Week commencing 3rd September 2007
 Tiscali service extension
Tiscali is to make its TV service available to nearly five million UK homes and plans to raise this figure to 10 million by the end of 2007. Tiscali TV services will be available in Central, North and North West of England as well as the M25 ring for the first time. Tiscali has already signed a deal with Sky which will see it provide the satellite broadcaster's basic channel package - including Sky One, Sky Two, Sky Three, Sky Arts, Sky Travel, Sky News and Sky Sports News.
Its new TV packages include a £5 TV Variety Pack with over 50 digital channels, as well as three additional TV packs for £6 each. Additional pay TV subscription services include Sky Sports 1, 2 and 3, Sky Movies and Picture Box. Mary Turner, Tiscali CEO, said: "By Christmas 2007 Tiscali TV will reach almost 10 million homes and we believe we can offer great value digital TV and the best value triple-play service in the UK for those who don't want to pay for expensive premium TV, but do want more than Freeview."
Meanwhile, Cable & Wireless recently announced the launch of the UK's first national IPTV service via broadband following its signing of a £70 million deal with Inuk Networks Source: Mediatel
Nuts TV announces programming line up
Nuts TV, the multiplatform channel inspired by IPC's men's weekly magazine, has announced the programming line-up for its launch on September 12. Airing on Freeview channel 42 and with a broadband component at www.nuts.tv, shows include the delightfully named Gender Bender, in which three men and three women go to extremes to prove they know the most about the opposite sex. The channel will also pit "northern grit against southern wit in North vs. South, and three blokes fight for the chance to give their phone number to Miss England, Miss Liverpool and Miss Glasgow as they wonder, Will Beauty Call?".
The live programming starts at 9pm every evening with Rude News, a daily digest of "the least important, global stories of the day". There is also a twice-nightly sports news show Fanzai.
The broadband component will offer users catch-up TV, unseen footage and opportunities for audience participation. Dee Forbes, SVP & GM Turner Broadcasting System (TBS) UK who are launching the channel, said: "We are delighted to be working with both IPC Media and ETV to have developed what is a cutting-edge concept in television programming.
"With a multi-platform launch and UGC strategy at heart, NUTS TV will bridge the current gap in the TV marketplace. Male audiences are currently bombarded with entertainment and information so we have taken great steps to ensure this is a channel representative of their lives with content they will want to both watch, and interact with."
The last ABC figures, for the six months from January to June 2007, show that Nuts magazine shed about 27,500 copies from its total circulation figure, leaving it at 277,269. Source; Mediatel
 Street vendors to sell the Sun
News International is to use street vendors to sell copies of the Sun in London, following on from its decision to drop the paper's cover price to 20p in the capital. The popular red-top will be sold during the morning rush - going up against the freesheet Metro - and again from 11.30am to 2.30pm, stopping to allow fellow News International title thelondonpaper to be distributed. This new distribution method follows the lowering of the papers cover price in London and the south-east, a move apparently aimed at keeping the title's distribution above the three million mark.
The latest ABC figures, for July this year, show that the Sun had a total circulation of just over 3.1 million copies, down 78,600 or 2.5% year on year. There will be 100 distributors selling the paper around the capital, wearing distinctive red clothing branded with the Sun logo. Meanwhile, last week it was revealed that the forthcoming relaunch of the Sun website will see the paper move into the local advertising market. Source; Mediatel
Regional press websites increase
New research from the Newspaper Society (NS) reveals that the number of regional press websites, radio stations and niche publications grew by between 21% and 25% in 2006. The NS Annual Regional Press Survey, published today, shows the number of websites grew from 828 to 1102. The number of core regional newspaper titles went up slightly to 1303, while the number of stand-alone magazines and niche publications grew by 21% from 595 to 755.
NS president Russell Whitehair, chairman of NWN Media Limited, said: "The regional press is growing and reaching new audiences across its print and digital platforms. We know that 40 million people already read a local paper in print.
"Growth in local newspaper websites means they now collectively represent one of the top UK online properties, attracting an estimated 20 million unique users a month which would put it above the BBC, alongside Yahoo! and within striking distance of eBay, MSN and Google."
The industry employs nearly 50,000 people, with over a quarter of these (26.6%) editorial staff and nearly a third (31.7%) commercial, advertising and marketing staff. Total numbers exclude an estimated 110,000 news deliverers.
The Annual Regional Press Survey is carried out by the NS to increase understanding of the regional press as a significant UK industry sector and employer. Source; Mediatel
The Sunday Telegraph editor quits after 18 months
Patience Wheatcroft has quit as editor of The Sunday Telegraph after just 18 months in the job. She has been replaced by Ian MacGregor, the deputy editor of The Daily Telegraph and a favourite of the Telegraph Media Group chief executive, Murdoch MacLennan. Ms Wheatcroft, a former business editor of The Times, resigned after a difference of opinion over the editorial direction of the newspaper.
It is the third change of editor at the title in two years. In 2005 Sarah Sands was brought in to replace Dominic Lawson and bring a lighter female touch to the newspaper, but after only eight months she was replaced by Ms Wheatcroft, who was seen as a safe pair of hands. One insider said: "There has been a difference of opinion on editorial policies. Patience is a traditional, old-school journalist and the Telegraph is a multimedia, all-singing, all-dancing organisation."
Mr MacLennan, a former managing director of Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail, has brought in a raft of ex-Associated faces to the Telegraph, including Mr MacGregor, who was deputy editor of the London Evening Standard for four years. Mr MacGregor's replacement as deputy editor of The Daily Telegraph is Tony Gallagher, who joined the Telegraph group in November 2006 from the Daily Mail, where he was assistant news editor.
