Pearson gains buck Media sector gloom July 29, 2008 Financial Times owner Pearson Group brought some much-needed cheer to the media sector after beating analysts’ first half revenue forecasts by posting a 14 per cent rise in sales to £1.965bn, in what chief executive Marjorie Scardino described as “tough economic conditions.” Pearson shares climbed 2.85 per cent to 612.5p after the group said it [...]
Hg Capital considers bid for magazine publisher July 28, 2008 Wilmington Group, publisher of the journalists’ magazine Press Gazette as well as many other business titles, will today confirm that it is in preliminary talks with Hg Capital about a possible takeover by the private equity firm. While informal talks have been held with Hg Capital, it is understood that a formal offer would be [...]
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 [...]