Sharewatch: Capital Radio Lead The Way

Commercial broadcasters Capital Radio saw a dramatic jump in share price yesterday, gaining 3.55% to close yesterday at 437p. The radio station recently participated in the Radio Aid campaign, helping to raise funds for children affected by the Asian tsunami (see UK Radio Aid Donations Surpass £2 Million Mark).

Earlier this week saw the company appoint creative agency Mother to deliver above-the-line activity for its Xfm station, following an impressive pitch to the station’s marketing team at the end of last year (see Xfm Signs Mother To Handle Promotional Push). The appointment marks the continuation of Xfm’s drive for national recognition, hoping to boost listenership through digital radio and online streaming.

International media group Pearson saw a drop in share price yesterday, losing 2.75% to close at 620p. This comes despite the company issuing a positive trading statement ahead of its 2004 preliminary announcement on 28 February. The statement reiterated the Group’s November trading updating, stating that its flagship publication, the Financial Times is on course to break even in the fourth quarter (see Financial Times Set To Break Even For 2004).

Elsewhere, satellite heavyweight BSkyB continued its downwards trend, dropping 1.09% to close at 545p. Government media regulator, Ofcom, recently launched an investigation into the company after ITV complained about the proposed charge for regionalisation of ITV’s channels on Sky’s digital satellite platform (see Ofcom Investigating Sky Over Regional Charges).

The FTSE 100 saw a slight decrease of 0.1 points yesterday to close at 4,818.3 while the FTSE 250 increased marginally, gaining 0.5 points to close at 7,088.8.

The closing prices of media company shares on Wednesday were: