MDEABLAB NEWS DIGEST DEC 20: PUTIN BLACKWATER FAIRFAX NIELSEN DESTRA
December 20th 2007 10:01
A compendium of MediaBlab news stories published over the last 24 hours
BLACKWATER BODYGUARDS SHOOT NEW YORK TIMES DOG DEAD IN IRAQ
MediaBistro reports that the US embassy in Iraq is investigating another deadly shooting incident involving its Blackwater bodyguards — this time of The New York Times' dog, or ‘K-9’ according to Blackwater’s rather stupid quasi-military jargon.
Staff at the newspaper's Baghdad bureau said Blackwater bodyguards shot Hentish the hound stone motherless dead last week before a visit by a US diplomat to the Times compound.
The Australian this morning reports that Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said the dog had attacked one of Blackwater's bomb-sniffer dogs while a security team was sweeping the compound for explosives.
“The K-9 handler made several unsuccessful attempts to get the dog to retreat, including placing himself between the dogs.
”When those efforts failed, the K-9 handler unfortunately was forced to use a pistol to protect the company's K-9 and himself,” she said in an email to Reuters.
The incident invokes memories of National Lampoon magazine’s famously outrageous cover of the 1970s which showed a cute pooch with a pistol held against its head.
AUSTRALIAN MEDIA COMPANIES ASSURE SHAREHOLDERS THAT THEIR DEBT IS IN CONTROL
The tumultuous performance on the Australian Securities Exchange this week in the wake off the US sub prime fallout saw, for example, Centro Properties Group, a major shopping mall owner in the US and Australia hit so hard by the global credit squeeze that yesterday it sought to allay fears it could go bankrupt because of looming debts.
The ensuing fear also saw other companies scramble to assure share holders that their debt was in control and this included two major media companies, Fairfax and Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group.
Fairfax Media Ltd yesterday informed the ASX that it is aware that there is incorrect information in the market regarding the debt profile of the company and more specifically incorrect assumptions regarding potential refinancing risk. This incorrect information resulted from a report issued by a stockbroker.
It said its current debt position is as follows:
Average maturity of committed facilities – 4.5 years
No refinancing required to be undertaken until mid 2010
Undrawn committed facilities in excess of $450 million available to the company.
Sankar Narayan, chief financial officer said, “Fairfax Media has excellent cash flows and an investment grade balance sheet with no refinancing risk for over two years.”
Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group told the ASX that “given recent broader market developments” it is reconfirming its debt position as disclosed at its annual general meeting on November 30, 2007:
It said only 3.6 percent of total debt (100 percent consolidated, including exchangeable bonds) matures within the next 2 years, and 14.4 percent within the next 5 years, and proportionately consolidated gearing of 60 percent (based on June 30, 2007 net debt, updated for current asset ownership, its corporate debt drawings, and its closing price on December 18, 2007.)
Its exchangeable bonds are redeemable with its securities at its option.
More than 90 percent of its current outstanding asset debt is hedged for 10 years.
Broadcast Australia has entered into a further $300 million in hedges between 2012 and 2017 since the annual general meeting.
Its distributions are funded from operating cash rather than debt drawings.
END OF YEAR WRITS FLY FOR NIELSEN AND ITS JOINT VENTURE OPERATION WITH WPP, AGB NIELSEN
Nielsen will be happy to see 2007 come to a close because it’s been a rocky ride for the company globally this month.
It has just lost the contract to measure UK television to TNS when the current Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board contract with AGB Nielsen expires in 2010 (see today’s MediaBlab report.)
Understandably, it hasn’t happy about this at all and the Guardian reports that the “appointment has been mired in controversy with Nielsen, the joint venture partner in AGB Nielsen, (the business is 50 percent owned by Sir Martin Sorrell's WPP) reportedly threatening to take legal action over patents related to measurement products TNS plans to use.”
But while legal action is contemplated in Britain, legal action against both Nielsen and AGB Nielsen is underway in both Spain and the Philippines.
As MediaBlab reported yesterday, Spain's top media company Prisa has taken legal action against Nielsen due to an ‘unjustified’ downgrade of its audience figures for the website of its newspaper, El Pais.
On top of this comes news from the Philippines that TV giant ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp has sued media research agency AGB Nielsen Media Research Philippines over its alleged "systematic, organised and well-funded attempt" to rig television ratings.
“We regret to bring this matter to the public but the Filipino people and the entire media industry deserve to know the truth," ABS-CBN chair Eugenio Lopez III said in a video clip shown during a press briefing on Friday.
The Philippines Inquirer reported, “At the press briefing, ABS-CBN executives related how the network came to discover the alleged attempt to cheat in the ratings.
“According to Vivian Tin, chief officer for research and business analysis, a few weeks ago, the ABS-CBN station manager in Bacolod was sought out by a man who volunteered to offer information about attempts to bribe households where AGB Nielsen's meters were installed to get them to switch the programs they were watching.
“Meters are installed in selected households across the country as a means of measuring the ratings. The identity of these metered households is kept secure so that no outside entity can influence their viewing behaviour.”
As a result of this discovery, Tin said ABS-CBN has demanded that AGB Nielsen shut down its service and investigate the extent of the breach.
AGB-Nielsen, however, refused, saying it would need to investigate further.
Business World Online reported that publicly listed ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp on Friday filed a civil case against AGB Nielsen Media Research Philippines on Friday for damages and injunction with an application for a temporary restraining order, with the Quezon City Regional Trial Court for refusing to give in to the demands of its client ABS-CBN.
Business World said, “The network is suing the research firm for a total of Philippine Pesos 81 million (A$2.25 million), P63 million of which is for the license fee it paid for the ratings service the past year that AGB Nielsen “failed” to render since its data is “tainted” and allegedly unreliable. It is asking for P15 million in moral damages and P3 million in costs for litigation.”
CELEBRATING THE MEDIA BLUNDERS OF 2007-12-20
Canadian freelancer Craig Silverman, in his Regret The Error blog, has this week celebrated some of the media’s biggest blunders in 2007-12-20
His favourites include blunders about US politician Barack Obama.
Obama was mistaken for the notorious ‘Osama’ on CNN and in a news report by the New York Post. The Houston Chronicle referred to him as a Republican and several misplaced typos could have potentially damaged his image.
The blog’s 2007 Plagiarism-Fabrication Round-Up revealed that there was a significant rise of instances of plagiarism at US student newspapers.
Many papers mistakenly referred to Middle Eastern individuals as terrorists, primarily in the UK. One of the worst cases was when Metro UK ran a photo of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed identifying him as terror suspect Kahlid Sheikh Mohammed.
Silverman awarded this extract from the Independent Saturday magazine in the UK as best correction of the year,
“Following the portrait of Tony and Cherie Blair published on 21 April in the Independent Saturday magazine, Ms Blair’s representatives have told us that she was friendly with but never had a relationship with Carole Caplin of the type suggested in the article. They want to make it clear, which we are happy to do, that Ms Blair “has never shared a shower with Ms Caplin, was not introduced to spirit guides or primal wrestling by Ms Caplin (or anyone else), and did not have her diary masterminded by Ms Caplin.”
