How the big channels are defying the odds to prosper July 25, 2008 Anyone who wants to understand something fundamental about the media just has to hold a single number in their head – 38,000. It’s a decent size for most football crowds or those willing to watch a Wagner opera the whole way through. But it doesn’t exactly pass muster as the ratings for a top US [...]
Advertising revenues dip at Daily Mail July 24, 2008 Newspaper publisher Daily Mail & General Trust (DMGT) yesterday warned of a sharp fall in advertising revenues in the third quarter, with property and recruitment sectors performing particularly badly. But the Daily Mail and Evening Standard owner also said that overall performance had been good, with revenue growing by 5 per cent due to strong [...]
Harley Street might help steer ITV back to good health July 18, 2008 At least you can’t accuse ITV of not trying. The colour advertising spreads promoting its new drama Harley Street were everywhere yesterday. We will know today whether ITV has managed to engineer that increasingly rare phenomenon, a new drama hit. At least the Radio Times made it Pick of the Day and noted that while [...]
Auntie’s problems run deeper than executive bonuses July 11, 2008 The case of “trebles all round” for top BBC executives, after a year in which viewers were deceived and trust damaged, rightly dominated news about the Corporation’s annual report this week. But an eyebrow should be raised at the scale of the bonuses. The overall pay of director of vision Jana Bennett rose by 24 [...]
Herz backs GfKin fight against WPP July 11, 2008 German billionaire Guenter Herz is believed to be backing market researcher GfK in its bid for rival Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS), which fought off a fourth approach from Sir Martin Sorrel’s advertising giant WPP earlier in the week. Herz, 68, is estimated to be worth $2.3bn (£1.15bn). He and his sister Daniela own Hamburg-based private [...]
Sorrell goes on war path over TNS bid July 10, 2008 German rival GfK says it will trump the £1.08bn offer from advertising giant WPP WPP yesterday launched a £1.08bn hostile bid for market research firm TNS, dismissing competing takeover plans from rival GfK as “flaky”. In a day of drama in the City, TNS and GfK withdrew their proposal for a friendly tie up after [...]
Bollywood Godfather takes on Hollywood July 8, 2008 Anusha Bradley talks to the boss of Eros, the media mogul bent on profiting from the silver screen It goes without saying: Kishore Lulla loves movies. “Indian or Hollywood, I love watching them all. Whether it’s Spiderman, Harry Potter, Shawshank Redemption, or The Godfather – I love the Godfather – they give me a lot [...]
EMI appoints cleaning exec to leading job July 8, 2008 Record company EMI Group has appointed an executive with no experience of the music business to head up its record division, as part of the firm’s strategy to fill key positions with talent from outside the industry. EMI yesterday announced that Elio Leoni-Sceti, vice-president of household goods firm Reckitt Benckiser, would become chief executive of [...]
Sky to miss crucial subscribers target July 7, 2008 Satellite broadcaster BSkyB looks set to miss its important internal target of subscribing 10m customers by 2010, as growth in the pay-TV sector begins to slow. In fiscal 2007, Sky signed 406,000 new customers to its satellite service, and needs to add a further 400,000 each year to meet its goal in 2010. It is [...]
Merrill eyes Bloomberg sale July 7, 2008 American investment bank Merrill Lynch is in negotiations to sell its 20 per cent stake in financial data and news firm Bloomberg, as it seeks to raise more cash to firm up its balance sheet. Talks with the firm’s founder and New York mayor Michael Bloomberg are still at an early stage, according to those [...]