Week commencing 2nd July 2007
 ITV today announced losses in ad revenue for its flagship channel
ITV 1, which were down 9% at £595m for the first half of 2007.
In a statement to the city, ITV said that its main channel was beginning
to stabilise as the ratings decline showed signs of slowing. Source:
Mediaweek
Viewing figures from TV marketing body Thinkbox show people spent more time watching television this May than the
equivalent month 10 years ago. The stats, which come from Barb,
show that over the past 10 years UK adults increased their average
TV viewing time from 3.65 hours in May 1997 to 3.81 hours this May.
The 10-year average for May is 3.65 hours - 16 minutes per day less
than the current number. Men aged between 16 and 34, who have showed
the greatest uplift in commercial viewing, watching 10 minutes more
a day since 2001. Source: Mediaweek
 Media
buyers have reacted angrily to a decision by The Times to
change its advertising grid from six columns to seven, potentially
increasing the cost of partial page ads by 17%. So far, The Times
has not announced any compensating cut in its column centimetre
rate. As a result some clients have already started to pull out.
Dominic Carter, The Times' trading director, stated that the changes
were driven by the reformatting of the editorial pages, which are
going to five columns from today. He would not say if he was renegotiating
rates to avoid what would be a 17% rate hike, only that he was in
"discussions" with the agencies. Source: Mediaweek
The hotly anticipated weekly current affairs magazine
from BBC Magazines, Newsbrief, is set to launch this autumn.
According to reports, it will launch with a subscription drive targeting
women and international readers. The magazine's creators have been
working closely with BBC News and have conducted extensive consumer
research, finding that it appeals greatly to 30+ mothers. The magazine,
which according to the BBC press office has not yet been fully approved,
is understood to be under the same editorial control as BBC News.
BBC Magazines managing director Peter Phippen is believed to have
been keen to launch a news-based magazine since the mid-1990s. The
BBC developed a similar project a couple of years ago, which BBC
world affairs correspondent David Loyn is understood to have worked
on for at least a year. However, the plan was dropped. Newsbrief
is likely to take an analytical approach to current affairs, drawing
on high-profile names at the corporation such as John Simpson. Source:
Newsline
Associated Newspapers is apparently close
to finalising a deal which will see it increase the circulation
of its national morning freesheet Metro by about 250,000 copies.
The deal would increase the London edition's circulation by about
200,000 copies and that of other areas by about 45,000. An increase
in circulation, which rests on finalising deals with media agencies
to secure increased advertising, could be seen as an attempt to
put more pressure on News International's thelondonpaper, which
is currently going head-to-head with Associated's afternoon freesheet
London Lite. At the last ABCs, for May this year, Metro London recorded
a total circulation of around 548,000, down from just over 550,000
copies in May 2006, although it did record a month on month increase
of around 900 copies. Source: Newsline
 Clothing
retailer USC which stokes brands such as Firetrap, Diesel
and G Star has opened its doors to advertisers. In-store media such
as posters, leaflets, carrier bag inserts and video screens can
be purchased across their 60 stores which attract an average of
600,000 under 30s per week. Source: Hyperspace
 MTV
Networks UK and Ireland is giving its new programme launches
an extra boost with tailor-made digital support online and on mobile
services. Source: Mediaweek
Sky is reportedly in discussions with Microsoft
about making its proposed digital terrestrial pay-TV service available
via PC. Sky is planning to take its three free-to-air channels from
Freeview and replace them with a pay-TV service available through
a new specification set-top box . According to a report on MediaGuardian.co.uk,
the tie-up with Microsoft would run alongside this and be delivered
to PCs via Windows Media Centre PCs that operate as an "all-in-one"
entertainment device. Sky first needs approval from Ofcom before
it can launch the pay-per view service, with the PC offering an
attempt to show the regulator that it could extend the reach of
the proposed service to new customers. Ofcom announced last week
that it will conduct a public consultation on Sky's proposal to
replace its free channels with pay TV services on Digital Terrestrial
Television. This effectively scuppers Sky's hopes of launching the
pay-TV service in time for the start of the Premiership football
season - when rival broadcaster Setanta starts offering Premiership
matches via Digital Terrestrial Television. Source: Newsline
Bluetouch is a new bluetooth transmitter
that can be controlled by a touchscreen which allows people to browse
a library of content stored locally or retrived form the internet.
Historically content had to be made as widely appealing as possible
to maximise the number of people choosing to download, but now consumers
can choose which video clip, audio file/podcast, game or wrapdeck(like
a microsite) they want beamed directly via Bluetooth to their phone.
Source: Hyperspace
Edited by
Dennis Perks, Alistair Munday, Leila Gould & Georgie Wilson |
