Week commencing 12th February 2007
Sky have launched ads on its satellite stations telling customers of Virgin Media ( the newly re- branded NTL/Telewest cable system) that Sky's basic channels could be withdrawn from the cable system if Virgin Media did not pay a 'fair price for them' Customers of Virgin Media have been told to call Virgin Media's customer service line to lobby against any withdrawal. Sky were able to air the ads without Virgin's permission as they were inserted into the feed it gives the cable firm. The Advertising Standards Authority has received over 100 complaints about the ads and the matter has been referred to the media regulator Ofcom. Source: Mediatel
In a bid to lure customers away from free-to-air TV, consumers will soon be able to receive some of BSkyB's most popular programmes through a conventional rooftop aerial and digital terrestrial television box for a monthly subscription fee. The line up of channels includes sports (live coverage from the Barclay's Premiership), movies , entertainment and news. Source: Mediatel
 Competition between the Capital's freesheets, thelondonpaper and London Lite, took a nasty turn today, with Associated Newspapers calling News International "totally irresponsible" for increasing its print run of thelondonpaper by 100,000 copies. The Evening Standard's owner has claimed that the extra copies are littering the capital, and has also launched a print ad campaign complaining about the excess rubbish. The publisher's ad features a copy of thelondonpaper being dropped to the floor of an Underground station platform with the writing 'Mind The Freesheets' and the strapline "London Never Drops Its Standards". Justifying its attack on thelondonpaper increased print run, Associated claimed there had been no increase in demand for the thelondonpaper and that equating its product with the Evening Standard as akin to "comparing a junk snack with a gourmet meal." "Thelondonpaper has been totally irresponsible in increasing its print run by 100,000 copies when it is clear that many of the existing free papers are being dumped on the streets," the organisation said. "Increasing distribution is meaningless, unless there is an increase in demand. The most likely outcome of this latest increase in free papers is an increase in litter." January saw thelondonpaper pull away from its rival, recording a circulation increase of more than 6% month on month. The London Lite's circulation remained relatively static month on month, leaving it with a total figure of more than 400,000 copies, whilst thelondonpaper's circulation reached more than 435,000 copies; an additional 109,225 on the ABC figure it recorded in September. In January it was also reported that the free afternoon newspapers could be banned from areas in central London if they do not contribute towards the cost of cleaning them from the streets. Source: Mediatel
Times Newspapers, owner of The Times and Sunday Times, had pre-tax losses in 2006 of £80m as a result of the paper absorbing redundancy costs. In the year ending June 2006, the newspapers loss increased from £46.99m to £80.7m, according to accounts filed with Companies House. Some £31.3m covers projected redundancy costs of staff-cutting at parent company News International's printing operation, where as many as two-thirds of staff will no longer be required following a £600m upgrade of presses. News Group has taken on £30.2m of the projected cost of the new presses. News International hopes that the redundancy programme will give annual savings of almost £40m once the new presses are fully functioning in 2008-9. Before the exceptional charge, Times Newspapers' loss deepened by 6% to £46.7m. Turnover at Times Newspapers was up £19.6m year-on-year to £436.1m. Circulation revenues rose due to price rises at both The Times and The Sunday Times. Source: Media week
ABC Results: TV listing and shopping magazines have the greatest circulation totals in the UK, according to today's consumer magazine July to December 2006 concurrent release from the ABC. Sky's subscriber magazine, which has now been taken over by News International's News Magazines division, has a total circulation of more than seven million copies, up almost 2% year on year. Customer magazines from supermarket giants ASDA and Tesco showed high circulation figures, with ASDA's title up more than 19% year on year but down almost 5% period on period at around 2.8 million. However, IPC Media's What's On TV, took the top prize for actively purchased titles, netting an ABC total of more than 1.4 million, despite a 4.4% year on year drop in circulation. TV Choice bolstered its circulation, by almost 12% year on year, to leave its total figure now standing at around 1.3 million, whilst the Radio Times remained fairly static at just over a million copies. Source: Mediatel
 Emap Performance is launching three branded video on demand services for film, motorbike and golf enthusiasts. The IPTV ( internet protocol TV) content will be available on laptops and PC's via the internet and will use Emap's brands - Emprie for movies, Motorcycle News for bikes and Today's Golfer for Golf - to drive traffice to the sites. At launch 350 hours of content will be available Source: Mediatel
Vodaphone and Orange are planning to merge their UK mobile phone networks in a deal designed to cut costs and bring new 3G services to a greater proportion of their combined 32 million UK customers. The deal , which has to be cleared by Ofcom, would also make it economically viable to rollout 3G services such as video calling, mobile blogging and mobile TV across the country. Source: Guardian Unlimited
 TalkSPORT has signed goalscoring legend Ian Wright to co-present the station's drivetime show alongside Adrian Durham. The former England and Arsenal superstar will be on air from Monday March 26, at 4-7pm Mondays to Thursdays, replacing Rodney Marsh who left the station in October last year.. As part of the deal, Wright will also be starring in his own podcast-exclusive TalkSPORT shows, which will be available on www.talksport.net. Programme director Bill Ridley said: "He joins a really strong team of ex-footballer presenters such as Alan Brazil and Andy Townsend - and I know he will build up a huge following in his own right right right..." TalkSPORT chief executive Scott Taunton said: "The signing of Ian Wright is an exciting addition to our presenter line-up and is yet another example of our ongoing investment in TalkSPORT."That investment includes our unparalleled coverage of the World Cup in 2006, our continuing coverage of the Champions League with commentaries as well as winning live and exclusive commentary rights to Premiership games on Saturday afternoons for the next three seasons." Source: Newsline
Chrysalis, owner of Galaxy and Heart, has confirmed that it is to carry out a strategic review which could lead to a demerger of its radio and music businesses. It was reported last week that Chris Wright, the company's founder and 26% majority shareholder, is coming round to a suggestion put forward by Schroder, the group's second largest shareholder, that its radio business should be sold off. Chrysalis said today in a statement: "In the light of continued consolidation activity in the UK radio sector, the board has decided to initiate a formal review of the strategic options to best facilitate Chrysalis Radio's participation in the longer term development of UK commercial radio."The review will be wide-ranging and will assess all options which can deliver maximum value to Chrysalis shareholders, including a potential demerger of the radio and music businesses." Source: Newsline
Edited by the Buying Team |
