Week commencing 5th February 2007
BBC1 is the only one of the five main terrestrial networks with much to cheer about from January's ratings - all the others saw year-on-year declines in audience share in the first month of 2007. Channel 4, which has bucked the trend of declining ratings for the five main networks for the past two years, slipped into reverse in January, with its audience share down by nearly 4% compared with January 2006. BBC1's all-hours audience share for the four weeks to Sunday January 28 - which will count as January for ratings measurement body Barb - was 22.3%. This is up very slightly on BBC1's January 2006 share of 22.2%. The network's best January ratings performers included the thriller Five Days, returning dramas Waking the Dead and Judge John Deed, and live FA Cup football. Source: Media Guardian
BSkyB had 8.44 million subscribers by the end of 2006, a net growth of 183,000 in the last three months of the year. In a trading statement today, the company said it had signed 432,000 new customers in the six months to 31 December, but lost 249,000 after reducing viewing package discounts. Subscribers to Sky's high-definition TV service doubled to 184,000 between October and December, and it has now sold 2.13m Sky+ boxes to 1.97m households. Revenues for the quarter were up by 10% to £2,220 million, including £22 million from Sky Broadband and £77 million from Easynet Enterprise. More than a quarter of its customers now take more than one of its TV and broadband products. Excluding Sky Broadband, Easynet Enterprise and net exceptional gains, Sky's operating profit was £420 million, a year-on-year increase of 1%. The company blamed the modest growth on weaker TV advertising sector, and a decline in wholesale revenue. It said the first six months of 2007 would show some improvement. Source: Media Week
 H Bauer's news-led women's weekly, In The Know, is selling an average of 107,000 copies a week, some way off the 150,000 it was managing soon after its September launch. Bauer, which released an audited publisher's statement for the title yesterday, claims that figure - which excludes bulk sales - is "sustainable". In The Know is competing with Emap's First, which is expected to record a debut official ABC audit of just over 100,000 when the consumer magazine release is published on 15 February. Emap had been hoping for sales of around 150,000. David Goodchild, UK managing director, H Bauer, told The Guardian: "The start has been in line with the pace of most new launches last year which have entered a particularly aggressive marketplace. "We set out to do something different... and we are satisfied that In the Know has in fact achieved these sales results without falling into a pattern of continuous price promotion or TV advertising - which means we have a sustainable business model to build from as we go forward into 2007." Source: Mediatel
Gay Times is to publish its first monthly style and grooming section from this month in a bid to attract fashion advertisers. The move is part of an overhaul of the magazine that will see it rebranded as simply GT with toned-down covers. Joseph Galliano, the magazine's editor, said the changes reflected the changing aspirations of readers and would enable Gay Times to compete with other men's magazines for fashion ads. "We've never exploited fashion to the extent that we could have done and we want to build on this commercially," he said. The back of the magazine will also feature a monthly real-life section, including columns by an agony aunt and a life coach as well as first-person experiences. Galliano said the switch to the GT name aimed to make readers more comfortable about buying and reading the magazine. He added that cover images would be more varied, with fewer images of "men in pants". The new-look magazine is on sale next week. Source: Media Week
Sugar will reclaim leadership of the teen market, Glamour will post a sales increase, consolidating its lead in the glossy sector, Grazia's sales are set to hit 200,000 and celebrity titles Heat, Closer and Hello! are all expected to post gains in next week's ABC figures for the second half of 2006. Hachette Filipacchi's Sugar's modest single-digit increase is its first in more than three years and follows a relaunch in March. The ABC figures are expected to show that it now outsells rival title Bliss by at least 30,000 copies. In the first half of 2006, Bliss led the market with an ABC of 213,466, ahead of Sugar's 200,187, with circulations of both titles down at least 20 per cent. But sales of Bliss, which Emap sold to Panini in December, are thought to have fallen below 200,000 for the first time after shedding at least 40,000 sales in the period. Panini took over Bliss last month and, in a departure for the title, its February issue carried no covermounted gift. Source: Media Week
 The Times has relaunched its website with a "news plus views" editorial strategy, with features such as a web TV show on London neighbourhoods and a blog for working mums. The Times Online editor-in-chief, Anne Spackman, said that the £10m overhaul aimed to create a "dynamic multimedia website centred on news plus views - those of our own writers and our users". The new web TV show, called Cool in Your Code aims to provide guides to London neighbourhoods with content including reviews of bars and information on shops and homes. Times Online's blog for working mums, called Alpha Mummy, is written by columnists from the Times and Sunday Times including Caitlin Moran, Sarah Vine and Eleanor Mills. Tapping into the trend of holiday-makers wanting a more multimedia, interactive forum, YourWorld allows the posting of stories from trips as well as pictures. Building on existing podcasts, such as Baddiel and Skinner during the World Cup, the new-look website will include more audio visual content, with links on each webpage to updates. In a statement the company said the £10m-plus investment had gone into the design, IT, editorial, and marketing. Source: Media Guardian
 RADIO
Heart and Galaxy owner Chrysalis have reported a recovery in its radio revenues after an autumn slump. The group, which last week toasted Heart DJ Jamie Theakston's breakfast show becoming number one in London, said revenues had increased 5% in January compared with the same month last year. That follows a 10% year-on-year decline in the four months between September and December. "Although trading conditions for the UK radio industry remained challenging throughout the final calendar quarter of 2006, at Chrysalis we have seen a return to positive revenue growth in the first few weeks of 2007," said the Chrysalis chairman, Chris Wright. Source: Media Guardian
 JCDecaux Airport is packaging its UK and foreign airport advertising estates together in an attempt to improve advertising revenue in the traditionally slow summer months. The company is launching a "Summer Essentials" package aimed at young, fun-seeking holidaymakers, with 67 advertising panels at Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports. The panels have a potential reach of 10.6 million passengers a month, while a "Clubbers Special" package will also include corresponding ads at airports in Palma and Ibiza. Richard Malton, marketing director at JCDecaux Airport, said the packages would suit clients in the fast-moving consumer goods sector, music brands, or new technology and mobile communications. Malton said: "The campaign targets the traditionally hard to reach 18 to 34 (year-old) audience at a time when they are in the right mindset to spend and have time on their hands. "It's an opportunity to influence last-minute purchase decisions for a brand-loyal audience in the retail-friendly environment of an airport." Findings from Airport Ethnographic Research show that heart rate and ad receptiveness both increase when people are in airports, at both drop-off and check-in. Source: Media Week
 UK Top 10
1. Dreamgirls (12A)
2. Blood Diamond (15)
3. Arthur and the Invisibles (U)
4. Notes On A Scandal (15)
5. Rocky Balboa (12A)
6. The Pursuit Of Happyness (12A)
7. The Last King Of Scotland (15)
8. Babel (15)
9. Casino Royale (12A)
10. Miss Potter (PG)
Source: Pearl and Dean
Edited by Lizzie Thomas |
