The Guardian Media Group (GMG), publisher of The Guardian and The Observer, has announced annual pre-tax profits before exceptionals of £53 million; a 76% increase year on year.As with other newspaper publishers which have reported profit gains recently, GMG attributes the increases to strong advertising growth and lower newsprint costs.Turnover at the Group was £367… Continue reading Guardian Media Group Pre-Tax Profits Up 76%
Commercial radio station of the year was awarded to Talk Radio at this afternoon’s Commercial Radio Companies Association (CRCA) Congress and Awards ceremony.The award for technical excellence was given to Capital Interactive for its work on the network of Capital websites. The judges said that the Capital work “was a great example of the use… Continue reading Talk Radio Awarded Commercial Station Of The Year At CRCA Awards
As expected the Radio Authority this morning received only one application for the national digital multiplex radio licence, from the Digital One consortium. The only other group in contention, Digital Media Broadcasting, announced this morning that it had pulled out of applying due to lack of industry interest in digital audio broadcasting (DAB) (see Digital… Continue reading RA Receives One Application For National Digital Multiplex
Enthusiasm for digital radio, heralded as the future of radio, today took another blow as one of only two groups believed to be applying for the national digital multiplex pulled out at the last minute.Digital Media Broadcasting (DMB) said earlier in the year (see New Company To Enter Bids For National Digital Radio Licence) that… Continue reading Digital Radio Is In An ‘Unlockable Downward Spiral’, Says DMB Chief
The Independent Television Commission, which regulates broadcast advertising on the commercial TV networks in Britain, is banning advertising that uses small print to explain special conditions, restrictions and other indications. Industry specialists say the sectors that will be most affected by the new ruling will be the car, telecoms and airlines advertisers.
According to unofficial overnight figures from ITV, last night’s World Cup match between England and Romania attracted an average audience of 19.4 million and a share of viewing of 71%. ITV claims that viewing peaked at 21.6 million for the last quarter of an hour of the match.These figures do not record viewing outside the… Continue reading England v Romania Attracts 20 Million
According to research by GfK Great Britain, which had responses from 16,691 households in 14 European countries, the British have the highest opinion of advertising both as a means of entertainment and of information. More than 75 per cent of British people find advertising entertaining, 80 per cent and more think it is useful to… Continue reading UK: Brits have positive attitude
New research by Taylor Nelson Sofres into World Cup sponsorship suggests that for 69 per cent of people sponsorship would make no difference to their likely use of a product. Not good news for the thirteen or so official World Cup ’98 sponsors and the numerous brands which have ‘unofficially’ associated themselves with the sport… Continue reading Sponsorship May Have Just The Effect You’re Not Looking For
The Canadian government is preparing to phase out the sponsorship by tobacco companies of sporting and cultural events over the next five years. Under amendments to the Tobacco Act, tobacco manufacturers during the five years’ grace period will be permitted only to have on-site advertising which restricts brand names and logos to the “bottom 10… Continue reading CAN: Sponsorship to be phased out
The volume of direct mail in the UK has exceeded one billion items in three months for the first time. According to the Direct Mail Information Service the period January-March (inclusive) 1998 saw 1.1 billion pieces of mail posted, almost 18 per cent more than for the same period in 1997, while total expenditure was,… Continue reading UK: Direct mail soars again
