Week commencing 26th March 2007
 The Broadcast
Committee of Advertising Practice has proposed new regulations
that could signal the end of noisy television advertising. BCAP
is set to launch a consultation with broadcasters, advertisers and
the public to examine whether to introduce a standard means of monitoring
the sound levels of ads. According to research conducted by the
Independent Television Commission, 40% of viewers think TV ads are
often too loud. Source: Mediatel.
 Sport, the
free weekly magazine given away across London's commuter belt on
Friday mornings, has revealed plans to expand across the UK after
posting an ABC figure of more than 300,000. The title launched six
months ago and is currently distributed on Friday mornings outside
94 London Underground stations, 20 train stations and 333 gyms by
an army of vendors. Source: Brand Republic.
So London,
the upmarket weekly magazine targeting the affluent in the capital,
has ceased publication after just two issues. The magazine launched
with a fanfare this month, stating that it would deliver its readers
with shameless luxury, but that promise has proven to be short-lived.
Source: Brand Republic
IPC's mass
market fashion weekly Look is on course to meet its first year circulation
target of 250,000 copies after seven issues on the newsstands. IPC
is not giving details of its £18m launch's performance ahead
of the August ABC figures, but averages of estimates from three
other publishers indicate sales are settling down around the 250,000
mark. Look is IPC's biggest ever launch and a bid to stake a claim
in the new glossy fashion weekly sector. It follows on the heels
of Emap's Grazia, launched in 2005 and now selling 210,000 copies
at £1.80, but is aimed at a younger audience interested in
high street fashion. Source: Brand Republic.
A new music magazine
as a spin-off of the Channel 4 programme Popworld, is set to launch
next month into an increasingly fragile market. Popworld Pulp,
to be published in association with publisher Brooklands Group,
will be on sale from April 11th with an initial print run of 130,000
copies and priced at £1.49. The title is said to focus on
new music and cater for a wide range of tastes. It will also provide
live music reviews and feature user-generated content, tapping into
Popworld's two existing websites to provide reader ratings and opinion.
Source: MediaTel.
The nation's daily
newspapers suffered a 2.3% overall year on year downturn in
readership for the six months to January 2007, according to the
latest figures from the NRS. The quality titles, with the exception
of the Times, recorded an increase in readership year on year, with
the Daily Telegraph seeing the largest actual rise. The title now
boasts 216,000 more readers year on year for the period, to leave
its total readership at more than 2.2 million. Both the Daily Express
and the Daily Mail shed readers year on year, whilst the Popular
Daily sector suffered a similar fate. All titles in the Popular
Daily sector, apart from the Daily Star, saw a decline in readership.
The Daily Star, however, bolstered its readership year on year for
the period by 8.4%, or by around 130,000 readers. Source: MediaTel.
Woman & Home is adding a travel size version of the magazine, which will be available
exclusively in WHSmith Travel outlets. Following in the footsteps
of InStyle in February, the smaller glossy will be available from
its May issue, on sale 29 March, bagged with a choice of two free
books worth £6.99. Source: MediaTel.
 The UK internet
sector is set to surpass £2bn in advertising revenue for
2006 - up from £1.4bn in 2005. The figure is expected in official
figures to be published by the Internet Advertising Bureau this
week. Research shows that more than 50% of respondents would be
happy to see more advertising on their mobiles, compared to one
in 10 for advertising on TV. Alex Marks, head of marketing for Microsoft
Digital Advertising, said that online display advertising was growing
well, but that search continued to be the biggest driver of growth
due to the low barrier to entry for first time advertisers. Marks
said that 2006 was the year that social networking took off and
this was an important source of growth for the industry. Source:
MediaWeek.
City AM, the free business
paper for the City of London, is launching a web portal that will
link job sites, luxury services and gambling companies in a bid
to help the City boys spend their bonuses. There will be a strong
emphasis on lifestyle. The site will also have a news archive, breaking
news and links to a number of other services. Currently City AM
has a basic website where users can access a PDF of the day's paper
and, at 5pm, they can download the 'City PM' daily podcast. Source:
MediaWeek.
Extreme sports publisher Factory
Media is targeting 16 to 30 year olds with a web portal offering
interviews, video clips, social networking and a jobs and equipment
marketplace. The site mpora.com, brings together elements of the
publisher's 12 magazines with eight channels. Six of these - snowboarding,
skateboarding, surfing, BMX, motorcross and mountain biking - correspond
with magazines such as Dirt, Ride BMX, Surf Europe and skate magazine
Kingpin. A lifestyle channel will host music and travel editorial
for the same audience, while forums will run on a community channel.
