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Media 1996
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The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
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Bell Cablemedia is offering to buy the remaining 18% of Videotron, the cable operator, in a deal which values Videotron at over $1bn. 19-Dec-1996 The BBC is discussing the possible launch of eight new television channels via cable operators, as part of its joint venture with Flextech. 17-Dec-1996 The BBC is setting up a rights agency as it restructures its BBC Worldwide commercial arm, in order to cope with the changes that will be brought about by the introduction of digital technology. 14-Dec-1996 Carlton Communications has acquired a 10% stake in Getty Communications, the provider of images to media companies, for £17m, with an option to increase the stake. 11-Dec-1996 Pearson, the media group, is buying a 50% stake in two South African business publications - Financial Mail and Business Day - in a deal that involves African Business Channel, the television production company. 09-Dec-1996 The BBC has asked the government for permission to allow it to negotiate with BSkyB for access to BSkyB's digital satellite receiving equipment. 06-Dec-1996 Carlton Communications is planning to expand into pay TV as both an operator and provider of programmes, and believes that new opportunities will stem from the launch of digital terrestrial TV. 05-Dec-1996 Mirror Group is to launch a local version of the Live TV cable channel in the Manchester area, in an agreement with Nynex, the local cable operator. 02-Dec-1996 Hanson has put Melody Radio, the London radio station, up for sale at a price of about £10m. 02-Dec-1996 United News & Media has increased its stake in HTV, the Welsh commercial TV company, from 20% to 29.9%, for £37m. 30-Nov-1996 The Radio Authority believes that a fourth national commercial radio channel may be possible using a long wave frequency previously allocated to the BBC in Scotland. 29-Nov-1996 CLT has decided to scrap plans to sell Country 1035AM, the country and western commercial radio station, and will instead set up a number of strategic alliances to try to develop the station. 26-Nov-1996 Granada Group is thought to be considering the demerger of its television interests from its hotels and catering business, possibly in the middle of 1997. 21-Nov-1996 Pearson is considering the acquisition of a stake in Telemadrid, the Spanish local TV channel. 21-Nov-1996 Mirror Television has acquired a 50% stake in Blink TV, which supplies large screens at concert venues. 20-Nov-1996 Liberty is to launch 963 Liberty Radio in London on November 29, and is spending £7.5m this year to get it established. 19-Nov-1996 GWR has sold Prospect, its recently-acquired New Zealand radio company, to the Radio Network of New Zealand for £17m. 19-Nov-1996 The BBC is to start marketing the publishing rights for music created for its programmes in a joint-venture with BMG Entertainment, the record company. 18-Nov-1996 Bell Cablemedia and Diamond Cable are thought to be in discussions with the major Hollywood studios about acquiring pay-per-view rights for feature films, thus bypassing BSkyB. 18-Nov-1996 Orbit, the Saudi-owned satellite TV concern, is considering the relocation of its Rome headquarters to Cardiff Bay with the creation of 700 jobs. 16-Nov-1996 Barclays has decided against setting up home banking services on BSkyB's digital satellite system, and has instead started discussions with Midland Bank's parent HSBC. 15-Nov-1996 Cable TV companies have decided not to continue with their single national advertising campaign, run by the Cable Communications Association, and will instead run individual regional campaigns. 11-Nov-1996 The London Financial News, the weekly financial newspaper, has stopped production while talks take place on refinancing. 09-Nov-1996 Border Television has linked up with CLT of Luxembourg to win the commercial radio licence for the east Midlands, and plans to launch Radio 106FM in late-1997. 08-Nov-1996 BSkyB is linking up with OzEmail, the Australian internet service company, to set up an international advertising service on the internet. 07-Nov-1996 Future Publishing has acquired seven consumer magazine titles from Aspen Communications for £1.8m. 07-Nov-1996 Granada, Virgin and the BBC are all said to be planning to launch music television channels on cable and satellite in the UK, with Virgin expected to partner BSkyB and the BBC to partner Flextech. 06-Nov-1996 BSkyB is considering plans to move into digital terrestrial television, which would improve growth prospects for its exclusive sports events and movies. 