Weekend Summary
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 10 2006 …
ON TODAY'S AGENDA …
IBC Conference (11/9) and IBC Exhibition (12/9), Amsterdam … England v Pakistan, ODI, Edgbaston … Italian Grand Prix, Monza … Final day World Athletics Finals, Stuttgart …
AND IN TODAY'S PAPERS …
NEWS: Sky has entered the battle brewing between Apple and Amazon for the online video market. It has unveiled a new type of film download service called Odeon and Sky Filmworks. The collaboration will act as a UK-based film distributor, signing up titles direct from filmmakers. Initially, Odeon and Sky Filmworks plans to sign six films for release in its first year, The Bus 10, which adds that as broadband adoption grows, the back catalogues of Disney and other major studios will be as vulnerable to having their copyright violated by digital piracy as EMI is to having its songs copied and traded on the internet.
SKY/ONLINE VIDEO: Profile of Mark Thompson, which says his biggest strength is the confidence in his own analytical abilities but perhaps the biggest hurdle for him to face is a latent suspicion among staff about his motives, Gdn Media p2. Mark Thompson's announcement is a welcome step towards a more open programme supply market at the BBC after more than a decade of fudge and protectionism but David Liddiment senses a another BBC fudge in the making, centring around the issue of in-house production, Gdn Media p3. Mark Thompson overestimates the BBC's relevance outside the English speaking world says Gdn reader, Media p5. Paul Carr says he does not care how BBC Online spends his money just as long as it keeps producing sites that surprise, inform, amuse and occasionally appal, Gdn Media p12. Support for BBC local radio from Ind reader p32. The BBC's overhaul is a valuable lesson for HR professionals says FT reader p20.
ITV is facing a meltdown in its advertising revenues in the run-up to Christmas as media buyers fear its mass-market scheduling is driving away wealthier viewers. Advertising buyers and analysts believe ITV's ad revenue in the three months to Christmas could be 20% lower than in the same period last year, S.Tel Bus 3. Outgoing BAA CE Mike Clasper ticks some of the boxes that ITV needs but would be regarded as the wrong choice by those who think it needs a visionary new media thinker to reinvent itself, S.Tel Bus 3.
BBC: Readers discuss falling standards of language and diction, S.Times 22. Hungarian police have recovered stolen video tapes of Robin Hood, IoS 27. MoS 17 says many of the animals in Vet Safari are being let loose to be hunted in game reserves. BBC Worldwide is looking to acquire an internet-based social networking site similar to Murdochs MySpace. It has £350m of borrowings to spend on takeovers but a major bid in the commercial arena would risk criticism that it was losing sight of its public service remit, Fin MoS front.
FILM: Dame Helen Mirren won the best actress award at the Venice film festival. Her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in Stephen Frears' The Queen was praised for its texture and complexity and Mirren is now tipped for Oscar glory. The surprise winner of the Golden Lion at the festival was the Chinese film Still Life by Jia Zhang-Ke while the British actor Clive Owen lost out in the best actor award to Ben Affleck, S.Times front and 11, Obs 10, IoS 7, MoS 5, S.Exp front and p3 Obs Review 16 reviews the Venice Film Festival. Nicole Kidmans Oscar hopes have been dented by poor reviews of Fur, S.Times 29. Box office forecasters are predicting a worldwide take of more than £266m from a movie spin-off of The Simpsons, S.Exp 17.
MURDOCH is in talks with Telecom Italia about a content deal which would move the Italian telecoms company nearer to its aim of becoming a hybrid media group, The Bus 14.
VODAFONE was keen to stress that the decision to bring back Vittorio Colao was taken by Arun Sarin - and not by Sir John Bond, who recently replaced Lord MacLaurin as chairman. Yet many commentators and analysts saw it as a move by Bond to line up Sarin's replacement, S.Times Bus 2. The move was welcomed by analysts, S.Tel Bus 11. Europe will continue to be Vodafone's core market for the foreseeable future, The Bus 8.
ENDEMOL is close to appointing the investment bank Credit Suisse to advise on a sale of the business, which is expected to fetch well over £1bn. Telefonica, which owns three-quarters of Endemol, is understood to be taking advice from Merrill Lynch as it considers its options. The biggest obstacle in the way of a sale was cleared last week when Telefonica struck an agreement with the management of Endemol France to resolve a long-standing dispute. Time Warner is among the big media groups expected to make an offer for Endemol. However, the companys management team is also expected to consider a buyout, S.Times Bus2.
VIACOM: Profile of chairman Red Sumner and his moves to streamline the company, with future plans believed to include buying up internet companies - or maybe even another studio such as the independent Lions Gate Entertainment, S.Times Bus 7.
