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ITV has appointed TV mogul Duncan Gray, the man behind The Big Breakfast and Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway as its new controller of entertainment ahead of a push for more successful content.Gray will now return to the UK from Los Angeles to take up the role, commissioning and developing ITV’s stable of entertainment… Continue reading ITV Signs Entertainment Guru As New Controller

ITV has announced the launch of ITV Play, the broadcaster’s latest digital channel promising to provide viewers with ‘participation TV’ built on existing call-TV formats such as Quizmania and Play Sudoku.The new channel will launch on Freeview on 19 April, and all other platforms later in the year. ITV Play branded programming will also air… Continue reading ITV Play To Broaden Broadcaster’s Revenue Streams

Last night’s Champions’ League match between Chelsea and Barcelona dominated primetime viewing, giving ITV1 a 29.1% share of all adults to floor competition from all terrestrial rivals.The match, which ended in a 1-1 draw, gave Barcelona a 3-2 win on aggregate and saw Chelsea knocked out of the Champions’ League.An average adult audience of 6.6… Continue reading ITV Ratings Peak As Chelsea Drops From Champions’ League

Cartoon Network is to extend its brand into the nation’s cinemas, with a revival of the pre-film cartoon short becoming the broadcaster’s largest ever single marketing initiative.Designed to promote the TV channel to kids across the country, the national campaign will see Odeon and Vue cinemas screen six-minute branded cartoons before their childrens films.The broadcaster… Continue reading Cartoon Network Revives Cinema Shorts For Youth Appeal

Virgin Radio is to extend its podcasting activities by providing content direct to listeners’ mobile phones, side-stepping the PC and the iPod to reach directly into the pockets of consumers.Following the development of Virgin’s online radio streaming to mobiles last year (see Virgin Hails Success Of Mobile Internet Radio), the new system allows anyone with… Continue reading Virgin Extends Podcasts With Direct Mobile Downloads

ITV increased its operating profit by 42% in 2005, reaching £460 million and seeing profits double over the past two years.Revenue for the broadcaster was up by 6% year on year at £2.2 million, while cash generated from operations hit £456 million.Turning towards ITV’s digital future, channels continued to grow strongly, with revenue up by… Continue reading ITV Increases Operating Profit By 42% In 2005

Satellite giant BSkyB is to replace rock and indie music channel The Amp with a female-orientated service entitled Bliss, following a “refocused music policy from Chart Show TV,” which operates the channel on Sky’s behalf.According to a report in Broadcast magazine, the new channel will feature artists such as Coldplay, Elton John, Bryan Adams and… Continue reading Sky Pulls Plug On The Amp In Favour Of Bliss

Last night saw ITV1’s detective drama Rebus trumped by BBC One’s rival sleuthing series Dalziel and Pascoe, with the Corporation scoring just under 6 million, compared to ITV’s 5.4.The commercial giant outperformed the BBC in other areas, however, scoring over 10 million adult viewers on average for both episodes in a Coronation Street double bill… Continue reading ITV Pipped By BBC Detectives But Stays Strong With Soaps

Advertising bodies ISBA and the IPA have criticised the BBC’s request for an increased licence fee in a submission to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, claiming that over-funding the Corporation would result in an unfair spending ability.The BBC made its claim for an increase to the licence fee of RPI + 2.3% last… Continue reading Ad Bodies Blast BBC’s ‘Excessive’ Licence Request

Strategic communications agency Tonic is to rebrand as Progress, with plans to develop a digital media offering to tackle the next wave of development in electronic media.Progress’ new digital arm will broaden the agency’s abilities, but requires a third partner to join founders Geoff Seeley and Tim Elton.Explaining the rebranding and expansion, Seeley said: “We… Continue reading Tonic Rebrands As Progress Ahead Of Digital Expansion