Best typo of the year went to a photo caption relating to Anna Nicole Smith,
“When Redding, a long time scout for Playboy, discovered Smith, the model could barely right a sentence…”
Another fab blunder of 2007 was the picture of a submarine used by a Russian TV network to illustrate a story about a Russian voyage to the Arctic. The same picture was redistributed globally by Reuters and used by NBC Nightly News before it was discovered it came from the movie Titanic.
BEYOND INTERNATIONAL TAKEOVER: DESTRA TO GO AHEAD WITH DUE DILIGENCE
Destra Corporation Ltd, Australia’s leading digital media and entertainment company, today confirmed that it is conducting due diligence on Beyond International to evaluate whether it may make a takeover offer for Beyond.
Destra holds 10.03 percent of the issued capital in Beyond.
Destra has also acquired a leading media and marketing services company, The Square Group, which provides integrated media services to media agencies and their clients and has previously collaborated with destra’s Brand New Media, Australia’s leading independent media services company.
The Square Group is owned by founder and ceo, Scott Llewellyn, who has been appointed as general manager of destra Media’s Brand New Media Melbourne division effective immediately.
The Square Group will be acquired for an undisclosed consideration of cash and destra shares, and will be integrated into Brand New Media.
Destra is now seeking expressions of interest for the sale of its property and land in Eagle Farm, Queensland, which is waterfront property close to Brisbane Airport. The property houses the Magna Pacific distribution business.
The market value of this property is about $18 million based on a recent Knight Frank valuation.
Two destra directors have also acquired company shares today. Louis Olsen acquired 666,467 shares valued at $100,000 taking his destra share holdings to 4, 776, 704.
Neville Christie acquired 333,334 shares, valued at $50,000, taking his total holdings to 1, 807, 440.
BEYOND INTERNATIONAL TAKEOVER: MARINER QUESTIONS WHETHER DESTRA CAN RAISE NEW EQUITY IN CURRENT MARKET CONDITIONS
Mariner Financial Ltd told the ASX that it would like to reiterate to the shareholders of Beyond International that its offer is the only offer to acquire all the shares in Beyond; and will close at 7pm Sydney time today.
Mariner urges Beyond shareholders who wish to accept the offer to do so without delay.
Mariner also delivered an update Destra Corporation as a possible alternative bidder. It said that yesterday Destra “issued an ASX release which ‘confirms that it is conducting due diligence on Beyond International for the purpose of evaluating whether it may make a takeover offer for Beyond.’
“It is now unlikely that Destra will announce an offer prior to the expiry of Mariner’s offer. Therefore, Beyond shareholders have a clear choice between the certainty of $1.25 cash per share from Mariner and the potential of an offer from Destra at some time in the future.
“In respect of a potential offer by Destra we note that Destra has stated in numerous press reports that it has been undertaking due diligence on Beyond since about the time it acquired its stake in the company, approximately one month ago.
“Mariner continues to believe that, based on publicly available information, Destra’s ability to finance the acquisition of Beyond is not obvious and is therefore doubtful, in the absence of a significant equity capital raising by Destra.
“Current market conditions would suggest it would be difficult for Destra to raise new equity.”
UK MINISTRY OF DEFENCE GAGS MEDIA FROM REPORTING ABUSE OF IRAQIS BY BRITISH SOLDIERS
The UK Ministry of Defence has obtained a high court gagging order preventing the media from repeating allegations of abuse of Iraqis by British soldiers, the Guardian reports.
The order bans newspapers and broadcasters from publishing details of the case reported in the Guardian two months ago.
The order followed a high court challenge to the Ministry of Defence’s refusal to set up an independent inquiry into the allegations, which lawyers say is required by the Human Rights Act.
Human rights lawyers say the courts have ruled that it is the duty of the state to set up a full independent inquiry in cases where a suspicion of deliberate wrongdoing exists.
The Guardian said it intends to challenge the gagging order, which can now only be described as a "claim for an inquiry into events that took place in Iraq in 2004".
Next month lawyers for the defendants will provide the high court with further detailed allegations made by Iraqis. They are bringing the case under the European human rights convention covering the right to life, protection against torture and human or degrading treatment, and unlawful detention.
PUTIN NAMED TIME MAGAZINE’S MAN OF THE YEAR FOR PUTTING RUSSIA BACK ON THE MENTAL MAP
Time magazine named President Vladimir Putin its person of the year on Wednesday in recognition of the Russian leader's role in making Moscow "a critical linchpin of the 21st century."
Putin got the award for reshaping a country that Time's managing editor Richard Stengel said had "fallen off our mental map."
"At significant cost to the principles and ideas that free nations prize, he has performed an extraordinary feat of leadership in imposing stability on a nation that has rarely known it and brought Russia back to the table of world power," Stengel wrote.
"For that reason, Vladimir Putin is Time's 2007 Person of the Year."
INDEPENDENT NEWS & MEDIA BUYS IRISH NEWSPAPER, THE SLIGO CHAMPION
Reuters reports that Independent News & Media has reached an agreement to acquire regional Irish newspaper, the Sligo Champion.
The Dublin-based group, which operates in Ireland, Britain, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and India, did not disclose how much it will pay, but a guesstimate is around 20 million euros (A$33.5 million).
"The paper is one of Ireland's oldest and leading regional titles and would be a good addition to our portfolio of Irish regional titles," Vincent Crowley, chief executive of Independent News & Media Ireland, said in a statement.
Independent News Chief Executive Anthony O'Reilly said he had raised his stake further in the newspaper publisher, taking his personal holding to 26.50 percent.
O'Reilly said he had purchased 1 million shares or 0.12 per cent of the total at 2.3255 euros per share.
Independent News & Media is the largest shareholder in Australasian media group APN.
CALLS FOR BOYCOTT OF BEIJING OLYMPICS IN UK AND US OVER HUMAN RIGHTS AND MEDIA ISSUES
The European parliament adopted a resolution on December 13 on the state of relations between the European Union and China and their dialogue on human rights.
The resolution said concerns about human rights should get more attention in the preparations for the Beijing Olympics and it called on the International Olympic Committee to evaluate China's respect for the promises it made in 2001 when it won the 2008 games for Beijing.
The European parliament said it was also worried about online censorship in China and urged the Chinese authorities to release imprisoned cyber-dissidents and to render the thousands of blocked websites accessible again. The resolution finally urged China to take effective measures to guarantee free speech and press freedom and voiced concern about the failure to enforce the new rules for foreign journalists working in China.
The lack of any real progress on these issues eight months before the start of the Beijing games was condemned by members of the European parliament, human rights organisations and former recipients of the Sakharov prize, including Reporters Without Borders, at a news conference yesterday at the European parliament in Brussels.
