Week commencing 7th January 2008
 Discovery Networks UK is to offer an as-yet unnamed channel
via Picnic TV, the new pay-TV service that Sky proposes to launch
via digital terrestrial TV. Disney has also said it would provide
a kids' TV channel. Source: Media Week.
Sky is to debut a brand new feature film
channel on the same day as it is released in UK cinemas. It is billed
as the first film to be released simultaneously on pay-per-view
and at the cinema. The foreign film, The Edge of Heaven, will be
released in Curzon and City Screen cinemas on 22 February, and will
be available to Sky subscribers that day. Source: Media Week.
 The Financial Times is to relaunch its website in the summer,
adding more blogs and international video content to the site. FT's
chief executive John Ridding said the relaunch, planned for the
middle of the year, was one of several projects in the works. The
newspaper is also planning a refresh of its FT Weekend supplement,
expected in the first half of the year. Source: Media Week.
The Sun's price cut to 20p in London and
the South East has failed to keep the paper's circulation above
three million copies in December, ABC figures are expected to reveal.
The last time the paper's sales fell below three million was in
January 1974. News Group is planning a move to full colour for The
Sun at the end of the month. Source: Media Week.
Emap is launching a travel-size edition of FHM in the spring, the first compact offering in the men's market. The
new travel-sized format will be exclusively sold via WHSmith Travel
outlets and Alpha Retail shops throughout the UK. The compact edition
will contain the same content and advertising as the regular print
edition and will carry the standard FHM cover price of £3.80.
It will also contain FHM2, the "mag within a mag" introduced
during last year's relaunch. Source: Media Week.
Haversham Publications' Hairflair & Beauty
magazine is relaunching next month following an extensive redesign.
Aimed at the 18 to 30-year-old fashion-conscious reader, the revamped
magazine relaunches on 24 January and will feature a series of step-by-step
beauty guides. The 132-page A4 title, which has been redesigned
with a clearer layout, will also feature a new health and well-being
section. In addition, Haversham is retaining regular features such
as reader makeovers, celebrity ideas and new fashions. The relaunched
title will be priced at £2.99. Source: Media Week.
Guardian News and Media is to expand the social networking offerings
available via Guardian Unlimited following a deal with Pluck
Corporation. GNM will use Pluck's SiteLife Social Media Platform
to enhance reader interaction and community services. Source: Media
Week.
 Emap
Radio is to start tapping into the classifieds market with the
launch of recruitment search facilities via its websites. The company
launched the facility on the website of its Manchester station,
Key 103, on 1 January and plans to roll out the service to its stations
in other parts of the country. There are also plans to develop the
concept into other areas such as motoring and homes, and to roll
out these services into other regions. Source: Media Week.
 CBS
Outdoor is to roll out its new Cross Track Projection (XTP) system commercially in at least four London Underground stations
by the end of the second quarter. Source: Media Week.
JCDecaux is to install its Premier formats
in sites owned by National Car Parks (NCP) after signing an agreement
with the company to develop and manage billboard advertising. Source:
Media Week.
 Social
network provider 10Duke has added to its stable of sites by launching
a video-based venture, www.10duke.tv. The site includes clips
from entertainment firms Universal Music and Jongleurs and is designed
to attract audiences interested in comedy, music and sport. 10Duke
is promoting the site as an advertising channel for brands and media
owners, which can reach audiences by submitting professional content
to the site. The offering allocates a TV channel to each firm that
can be accessed through 10Duke's online properties, plus affiliate
sites. 10Duke provides and runs social network platforms for third
parties, including www.30love.com, the website of the Association
of Tennis Professionals. Source: Media Week.
Teletext has hired 4th Screen Advertising to sell ads on
its expanding mobile offering. The Associated Newspapers-owned publisher
is set to extend its mobile offering of news, sports, racing and
entertainment by taking its Teletext Holidays franchise to mobile
during the first quarter of this year. 4th Screen Advertising will
sell ads on the mobile portal on an exclusive basis using its mobile
ad platform, Mpression. Source: Media Week.
Social networking site MySpace is beefing up its content
presence with plans to expand ad-funded programming and product
placement. Nick Reid, head of sales at MySpace, said broadcasters
and film-makers were increasingly interested in targeting viewers
through MySpace. Hammer Films is to release its first film in 30
years, called Beyond the Rave, on MySpace this spring as 20 separate
web episodes. MySpace has already launched original content, such
as Quarterlife, and has developed its relationship with Channel
4 to broadcast new episodes of Shameless and Skins. Source: Media
Week.
Following years of rapid growth, online advertising could
face more modest expansion this year, according to a report from
Deloitte. The report warns that the online ad sector faces numerous
obstacles to maintaining its growth of recent years, concluding
that public antipathy towards online ads may become a problem for
the sector. The accountancy firm cited research that suggests more
than one in four internet users would be willing to pay to avoid
being served ads online. Disillusionment with online ads could become
more prevalent, Deloitte warns, as key online players such as social
networks become increasingly reliant on online advertising as a
revenue stream. Source: Media Week.
Bluepod Media has signed up eight Premiership and Championship
football clubs, as well as the Scottish Premier League champions
Celtic, to install its Bluetooth units in stadiums. Premier League
clubs Birmingham City, Wigan, Portsmouth and West Ham, along with
Celtic and Championship team Wolverhampton Wanderers, are among
those to have given Bluepod exclusive Bluetooth site rights in their
grounds. The company also has preliminary agreements with a further
four clubs. Source: Media Week.
Vodafone is boosting its focus on digital with the creation
of an online business unit. The mobile phone giant has identified
the internet as a top priority for how the business operates and
is putting a new team in place to transform its online presence.
Vodafone has a three-year plan to create an online hub that will
include an area for customers to test products, although these plans
remain at an early stage. Source: Media Week.
 UK
box office grosses last year totalled £904 million, up
8% on 2006 and the biggest annual haul ever. The box office result,
revealed by Nielson EDI, was largely due to the success of Hollywood
sequels over the summer. Top earners were 'Harry Potter and the
Order of the Phoenix', 'Pirates of the Carribbean: At World's End'
and 'Shrek the Third'.
Edited by Bex Cunnah |
