Twitter beats revenue expectations after advertising revamp July 23, 2021 Twitter has reported better-than-expected revenue growth in its second quarter as the social media site reaped the rewards of an overhaul of its advertising service. The tech firm posted total revenue of $1.19bn in the three months to the end of June, up 74 per cent on the same period last year and ahead of [...]
Screenshot: Who will win the summer TV ratings war? July 2, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: Rob Beckett’s Wembley wisdom **Who will win the summer TV ratings war? **Kantar’s boardroom carousel Media Moment of the Week: Rob Beckett’s Wembley wisdom We all had a great time on Tuesday, didn’t we, but arguably no one had a better time than Rob Beckett. Fortunately, the comedian [...]
Revolving door: Kantar’s third boss in 18 months is BT CEO’s bro July 1, 2021 Kantar has tapped the brother of BT’s chief executive as its new boss, marking yet another leadership change at the media giant following its takeover by Bain Capital. The market research group today said Chris Jansen, brother of BT’s Philip Jansen, will take the reins from 1 November. The appointment comes less than 18 months [...]
The Analyst: Ian Whittaker on the future of media June 15, 2021 Ian Whittaker has been a City analyst for more than two decades, and what he doesn’t know about media, advertising and the creative services industry isn’t worth knowing. Here’s his first monthly column for City A.M. After twenty years covering media, technology, and everything else in between, it’s always tempting to look back and marvel [...]
Sir Martin Sorrell’s ad agency terminates office leases to go fully hybrid June 7, 2021 London-based S4 Capital, the advertising agency run by Sir Martin Sorrell, has terminated several office leases as staff are being encouraged to adopt fully flexible hybrid working practices. The advertising guru, who resigned from his previous firm WPP in 2018, said creativity is not being lost by the arrangements. “We always knew that our people, [...]
Sir Martin Sorrell: ‘Chickens will come home to roost’ with post-Covid tax hikes May 4, 2021 Tax rises are inevitable in order to tackle spiralling pandemic-driven public debt across the world, Sir Martin Sorrell has warned. The S4 Capital advertising mogul told City A.M. that while he expected strong economic growth this year and in 2022, “at some point the chickens do have to come home to roost”. Sorrell said he [...]
Private sector set for summertime boom May 2, 2021 The private sector is set for a booming few months, with growth predicted to be at its highest since June 2015, according to growth estimates from the CBI. Private sector activity broadly is expected to grow 32 per cent in the next three months, with growth predictions for business and professional services firms (+48%) at [...]
Screenshot: Will GB News’ traditional TV bet pay off? April 30, 2021 This week **Media Moment of the Week: Blair’s hair mare **Will GB News’ traditional TV bet pay off? **BT puts sport on the sideline Media Moment of the Week: Blair’s hair mare With allegations of sleaze, rows over John Lewis and Kevin Keegan-esque outbursts, it’s fair to say that all the attention has been on [...]
Martin Sorrell blasts ‘petty’ WPP after share awards cut over leak claims April 29, 2021 Sir Martin Sorrell has become embroiled in a bitter row with WPP after his former company cut his share awards over accusations he leaked confidential information to the media. In its annual report published today, the advertising behemoth said the five-year payout for 2016 and 2017 awarded to Sorrell would lapse. The FTSE 100 group [...]
UK advertising sector on track for strongest global recovery April 29, 2021 The UK advertising sector is on track to achieve the strongest recovery of any major global market this year as the vaccine rollout fuels improved confidence among brands. Ad spend is forecast to grow 15.2 per cent this year to £27bn, clawing back the £1.8bn decline suffered during the pandemic in 2020. Further improvement is [...]