Industry headlines:
Week ending Friday 27th August
Television:
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27/08/10 ABC to launch UK Video-on-demand service on BT Vision
US broadcaster ABC, which makes shows including Desperate Housewives and Cougar Town, is to launch its first video-on-demand service outside North America after striking a deal with BT's on-line TV service.The Walt Disney-owned company is to launch a VoD service on BT Vision, BT's broadband-enabled Freeview TV service, called ABC TV On Demand. The service, which a spokeswoman said is the first to launch outside the US, launches on 15 September. A range of shows made by ABC Studios, including Private Practice, Criminal Minds and Brothers & Sisters, will be made available after the first UK TV broadcast and on-line catchup or on-demand window. Cougar Town, which airs on Living TV, will be available via the ABC service about two-and-a-half months after it is broadcast. ABC TV On Demand will also offer past seasons of these series as well as others including Lost, Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty. The service will be available as part of BT Vision's TV pack for £6.99 a month; individual episodes will be priced at 99p as a pay-per-view.
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27/08/10 The X Factor pulls its biggest debut audience
ITV1's talent-spotting show 'The X Factor' drew its biggest opening audience to date when the latest series debuted this Saturday, attracting 12.6 million viewers at its peak on ITV1 and ITV1 HD. The 90-minute show, which featured auditions from wannabe singers filmed in London and Glasgow, averaged 11.1 million viewers, accounting for 48% of the total TV-viewing audience. Last year 'The X Factor' opener drew a peak audience of 11.7 million and an average of 9.9 million.
Press:
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27/08/10 Leonard to oversee digital Independent and Standard
Andrew Mullins, managing director of The Independent and the London Evening Standard, has hired Zach Leonard as digital managing director across the papers. Leonard will take up the role on 1 September. The appointment follows the departures of Independent.co.uk managing director Bill Swanson and the commercial director of The Independent and The Independent on Sunday, Simon Davies.
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27/08/10 Regional press reveals signs of optimism
All daily paid-for regional titles published by Northcliffe Media, Johnston Press and Trinity Mirror recorded year-on-year circulation falls, although the latest regional newspaper ABCs have revealed signs of optimism.The figures cover the six-month period from January to June this year and show that a number of titles are witnessing a positive change in fortunes. But the daily paid-for titles are still being hit hard by an exodus of readers.
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27/08/10 Three more IPC titles now in consultation
IPC Media is in consultation with up to 25 staff across three more magazines as part of the group review of its specialist titles, namely Ships Monthly, MiniWorld and Park Home & Holiday Caravan. The move is part of a rolling process to offload up to 28 of IPC’s specialist magazines by the end of the year. The operation began last week with news that the publisher’s niche titles, Guitar, Web User and The Railway are due to be sold.
Radio:
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27/08/10 Absolute Radio puts digital station Dabbl back in the lab
Absolute Radio said its digital team, One Golden Square labs, had many more ideas for Dabbl and the station was taking a break while it experimented with how Dabbl could continue to "democratize the playlist". Dabbl allowed listeners to browse or search for songs and vote for tracks they wanted to hear. The songs with the most votes were then played across the next hour.
Digital:
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27/08/10 Google to hire 200 in Dublin
Google has announced plans to hire 200 staff as it expands its European headquarters in Dublin.It will open a new operations centre with developers working on some of its location-based products, including Maps and Places, but not Street View.This is the first time Google's location-based products will have had Dublin developers working on them on such a scale. The European headquarters opened in 2004 and has more than 1,500 staff, making it the company's largest base outside the US.
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27/08/10 Less than a fifth of internet users welcome ads
Only 17% of internet users think online advertising is appealing and has an impact, according to research conducted by digital media research agency Connect Insight. According to the survey, conducted among 1,000 people, internet users are more likely to define online advertising as intrusive, repetitive, unappealing and cheap. Consumers want advertisers to do more to appeal to them, and understand the trade off between availability of content and tolerating advertising, according to Connect Insight. There is, however a far more fragile trade off when dealing with a medium that is uniquely personal and engaging.
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27/08/10 NME invests in digital with news and ticket app
IPC has launched an NME app for iPhone and iPod containing the influential music publication's news pictures and video content. The app, which costs £1.19 on the App Store, will provide up-to-date NME news, ticket listings, exclusive video interviews with artists and galleries of the latest and classic NME photography. Users will also be able to tag their favourite artists and receive news alerts about them.
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27/08/10 Shareholder trading values Facebook at more than $33bn
Facebook is now being valued at more than $33bn (£21.3bn) as investors try to secure a stake in the social networking site in anticipation of its flotation on the US stock market.The latest data shows that shares in Facebook are changing hands for up to $76 each, more than double their value at the start of this year. While Facebook is still privately held, shareholders are able to sell the company's stock through "secondary market" trading. By buying at these prices, some investors are calculating that Facebook is worth more than eBay or Dell, or nearly twice as much as Yahoo!.
Outdoor:
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27/08/10 CBS Outdoor sales head Lee Cutter joins Eye
Airport media specialist Eye has appointed its head of agency sales Inigo Melis to the new role of head of sales strategy, and has hired CBS Outdoor head of retail sales Lee Cutter for the position of head of sales, London. Earlier this year, Eye won the outdoor media contracts for London Stansted and London Gatwick after a protracted pitch process. The incumbent at both airports was JCDecaux.
In his new role, Melis will be charged with refining the Eye sell as part of the company’s long-term strategy to drive the airport medium to a new position, alongside other more mainstream media channels.
Industry:
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27/08/10 ABCes: Mail Online hits 44 million in July
Mail Online, the website for the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, has reinforced its position as the UK's largest newspaper site, after being the only brand to increase its number of monthly users in July. According to Audit Bureau of Circulations Electronic (ABCe) figures published today, Mail Online posted a 2.6% lift in monthly unique browsers to set a new record of 44,218,894. Mail Online also recorded the largest year-on-year growth in monthly visitor numbers, up 48%. The site also achieved the most UK monthly users, with 15,943,521 domestic browsers during the month, equivalent to 36% of its online audience.