European parliament vice-president Edward McMillan-Scott wrote to International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge on December 10 urging him to remind the Chinese authorities of the promises they made to improve human rights in 2001 in order to win the 2008 games. He added that the European parliament would consider boycotting the games if the situation had not improved by Christmas.
Meanwhile, a petition signed by more that 11,000 Chinese citizens demanding respect for human rights in China before the games was handed in yesterday at IOC headquarters in Lausanne by dissident Wei Jingsheng. Wei was received for about 10 minutes by the IOC's head of communications, who told him that the IOC was not in a position to solve problems that had been around for many years. Wei warned that the games were becoming more and more unpopular with many Chinese.
In the US, a resolution has been submitted to congress by representative Dana Rohrabacher calling for a boycott of the games.
VENTURE CAPITALISTS BULLISH ON MEDIA AND INTERNET FOR 2008
The National Venture Capital Association, in a survey of 170 of its members across America, revealed that the sectors venture capitalists are most bullish about are clean tech, media, biotech, and the internet, in that order.
Mark Heesen, president of the association, said the venture capitalists overwhelmingly predict (80 percent) that the clean tech sector will attract higher levels of venture financing in 2008. However, 61 percent of respondents also believe that the clean tech sector will be overvalued next year.
Other sectors of growth include media and entertainment (65 percent predict higher levels), biotech, and internet specific companies (55 percent respectively).
Investment in the medical devices and wireless telecom are expected to grow moderately with more than half the respondents predicting static or declining investment in these sectors.
MICROSOFT AND VIACOM GANG UP AGAINST GOOGLE IN A COMPLICATED DEAL WORTH US$500 MILLION
Media Post reports that two Google enemies, Microsoft and Viacom, have banded together in a deal reportedly worth US$500 million.
The agreement calls for Microsoft's recently acquired Atlas to serve ads on all Viacom Web sites. Currently, DoubleClick, which has agreed to be acquired by Google, serves ads for Viacom, according to the Associated Press.
Viacom also will make video content available to MSN and Xbox 360, as the company continues to seek new ways to distribute content. Viacom, which earlier this year signed with web video start-up Joost, recently launched sites to house clips from The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and South Park.
The deal comes about eight months after Viacom struck another blow at Google by letting Yahoo to power search on its site.
Media Post said, “These moves clearly show Viacom is trying to align itself with rivals of Google, whom Viacom is suing for copyright infringement. And, while it might be understandable that Viacom executives want to avoid doing business with a courtroom foe, it's also somewhat self-defeating. If Viacom wants its clips seen by a bigger audience, continuing to eschew Google-YouTube isn't the way to accomplish that.”
And, while the deal seems like a coup for Microsoft, the timing is odd considering that Microsoft is lobbying to block Google's merger with DoubleClick. If nothing else, this deal appears to show that Google-DoubleClick won't be the only option for online advertisers after the merger. Of course, that in itself doesn't mean the pending merger won't affect competition. Even if Viacom is able to avoid dealing with Google-DoubleClick, the combined entity will still be an online powerhouse, with ties to nearly every other publisher and marketer on the Web.
Techcrunch; In yet another move to strengthen the anti-Google coalition, Tech Crunch wasn’t overly taken by the deal from the anti-Google coalition and said, “Here is the short version of today’s deal. Microsoft’s Atlas business (part of recently purchased aQuantive) will serve display ads across Viacom’s US sites, which include MTV.com and ComedyCentral.com, and get an exclusive right to sell remnant inventory as well. The value of the deal is $500 million to Microsoft, but it is hard to tell exactly where that comes from because there was a lot of bartering going on. For instance, as part of the deal, Microsoft agreed to purchase TV ads on Viacom’s cable networks like MTV, Comedy Central, and BET, as well as some of those online ads that it will be serving. Microsoft will also license video from Viacom TV shows and movies on MSN. (Round and round is the name of the game…)
So the $500 million is most likely the net amount after the value of all of these sub-deals were calculated.
“Media companies love doing complicated deals. They used to call it synergy, but they usually turn to be sub-optimal. Rather than striking the best online advertising deal, the best TV advertising deal, or the best content licensing deal on a standalone basis, everything gets cobbled together in a take-it-or-leave it proposition. Inevitably, some of the underlying business units from both sides end up getting screwed. But by that time the corporate biz dev guys are onto their next deal.”
NATIONAL LAMPOON IN PARTNERSHIP DEAL WITH NEW SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE, CAPAZOO
National Lampoon, Inc has formed a partnership with Capazoo.com, the newest unique social networking and online entertainment web site.
The partnership is based in part on Capazoo’s ground-breaking business model empowering its members and partners to generate real revenues based on their content and site participation.
In this deal, National Lampoon will provide online video content and branded marketing opportunities across its various entertainment properties to Capazoo. As part of the deal National Lampoon has also acquired an equity stake in Capazoo.
National Lampoon will create branded entertainment opportunities for Capazoo across its diverse entertainment platforms, providing Capazoo unrivalled reach into the college market. National Lampoon’s entertainment platforms encompass traditional and non-traditional media including the National Lampoon Humor Network, National Lampoon feature films, National Lampoon Radio Network, National Lampoon College in-dorm room cable network, as well as on and off campus National Lampoon live events.
The first collaboration between the two companies is a Capazoo-sponsored series of exclusive live stand-up comedy to be released later this year on all National Lampoon media platforms.
Tech Crunch reports on this deal, saying, “There has to be some irony in a company known for comedy investing in a social networking site with a Web 1.0 multi-level marketing scheme as its business model. As reported in the previous post ‘a model that only pays out when you pay up won’t find millions of fans. With US$25 million in the bank the site certainly won’t be heading to the Deadpool anytime soon but it will struggle to succeed.’
“Given Capazoo has just taken on a new investor maybe it’s already struggling?”
NGC NETWORK ASIA LAUNCHES ITS FIRST NGC HD CHANNEL IN SINGAPORE
Network Asia has rolled out its NGC HD channel today, having signed an exclusive deal to broadcast on Now TV, according to Marketing..
David Gunson, senior vice president of programming and broadcasting for NGC told Marketing that Singapore was the first country in Asia Pacific to launch the NGC HD channel and talks are in place with cable operators to roll out the channel across the region.
He said that consumer electronic brands have expressed interest with ad opportunities on the new channel and aims to also target car manufacturers, airlines and tourism boards.
Marketing reported that Basil Chua, marketing director for NGC Network Asia said viewers could expect to see more integrated experiential marketing campaigns roll out in the territory in January next year to tie in with the HD channel launch.
BBC COULD LOSE ITS EXCLUSIVE REVENUE DEAL FROM BRITISH TV LICENCE FEES
The traditional revenue link between the BBC and the licence fee in the UK could be broken as a result of wide-ranging reforms being considered by the media regulator, Ofcom, the Guardian has learned.
It said that one option under review could lead to the licence fee being sliced up so that money could be channeled to other organisations to spend on "public service" web and television ventures.
Though the BBC would retain the lion's share of the levy, any reduction would have profound implications for the corporation.
