Star performer … Trinity Mirror has seen increased traffic to sites such as its 3am.co.uk pages. Trinity Mirror's national newspaper website network bounced back from two tough months of viewing declines to record a double digit percentage increase in browsers in April, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations figures published on Thursday.While rival national newspaper publishers managed just low single digit percentage increases in browsers in April – and several even shed web users – Mirror Group Digital managed a 13% increase in daily unique browsers to 660,000.MGD, which includes websites such as 3am.co.uk and MirrorFootball.co.uk, also reported a 10.9% rise in average monthly unique browsers to 13,682,364 in April, compared with the previous month.The bounce back follows a tough two months for ... Continue reading →
The 'She's Always a Woman' John Lewis ad. Photograph: The Advertising Archives Adam & Eve, the ad agency perhaps best known for its John Lewis TV ads including the She's Always a Woman tear-jerker, has been bought by DDB Worldwide for about £50m.The four-year-old agency, which has clients including YouView and the Daily Telegraph, will be merged with DDB's London office with its founders taking most of the senior management positions.DDB London, which is best known for its creative work on Volkswagen over many years, has struggled for the best part of a decade and undergone numerous management restructures in an attempt to revitalise the agency.The most recent setback for DDB, which is part of US marketing services giant Omnicom, was the embarrassing loss of ... Continue reading →
Northcliffe House, home to the Daily Mail and General Trust. Photograph: Andrew Stuart Daily Mail & General Trust has reported a 26% fall in operating profits at its national newspaper division in the half year to 1 April, as ailing regional division Northcliffe revealed its first growth in profits since the recession.Overall, A&N Media – the parent of the national and regional newspaper operations – reported a 3% fall in revenue to £542m and a 24% fall in operating profits to £33m.The company, which cut staff numbers by 593 to 6,280 in the six-month period, said that operating profits fell due to lower print advertising revenue and additional promotional activity within the digital businesses.Associated, the national newspaper division that is home to the Daily Mail ... Continue reading →
The proposal has been officially submitted as part of Ofcom’s 86-page report to the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA ITV has proposed cutting back on its regional news programming as part of its submission to Ofcom on the renewal of its broadcasting licences from 2015.The proposal has been officially submitted as part of Ofcom's 86-page report to the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, on the options available for renewing Channel 3 (ITV) and Channel 5 public service broadcasting licences, which expire at the end of 2014.The Ofcom report also asks Hunt to consider using the communications bill to look at issues including the highly contentious area of retransmission fees and rules to make sure internet service providers or IPTV companies do not overcharge for ... Continue reading →
Skyfall, starring Daniel Craig as 007, has boosted the firm's production business. Photograph: Allstar/United Artists/Sportsphoto Pinewood Shepperton studios has been pushed into a loss of almost £3m in the 15 months to the end of March after its "Hollywood" expansion project was blocked, despite reporting strong growth in revenues to almost £63m.Pinewood, home to productions including Wrath of the Titans and the new James Bond film Skyfall, reported a pre-tax loss of £1.9m and an overall loss for the period of £2.95m.Film revenues for the 15-month period were a healthy £44.9m – compared to £29.1m in the year to December 2010 – as the company's production business benefited from movies such as Ridley Scott's Prometheus and Daniel Craig's latest outing in Skyfall.International revenues, from studio ... Continue reading →
BSkyB was handed a reprieve by the competition watchdog after a ruling over the broadcaster's stranglehold on pay-TV movies was reversed Photograph: David Jones/PA BSkyB is to face no action from regulators over its monopoly of UK pay-TV film rights, after the Competition Commission decided that video on demand rivals such as LoveFilm and Netflix provide a vibrant market for consumers.The decision marks a U-turn by the competition regulator, which provisionally determined last August that BSkyB's contracts with the six major Hollywood studios – Disney, Warner Bros, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures and Universal Studios – were anti-competitive and needed to be weakened to allow rivals to flourish.However, in March the commission signalled a change of heart after deciding it needed to extend the ... Continue reading →
Wayne Garvie is joining Sony Pictures Television. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian Wayne Garvie, the head of international production at All3Media, the super indie behind shows including Shameless, Skins and Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, is leaving after less than two years to join Sony Pictures Television.Garvie, who worked at BBC Worldwide's international production business, joined All3Media in September 2010 to exploit its stable of shows including Skins, Hollyoaks, Midsomer Murders and Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares internationally.He joins Sony Pictures Television in the role of chief creative officer for international production, responsible for the company's network of joint ventures and studios outside of Los Angeles.SPT owns UK independent producers including Silver River and Victory Television and makes shows including Who Wants to be a Millionaire, the Beyoncé ... Continue reading →
A spokesman confirmed Ian Edmondson would be taking over from the incumbent editor. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images Ian Edmondson, the former news editor at News of the World, has been hired as the new editor of lads' magazine Loaded.The appointment of Edmondson, who remains on bail on suspicion of illegal voicemail interception, follows the acquisition of the title by businessman and porn producer Paul Baxendale-Walker.A spokesman for Baxendale-Walker confirmed Edmondson would be taking over from incumbent editor Andy Sherwood.Edmondson was suspended from NoW in January last year following allegations he gave orders to private eye Glenn Mulcaire, who was jailed in 2006 for phone hacking. He was arrested in April 2011 but has not been charged with any offence.According to the London Evening Standard, Edmondson ... Continue reading →
The company launched e-editions of many of its titles on Apple’s Newsstand service for iPads in October last year Magazine publisher Future has reported a surge of almost 40% in digital revenues in the six months to 31 March, but still reported a £700,000 pre-tax loss largely to continuing problems with its US business.Future, publisher of titles including Fast Car and Metal Hammer, said on Tuesday that total revenues for the six-month period fell 11% year on year to £61.1m as the company slipped from a £1.2m profit to a £700,000 loss.However, UK revenues grew by 1% year on year to £47.8m as the company hailed reaching the much sought-after tipping point of the decline in print revenues being balanced by growth in digital.The company, ... Continue reading →