02-Nov-1996 Chrysalis is forming a joint venture with VNU to make television programmes in Holland and acquire independent production companies in both Holland and France. 02-Nov-1996 The Independent Television Commission is now seeking applications for the launch of digital terrestrial television, with the winners to be announced next spring in preparation for launch in July 1998. 01-Nov-1996 Southern Newspapers is to merge its publishing and printing activities in order to reduce its workforce by up to 15% over two years. 01-Nov-1996 Cinar Films of Canada has bought Caspian's catalogue of children's TV programmes for £10.5m. 01-Nov-1996 United News & Media has bought a 19.9% stake in HTV, the regional television broadcaster, for £74m, but says it has no plans to increase the stake. 26-Oct-1996 Scottish Television has received regulatory approval for its £120m acquisition of Caledonian Publishing, a move which will create a broad-based Scottish media company. 19-Oct-1996 Britt Allcroft Group, the marketer of children's characters, plans to raise £5m in a flotation in order to fund long-term development including the production of TV programmes. 18-Oct-1996 Daily Mail & General Trust has acquired Radio Albury-Wodonga, the operator of two regional radio stations in Australia, for £4.5m. 17-Oct-1996 Nynex CableComms and Telewest have ended their merger talks, as Nynex is thought to want to hold discussions with other interested parties. 16-Oct-1996 News Corp is planning to float News Digital Systems, the UK television technology operation, at a value of about £416m. 16-Oct-1996 Avesco has acquired a 49% stake in Complete Communications Group, the producer of TV programmes, for £713k. 16-Oct-1996 The BBC has reached a compromise with the government over the restructuring of its World Service, which will result in news and current affairs programmes being produced by a BBC News team co-located with the World Service. 15-Oct-1996 Haymarket has acquired the Motor Sport group of magazines for about £8m. 12-Oct-1996 Liberty Publishing is preparing to launch a new London radio station called 963 Liberty which will include news and entertainment. 10-Oct-1996 International CableTel of the US has acquired the remaining 40% of CableTel South Wales from Hyder for £50m. 09-Oct-1996 Stonehills Studios, the Gateshead complex that was set up to boost the film and television sector in the north east, has gone into liquidation with debts of over £570k. 07-Oct-1996 The BBC is in discussions with Flextech and Discovery Communications, companies controlled by Telecommunications Inc of Denver, to set up a number of cable and satellite channels. 28-Sep-1996 Pearson is discussing the acquisition of a 50% stake in the South African financial newspapers Business Day and Financial Mail. 27-Sep-1996 The Independent Television Commission is proposing a relaxation of the rules on television sponsorship, which would, for example, allow terrestrial channels to use sponsors for DIY programmes. 25-Sep-1996 The BBC is to make £6.5m of savings at the BBC World Service, with the loss of up to 100 jobs. 25-Sep-1996 Southern Newspapers is looking for acquisitions to expand its publishing operations, and is prepared to spend up to £100m. 25-Sep-1996 ITV is planning to spend £230m on drama programmes in 1997 as part of a strategy to attract viewers and advertisers through the development of "appointment viewing". 24-Sep-1996 Ulster Television has decided to pull out of a planned investment in TV3, a consortium aiming to launch a commercial channel in the Irish Republic. 19-Sep-1996 Midland Independent Newspapers is testing an electronic loyalty card called the Birmingham Evening Mail Accumulator Card, which will enable regular readers to exchange points for cash. 19-Sep-1996 VCI is setting up a joint venture with Britt Allcroft Group to produce children's television programmes under the Moonbeam name. 19-Sep-1996 Carlton Communications has agreed a deal to supply 700 hours of programming to UK Gold, its first major sale outside the ITV network. 18-Sep-1996 Channel 5 is now unlikely to launch before February, as the government's decision to allow it use additional broadcast frequencies means that it has to retune video recorders in a larger geographical area. 18-Sep-1996 Yorkshire-Tyne Television is looking to invest in interactive television, possibly through Two Way TV, a company planning to launch a national service that allows viewers to participate in quiz shows. 18-Sep-1996 Independent Newspapers of Ireland has offered £457m for the remaining 55% stake in Wilson and Horton, the New Zealand newspaper and magazine group. 17-Sep-1996 British Telecom is discussing a joint venture with the Kirch Group concerning the introduction of interactive digital television in Germany. 17-Sep-1996 Carlton Communications is discussing the acquisition of Metrocolour, the London-based film and television processing laboratory currently owned by Warner Brothers. 