The Guardian reported, “Ofcom believes it has to consider a range of options to avert a crisis in public service broadcasting at a time of radical change. Insiders believe a new means of allocating public money via a newly created body could foster innovation, but would prefer to leave the government to decide how to finance it.
“The regulator, while committed to maintaining a strong BBC, is also keen to find new ways of delivering public service content to a generation growing up with mobile phones, broadband internet and a vast array of media choices.”
MOBILEACTIVE SAYS CHRISTMAS ENTERTAINMENT VIDEOS HAVE BECOME ITS FIRST AUSTRALIAN HIT PRODUCTS
MobileActive, an Australian mobile phone content and entertainment provider, said its content development studio has delivered its first ‘hit’ products.
A second set of entertainment videos has been developed for release in February 2008.
The snack, made-for-mobile Christmas entertainment videos that were launched under MobileActive’s brands on November 25 are delivering customers at low cost, with cost per acquisition being as much as 50 percent lower than our target cost, leading to an earlier per customer profit result.
This result supports MobileActive’s strategic plan for 2008, which includes international licensing of the company’s growing in-house developed content catalogue to third party content aggregators and marketers.
Incremental downloads of in-house developed content have a higher gross margin as there are no license fees to be paid and the cost of the content is accounted in the month of development.
Neil Wiles, MobileActive’s managing director said, “The combination of MobileActive developed and licensed content sees us in the mobile content retail market this month with a strong mix of 35 quality product campaigns, up from six in December 2006. This range gives us a greater ability to effectively target specific customer segments.”
MobileActive has hired James Hagen as head of content. He joins the company after five years at Jamster head office in Berlin, where he was director of content production.
Jamster is 51 percent owned by News Corp.
MORE CHANGES AT THE TOP LEVEL OF DOW JONES
Incoming Dow Jones boss Les Hinton has begun making changes, beginning with the hiring of News International's corporate development director Ian Weston, who will become senior vice-president, special projects, for Dow Jones.
According to the Guardian, he will report to Hinton, who left his role as the News International executive chairman two weeks ago to become the Dow Jones chief executive.
Weston, a former mechanical engineer with British Gas, previously served as circulation and sales director of and head of business development at News International, which joined in 1995, after working as a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group.
TIGER WANTED TO TAME LIONS IN BANGLADESH AD AGENCY
This unusual recruitment ad for a Bangla-speaking creative director is running in India:
“Tiger wanted, to tame lions.
What are the chances of a tiger winning over a lion? Substantially large.
”At 11 feet, 620 pounds, the Royal Bengal Tiger can easily bring down its large paws for that one final punch, dispatching even the largest lion. Thus, despite the lion’s folkloric reputation of being the King of the Jungle, its mettle is severely tested by the Royal Bengal Tiger. We reckon this theory holds true even for the Cannes Lion. Be it a Bronze, Silver, Gold or even a Titanium Lion, a Bengal Tiger can bring it home.
”What we are looking for is that ferocious striped cat, a Bangla speaking creative force to fill the shoes of the Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather, Bangladesh. You should be a nice seven years into the fight, armed with the body of work and strategy required to go for the kill. Experience in the tobacco and telecom industries would be good to have. An eager 15-strong team awaits your leadership.
”It is time to give the lion a run for its pride.”
AGB NIELSEN LOSES TV AUDIENCE MEASURING CONTRACT IN THE UK
UK television audiences will be measured by TNS when the current Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board contract with AGB Nielsen expires in 2010.
This is the announcement the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board made on Tuesday:
BARB (Broadcasters Audience Research Board) announced today that TNS, a world leader in market insight and information, has won two major contracts to measure UK TV audiences starting in 2010.
TNS will provide the BARB industry currency for TV audience measurement in the UK. Under the terms of the contracts, TNS will be responsible for the establishment and the operation of a 5,100 home meter panel. The panel will be recruited in 2008, allowing TNS to trial its service, starting in early 2009 in parallel with the current service. The current contract, running to 31 December 2009 is held by AGB Nielsen. The full switch-over to the new service will take place in January 2010.
TNS will provide BARB with a fixed TV-meter system using TNS’s successful TNS 5000 Series Modular PeopleMeter. The 5000 Series is a proven audience measurement tool; TNS has provided 52,000 of this latest model of People Meter for use in 30,000 homes in 15 countries.
BARB’s chief executive, Bjarne Thelin, said: “BARB has considered numerous innovative proposals over a rigorous 15-month tendering process. Only a handful are sufficiently proven to be accepted by the industry at present. BARB is committing to a system (based around TNS’ fixed TV-meter system) which is state of the art, but with potential to be further developed to incorporate new techniques and keep pace with a rapidly changing industry.”
Meanwhile, TNS and BARB will together consider for potential future implementation TNS’s innovative TotalMeter solution as a single-source fixed and portable metering panel. The system integrates Arbitron’s Portable People Meter (PPM) system (licensed by TNS) with TNS’s existing fixed metering within the same panel homes. TotalMeter is designed to provide audience measurement for conventional TV viewing as well new platforms such as PCs, portable devices and out-of-home TV viewing. If BARB choose to progress with the new system, it could be phased into the initial measurement system, but only after completion of extensive testing and parallel tracking, and only following full industry consultation.
US NEWSPAPER COMPANY TRIBUNE TO PAY US$15 MILLION IN CIRCULATION MISSTATEMENT STUFF-UP
Dow Jones reports that Tribune Co in the US will pay US$15 million to the federal government to settle charges that its Long Island, New York newspaper Newsday and New York Spanish-language paper Hoy misstated circulation in 2004.
Tribune will also set aside $90 million for restitution payments to affected advertisers.
Dow Jones reported, “The Chicago-based media company reached an agreement with the office of the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York that includes acceptance of responsibility for the circulation problems caused by several former Newsday and Hoy employees.
“In agreeing not to prosecute Newsday or Hoy, the government cited the companies' ‘commitment to full cooperation’ with the appropriate government agencies and ‘numerous remedial actions’ taken by current management. Among those actions were firing all employees involved in the circulation misstatements, instituting a mandatory employee code of conduct and mandatory employee ethics training, and implementing a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week ethics hotline for reporting fraud or abuse.”
US FEDERAL REGULATORS ‘LOOSEN UP’ AMERICAN MEDIA CROSS OWNERSHIP RULES
The Wall Street Journal reports that US federal regulators narrowly voted to loosen media-ownership rules in some markets yesterday even as they extended a last-minute reprieve to media companies that have newspaper and broadcast properties that might have been affected by the change.
The Wall Street Journal said, “Calling the proposal a ‘relatively minor loosening of the ban,’ Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin pushed through a plan on a 3-2 partisan vote to allow media companies to own both a newspaper and television station in the top 20 markets of the country.
“It approved a new set of requirements for companies seeking to own both print and broadcast properties in smaller markets even as it gave 42 permanent waivers for media companies that currently own newspaper and television stations.”
