Products set to boost ITV February 9, 2010 EMBATTLED broadcaster ITV could boost its revenues by £50m a year, after the government lifted a ban on product placement. Culture secretary Ben Bradshaw yesterday said commercial broadcasters would be allowed to accept payment for displaying branded products in most shows. ITV insiders think the firm will earn around £50m-a-year from product placement deals by [...]
Adam Crozier still has serious problems to sort March 3, 2010 ITV was in a bullish mood yesterday, reporting a return to the black and predicting a revival in the advertising market. Hot shot chief executive-elect Adam Crozier will join from Royal Mail at the end of April, when he will launch a strategic review that will solve the free-to-air broadcaster’s troubles. The worst is over. [...]
Ghanaati to be crowned Queen of the fillies in the Coronation Stakes June 18, 2009 Barry Hills hasn’t been in the best of health recently, but his 1000 Guineas winner GHANAATI can put a smile back on the legendary trainer’s face by landing the Coronation Stakes at Ascot this afternoon. The daughter of Giant’s Causeway caused a 20/1 upset at Newmarket on her first ever run on turf having previously [...]
A brilliant debut novel that tells of tragedy in the City rings all too true February 24, 2010 THIS BLEEDING CITY BY ALEX PRESTON Faber, £12.99 You’d have thought the time had passed for another book about the City and its pre-crunch pulse of money, aspiration and the personal damnation all that can lead to. Certainly, there have been countless stories about “what really went on” – the strip clubs, the arrogance, the [...]
When you liberate your employees, productivity and profit will follow January 27, 2010 FREEDOM INC BY BRIAN M CARNEY AND ISAAC GETZ Crown Business Publishing, New York, £18.99 **** WE LIVE in a society in which we’re always watched – not just by the state, but in the workplace, too. Keen to cut costs and direct workforce activities with precision, employers create ever more laborious internal rules and [...]
Defender of business says a hung parliament would be disastrous February 7, 2010 HE MIGHT have parted company with the CBI four years ago, but Lord Digby Jones is still one of the staunchest defenders of the private sector. When he gives me his business card at the opening of a Vodafone store in the City, it is emblazoned with a motto that sums up his philosophy: “Only [...]
Sale of bond boosts ITV October 13, 2009 TROUBLED broadcaster ITV yesterday completed a £135m convertible bond offer, designed to bolster its balance sheet, and announced plans to plug a gaping hole in its pension fund. The Coronation Street broadcaster, which is struggling to appoint a chairman and chief executive, said it plans to use the proceeds to extend its average debt maturity [...]
Hills all set for a day to remember at HQ October 15, 2009 Some wines get better with age and believe it or not, so do some jockeys. I’ve been guilty of calling Richard Hills a few names over the years, but I genuinely believe he has improved beyond recognition over the last 12 months. The son of legendary trainer Barry (and twin brother of Michael) can have [...]
The INSIDER June 16, 2009 Day two and Richard Hills, not everyone’s favourite jockey, may chalk up Group race success with INFIRAAD in the Jersey Stakes. LUSH LASHES won the Coronation Stakes last year and goes for the Group 2 Windsor Forest Stakes this year. Even with her Group 1 penalty she should take all the beating. The Royal Hunt [...]
Friends Reunited was a squandered opportunity August 6, 2009 THERE’S a recession on, stupid. That was the response Michael Grade gave yesterday when pressed on why the broadcaster flogged its social network Friends Reunited for just £25m, having bought it for £170m less than four years ago. That the downturn has dented the value of the site, along with virtually every other media business, [...]