17-Sep-1996 Goodhead is selling its UK publishing interests to Quasaforce, a company set up for the acquisition, for £5.5m, while the Sheffield Journal is being sold to Hurst Publishing for £200k. 17-Sep-1996 Channel 5 has won approval to use frequencies that were being reserved for mobile digital terrestrial television, which will increase its coverage from 70% to 78% of the population. 16-Sep-1996 Highbury House Communications is acquiring WV, the publisher of home entertainment consumer magazines, for £7m. 13-Sep-1996 Scottish Television is linking up with BSkyB to launch Sky Scottish, a channel for Scots living elsewhere in the UK. 13-Sep-1996 Independent Newspapers of Ireland is looking to expand its regional newspapers business and may acquire some of the titles being sold by United News & Media. 12-Sep-1996 Channel One and Live TV are considering the launch of a joint cable channel, with Newcastle being chosen as the test market. 09-Sep-1996 Scottish TV is linking up with Grampian Television and OKTV to launch an interactive television service in Scotland in October, with nationwide coverage due to start next spring. 07-Sep-1996 Trinity International, the regional newspaper group, is discussing the sale of its Canadian operations which are thought to be worth about £60m. 06-Sep-1996 United News & Media is to move the Daily Express newspaper to a seven-day publishing format in an attempt to reverse a decline in circulation figures. 04-Sep-1996 Carlton Communications has launched Carlton Food Network, Europe's first cable TV channel dedicated to food. 03-Sep-1996 Conde Nast is to launch two new monthly magazines with an investment of £10m - a UK edition of the men's fitness magazine GQ Active, and a UK edition of Conde Nast Traveller. 03-Sep-1996 The Independent Television Commission is to investigate whether the bundling of cable TV channels is anticompetitive, following a complaint about the new Disney channel being bundled with movie channels. 03-Sep-1996 United News & Media is looking to sell 47 local newspaper titles in south-east England and south Wales. 28-Aug-1996 BSkyB is planning to include fast internet access via TV sets when it launches digital satellite TV next year. 23-Aug-1996 BSkyB has said it is on target to launch up to 300 TV channels in the UK next year, when it pioneers the development of digital TV. 21-Aug-1996 Granada Media has announced plans to introduce a number of cable TV channels targeted at specific regions of the UK and Europe. 15-Aug-1996 The BBC is discussing a possible joint venture with Flextech to set up six cable and satellite TV channels, a move which could give the BBC access to the US market via Flextech's parent company Tele-Communications. 13-Aug-1996 Commercial radio revenues rose 18% to £292m in the year to June 1996. 10-Aug-1996 General Cable has acquired the remaining 50% of Yorkshire Cable Group for £131m. 02-Aug-1996 United News & Media has entered the bidding for Westminster Press, Pearson's regional newspaper business thought to be worth about £300m. 30-Jul-1996 Channel 5 has begun the £55m operation to retune 10m videos and TVs in preparation for its launch on January 1. 30-Jul-1996 Megalomedia is acquiring the remaining 60% of Framestore, the TV and advertising special effects company, for £7m. 30-Jul-1996 BSkyB is acquiring a 25% stake in Premiere, the German pay-TV channel. 27-Jul-1996 Independent Radio Group has bought Central Scotland Radio from Grampian Television for £5.2m. 23-Jul-1996 Flextech is discussing the acquisition of minority stakes in the UK Gold and UK Living cable and satellite channels from Pearson. 22-Jul-1996 Westcountry, the ITV company, is considering an autumn stock market flotation. 20-Jul-1996 Independent Television News is to lose a contract to supply its international ITN World News service to NBC Superchannel, as NBC is switching to a more entertainment-based format. 19-Jul-1996 Six ITV companies - Granada, Carlton, United News & Media, Yorkshire-Tyne Tees, HTV and Scottish Television - are planning to start making 10 feature films a year and provide a £100m boost to the UK film industry over the next five years. 17-Jul-1996 CLT of Luxembourg is looking for a buyer for Country 1035AM, the UK's first Country and Western commercial radio station. 17-Jul-1996 GWR has a 33% stake in a venture which has won a licence for a news and talk radio station in Poland, called Inforadio. 16-Jul-1996 Scottish Television has said it is planning to build up a cross-media group, and its £120m bid for Caledonian Publishing is part of this strategy. 