unacceptable on the grounds that it repeatedly contains material which… Continue reading ITC Makes Moves To Close Adult Channel
The UK’s first digital TV channel dedicated to natural health issues is to be launched later this year. A range of programming covering all aspects of the natural health industry will be accompanied by a website providing links to products and services in the market.According to a recent Which report, 25% of the UK population… Continue reading Natural Health Channel Set To Launch
Shares in Border Television leapt 28% after Scottish Radio announced on Friday that it is considering a bid for the group (see Border Stock Soars On Scottish Radio Rumours). Border, which owns the ITV franchise for the North-West as well as a number of Century radio stations, saw prices rise 227˝p to £10.50. Scottish Radio… Continue reading Sharewatch