TELECOMS: Last week, Leeds-based Mobiboo and US giant Belkin launched mobiles that send and receive calls over the internet using a wireless connection (wi-fi), bypassing the traditional mobile networks and their high costs. VOIP technology is installed in more than 1.8m households in Britain with a market estimated at £77m, according to analyst Ovum, S.Times Money 4. Vodafone is to announce a strategic deal with BT to offer broadband to its mobile phone customers, S.Tel Bus front. On Wednesday BT will announce details of a new "social networking" product that will allow its broadband customers to upload content, such as audio and video footage, onto the internet. The move will place BT in competition with the likes of MySpace and YouTube and further highlights its move away from its traditional business into multimedia and digital entertainment says S.Tel Bus front. The drive by Vivendi and Vodafone to usurp the dominance of France Telecom is gathering pace, The Bus 7. Last week's acquisitions and the rapid progress of its wireless partnership with Intel are making Pipex into a credible rival to BT in the field of wireless internet, The Bus 10.
BROADBAND: A leaked email from Charles Dunstone, CE of Carphone Warehouse, shows how little he thinks of James Murdoch, Arun Sarin and Lord Rothermere, S.Times Bus 18. Fury over Talk Talk's broken promises, S.Times Money 6.
TELEVISION: The eight-part BBC2 drama, Party Animals, which is scheduled to be broadcast early next year, will look at what really goes on in Westminster, with the private lives of the MPs and their assistants brought to the fore. The BBC hopes that the series will win over a young audience who may otherwise pay little attention to politics, S.Times 12. A reader criticises Dragon's Den, saying the BBC appears to be playing up the humiliation aspects rather than trying to explain what makes a good business idea, S.Times Bus 19. More than 600 doctors have signed up to a campaign to resuscitate the BBC1 series Cardiac Arrest, Obs 21. The forthcoming BBC tv drama about Fanny Craddock, Obs 25, S.Times 14. Janet Street-Porter takes issue with Michael Parkinson's views that more women like Barbara Walters and Oprah Winfrey are needed on British tv, IoS 11.
RADIO: Paul Donovan discusses Britain's "most unusual" radio station, Resonance 104.4FM, S.Times Culture 15. Radio 3 is to showcase Wilfred Owen's war poetry, IoS Media in Bus
PRESS: CVCNews International's thelondonpaper joined Associated Newspapers' London Lite last Monday and the battle for young Londoners was under way. Both publishers are claiming a take-up of around 400,000 copies but profits for either Associated Newspapers or News International will remain a long way off for a long while says IOS Media, Bus 19. Media analysts and readers discuss whether Londoners feel enriched or bombarded by the volume of material on offer, Obs Bus & Media 11. IoS Media in Bus 18 discusses the decline in newspaper fortunes, citing staff cuts at The Telegraph and price rises at the Times and Mail. It says The Guardian is 6.2% up year on year and The Observer is up 3.3%. The strongest performance came from the Independent on Sunday, which increased its sales by 7.9%. Peter Preston on changes at The Telegraph, Obs Bus & Media 12.
PROMS: Richard Brooks says although Nick Kenyon claims they have been 86% full over the past eight weeks, at times the Albert Hall looked half-empty, Biteback in S.Times Times Culture 14.
IRAQ: Discussing Tony Marchant's C4 film The Mark of Cain, Richard Brooks says he hears BBC Films is discussing a movie about an embedded American journal
ISLAMOPHOBIA: Muhammed Abdul Bari, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, says the media is contributing to the rise of Islamophobia by concentrating on a few extremists, S.Tel 2.
PRODUCT PLACEMENT: Most tv viewers would not object to product placement on tv channels according to research carried out by MediaLab, part of WPP. It found that 71% of viewers believe it would not affect their enjoyment of their favourite programmes. Ofcom is expected to publish a report easing restrictions on product placement within weeks, Obs Bus 2.
COMPANIES: Woolworths is being urged to sell its joint venture with the BBC - 2 Entertain, which produces DVDs of popular programmes, Obs Bus 2. The battle between UTV and SMG comes to a head this week when both companies announce their results for the first half, S.Tel 4.
BUNG: High profile personnel at Bolton, Portsmouth and Middlesbrough have had letters from the BBC's Panorama programme, telling them they have been suckered into an elaborate sting aimed at exposing the bung culture in English football, NTW 76, MoS 128.
PEOPLE: Silvio Berlusconi will have to choose whether to give up politics or his media empire says S.Tel 31. Excerpt from Terry Wogan's book in which he talks about the failings of BBC chiefs, MoS 58-60.
INTERVIEWS: Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq, Obs 43. Profile of Sacha Baron Cohen, Obs 45. Ashley Jensen for BBC2's Extras, Obs Review 11. Russell Brand, S.Times 23, IoS 3. Mark Benton for BBC3's I'm With Stupid, S.Exp 67.
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