13-Jul-1996 BSkyB is preparing a pay-per-view feature film service offering three movies a night from the autumn, possibly as a test run for when it launches digital TV next year. 12-Jul-1996 Caledonian Publishing, the newspaper group, has postponed its imminent flotation in order to deal with a number of approaches that have been made for the company, including an offer from Scottish Television. 12-Jul-1996 The Radio Authority has received 25 applications for a new FM commercial radio licence in London. 10-Jul-1996 BSkyB is acquiring a 49% stake in DF1 in order to launch 17 digital television channels in Germany in July in a joint venture with Kirch, the German media concern. 09-Jul-1996 The European Broadcasting Union, which represents the BBC and others, has lost the rights to broadcast the World Cups of 2002 and 2006, with the £1.4bn contract going to Kirch of Germany and ISL of Switzerland. 04-Jul-1996 BSkyB is aiming to challenge Independent Television News for the contract to supply news to ITV, probably in a joint effort with a number of ITV companies. 04-Jul-1996 Pearson is looking to sell Westminster Press, its UK regional newspaper business, but has not set an asking price. 26-Jun-1996 Warner Bros is to set up a state-of-the-art animation studio in London which will employ 70 animation experts. 22-Jun-1996 Caledonian Publishing is planning a £100m flotation on the Stock Exchange next month in order to raise up to £70m to pay off debts. 22-Jun-1996 GWR has bought a 60% stake in Radio Edelweiss, the Innsbruck-based commercial radio station that broadcasts in Germany and Austria. 22-Jun-1996 Warner Brothers Television is to launch a UK satellite channel in November through the BSkyB multichannel package. 20-Jun-1996 Mirror Group is considering a £15m investment in Northern Ireland which would involve taking control of the Newsletter daily newspaper and installing new presses to print all the Mirror titles. 20-Jun-1996 The publisher of the new national newspaper, The Planet on Sunday, has closed it down after just one issue as he did not like the content. 20-Jun-1996 Flextech says that plans to sell a stake in the TCC channel to News Corp have collapsed. 20-Jun-1996 GWR and its partners, Daily Mail & General Trust, ITN and Reuters, are preparing to apply for an FM licence to launch a business and sports radio station in London. 14-Jun-1996 Telewest, the cable operator, is to start using just one brand name - Telewest Communications - in all the areas of the country where it operates. 12-Jun-1996 The BBC is planning a major structural reorganisation with the merger of television and radio production, as it prepares to increase efficiency to allow it to compete in the digital broadcasting future. 07-Jun-1996 The planned European digital television alliance between BSkyB, Canal Plus and Bertelsmann, appears to have collapsed due to the slow progress being made in setting up channels in Germany. 06-Jun-1996 IP of France is to sell its 18.9% stake in Capital Radio, probably to institutions for about £100m. 06-Jun-1996 Circle Communications, the film distributor, is planning a flotation on the Alternative Investment Market in order to raise £3m to acquire programme rights. 03-Jun-1996 Granada Sky Broadcasting is to announce seven new programme services for launch in autumn, including a Talk TV channel and a channel showing past programmes from LWT and Granada. 01-Jun-1996 British Telecom and BSkyB are said to be discussing a deal on digital satellite TV, prompting the Cable Communications Association to express its concern to Oftel and the OFT about the possible effects on competition. 31-May-1996 Channel 4 is to invest £100m in British feature films, which could result in up to 80 new films over the next four years. 31-May-1996 The Trocadero leisure centre is applying for a licence to run a children's commercial radio station in London. 31-May-1996 Emap is said to be discussing the disposal of its regional newspapers for about £200m. 31-May-1996 Bristol Evening Post is planning to change its name to Bristol United Press. 30-May-1996 BSkyB is acquiring the leases on two satellite transponders from Kinnevik of Scandinavia, and a third will be acquired by Granada Sky Broadcasting for the launch of two channels in the autumn. 29-May-1996 VCI, the video and publishing concern, is planning to move into mainstream broadcasting by acquisition, with possible targets being involved in commercial radio and cable TV programming. 29-May-1996 Mirror Group's Live TV cable television station is planning to launch a number of new stations over the next year with the creation of over 200 jobs. 21-May-1996 Caledonian Publishing is planning a summer flotation which should value it at over £100m. 21-May-1996 British Telecom and BSkyB are discussing a possible joint venture in digital television and interactive services, which would subsidise the introduction of digital set-top boxes. 