Industry headlines
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13th - 19th February 2012
Television
February 17, 2012London 2012: BBC to show men's 100m final in 3D
The BBC has been considering the possibility of broadcasting some of its London Olympics coverage in 3D since 2009, although the corporation has been cautious about committing to this as it means interrupting its core high definition TV service. Despite this the BBC has confirmed that the men's 100m final at the London Olympics will be televised live in 3D as part of a summer experiment to test the public appetite for the new broadcast technology. The 3D coverage will be broadcast via the BBC HD channel. In addition the highlights of all 17 days of action will be shown in 3D as well.
February 17, 2012
Embarrassing Bodies: Live From the Clinic back with video symptom checks
Ground-breaking Channel 4 series Embarrassing Bodies: Live From the Clinic is to return with a new feature that allows viewers to check their health via iPhone or a video symptom checker, through which users can interact with the show's doctors. According to figures from Channel 4, the first series resulted in savings for the NHS of £400,000, roughly the equivalent of four fully equipped ambulances or 19 nurses' starting salaries.
Press
February 17, 2012ABC results show quality journalism win’s through
There are few surprises in the latest round of ABC results, with the general trend continuing to be downward, however there are plenty of positive stories in the market with the mature women's lifestyle sector (Good Housekeeping, Prima) showing growth; the Home Interest sector (Good Homes, Country Homes) showing growth; the luxury sector (Tatler, Harpers) holding its own; and Private Eye hitting its highest circulation for more than 25 years. These successes yet again prove there is an appetite for the written word when quality publishing is at the forefront - but the same three factors still have to be right: brand, price and content.
Outdoor
February 17, 2012CBS Outdoor UK First Great Western Partnership
CBS Outdoor UK announced this week that it has secured the concession to manage experiential and immersive activity campaigns at First Great Western’s (FGW) 210 train stations in the United Kingdom. In partnership with experiential provider SpaceandPeople, CBS Outdoor UK will arrange local and regional brand promotions using the internal and external sites across FGW’s station portfolio.
February 17, 2012
Nike makes its customers famous at Westfield Stratford City
Visitors to Westfield were invited to join Nike-sponsored athletes to make personal pledges for the forthcoming year – under the Twitter hashtag #makeitcount. Shoppers had their picture taken by a professional photographer and added a handwritten pledge before it was beamed across screens at the shopping centre next to the Olympic Park.
Mobile
February 17, 2012Opera bolsters mobile ad business with 4th Screen Advertising acquisition
Opera Software has announced the acquisition of mobile ad networks Mobile Theory and 4th Screen Advertising for a combined fee $26m (£16.5m), The acquisitions come as Opera, whose mobile web browser has over 160m monthly users, announced $44m in revenue for the last quarter of 2011 in an earnings call.
February 17, 2012
Barclays launches Pingit mobile money transfer app
Barclays has introduced a smartphone app that allows people to transfer money using only their mobile phones. Pingit allows funds to be moved instantly to anyone with a UK mobile number and current account without having to divulge their account or sort code details. The free service links the user’s bank account with their phone number and is protected by a five digit passcode. Along with the passcode, the bank has put a £300 ceiling on single transactions in an effort to maximise security.
Digital
February 17, 2012Myspace, the comeback kid?
MySpace is to announce that it has gained an extra million users since Specific Media bought the ailing social network from News International last June and it is thought that it has Facebook to thank. The site has now repositioned itself as a music player and socially-driven music discovery engine. It no longer competes with Facebook as a rival social network; instead it now vies with the likes of Spotify. MySpace attributes the majority of the new growth to integration with Facebook and Twitter.
February 17, 2012
Downloads, Spotify and Napster help offset UK CD sales slide
UK music industry revenue fell just 3.4% last year to £795m as the steady decline in the popularity of CDs was offset by a 25% increase in income from digital downloads and subscription services such as Spotify and Napster. Total digital income – from online downloads, subscription services from the likes of Spotify and eMusic, ad-funded music services and mobile – now accounts for 35% of the total UK music market.
February 17, 2012
Times digital subscribers rise to just under 120,000
The number of people subscribing to the digital version of the Times newspaper rose by 7.5% between September and January, to just under 120,000. There was also a 35% hike in the number of people reading the paper on the iPad over the four-month period, with an average of 60,000 a day downloading the paper in January, according to figures from publisher News International.