The “loosening” has upset consumer groups who are concerned the change will lead to a new wave of consolidation.
The prior rules blocking such ownership had been in effect for decades, but regulators have granted waivers in a number of cases, including to News Corporation, which now owns the Wall Street Journal and New York Post as well as US broadcast and cable holdings.
BLACKWATER BODYGUARDS SHOOT NEW YORK TIMES DOG DEAD IN IRAQ
MediaBistro reports that the US embassy in Iraq is investigating another deadly shooting incident involving its Blackwater bodyguards — this time of The New York Times' dog, or ‘K-9’ according to Blackwater’s rather stupid quasi-military jargon.
Staff at the newspaper's Baghdad bureau said Blackwater bodyguards shot Hentish the hound stone motherless dead last week before a visit by a US diplomat to the Times compound.
“The K-9 handler made several unsuccessful attempts to get the dog to retreat, including placing himself between the dogs.
”When those efforts failed, the K-9 handler unfortunately was forced to use a pistol to protect the company's K-9 and himself,” she said in an email to Reuters.
The incident invokes memories of National Lampoon magazine’s famously outrageous cover of the 1970s which showed a cute pooch with a pistol held against its head.
AUSTRALIAN MEDIA COMPANIES ASSURE SHAREHOLDERS THAT THEIR DEBT IS IN CONTROL
The tumultuous performance on the Australian Securities Exchange this week in the wake off the US sub prime fallout saw, for example, Centro Properties Group, a major shopping mall owner in the US and Australia hit so hard by the global credit squeeze that yesterday it sought to allay fears it could go bankrupt because of looming debts.
The ensuing fear also saw other companies scramble to assure share holders that their debt was in control and this included two major media companies, Fairfax and Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group.
It said its current debt position is as follows:
Average maturity of committed facilities – 4.5 years
No refinancing required to be undertaken until mid 2010
Undrawn committed facilities in excess of $450 million available to the company.
Sankar Narayan, chief financial officer said, “Fairfax Media has excellent cash flows and an investment grade balance sheet with no refinancing risk for over two years.”
Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group told the ASX that “given recent broader market developments” it is reconfirming its debt position as disclosed at its annual general meeting on November 30, 2007:
It said only 3.6 percent of total debt (100 percent consolidated, including exchangeable bonds) matures within the next 2 years, and 14.4 percent within the next 5 years, and proportionately consolidated gearing of 60 percent (based on June 30, 2007 net debt, updated for current asset ownership, its corporate debt drawings, and its closing price on December 18, 2007.)
Its exchangeable bonds are redeemable with its securities at its option.
More than 90 percent of its current outstanding asset debt is hedged for 10 years.
Broadcast Australia has entered into a further $300 million in hedges between 2012 and 2017 since the annual general meeting.
Its distributions are funded from operating cash rather than debt drawings.
END OF YEAR WRITS FLY FOR NIELSEN AND ITS JOINT VENTURE OPERATION WITH WPP, AGB NIELSEN
Nielsen will be happy to see 2007 come to a close because it’s been a rocky ride for the company globally this month.
It has just lost the contract to measure UK television to TNS when the current Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board contract with AGB Nielsen expires in 2010 (see today’s MediaBlab report.)
Understandably, it hasn’t happy about this at all and the Guardian reports that the “appointment has been mired in controversy with Nielsen, the joint venture partner in AGB Nielsen, (the business is 50 percent owned by Sir Martin Sorrell's WPP) reportedly threatening to take legal action over patents related to measurement products TNS plans to use.”
But while legal action is contemplated in Britain, legal action against both Nielsen and AGB Nielsen is underway in both Spain and the Philippines.
As MediaBlab reported yesterday, Spain's top media company Prisa has taken legal action against Nielsen due to an ‘unjustified’ downgrade of its audience figures for the website of its newspaper, El Pais.
On top of this comes news from the Philippines that TV giant ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp has sued media research agency AGB Nielsen Media Research Philippines over its alleged "systematic, organised and well-funded attempt" to rig television ratings.
“We regret to bring this matter to the public but the Filipino people and the entire media industry deserve to know the truth," ABS-CBN chair Eugenio Lopez III said in a video clip shown during a press briefing on Friday.
The Philippines Inquirer reported, “At the press briefing, ABS-CBN executives related how the network came to discover the alleged attempt to cheat in the ratings.
“According to Vivian Tin, chief officer for research and business analysis, a few weeks ago, the ABS-CBN station manager in Bacolod was sought out by a man who volunteered to offer information about attempts to bribe households where AGB Nielsen's meters were installed to get them to switch the programs they were watching.
“Meters are installed in selected households across the country as a means of measuring the ratings. The identity of these metered households is kept secure so that no outside entity can influence their viewing behaviour.”
As a result of this discovery, Tin said ABS-CBN has demanded that AGB Nielsen shut down its service and investigate the extent of the breach.
AGB-Nielsen, however, refused, saying it would need to investigate further.
Business World Online reported that publicly listed ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp on Friday filed a civil case against AGB Nielsen Media Research Philippines on Friday for damages and injunction with an application for a temporary restraining order, with the Quezon City Regional Trial Court for refusing to give in to the demands of its client ABS-CBN.
Business World said, “The network is suing the research firm for a total of Philippine Pesos 81 million (A$2.25 million), P63 million of which is for the license fee it paid for the ratings service the past year that AGB Nielsen “failed” to render since its data is “tainted” and allegedly unreliable. It is asking for P15 million in moral damages and P3 million in costs for litigation.”
CELEBRATING THE MEDIA BLUNDERS OF 2007-12-20
Canadian freelancer Craig Silverman, in his Regret The Error blog, has this week celebrated some of the media’s biggest blunders in 2007-12-20
His favourites include blunders about US politician Barack Obama.
Obama was mistaken for the notorious ‘Osama’ on CNN and in a news report by the New York Post. The Houston Chronicle referred to him as a Republican and several misplaced typos could have potentially damaged his image.
The blog’s 2007 Plagiarism-Fabrication Round-Up revealed that there was a significant rise of instances of plagiarism at US student newspapers.
Many papers mistakenly referred to Middle Eastern individuals as terrorists, primarily in the UK. One of the worst cases was when Metro UK ran a photo of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed identifying him as terror suspect Kahlid Sheikh Mohammed.
Silverman awarded this extract from the Independent Saturday magazine in the UK as best correction of the year,
“Following the portrait of Tony and Cherie Blair published on 21 April in the Independent Saturday magazine, Ms Blair’s representatives have told us that she was friendly with but never had a relationship with Carole Caplin of the type suggested in the article. They want to make it clear, which we are happy to do, that Ms Blair “has never shared a shower with Ms Caplin, was not introduced to spirit guides or primal wrestling by Ms Caplin (or anyone else), and did not have her diary masterminded by Ms Caplin.”