18-May-1996 Scottish Radio Holdings is looking to expand by acquiring local radio stations and local newspapers. 17-May-1996 The Telegraph newspaper is discussing a possible pooling of its advertising activities with other media companies in an effort to cut costs. 14-May-1996 The BBC plans to launch new services and channels, funded by savings made from the launch of digital technology which could enable it to save up to 20% of its yearly budget. 10-May-1996 BSkyB is to launch eight new channels from Granada Television this autumn, and has confirmed it will launch digital satellite TV in the UK in autumn 1997. 08-May-1996 BSkyB is in discussions with Virgin Group about plans to jointly launch a cable and satellite TV station. 06-May-1996 Videotron is linking up with Kelloggs and J Walter Thompson to test interactive TV advertisements in 100,000 homes in London. 01-May-1996 Capital Radio is planning to set up a joint venture in India to open commercial radio stations across the country. 27-Apr-1996 Some cable TV channels have agreed a marketing pact, including Associated Newspapers' Channel One, Mirror Group's Live TV and Carlton's SelecTV. 24-Apr-1996 Flextech has acquired a 32% stake in a joint venture to launch a digital satellite channel in Latin America called Mundo Ole. 24-Apr-1996 Daily Mail & General Trust has bought a 20% stake in Independent Television News from Granada and Carlton for an initial £20.5m. 23-Apr-1996 DirecTV is searching for European partners to help it launch a digital satellite service in Europe. 17-Apr-1996 Ladbroke is investing in Two Way TV, the interactive broadcaster which allows the public to compete in TV quiz shows, and may expand the service to provide interactive betting. 16-Apr-1996 Capital Radio has been asked by the Radio Authority to provide assurances that it will not abuse the dominant position that its subsidiary, Media Sales and Marketing, has in radio advertising sales. 16-Apr-1996 Newspaper Publishing, the loss-making publisher of The Independent newspaper, is getting £23m from parent companies Mirror Group and Independent Newspapers of Ireland, in a rights issue. 13-Apr-1996 Megatec of Ireland is launching a smart card that is said to unlock all the BSkyB channels. 11-Apr-1996 Blockbuster Video, the video rental concern owned by Viacom of the US, plans to expand its number of European video outlets from 760 to 2,000 by the year 2000. 11-Apr-1996 Blockbuster Video is renting out record numbers of videos, confirming reports of a reversal in the six year decline in rentals. 10-Apr-1996 The National Joint Utilities Group has been expanded to take in the 15 leading cable TV franchises, so that they can work closer with water companies and other utilities. 09-Apr-1996 BBC Worldwide is to stop its BBC Arabic Television service, which broadcasts news in Arabic to the Middle East, following a dispute with the Mawarid Group of Saudi Arabia over recent programmes. 09-Apr-1996 Deutsche Telekom is discussing the possible acquisition of a majority stake in Videotron Holdings, the cable TV company. 03-Apr-1996 Granada's new media group says it is looking to launch low-cost TV channels in France, Italy and Germany and possibly the US. 03-Apr-1996 Granada Group is creating a new division called the Granada Media Group which will include the Granada Television and LWT franchises, as a preparatory move for international expansion. 02-Apr-1996 Advertising on ITV is forecast to suffer negative growth over the next few years due to competition from satellite and other new channels, according to KPMG. 01-Apr-1996 The BBC wants to introduce a 24-hour news service using digital television. 30-Mar-1996 Cable and satellite television gained 10% of TV viewers for the first time in mid March. 29-Mar-1996 The BBC is in discussions with Landmark Communications about setting up a joint venture weather channel. 28-Mar-1996 Johnston Press is acquiring four newspapers in the Doncaster area from Newsquest Media for £15m, and selling its Bury titles to Newsquest for £5.7m. 28-Mar-1996 British Telecom has reported encouraging results from its video-on-demand trial in Colchester and may invest £500m next year to roll it out to the rest of the country. 27-Mar-1996 The government has decided against forcing TV manufacturers to install V-chips, which allow parents to censor programmes, in new TV sets. 27-Mar-1996 Taylor Nelson AGB, the market research company, is continuing to expand overseas with a new office in the Czech Republic and further progress in Russia. 26-Mar-1996 Hodder Headline plans to focus more on educational and academic publishing and wants to expand into the US. 26-Mar-1996 The Independent Television Commission may offer the use of the satellite frequencies previously used by British Satellite Broadcasting before its merger with Sky, thus creating potential for up to 50 new channels. 