Week commencing 3rd December 2007
 Ofcom is ignoring calls for a wide-ranging review of the
TV trading market, following a recent ruling by German regulators
that key parts of the country's TV ad trading system are illegal.
The UK communications regulator is preparing to launch a review
into the contract rights renewal system, which governs how the UK's
biggest commercial broadcaster ITV trades its TV airtime. But despite
the ruling in Germany - Europe's biggest TV advertising market -
Ofcom has no plans to broaden the CRR inquiry. The question of whether
a full market review is necessary has come to light in the aftermath
of events in Germany. In October, the Federal Cartel Office found
the two ad sales houses representing RTL Germany and ProSiebanSat.1
Media guilty of abusing their market power and handed out two huge
fines. Source: Media Week
Sports broadcaster Setanta is weighing a
bid for the pay-TV rights to Europe's premier football competition,
the UEFA Champions League. Over the past 18 months, Setanta has
been building up a large roster of football and other sports rights.
Late last month, Setanta secured the rights to most of England's
away qualifying matches for the 2010 football World Cup, plus most
games involving the other home nations. Should the private equity-backed
TV firm acquire Champions League rights for the three seasons starting
August 2009, it would further erode the monopoly currently enjoyed
by Sky over top football rights. Previously, it had been assumed
that Setanta would not enter the bidding fray. Meanwhile, ITV is
likely to bid again, with executive chairman Michael Grade prioritising
investment in "event television" such as sport. Source:
Media Week
 Publishing house the Economist Group increased its operating
profit by 25% to £20.8m in the six months leading up to 30
September, with turnover up 4% at £124.6m. In the January
to June ABC figures The Economist's circulation rose 11% year-on-year,
to 1.26 million. Increased digital ad revenue and a strong performance
by the Economist Intelligence Unit - the group's database of business
analysis and intelligence from across the world - together with
a successful six months for EuroFinance, have all contributed to
the strong results. Meanwhile the magazine website Economist.com
has "delivered significant traffic growth". Monthly unique
users increased on average by 39% year-on-year, reaching 2.6m in
September this year. Source: Media Week
Music magazine Clash has launched a new
website featuring an archive of content from the magazine, aiming
for 250,000 users per month. ClashMusic.com currently features a
selection of editorial content from the Clash archives plus exclusive
web content. Over the weeks ahead, the site will be enhanced with
the addition of audio and video from ClashTV, its dedicated visual
zone. Other services in development include gig ticketing, integrated
merchandising and a music download service in conjunction with iTunes.
Source: Media Week
Women's title She magazine is set to become
the official media partner of the health charity Walk the Walk.
The charity is the outfit behind well-known money-raising walks
such as Power Walking marathons, The Playtex MoonWalk, The MoonWalk
Edinburgh and The SunWalk in Bristol, all of which raise money for
breast cancer. NatMags-published She will be the official sponsor
for all of the Walk the Walk challenges in 2008, including events
in London, Edinburgh and Bristol. The She editorial team will take
part in The Playtex MoonWalk in May 2008 as well as featuring articles
on breast cancer and healthy living throughout the year. To date,
Walk the Walk has raised in excess of £35 million for breast
cancer, raising a record £7.6 million in 2007. Source: Media
Week
 Choice
FM has unveiled a raft of changes to its 2008 programming line-up,
led by the extension of its breakfast show by one hour. Among several
changes to the Choice FM schedule - partly aimed at bringing the
station's new talent to more prominent parts of the schedule - the
breakfast show will now run from 6am until 10am. There are also
new shows being created for the Firin' Squad, DJ Woody, DJ Hotsteppa,
DJ Abrantee, Chris Phillips and DJs Live Linq. Meanwhile, 'Girls
Like Us' will feature in a revamped Saturday morning line-up featuring
female presenters hosting a topical magazine-style chat show. The
'Friday Nite Flavas' rap show hosted by DJ279 will move to an earlier
slot (9pm to midnight) and there will be also be a new Saturday
night rap show with DJ Phoebe One from 9pm to midnight. Source:
Media Week
 News
International backed property search engine Globrix is set to
go live this week, with a roll-out across all of the publishing
group's newspaper websites in January. The campaign will enable
users to search for properties within the ads, taking users through
to a Globrix landing page when they press enter. News International's
investment in Globrix surprised some analysts, since the company
already part-owns another property search engine - Propertyfinder.
While Propertyfinder charges estate agents to catalogue their properties,
Globrix claims to search and list all UK properties for sale or
rent. Globrix then charges estate agents to appear on the landing
pages for searches conducted by geography. Source: Media Week
Video-on-demand providers are to face a tougher regulatory
regime when media minister James Purnell unveils a new code of conduct
on 12 December. At present, the Association of Television on Demand
(ATVOD) - whose members include BT, Tiscali, and Virgin Media -
self-regulates the industry. But following MEPs' May agreement over
the new Audiovisual Media Services Directive - the replacement for
the TV Without Frontiers Directive that currently governs Europe's
audiovisual sector - "television-like" non-linear TV services
will now be regulated. Source: Media Week
UK-brokered ad deals will go live on Facebook for the first
time this week, as Microsoft becomes the exclusive UK seller of
banner advertising on the social networking site. The software and
media heavyweight secured the rights to sell banner ads on Facebook
around the world in October. Microsoft is also expected to build
on its relationship with Facebook in other areas, such as mobile
advertising and embedding Microsoft Live Search into the site. Source:
Media Week
Sky is to offer content from third-party channels such as
National Geographic via its VoD service Sky Anytime on PC for the
first time. The broadcaster has decided to open its doors to third-party
media owners in a bid to boost usage of Anytime on PC, which they
recently launched. As well as featuring the core Sky channels, Anytime
on PC will feature National Geographic Channel, Nat Geo Wild, The
History Channel, The Biography Channel and Crime & Investigation
Network have signed up to. Source: Media Week
 Clear
Channel Outdoor has entered into partnership with MT2 to sell
advertising on the new Land Securities' owned LED screen - Piccadilly
Lite - situated in the Piccadilly Lights complex in the heart of
London's West End. This is the first time in almost a century that
such a flexible advertising opportunity has been offered at the
Piccadilly Lights location and, according to Clear Channel, it will
enable clients to generate maximum impact on the highest resolution,
animated screen in the complex. Source: Mediatel
 UK
Cinema Top Ten:
1. Fred Clause
2. Hitman
3. American Gangster
4. Beowulf
5. Stardust
6. Ratatouille
7. The Darjeeling Limited
8. Good Luck Chuck
9. The Assassination of Jesse James
10. Aaja Nachie
Source: UK Film Council
Edited by Bex Cunnah & Anna Kilborn |