Best typo of the year went to a photo caption relating to Anna Nicole Smith,
“When Redding, a long time scout for Playboy, discovered Smith, the model could barely right a sentence…”
Another fab blunder of 2007 was the picture of a submarine used by a Russian TV network to illustrate a story about a Russian voyage to the Arctic. The same picture was redistributed globally by Reuters and used by NBC Nightly News before it was discovered it came from the movie Titanic.
BEYOND INTERNATIONAL TAKEOVER: DESTRA TO GO AHEAD WITH DUE DILIGENCE
Destra Corporation Ltd, Australia’s leading digital media and entertainment company, today confirmed that it is conducting due diligence on Beyond International to evaluate whether it may make a takeover offer for Beyond.
Destra holds 10.03 percent of the issued capital in Beyond.
Destra has also acquired a leading media and marketing services company, The Square Group, which provides integrated media services to media agencies and their clients and has previously collaborated with destra’s Brand New Media, Australia’s leading independent media services company.
The Square Group is owned by founder and ceo, Scott Llewellyn, who has been appointed as general manager of destra Media’s Brand New Media Melbourne division effective immediately.
The Square Group will be acquired for an undisclosed consideration of cash and destra shares, and will be integrated into Brand New Media.
Destra is now seeking expressions of interest for the sale of its property and land in Eagle Farm, Queensland, which is waterfront property close to Brisbane Airport. The property houses the Magna Pacific distribution business.
The market value of this property is about $18 million based on a recent Knight Frank valuation.
Two destra directors have also acquired company shares today. Louis Olsen acquired 666,467 shares valued at $100,000 taking his destra share holdings to 4, 776, 704.
Neville Christie acquired 333,334 shares, valued at $50,000, taking his total holdings to 1, 807, 440.
BEYOND INTERNATIONAL TAKEOVER: MARINER QUESTIONS WHETHER DESTRA CAN RAISE NEW EQUITY IN CURRENT MARKET CONDITIONS
Mariner Financial Ltd told the ASX that it would like to reiterate to the shareholders of Beyond International that its offer is the only offer to acquire all the shares in Beyond; and will close at 7pm Sydney time today.
Mariner urges Beyond shareholders who wish to accept the offer to do so without delay.
Mariner also delivered an update Destra Corporation as a possible alternative bidder. It said that yesterday Destra “issued an ASX release which ‘confirms that it is conducting due diligence on Beyond International for the purpose of evaluating whether it may make a takeover offer for Beyond.’
“It is now unlikely that Destra will announce an offer prior to the expiry of Mariner’s offer. Therefore, Beyond shareholders have a clear choice between the certainty of $1.25 cash per share from Mariner and the potential of an offer from Destra at some time in the future.
“In respect of a potential offer by Destra we note that Destra has stated in numerous press reports that it has been undertaking due diligence on Beyond since about the time it acquired its stake in the company, approximately one month ago.
“Mariner continues to believe that, based on publicly available information, Destra’s ability to finance the acquisition of Beyond is not obvious and is therefore doubtful, in the absence of a significant equity capital raising by Destra.
“Current market conditions would suggest it would be difficult for Destra to raise new equity.”
UK MINISTRY OF DEFENCE GAGS MEDIA FROM REPORTING ABUSE OF IRAQIS BY BRITISH SOLDIERS
The UK Ministry of Defence has obtained a high court gagging order preventing the media from repeating allegations of abuse of Iraqis by British soldiers, the Guardian reports.
The order bans newspapers and broadcasters from publishing details of the case reported in the Guardian two months ago.
The order followed a high court challenge to the Ministry of Defence’s refusal to set up an independent inquiry into the allegations, which lawyers say is required by the Human Rights Act.
Human rights lawyers say the courts have ruled that it is the duty of the state to set up a full independent inquiry in cases where a suspicion of deliberate wrongdoing exists.
The Guardian said it intends to challenge the gagging order, which can now only be described as a "claim for an inquiry into events that took place in Iraq in 2004".
Next month lawyers for the defendants will provide the high court with further detailed allegations made by Iraqis. They are bringing the case under the European human rights convention covering the right to life, protection against torture and human or degrading treatment, and unlawful detention.
PUTIN NAMED TIME MAGAZINE’S MAN OF THE YEAR FOR PUTTING RUSSIA BACK ON THE MENTAL MAP
Time magazine named President Vladimir Putin its person of the year on Wednesday in recognition of the Russian leader's role in making Moscow "a critical linchpin of the 21st century."
Putin got the award for reshaping a country that Time's managing editor Richard Stengel said had "fallen off our mental map."
"At significant cost to the principles and ideas that free nations prize, he has performed an extraordinary feat of leadership in imposing stability on a nation that has rarely known it and brought Russia back to the table of world power," Stengel wrote.
"For that reason, Vladimir Putin is Time's 2007 Person of the Year."
INDEPENDENT NEWS & MEDIA BUYS IRISH NEWSPAPER, THE SLIGO CHAMPION
Reuters reports that Independent News & Media has reached an agreement to acquire regional Irish newspaper, the Sligo Champion.
The Dublin-based group, which operates in Ireland, Britain, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and India, did not disclose how much it will pay, but a guesstimate is around 20 million euros (A$33.5 million).
"The paper is one of Ireland's oldest and leading regional titles and would be a good addition to our portfolio of Irish regional titles," Vincent Crowley, chief executive of Independent News & Media Ireland, said in a statement.
Independent News Chief Executive Anthony O'Reilly said he had raised his stake further in the newspaper publisher, taking his personal holding to 26.50 percent.
O'Reilly said he had purchased 1 million shares or 0.12 per cent of the total at 2.3255 euros per share.
Independent News & Media is the largest shareholder in Australasian media group APN.
CALLS FOR BOYCOTT OF BEIJING OLYMPICS IN UK AND US OVER HUMAN RIGHTS AND MEDIA ISSUES
The European parliament adopted a resolution on December 13 on the state of relations between the European Union and China and their dialogue on human rights.
The resolution said concerns about human rights should get more attention in the preparations for the Beijing Olympics and it called on the International Olympic Committee to evaluate China's respect for the promises it made in 2001 when it won the 2008 games for Beijing.
The European parliament said it was also worried about online censorship in China and urged the Chinese authorities to release imprisoned cyber-dissidents and to render the thousands of blocked websites accessible again. The resolution finally urged China to take effective measures to guarantee free speech and press freedom and voiced concern about the failure to enforce the new rules for foreign journalists working in China.
The lack of any real progress on these issues eight months before the start of the Beijing games was condemned by members of the European parliament, human rights organisations and former recipients of the Sakharov prize, including Reporters Without Borders, at a news conference yesterday at the European parliament in Brussels.
European parliament vice-president Edward McMillan-Scott wrote to International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge on December 10 urging him to remind the Chinese authorities of the promises they made to improve human rights in 2001 in order to win the 2008 games. He added that the European parliament would consider boycotting the games if the situation had not improved by Christmas.
