Week commencing 11th June 2007
 Britain's
Got Talent was once again watched by more than six million adults
on average, gaining ITV1 a 27.8% viewing share between 9pm and 10pm
last night (12th June). At the same time, Andrew Marr's History
of Modern Britain proved a success for BBC Two in the timeslot,
with his exploration of the Thatcherite era - from the miners strike
and the excess-fuelled 80s to the poll tax riots of 1990 - luring
more than 3.1 million on average (14.3%). Meanwhile, foul-mouthed
celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay gained an average adult audience of
more than 2.6 million for the F-Word on Channel 4, a 12% share,
whilst comedian Lenny Henry drew more than 2.5 million to BBC One
for his investigation into what makes us laugh in his new show,
Lenny's Britain (11.5%). It was a close run race in the timeslot,
with Five's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation attracting almost 2.5
million to the channel on average, giving the broadcaster's flagship
an 11.4% share. Earlier, Holby Blue, the Holby City police spin-off,
won the 8pm to 9pm timeslot with an average adult audience of almost
3.7 million (19.4%). Following closely behind was BBC Two's Springwatch,
with more than 3.5 million on average (18.7%) tuning in to the British
flora and fauna reality show. Elsewhere it was a battle between
beauty shows, with Trinny and Susannah Undress winning the war.
The bitchy duo was joined by more than 2.7 million adults on average
as they attempted to make over a dowdy couple, gaining ITV1 a 14.4%
viewing share. Over on Channel 4, stylist Gok Wan pulled out all
the stops to boost the self-esteem of struggling actress Lucy Govan
in How To Look Good Naked. More than 2.2 million joined the fashion
guru for his top tips, giving the channel an 11.8% audience share
at the time. Channel 4's decision last night to not schedule Big
Brother to clash with Simon Cowell's new talent conteST, meant that
nomination night in the house was witnessed by an average of more
than 3.2 million adults (18.1%). Source: Mediatel
Virgin Media TV has announced that it is to launch a branded
TV channel on Freeview in autumn, in the latest challenge to its
rival BSkyB. Virgin 1, which will be available on Freeview, Virgin
Media and digital satellite, is a major step for the company since
its launch at the beginning of the year, and will expand Virgin's
presence in the ongoing battle with Sky. VMtv is also hoping that
the channel's launch will give it more muscle to acquire and commission
top US and UK programming. Virgin 1 will mix newly commissioned
and acquired programming with user-generated content and hit shows
from VMtv's pay-TV channels. VMtv says that it will shortly announce
"an impressive line-up of content that will cut through with
UK audiences." Virgin 1 will also combine an on-demand function,
with catch-ups, previews and exclusive content available via broadband
and Virgin Media on-demand through cross-platform deals for key
content. Source: Mediatel
A bill to introduce a 9pm watershed for junk food TV adverts has cleared its first major hurdle in the House of Lords. Peers
passed the Television Advertising (Food) Bill through to the next
stage in the process of becoming law on Friday. The peers who spoke
in favour of the Bill included; writer Baroness Ruth Rendell; Lord
Krebs, the former head of the Food Standards Agency; and the Bishop
of St Albans. Health campaigners have welcomed the news that Baroness
Thornton's bill has passed the first step, although inevitably many
advertisers will view this milestone as the beginning of the end.
Baroness Thornton said in her speech: "The current rules to
protect children from junk food adverts are ineffective. Given that
one in three children is now obese or overweight it is vital that
we adequately protect children from junk food adverts before 9pm."
Richard Watts, campaign coordinator of the Children's Food Campaign,
said: "The momentum behind a 9pm watershed for junk food adverts
is growing all the time. Today, the House of Lords has passed this
Bill; earlier in the week we won the support of Harriet Harman;
in the last few months over 230 MPs have signed up to support the
9pm watershed." He continued: "Today's vote means this
Bill will still be before Parliament when Gordon Brown become Prime
Minister. Given he has already signaled his support for controls
on junk food advertising before the watershed we're very confident
indeed that this vital public health measure will become law."
Source: Mediatel
 Jane
Johnson, the launch editor of Emap's Closer magazine, is to
be the new deputy editor of the News of the World. Johnson, one
of Emap's top editors who successfully launched real life and celebrity
title Closer in 2002, is returning to Fleet Street after five years.
