Global advertising and marketing network WPP saw a rise of 0.51% yesterday, putting stocks at 591˝p. The increase follows a bad day’s trading on monday, despite the company announcing an 18% increase in pre-tax profit to more than £473 million for 2003 (see WPP Takes Bullish Stance As Pre-Tax Profits Rise).Pearson fared less well, continuing… Continue reading Sharewatch: WPP inches up following increased profits
Global information company Reuters has announced the appointment of Sir Niall FitzGerald as chairman, replacing the outgoing Sir Christopher Hogg with effect from 1 October.FitzGerald has been a non-executive director of Reuters since January 2003, but his appointment as chairman comes just two weeks after his resignation as chairman and chief executive of Unilever, a… Continue reading Reuters Appoints FitzGerald As New Chairman
Media professionals are seriously concerned about a significant decline in the number of consumers taking part in reader and audience surveys, according to the latest poll from the MRG.An online study of the Media Research Group’s 150 core members shows that almost 40% of respondents believe that falling response rates will be an area of… Continue reading Media Researchers Concerned Over Falling Response Rates
New research from the Branded Content Marketing Association estimates that branded television content will quadruple by the end of 2004 as advertisers search for more cost effective ways to promote their products.The research, which was conducted across major terrestrial and non-terrestrial broadcasters, found that the £5 million spent on branded programming last year could increase… Continue reading Advertiser Funded Television To Take Off In 2004
Sky has announced the launch of its first interactive gambling channel, Sky Vegas Live, which will begin broadcasting from 6pm tomorrow.The channel, operating from a “state-of-the-art virtual TV studio” in South West London will offer viewers the chance to win cash prizes by playing along with live action casino games presented by a host of… Continue reading Sky To Bring Vegas To The Living Room
Jean-Francois Decaux, chairman and chief executive of poster giant JCDecaux, has pledged to give free bicycles to Londoners to reduce the nation’s obesity epidemic, on the condition that the Government improves cycle routes in the city.Speaking at today’s ISBA conference the poster chief compared his plans to schemes already underway in Austria and Germany, where… Continue reading JCDecaux Pledges Pedal Power To The People
A senior ITV executive has hinted that the newly-merged ITV could buy Channel 4, should the broadcaster be sold by the Government in the run up to a possible merger with Five.In a report in today’s Guardian a senior executive is quoted as saying: “If they were pushing for a change in the law to… Continue reading ITV Could Bid For Channel 4 In Run Up To Merger With Five
Newly merged broadcasting giant ITV has announced it is on target to save £100 million in the first set of results to be published since its multi-billion pound merger was completed in February.The results also reveal a 2% drop in the broadcaster’s net advertising revenue for 2003. ITV has blamed this on a reduced share… Continue reading ITV On Target To Save £100 Million From Merger
Financial Times owner, Pearson, saw shares slide by 0.4% yesterday despite announcing a 2.8% increase in pre-tax profits in its full-year financial results. However, the Financial Times posted a loss of £32 million during 2003, despite a wide ranging cost-cutting programme across the flagship business daily (see Losses Widen At FT And The Outlook Remains… Continue reading Sharewatch: Pearson Drops Despite Rising Profits
BT Group has reduced the price of its cheapest broadband service to less than £20 per month in an attempt to further increase the take-up of high-speed internet access across the UK.The telecoms giant yesterday announced the launch of a new cut-price service aimed at attracting the large numbers of dial-up customers normally put of… Continue reading BT Launches New Cut-Price Broadband Service