Meanwhile, a petition signed by more that 11,000 Chinese citizens demanding respect for human rights in China before the games was handed in yesterday at IOC headquarters in Lausanne by dissident Wei Jingsheng. Wei was received for about 10 minutes by the IOC's head of communications, who told him that the IOC was not in a position to solve problems that had been around for many years. Wei warned that the games were becoming more and more unpopular with many Chinese.
In the US, a resolution has been submitted to congress by representative Dana Rohrabacher calling for a boycott of the games.
VENTURE CAPITALISTS BULLISH ON MEDIA AND INTERNET FOR 2008
The National Venture Capital Association, in a survey of 170 of its members across America, revealed that the sectors venture capitalists are most bullish about are clean tech, media, biotech, and the internet, in that order.
Mark Heesen, president of the association, said the venture capitalists overwhelmingly predict (80 percent) that the clean tech sector will attract higher levels of venture financing in 2008. However, 61 percent of respondents also believe that the clean tech sector will be overvalued next year.
Other sectors of growth include media and entertainment (65 percent predict higher levels), biotech, and internet specific companies (55 percent respectively).
Investment in the medical devices and wireless telecom are expected to grow moderately with more than half the respondents predicting static or declining investment in these sectors.
MICROSOFT AND VIACOM GANG UP AGAINST GOOGLE IN A COMPLICATED DEAL WORTH US$500 MILLION
Media Post reports that two Google enemies, Microsoft and Viacom, have banded together in a deal reportedly worth US$500 million.
The agreement calls for Microsoft's recently acquired Atlas to serve ads on all Viacom Web sites. Currently, DoubleClick, which has agreed to be acquired by Google, serves ads for Viacom, according to the Associated Press.
Viacom also will make video content available to MSN and Xbox 360, as the company continues to seek new ways to distribute content. Viacom, which earlier this year signed with web video start-up Joost, recently launched sites to house clips from The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and South Park.
The deal comes about eight months after Viacom struck another blow at Google by letting Yahoo to power search on its site.
Media Post said, “These moves clearly show Viacom is trying to align itself with rivals of Google, whom Viacom is suing for copyright infringement. And, while it might be understandable that Viacom executives want to avoid doing business with a courtroom foe, it's also somewhat self-defeating. If Viacom wants its clips seen by a bigger audience, continuing to eschew Google-YouTube isn't the way to accomplish that.”
And, while the deal seems like a coup for Microsoft, the timing is odd considering that Microsoft is lobbying to block Google's merger with DoubleClick. If nothing else, this deal appears to show that Google-DoubleClick won't be the only option for online advertisers after the merger. Of course, that in itself doesn't mean the pending merger won't affect competition. Even if Viacom is able to avoid dealing with Google-DoubleClick, the combined entity will still be an online powerhouse, with ties to nearly every other publisher and marketer on the Web.
Techcrunch; In yet another move to strengthen the anti-Google coalition, Tech Crunch wasn’t overly taken by the deal from the anti-Google coalition and said, “Here is the short version of today’s deal. Microsoft’s Atlas business (part of recently purchased aQuantive) will serve display ads across Viacom’s US sites, which include MTV.com and ComedyCentral.com, and get an exclusive right to sell remnant inventory as well. The value of the deal is $500 million to Microsoft, but it is hard to tell exactly where that comes from because there was a lot of bartering going on. For instance, as part of the deal, Microsoft agreed to purchase TV ads on Viacom’s cable networks like MTV, Comedy Central, and BET, as well as some of those online ads that it will be serving. Microsoft will also license video from Viacom TV shows and movies on MSN. (Round and round is the name of the game…)
So the $500 million is most likely the net amount after the value of all of these sub-deals were calculated.
“Media companies love doing complicated deals. They used to call it synergy, but they usually turn to be sub-optimal. Rather than striking the best online advertising deal, the best TV advertising deal, or the best content licensing deal on a standalone basis, everything gets cobbled together in a take-it-or-leave it proposition. Inevitably, some of the underlying business units from both sides end up getting screwed. But by that time the corporate biz dev guys are onto their next deal.”
NATIONAL LAMPOON IN PARTNERSHIP DEAL WITH NEW SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE, CAPAZOO
National Lampoon, Inc has formed a partnership with Capazoo.com, the newest unique social networking and online entertainment web site.
The partnership is based in part on Capazoo’s ground-breaking business model empowering its members and partners to generate real revenues based on their content and site participation.
In this deal, National Lampoon will provide online video content and branded marketing opportunities across its various entertainment properties to Capazoo. As part of the deal National Lampoon has also acquired an equity stake in Capazoo.
National Lampoon will create branded entertainment opportunities for Capazoo across its diverse entertainment platforms, providing Capazoo unrivalled reach into the college market. National Lampoon’s entertainment platforms encompass traditional and non-traditional media including the National Lampoon Humor Network, National Lampoon feature films, National Lampoon Radio Network, National Lampoon College in-dorm room cable network, as well as on and off campus National Lampoon live events.
The first collaboration between the two companies is a Capazoo-sponsored series of exclusive live stand-up comedy to be released later this year on all National Lampoon media platforms.
Tech Crunch reports on this deal, saying, “There has to be some irony in a company known for comedy investing in a social networking site with a Web 1.0 multi-level marketing scheme as its business model. As reported in the previous post ‘a model that only pays out when you pay up won’t find millions of fans. With US$25 million in the bank the site certainly won’t be heading to the Deadpool anytime soon but it will struggle to succeed.’
“Given Capazoo has just taken on a new investor maybe it’s already struggling?”
NGC NETWORK ASIA LAUNCHES ITS FIRST NGC HD CHANNEL IN SINGAPORE
Network Asia has rolled out its NGC HD channel today, having signed an exclusive deal to broadcast on Now TV, according to Marketing..
David Gunson, senior vice president of programming and broadcasting for NGC told Marketing that Singapore was the first country in Asia Pacific to launch the NGC HD channel and talks are in place with cable operators to roll out the channel across the region.
He said that consumer electronic brands have expressed interest with ad opportunities on the new channel and aims to also target car manufacturers, airlines and tourism boards.
Marketing reported that Basil Chua, marketing director for NGC Network Asia said viewers could expect to see more integrated experiential marketing campaigns roll out in the territory in January next year to tie in with the HD channel launch.
BBC COULD LOSE ITS EXCLUSIVE REVENUE DEAL FROM BRITISH TV LICENCE FEES
The traditional revenue link between the BBC and the licence fee in the UK could be broken as a result of wide-ranging reforms being considered by the media regulator, Ofcom, the Guardian has learned.
It said that one option under review could lead to the licence fee being sliced up so that money could be channeled to other organisations to spend on "public service" web and television ventures.
Though the BBC would retain the lion's share of the levy, any reduction would have profound implications for the corporation.
The Guardian reported, “Ofcom believes it has to consider a range of options to avert a crisis in public service broadcasting at a time of radical change. Insiders believe a new means of allocating public money via a newly created body could foster innovation, but would prefer to leave the government to decide how to finance it.