She was previously an executive editor on the Sunday Mirror. She
will replace Neil Wallis, the News of the World's current deputy,
who will become executive editor. Johnson will also be editorial
director of the paper's Sunday magazine. The Sunday magazine editor,
Louise Oswald, in charge since January last year, resigned earlier
this month and was replaced in the short term by the NoW showbusiness
editor, Rachel Richardson. Before joining Emap to launch Closer
in 2002, Johnson was number three on the Sunday Mirror, appointed
by its then editor, Mr Myler. "Jane is one of the most creative,
skilful and talented journalists of her generation," he said
today. "Her success at Closer has been extraordinary and I
am delighted she is returning to her newspaper roots. She will be
a huge asset to the paper and the magazine." Source: Guardian
Thelondonpaper remained ahead of rival freesheet London
Lite in May, despite a period on period decline in distribution
of a little under 5,000 copies. The Lite also shed issues in May,
just 385, amidst the dumping furore, which has seen the ABC set
up a hotline to report such incidents. Meanwhile, the Evening Standard
bolstered its circulation, rising by more than 7,000 copies, almost
3%, to leave its total ABC at more than 270,000. The Metro and business
freesheet City AM also added to their outputs. The Metro rose by
around 900 copies to leave its final figure at 548,053, whilst City
AM jumped by around 450 copies. Its total distribution now sits
at almost 102,000. Source: Mediatel
 The
term "bebo" has become the number one search term
based on volume of UK internet searches, overtaking "eBay",
which has held the spot for all but one week in the past two years,
according to new research from Hitwise. The online intelligence
service said that except for one week in September 2006, the term
"eBay" has topped the list as the highest volume search
term in the UK. However, Bebo again became the number one most searched
for term in the UK for the week ending 26 May 2007 and has held
the number one position for the past three weeks. Share of UK internet
searches for "bebo" have increased three-fold in the past
year and two-fold in the past six months. For the month of May,
Bebo ranked number six among All Categories of websites based on
share of UK internet visits, up from number eight in April. Bebo
now ranks behind Google UK, eBay UK, Windows Live Hotmail, Google.com
and MSN UK. Source: MediaTel
ITV.com is to be relaunched
on Tuesday, making its channels available to watch online for the
first time following a £20 million investment. The revamp
will include online simulcasts of ITV1, ITV2 and ITV3 programmes,
although only a selection of ITV4 programs will be available due
to rights issues covering its content. ITV is rolling out its programming
in stages, with high-rating soaps like Coronation Street and Emmerdale
receiving the initial push. "Each section is almost a website
in its own right so a staged rollout is the best way to manage the
launch," said Annelies van de Belt, MD of ITV Broadband. "We
have learned lessons from what has happened in the market trying
to launch everything at once." The 30-day catch-up service
and programme archive will be rolled out on a weekly basis , and
should be completed by 31 July. Once the service has been established,
ITV will shut down the old ITV.com site and embark on a major marketing
push to promote its new site. ITV's media player is set to challenge
BBC's iPlayer, which recently received approval from the corporation's
Trust. Source: MediaTel
 GCap
Media has been awarded the first local digital multiplex licence
after going head to head with the MuxCo consortium, which is run
by its former corporate development director. The NOWdigital multiplex,
which covers Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire, will
carry eight stations - five of which will be run by GCap, one by
Classic Gold and one by Christian Radio provider UCB UK. GCap will
offer Horizon Radio and two Chiltern FM services alongside national
stations Xfm and Chill and Classic Gold 792 from Classic Gold Digital.
The final station will be a digital version of Jack FM, owned by
Absolute Radio, which was also a partner in the rival bid. Source:
MediaWeek
TalkSport has secured rights to be an official licensed
radio broadcaster of the Rugby World Cup later this year. The UTV-owned
radio station will be broadcasting from the tournament's eight venues
in France during September and October, as well as from the Millennium
Stadium in Cardiff and Murrayfield in Edinburgh for some of the
early stage matches. The rights enable TalkSport to cover updates
throughout every World Cup game, though it opted not to commentate
for the full 80 minutes of any match. The station will also broadcast
live from inside the stadiums, for player interviews, as well as
in and around the host cities. TalkSport has recently been an official
broadcaster of the Champions League as well as the Fifa World Cup
last year. From this August, the station will begin its three-year
deal to broadcast Premier League matches. Sales director Adam Bullock
said the deals were beneficial to audiences and advertisers alike.
"This strategy means we can offer more choice to listeners,
but at the same time it offers clients more commercial opportunities
on the country's only national commercial speech station,"
he said. Source: MediaWeek
 Sister
companies Primesight and Pearl & Dean have teamed
up to create the Cinema Bluetooth service. The new service, which
will be available at Vue cinemas, will allow advertisers to provide
consumers with relevant downloadable content direct to mobile. Branded
games, ringtones, video clips or music can be sold across either
Primesight or Pearl & Dean and will be delivered remotely to
each destination. Primesight Bluetooth will be launched in 25 Vue
cinemas nationwide and will eventually be rolled out at 56 Vue sites
later this summer. It will be able to cover a whole cinema foyer
with only one or two base units. Source: MediaWeek
UK Box Office Chart:
(1)Ocean's Thirteen
(2) Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End
(3) Are We Done Yet?
(4) Wedding Daze
(5) Spider-man 3
(6) Paradise Lost
(7) Zodiac
(8)The Hitcher
(9) 28 Weeks Later
(10) Bridge To Terabithia.
Edited by Tony Oakley, Lucinda Norris & Mark Dix |
