Week commencing 11th August 2008
 Up to one fifth of ITV's 500-strong sales team could be made redundant as the embattled broadcaster looks to cut costs by £35m by the end of 2010. It is understood that ITV Customer Relations managing director Gary Digby has indicated that a review of ITV's operations by consultant Boston Consulting Group is likely to lead to as many as 100 redundancies from ITV's commercial team.
One senior TV sales source said: "The pressure will be on high-profile individuals. Another senior TV sales executive said that he expected "between 60 and 100" redundancies from the ITV commercial team.
An ITV spokesman said there were "no confirmed or approximate [redundancy] figures" available and there would be "no clarity on the outcomes until September".
ITV expects to make £11m in cost savings from its broadcast operations in 2009, and £9m from its global content business, which exploits ITV's own content overseas. Of the £41m in savings pencilled in for this year, ITV said £6m would come from staff restructuring.
Last week, the broadcaster confirmed that it expects TV ad revenues for September to be down 20% year on year, with the total TV market expected to be down 17%. ITV estimates that total ad revenue for the eight months to August will be down 1% year on year. Source: Media Week
The UK's leading advertisers pulled nearly £115m of ad spend in the first half of 2008, as the credit crunch began to bite, with TV and press bearing the brunt of clients' ad cutbacks.
Analysis of Nielsen ad spend data for the first half of this year and the first half of 2007, across the five major product categories of motor, finance, food, entertainment/media and drink, shows that finance and food clients reined in ad spend more than any of the five product groups during the first half of 2008. TV, with a £34.7m year-on-year decline in ad spend across the five product categories, and press, with a £27.96m year-on-year decline in ad spend across the five product categories, have suffered most.
While those media owners and media agencies surveyed by Media Week believe the rate of ad spend decline will not be as deep in the second half of 2008, ad spend is expected to be down again year on year. Source: Media Week
 Telegraph Media Group has further re-jigged its commercial operation by overhauling Telegraph Direct, with the creation of a centralised department integrating its direct marketing, data and consumer contact centre services. TMG said the move will mean it is better placed to offer advertisers a more integrated proposition that includes planning and research, and targeted ad campaigns. TMG did not say whether the move has led to redundancies. The new centralised department will allow TMG clients to target customers’ various platforms, including subscriber rewards, bespoke mail, reader events and e-mail campaigns, along with traditional print ads. Source: MediaWeek
The Sunday Times added just 1% to its circulation in July, despite the newspaper's high-profile redesign, according to the latest Newspaper ABC figures. But the paper, which averaged a 1,159,231 net circulation, bucked the trend of the National Sunday Quality sector, which otherwise suffered losses across the board. The Independent on Sunday fell back 4.4% to 200,451, a new low for 2008, following a rally in June when it added 4.3% to its figures. The Observer lost 2.2% of its circulation to record a figure of 428,372, while The Sunday Telegraph lost 2% in July, hitting 619,637. Scotland on Sunday and the Sunday Herald continued to slide, losing 10.3% and 4.6% respectively. Scotland on Sunday averaged a circulation of just 60,058 in July. The Mail on Sunday held its own in the mid-market sector, notching a 0.1% rise to reach 2,206,267 copies. But again, it was the only highlight, with the Sunday Express losing 3.3% to fall to 655,003, and the Sunday Post losing 0.6% to hit 392,221. The Sunday Sport recorded the biggest rise in the National Sunday Popular sector, adding 3.8% to reach 81,554. Year on year, the title still remains 12% down. The Daily Star Sunday also managed to increase its circulation by 2.6%, but again, year on year, the paper is showing a loss of 9.5%. The country's best-selling Sunday paper, the News of The World, was the only other paper to record an increase in the popular market, rising 0.4% to reach 3,183,401. The Sunday Mail lost 2.5%, The People lost 0.04% and the Sunday Mirror dropped 1.5% to record an average for July of 1,316,534. Source: MediaWeek
BSkyB is reducing the frequency of its quartet of monthly customer magazines, including Skymag, the UK's biggest magazine by circulation. Skymag, Sky Sports Magazine, Sky Movies Magazine and Sky Kids will all reduce their frequencies from 12 to 10 issues a year, starting from December. The decision has been made by BSkyB and not the magazines’ respective publishers, News Magazines, Haymarket, Future and John Brown. In a separate cost-cutting move, Skymag and Sky Movies Magazine will standardise their format to mirror the 237mm x 190mm size used by Sky Sports Magazine and Sky Kids. BSkyB said the changes would help bring its magazines together as a portfolio. Source: MediaWeek
 The Local Radio Company is set to launch Jazz FM on October 6, after it secured a three year license deal with the Guardian Media Group (GMG). The relaunch was first announced in June this year as The Local Radio Company released its interim financial results. The station was sold to GMG in 2002, after being originally launched in 1990, where it remained as Jazz FM for three years until GMG changed it to Smooth Radio. However, The Local Radio Company have agreed terms with GMG to license the Jazz FM brand for the next three years on DAB in London, Glasgow, the North-West and West Midlands. The station will also broadcast on the internet and digital TV. Source: MediaTel
 Galaxy, the radio brand serving Manchester, Yorkshire, Birmingham and the North East is launching an e-zine called Galaxy Life. The first issue was released on Wednesday and is going to be sent to 340,000 Galaxy VIP members who have signed up to their local Galaxy website. Published quarterly, it can also be downloaded via the Galaxy website and is aimed at women 20-29 years. Source: Media Week
The comfort and privacy of your own home continues to be the most popular location to surf the net reports the BMRB survey. 30.09 million users now log on at home, an 8.6% rise from Q107 which reflects the number of households gaining internet access. People accessing the net via the workspace haven't changed much, with a rise of 60,000, a year on year change of 5.9%. Students of the UK continue at more or less the same pace with 3.5 million scholars logging on in the name of research. Source: Mediatel
The IAB is launching the first industry wide standards for online video advertising, supported by the likes of AOL and Sky. The standard will cover pre, mid and post roll video ads. The key recommendations include that video ads should be 15 seconds or less, that they should be wide screen and have legible text. Source: Media Week
 Digital screen firm Avanti has secured an £8m deal to sell ads around Setanta Sports broadcasts in pubs and clubs across the UK. Avanti will sell ads around Setanta coverage of, among others, the English and Scottish Premier Leagues, FA Cup and England football internationals. The three-year deal runs until the end of August 2011. Source: Media Week
Streetbroadcast is continuing the roll out of its nationwide digital StreetLive network, installing 10 news screens. The company now has 45 screens installed across 20 cities and London boroughs and aims to have 50 up and running by the end of August this year. Source: Media Week
 UK Box Office Chart:
1. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
2. The Dark Knight
3. Mamma Mia!
4. Wall-e
5. Make it Happen
6. Singh is Kinng
7. Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging
8. Kung Fu Panda
9. Space Chimps
10. The X –files: I Want to Believe
Source: Pearl and Dean
Edited by Tony Oakley, Abi Ward, Fiona Mansfield, Lucinda Norris & Mark Dix |