“The regulator, while committed to maintaining a strong BBC, is also keen to find new ways of delivering public service content to a generation growing up with mobile phones, broadband internet and a vast array of media choices.”
MOBILEACTIVE SAYS CHRISTMAS ENTERTAINMENT VIDEOS HAVE BECOME ITS FIRST AUSTRALIAN HIT PRODUCTS
MobileActive, an Australian mobile phone content and entertainment provider, said its content development studio has delivered its first ‘hit’ products.
A second set of entertainment videos has been developed for release in February 2008.
The snack, made-for-mobile Christmas entertainment videos that were launched under MobileActive’s brands on November 25 are delivering customers at low cost, with cost per acquisition being as much as 50 percent lower than our target cost, leading to an earlier per customer profit result.
This result supports MobileActive’s strategic plan for 2008, which includes international licensing of the company’s growing in-house developed content catalogue to third party content aggregators and marketers.
Incremental downloads of in-house developed content have a higher gross margin as there are no license fees to be paid and the cost of the content is accounted in the month of development.
Neil Wiles, MobileActive’s managing director said, “The combination of MobileActive developed and licensed content sees us in the mobile content retail market this month with a strong mix of 35 quality product campaigns, up from six in December 2006. This range gives us a greater ability to effectively target specific customer segments.”
MobileActive has hired James Hagen as head of content. He joins the company after five years at Jamster head office in Berlin, where he was director of content production.
Jamster is 51 percent owned by News Corp.
MORE CHANGES AT THE TOP LEVEL OF DOW JONES
Incoming Dow Jones boss Les Hinton has begun making changes, beginning with the hiring of News International's corporate development director Ian Weston, who will become senior vice-president, special projects, for Dow Jones.
According to the Guardian, he will report to Hinton, who left his role as the News International executive chairman two weeks ago to become the Dow Jones chief executive.
Weston, a former mechanical engineer with British Gas, previously served as circulation and sales director of and head of business development at News International, which joined in 1995, after working as a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group.
TIGER WANTED TO TAME LIONS IN BANGLADESH AD AGENCY
This unusual recruitment ad for a Bangla-speaking creative director is running in India:
“Tiger wanted, to tame lions.
What are the chances of a tiger winning over a lion? Substantially large.
”At 11 feet, 620 pounds, the Royal Bengal Tiger can easily bring down its large paws for that one final punch, dispatching even the largest lion. Thus, despite the lion’s folkloric reputation of being the King of the Jungle, its mettle is severely tested by the Royal Bengal Tiger. We reckon this theory holds true even for the Cannes Lion. Be it a Bronze, Silver, Gold or even a Titanium Lion, a Bengal Tiger can bring it home.
”What we are looking for is that ferocious striped cat, a Bangla speaking creative force to fill the shoes of the Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather, Bangladesh. You should be a nice seven years into the fight, armed with the body of work and strategy required to go for the kill. Experience in the tobacco and telecom industries would be good to have. An eager 15-strong team awaits your leadership.
”It is time to give the lion a run for its pride.”
AGB NIELSEN LOSES TV AUDIENCE MEASURING CONTRACT IN THE UK
UK television audiences will be measured by TNS when the current Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board contract with AGB Nielsen expires in 2010.
This is the announcement the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board made on Tuesday:
BARB (Broadcasters Audience Research Board) announced today that TNS, a world leader in market insight and information, has won two major contracts to measure UK TV audiences starting in 2010.
TNS will provide the BARB industry currency for TV audience measurement in the UK. Under the terms of the contracts, TNS will be responsible for the establishment and the operation of a 5,100 home meter panel. The panel will be recruited in 2008, allowing TNS to trial its service, starting in early 2009 in parallel with the current service. The current contract, running to 31 December 2009 is held by AGB Nielsen. The full switch-over to the new service will take place in January 2010.
TNS will provide BARB with a fixed TV-meter system using TNS’s successful TNS 5000 Series Modular PeopleMeter. The 5000 Series is a proven audience measurement tool; TNS has provided 52,000 of this latest model of People Meter for use in 30,000 homes in 15 countries.
BARB’s chief executive, Bjarne Thelin, said: “BARB has considered numerous innovative proposals over a rigorous 15-month tendering process. Only a handful are sufficiently proven to be accepted by the industry at present. BARB is committing to a system (based around TNS’ fixed TV-meter system) which is state of the art, but with potential to be further developed to incorporate new techniques and keep pace with a rapidly changing industry.”
Meanwhile, TNS and BARB will together consider for potential future implementation TNS’s innovative TotalMeter solution as a single-source fixed and portable metering panel. The system integrates Arbitron’s Portable People Meter (PPM) system (licensed by TNS) with TNS’s existing fixed metering within the same panel homes. TotalMeter is designed to provide audience measurement for conventional TV viewing as well new platforms such as PCs, portable devices and out-of-home TV viewing. If BARB choose to progress with the new system, it could be phased into the initial measurement system, but only after completion of extensive testing and parallel tracking, and only following full industry consultation.
US NEWSPAPER COMPANY TRIBUNE TO PAY US$15 MILLION IN CIRCULATION MISSTATEMENT STUFF-UP
Dow Jones reports that Tribune Co in the US will pay US$15 million to the federal government to settle charges that its Long Island, New York newspaper Newsday and New York Spanish-language paper Hoy misstated circulation in 2004.
Tribune will also set aside $90 million for restitution payments to affected advertisers.
Dow Jones reported, “The Chicago-based media company reached an agreement with the office of the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York that includes acceptance of responsibility for the circulation problems caused by several former Newsday and Hoy employees.
“In agreeing not to prosecute Newsday or Hoy, the government cited the companies' ‘commitment to full cooperation’ with the appropriate government agencies and ‘numerous remedial actions’ taken by current management. Among those actions were firing all employees involved in the circulation misstatements, instituting a mandatory employee code of conduct and mandatory employee ethics training, and implementing a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week ethics hotline for reporting fraud or abuse.”
US FEDERAL REGULATORS ‘LOOSEN UP’ AMERICAN MEDIA CROSS OWNERSHIP RULES
The Wall Street Journal reports that US federal regulators narrowly voted to loosen media-ownership rules in some markets yesterday even as they extended a last-minute reprieve to media companies that have newspaper and broadcast properties that might have been affected by the change.
The Wall Street Journal said, “Calling the proposal a ‘relatively minor loosening of the ban,’ Federal Communications Commission chairman Kevin Martin pushed through a plan on a 3-2 partisan vote to allow media companies to own both a newspaper and television station in the top 20 markets of the country.
“It approved a new set of requirements for companies seeking to own both print and broadcast properties in smaller markets even as it gave 42 permanent waivers for media companies that currently own newspaper and television stations.”
The “loosening” has upset consumer groups who are concerned the change will lead to a new wave of consolidation.
The prior rules blocking such ownership had been in effect for decades, but regulators have granted waivers in a number of cases, including to News Corporation, which now owns the Wall Street Journal and New York Post as well as US broadcast and cable holdings.
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