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Week commencing 17th December 2007

generalTotal Media offices are closed from the 24th to the 26th and will be open on the 27th and 28th of December.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

television The number of UK households with digital TV on their main set has risen to 21.7 million homes, according to research published today by Ofcom. The communications regulator's Digital Television Progress Report for the third quarter of 2007 shows that multichannel TV take-up has risen to 86.1% of households, an increase of 1.1 percentage points from the previous quarter. Digital terrestrial television service Freeview was the main driver of the growth, which posted its second-biggest quarterly increase, with almost 2.4 million Freeview set-top boxes and integrated digital TV sets sold during the period. The growth means that 8.6 million Freeview receiving devices have been sold over the past year, up from 5.8 million in the 12 months to the end of September 2006. Meanwhile, Sky increased its customer base by 67,000 during the quarter to more than 8.1 million subscribers. The total number of homes with cable television continued to rise with more than 3.4 million subscribers by the end of the quarter, up by more than 100,000 homes from the end of September 2006. Source: Media Week.

press London's Evening Standard and regional newspaper group Newsquest are aiming to generate outdoor ad revenues with the rollout of new digital billboards. The Evening Standard has taken delivery of 30 outdoor "Extra!" units in the first stage of a rollout across the capital. The 32-in screens have been installed in Evening Standard sales booths at major footfall sites including Euston, Fenchurch Street, Farringdon and Waterloo stations. Source: Media Week

radioGuardian Media Group is to begin the marketing campaign for the launch of its Smooth Radio station in north-east England. The marketing campaign for the launch of Smooth Radio 97.5 and 107.7, which will be aired from new studios in Gateshead on 8 January, will begin on 26 December. The campaign includes TV ads which feature the faces of some of music's biggest artists morphing into each other on-screen, as they perform some of their greatest hits. Buddy Holly, Diana Ross and Rod Stewart are some of the artists headlining the campaign and That'll Be The Day and Baby Love are among the tracks that will accompany the ads. The marketing drive also includes bus-backs across the North East throughout January. Source: Media Week.

outdoorCBS Outdoor has had its contract to manage advertising on Bournemouth's Yellow Buses renewed for a further five years. The company has held the contract for three years, but under the terms of the new deal, it will now manage all advertising sales, including campaigns for national and regional businesses. It will also be responsible for all ad opportunities, including interior and exterior formats. Winning the 100-strong Yellow Bus fleet, which is part of the Transdev Group, increases CBS' coverage of South Coast transport providers. Rob Oerton, franchise manager at CBS, said: "Economic growth in this area means that, strategically, it is a key market place for us to manage." The addition of the Bournemouth Transport contract to CBS Outdoor's transport portfolio follows the recent win of the £100m Arriva and the £40m National Express five-year advertising sales contracts. Source: Media Week

digitalChannel 4 is to broadcast the first episode of the new series of drama Shameless on social network MySpace before transmission on C4. Fans of the award-winning show, which returns for a fifth run of 16 programmes, will have an opportunity to view episode one at uk.myspace.com/shamelessc4. The first TV episode has been split into four segments, with the first on MySpace on Boxing Day. The next parts will run on 29, 30 and 31 December. Shameless will be broadcast on Channel 4 on New Year's Day at 10.10pm. The Shameless MySpace community has more than 13,000 friends, and a preview clip of the upcoming series has been viewed more than 50,000 times. The programme is being promoted across the MySpace network in the UK, including extensive homepage advertising offering the chance to win series 4 on DVD, a Shameless podcast and Christmas Shameless computer wallpaper. Dom Cook, marketing director at MySpace UK, said: "With 10 million unique users each month, MySpace UK can offer massive exposure to programmes such as Shameless and help to significantly increase their audience." Source: Media Week

cinemaUK Cinema Top Ten:
1. The Golden Compass
2. Enchanted
3. Bee Movie
4. Fred Claus
5. Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
6. We Own The Night
7. Hitman
8. American Gangster
9. Beowulf
10. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Source: Pearl and Dean

Edited by Fiona Mansfield

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