It has been suggested that the Telegraph is moving towards a seven-day news operation, but sources at the newspaper dismissed this idea. Both Telegraph titles recently moved to new headquarters, with a multimedia newsroom, in Victoria. The Sunday Telegraph relaunched with a new look in June, but the redesign did little to boost circulation figures, which were down 2.95 per cent to 636,681 in July.
Ms Wheatcroft is the latest in a long line of casualties resulting from changes that have swept through the once fusty Telegraph titles. Last month, the longstanding education editor Liz Lightfoot and royal correspondent Caroline Davies left The Daily Telegraph.
Former deputy editor Neil Darbyshire, foreign editor Alan Philps and comment editor Stephen Robinson are among those who quit last year. Source; Independent online
 First Polish commercial radio station launched
Britain's growing Polish community - an estimated one million - already has several Polish-language publications and three internet radio stations. Now London's Poles can even tune into their own commercial radio station, which began broadcasting this weekend on an FM frequency belonging to community broadcaster Hayes FM.
Radio Orla (hayesfm.org.uk, 91.8 FM) started up on Saturday at 7pm with a two-hour bilingual show hosted by Lukasz Foster. The station's aim is not just to capitalise on the "Polish pound", but to promote Polish culture to British people living in the three London boroughs of Ealing, Hillingdon and Hounslow. "There will be two languages spoken on the show - Polish and English," says George Matlock, managing director of Radio Orla. The idea is that bilingual presenters will mix up English and Polish phrases in conversation.
Listeners to the Saturday entertainment programme can also expect to hear interviews with successful Poles plus news and stories about the Polish community as well as a "light-hearted" look at London life. Saturday's guest was Don Pedro, a Polish comedian who lives in Britain, and although the emphasis is on Polish music, from artists such as Dzem, Edyta Gorniak and Kasia Kowalska, they mix in the odd American or British tune too.
Radio Orla, which was launched online in May 2006, has been attracting an average 6,000 Poles a month. The FM version is expected to reach an audience of 30,000 Poles who live in the catchment area. If Matlock is to believed, though, Radio Orla's star DJ might yet give Chris Moyles a run for his money. "Lukasz is a very international person," he says. "He was born in Poland, but grew up in Canada. He's got a good Slavic temper and a very short fuse." Source; Mediaguardian
 Number of homes connected to the internet on the rise
The number of UK households connected to the internet has jumped by almost one million in the last year alone, to reach over 15 million, according to the latest information from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The number of homes with access to broadband internet has jumped by 40% year on year to 51%, the body's research uncovered, with homes in London and the south-west leading the way in terms of the number of homes with internet access at 69%. London also came top for the numbers of people connected to broadband services.
Of the UK households with internet access, 84% had a broadband connection in 2007. Yorkshire and the Humber and the north-east had the lowest access levels with just 52%, while Northern Ireland displayed the same levels of take-up. The ONS also found that Northern Ireland remained the region with the lowest levels of broadband access, with figures showing just 40% of all households connected. The figures also show that in 2007, households in the north-east had the highest digital television take-up with 84% and Northern Ireland the lowest, with 59%.
According to the ONS, the most popular activity of recent internet users was searching for information about goods or services at 86%. This was carried out more by men (88%) than women (84%). Women’s most popular activity was using email at 85%, which was men’s second most popular, also at 85%.
Of the activities surveyed, there were only two where women carried out the activity more than men. These were seeking health related information and looking for information related to education, training or courses.
Meanwhile, JupiterResearch forecast that the worldwide online population will increase from 1.1 billion users in 2006 to 1.5 billion in 2011, representing 22% of the overall worldwide population in that year. Source; Mediatel
London commuters rant on facebook
Irate London commuters have turned to social networking website Facebook to vent their anger at the tube strike that has crippled the capital's transport system with more than 30 groups being set up today condemning the action. The groups, which have names including "RMT union members suck" and "Bob Crow [RMT general secretary] needs a damn good thrashing", have mostly been set up by the first commuters to arrive at work following a chaotic trip to the office.
Commuters have set up a dozen groups protesting against the RMT union, four against the union's general secretary, Bob Crow, and five against collapsed maintenance firm Metronet. More than 1,300 Facebookers have signed up in the first few hours today to the anti-strike groups. RMT does not have a Facebook page explaining its reasons for the strike. "It is a well-known fact that over one million Londoners are active on Facebook and other social networks yet major organisations like the RMT continue to miss a vital trick in communicating their messages effectively," said Henry Elliss, head of social media at online reputation and search consultancy Tamar. "Social networks should be a key part of any consumer-facing brand's communications strategy," Mr Elliss added Source; Mediaguardian
Yahoo purchases BlueLithium
Yahoo has continued its pursuit of online ad rivals with a $300m purchase of private online advertising firm BlueLithium. BlueLithium offers banner advertising on a network of about 1,000 sites, which will help extend Yahoo's ad reach as it continues to challenge Google's and Microsoft's online ad offerings.
The deal is for cash and is expected to close at the end of the fourth quarter of 2007, Yahoo said. BlueLithium will become a Yahoo subsidiary once the acquisition is completed. It will be integrated with other Yahoo ad offerings, including the Yahoo Publisher Network and the Right Media Exchange.
Increased competition in the online advertising market between Yahoo, Microsoft, and Google has led to a series of acquisitions by all three companies. Yahoo has struggled over the past year, reporting disappointing second-quarter financial results and a decrease in net income over the same period in 2006. The company has also spent almost a year reorganising both its top management and its business divisions. Source; PC Advisor
Edited by the Buying Team |
