Category Archives: Media Week

UTV Media is to merge two local radio stations it bought last week, The Wyre and The Severn, with its Wolverhampton-based The Wolf, to create a single larger station called Signal 107.

Microsoft has appointed Mandeep Mason, sales director at Nokia-owned Navteq, as director of mobile advertising sales for EMEA, to “refine” the company’s mobile strategy and expand its revenue streams.

Telegraph Media Group (TMG), the publisher of the Daily Telegraph, has made a number of digital appointments, including promoting its digital editor Edward Roussel to the new role of executive editor digital.

The Super Bowl’s habit of setting viewing records continues (just) with 111.3 million viewers making this year’s sporting showdown the most viewed television programme in US TV history.

News International, publisher of The Sun and The Times, has signed a seven-figure partnership deal with Global Radio, which will include at least six months of activity across a variety of stations such as Capital FM and Classic FM.

MEC has hired former Media Brands mobile strategist Jide Sobo as its head of mobile.

Facebook is poised to start monetising its mobile offering, with ads expected to appear on its app within weeks, according to a report in the Financial Times.

Vevo, the online music video platform, is introducing its ‘Lift’ promotion for emerging artists to the UK, starting with Sony Music artist Labrinth.

Hearst-Rodale is using Apple’s Newsstand for a digital sampling drive for its new UK print launch, Women’s Health, which will feature 30 ad pages.

This week Out and About has pictures from the Newspaper Marketing Agency ANNAs, drops in on the celebs at IPC Media’s InStyle Bafta Best of British Talent party at Shoreditch House and attends the MSN refresh party.

Sky Atlantic, the British and American drama channel, celebrated its first birthday this week, revealing that HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ was the highest-rated show over the year.

Lavazza, the Italian coffee brand, has appointed MEC, the WPP media agency, to its estimated €50m (£42m) pan-European media planning and buying account after a competitive pitch.

The London Evening Standard is planning an Olympic bonanza, including e-auctioning off premium advertising slots and planning to up its print run by 150,000 to 850,000 copies.

This week Bitch hangs out with a sharp-dressed man, tries to hitch a ride to Monaco, gets in SKYN deep and attends the Channel 4 2012 party.

Facebook’s IPO stands to make millionaires of some of the stalwarts who have worked in its UK commercial operation, including Blake Chandlee who set up the operation and current leader Stephen Haines.

Thinkbox, the marketing body for commercial TV, has signed up Germany’s RTL Group and Virgin Media as associate members, after expanding its membership policy to allow companies from outside the British TV broadcast industry to join.

Outdoor ad revenues rose by 1.4% year on year in the final quarter of 2011, led by growth at some of the smaller digital media owners, according to figures from the Outdoor Media Centre.

Madonna’s ‘Give Me All Your Luvin’ music video will premiere at 2pm UK time today (3 February) on Clear Channel billboards in London’s Piccadilly Circus, Times Square in New York and La Defense in Paris.

Google’s UK advertising sales team has been reshuffled in the wake of Bruce Daisley, director of YouTube and display, leaving last year to join Twitter.

MediaCom has promoted Peter Fyfe to the newly created role of head of social media, as the agency’s non-traditional marketing arm MediaCom Beyond Advertising (MBA) expands.

We R Interactive, the social games publisher, is launching its ‘I Am Playr’ football game as a mobile app in the first half of this year, according to new global commercial director Paul Whitehead.

AOL has notched up a 10% year-on-year rise in ad revenues for the fourth quarter of 2011 to $363.8m (£229.5m), although net income dropped dramatically.

Nigel Clarkson, sales and marketing director at Primesight, is leaving the outdoor media owner to join daily deals site LivingSocial as its head of sales for the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands and the Nordic region.

We are just over a month into the year and have already seen the stores La Senza and Peacocks fall into the hands of the administrators. Mark Banham talks to media agencies to gauge how they are planning to address … Continue reading →

This week we contacted our Media Week Awards media agency Rising Star, Mark Halliday, head of mobile at Manning Gottlieb OMD, as he throws a tantrum after Arsenal lose, discovers his leadership style and worries about his new company headshot … Continue reading →

Martin Muncaster, head of solutions at City AM, spent his early media years monitoring the travel press at BLM and gets annoyed with people who pull out of events at the last minute.

Yahoo has launched an app search engine, which enables UK smartphone users to find and download apps for both iPhone and Android devices.

Amazon has appointed former News International digital executive Alex Hole as advertising sales director.

Rupert Murdoch has taken to social network Twitter to deny a report relating to his company, which claimed the launch of a new Sunday tabloid had been put on hold because of the arrest of four Sun journalists.

Andrew Miller, chief executive of the Guardian Media Group, has ruled out erecting a paywall as he tries to stem £40m in annual losses with an ongoing restructure and redundancy programme, although he admitted “things may change”.

The Post Office is poised to award its £12m media planning and buying account to WPP agency Mindshare, while Interpublic Group’s UM London is in pole position to take the £2m media business for The Royal Mail.

Radio buyers give their verdicts on the latest Rajar figures, describing a “solid but unspectacular” quarter for commercial radio, while Capital and TalkSport are among those singled out for praise.

Global Radio’s Capital network has performed well in its first year, adding listeners and increasing total listening hours, while Bauer Media’s Passion portfolio performed strongly in the final quarter, according to the latest Rajar figures.

Johnny Vaughan bowed out of his flagship breakfast show as the undisputed king of London’s commercial radio, having helped Global Radio’s 95.8 Capital FM extend its lead over rivals.

DAB’s long haul to widespread penetration has passed a mini-milestone, with four in 10 adults now claiming to own one at home, although its share of radio listening is only at 19.4%, according to the latest Rajar results.

TalkSport recorded its highest ever quarter four weekly audience during the final three months of 2011, while Bauer Media’s Kiss increased its weekly audience to 4.18 million.