Week commencing 24th March 2008
 Total TV revenues could be down by as much as 10 per cent for May,
according to early estimates from broadcasters and media agencies.
After a solid first four months of the year, the expected May fall
comes as clients tighten advertising budgets amid worsening economic
conditions. The drop could result in as much as £30
million coming out of the TV market over the month, based on estimates
that May 2007 TV revenues totalled £301 million. Source: Brand
Republic
Formula One will return to the BBC from
the 2009 season after the corporation secured a five-year television
rights deal, it was announced on Thursday. Twelve years after ITV
won the rights and began broadcasting the sport, the BBC have managed
to bring Formula One back in a major coup for the organisation.
Bernie Ecclestone, chief executive of Formula One Administration
Limited, said: "I am delighted to conclude this new deal with
the BBC." He added: "I wish to thank ITV for their commitment
to Formula One and the high quality of their coverage. "It
is an exciting time in Formula One and the BBC has some innovative
new ideas to consolidate and expand our UK fanbase." BBC Sport
director of sport rights Dominic Coles said on BBC Sport online:
"The biggest motorsporting event in the world is returning
home after 12 years. Source: BBC Online
 Future,
the special-interest media group, has issued a positive update on
its 2008 advertising performance, claiming it is "pacing ahead"
of last year. However the group, which publishes titles such as
Total Film and SFX, warned in a trading update to the City that
it would continue to take a cautious view of the advertising market
this year. It said revenues for the five months between October
and February were broadly in line with expectations, adding that
its growing customer publishing business would boost revenues in
the second half of the year. The company reported that costs are
running within budgeted levels. The group, which is headed
by chief executive Stevie Spring, was restructured last year, selling
its French and Italian subsidiaries and investing in key areas of
the business, such as its digital offering and US expansion. In
the last three months, Future launched websites techradar.com and
musicradar.com Source: Mediatel
 The
Takeover Panel has given Global Radio another five days to
indicate if it will go ahead with a £371 million bid for rival
company GCap Media. The regulator has now given Global until
5pm on Monday, March 31, to decide whether it will proceed with
a takeover or walk away from a deal for the next six months. The
announcement, made at 3pm today, came just two hours ahead of the
original deadline for the completion of talks between the two companies.
Global originally made an offer of 190p a share for GCap in December,
increasing that to 202p in February. The Takeover Panel, which had
given an initial deadline of March 5 Source: Mediatel
 JCDecaux has launched its PrimeTime network of 20 digital roadside screens
across London. The outdoor contractor has positioned the network
as a powerful alternative to print, with the aim of attracting new
outdoor advertisers. JCDecaux managing director of sales
Spencer Berwin said the network would deliver an audience of 4.8
million Londoners across two weeks, describing it as equivalent
to 16 days' circulation in the Evening Standard. He said the new
screens are a strong addition to the London advertising market,
claiming that they are more technically advanced than other roadside
digital screens. The screens, measuring 6m by 3m, offer true colour,
high-definition display using LED technology. All advertisers taking
national 48-sheet poster campaigns will have their creative uploaded
across JCDecaux's 20 digital billboards, with the option of multiple
messaging and time-sensitive copy changes. Source: Media Week
 Google's
introduction of a search within search feature, which lets users
stay on Google to find pages on sites such as Wikipedia, has reportedly
upset some publishers. According to the New York Times, some publishers
are not happy about this new functionality as they want people to
search on their own pages and be exposed to their ads rather than
Google's. The New York Times adds that Google is allowing some publishers
to opt out of the new feature. However, Google may encounter some
complaints, as the new style results page sometimes includes sponsored
links that are purchased by publishers' competitors. The report
gives the example of users searching Google for The Washington Post
and being given a secondary search box. Those who typed 'jobs' into
that second box saw related results for The Post's employment pages,
but the results were bordered by ads for competing employment sites
like CareerBuilder or Monster.com. A Google spokeswoman said that
the search feature is currently available for an undisclosed, but
relatively small, number of sites, and appears when Google detects
a high probability that a user wants more refined search results
within a specific site. While Google has not received much negative
feedback on the service, the spokeswoman said, the company could
change it in the future. Source: Mediatel
 UK
Box Office Chart
1. 10,000 BC
2. Vantage Point
3.. The Game Plan
4. The Other Boleyn Girl
5. The Bank Job
6. The Cottage
7. In Bruges
8. The Accidental Husband
9. Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus
10. There Will Be Blood
Source: Yahoo
Edited by Kevin Tomkins & Peter Wallace |