TV content on the site will include reports from sporting events
and festivals, as well as how-to guides and user generated content.
Source: MediaWeek.
Blyk, a new mobile phone
network that allows people to make free phone calls in return for
receiving advertising, has signed up its first advertisers. The
new service is launching in the summer and will piggyback on another,
as yet unnamed, network. Blyk offers free mobile phone calls and
text messages in return for receiving advertising to mobile handsets.
The target audience is 16-24 year olds. Users of the network have
to sign up to the scheme and give details of their preferences to
receive targeted advertising. The service is aiming to serve a pan-European
audience, but will launch first in the UK this summer. Source: MediaWeek.
 BIGFX unveiled the largest
outdoor banner site in the North of England this week in Leeds city
centre. The Leeds Tower, situated close to the city's universities,
restaurants and bars, is passed by 1.5m vehicles a month. Source:
Mediaweek.
 Nathalie Schwarz, the chairman
of the seven-strong consortium formed by Channel 4 to bid for the second national digital radio multiplex, has said that the group
will secure radio's future by wooing back listeners under 45 with
a 'level of marketing never before seen in commercial radio'. The
consortium is aiming to cover 88% of the population and 94% of the
motorway network. Schwarz said: "We will serve a broad spectrum
of audiences from mainstream to niche, minority groups to children,
in both speech and music. Our vision is to put radio back where
it belongs at the heart of a multimedia, multi-platform UK."
The 10 stations:
E4 Radio, an interactive music and entertainment station
targeting 15 to 29 year-olds with an emphasis on interactivity
Channel 4 Radio, a contemporary speech-based station targeting
30 to 54 year-olds with public service values, featuring debate
and entertainment.
Pure4, owned by Channel 4, featuring original radical artists
from the worlds of music and culture, with a mission to identify
new talent
Talk Radio, owned by UTV, described as an all-speech service
featuring opinionated presentation and lively debate
Closer, owned by Emap, broadcasting current and classic chart
music with lifestyle conversation targeting women aged 30 and over
Sky News Radio, bringing Sky News' approach to 24-hour rolling
TV news, to radio
Sunrise Radio UK, serving Britain's growing appetite for
Asian music and culture
Virgin Radio Viva, owned by Virgin Radio, a new station targeting
fun-loving, fearless women between the ages of 15 and 30
Original, described as an album-led music station aimed at
40 to 59 year-olds
Radio Disney, described as the UK's first national radio
station devoted to children, mixing music, entertainment and education
Source: Brand Republic.
National Grid Wireless has also published its bid to run the second national digital radio
multiplex, revealing it will offer more stations and a quicker launch
than the competing Channel 4-led consortium. NGW said it would launch
12 new national digital radio stations on February 29 2008, covering
more than 71% of the population at launch and rising to 94%. It
has formed a marketing partnership with the BBC and the existing
national digital radio multiplex operator Digital One, which will
provide a £14m marketing budget. NGW's bid includes two Channel
4 stations, but Channel 4 denied any knowledge of these. Source:
Brand Republic.
Speculation is mounting that Emap will sell off some of its Scottish and Irish radio stations
when it announces what are set to be, by the group's own admission,
lacklustre results tomorrow. According to reports in the Irish press,
stations understood to be under threat of acquisition from interested
private equity groups, and possibly Irish media group UTV, include
national radio station Today FM, Dublin-based FM 104 and Donegal
station Highland in an estimated £115m deal. It is also understood
that Emap's prime assets in the Scottish market, the Radio Clyde
network and Radio Forth, could go under the hammer as well. Source:
Brand Republic.
GCap Media has warned
it expects annual revenues to drop 9%, although it also expects
to outperform the radio advertising market in the first quarter
of 2007. On May 30, GCap will report its results for the 12 months
ended March 31 2007. A 9% drop in total revenues will translate
to a fall from £210.7m in the previous financial year to £191.7m.
However, the group said in the first quarter of 2007 it expects
to outperform the radio advertising market for the first time. It
expects like-for-like first-quarter revenues to increase 1% year
on year, this excludes the two Century stations it sold to GMG Radio
last October. Source: Brand Republic.
 UK Top Ten (Friday 16th
- Sunday 18th March 2007)
1 Norbit £1,069,030
2 Premonition £1,021,882
3 Hot Fuzz £688,113
4 Becoming Jane £561,895
5 Ghost Rider £491,079
6 Outlaw £304,814
7 Charlotte's Web £230,220
8 The Illusionist £221,862
9 The Number 23 £194,839
10 Stomp the Yard £191,716
Edited by Sze Yeung, Craig
Blyth, Anna Kilborn & Andy Travis
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