26-Mar-1996 GWR is funding its acquisition of Radio New Zealand by raising £36m in a rights issue, and is also planning to buy East Anglian Radio for £24m. 23-Mar-1996 The government is to limit the cost of advertising in the Yellow Pages business directory, meaning a 2% yearly price cut in real terms, following a MMC investigation. 22-Mar-1996 Channel 5 Broadcasting is to recruit 5,000 people in the summer to retune television sets so that they can pick up Channel 5 when it is launched on January 1. 22-Mar-1996 Abbott Mead Vickers, the advertising agency, is expected to make a £5m UK acquisition in the next few weeks. 22-Mar-1996 Flextech is in discussions to buy controlling stakes in UK Gold and UK Living, the satellite channels. 21-Mar-1996 Pearson and Carlton Communications are considering plans to jointly launch a Hindi-language satellite channel in India. 19-Mar-1996 BBC Worldwide is to broadcast its BBC World 24 hour satellite news and current affairs channel to the Asia Pacific region using the Panamsat 2 satellite. 18-Mar-1996 Liberty Publishing has increased its offer for The Observer newspaper to £25m. 16-Mar-1996 Advertising on commercial radio rose 23% to a record £270m in 1995. 16-Mar-1996 HTV and Yorkshire-Tyne Tees Television are challenging a government plan that will result in all ITV companies being required to use a single supplier of television news. 15-Mar-1996 The Economist has won a High Court battle against a claim by The European newspaper that its recently launched European Voice tabloid infringes the trademark of The European. 15-Mar-1996 Mirror Group has devised contingency plans which will allow it to buy a commercial broadcaster if the opportunity arose, thereby getting round the government restriction on big newspaper publishers owning more than 20% of an ITV company. 15-Mar-1996 Reed Elsevier has about $5bn to spend on acquisitions this year, and is said to be targeting US professional publishing operations. 14-Mar-1996 The Radio Authority is complaining about the broadcasting bill which would allow the BBC to own a commercial radio company. 13-Mar-1996 BSkyB's alliance with Bertelsmann and Canal Plus plans to launch 100 satellite channels in Germany later this year, including pay-per-view and video on demand services. 12-Mar-1996 Golden Rose Communications plans to relaunch Viva, the all-women radio station, due to technical problems and poor listening figures. 11-Mar-1996 Reed Elsevier has dropped the planned sale of its Reed Consumer Books business as it could not get a high enough price. 09-Mar-1996 The government is to significantly cut the payments made by Channel 4 to ITV under the funding formula. 08-Mar-1996 Telewest has agreed a £1.2bn borrowing facility so that it can finish the building of its cable network. 08-Mar-1996 UK Gold is attempting to set up a team to sell advertising on behalf of all non-Murdoch cable and satellite channels in the UK. 07-Mar-1996 British Airways is planning a revolutionary daily television service to all its staff worldwide, lasting 15 minutes and enabling it to keep staff informed. 06-Mar-1996 Emap is buying three consumer magazines in France from Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Telediffusion for £142m. 06-Mar-1996 Scottish Television plans to announce later this year a Scottish channel targeted at Scotland and expatriate Scots. 06-Mar-1996 The Independent Television Commission is monitoring the development of television-like services on the internet to consider whether regulations should be imposed in order to comply with the 1990 Broadcasting Act. 05-Mar-1996 General Cable is said to have become the first cable TV company to become cash positive, although its penetration rate fell from 25% to 23% in 1995. 05-Mar-1996 Telewest, the cable company, is linking up with Nynex CableComms and Bell Cablemedia to develop an internet service which will speed up access times by between 200 and 300 times. 01-Mar-1996 Pearson Television is looking for a buyer for its Teddington studios complex as it needs a central London headquarters and it believes it would cost too much to update the studios. 01-Mar-1996 The Independent newspaper group is restructuring with the loss of 44 journalistic jobs in order to ensure its continued survival. 29-Feb-1996 Independent Radio Sales, the sales house for radio advertising, has lost two key clients - GWR and Emap - and may go to the OFT over concerns that its rival, Media Sales & Marketing, now has at least 65% of the market. 29-Feb-1996 There have been 13 applications for Yorkshire's FM radio licence, and a decision will be made within 4 months. 28-Feb-1996 HTV is to distribute the films of Ridley and Tony Scott in the UK, which is likely to include six films for television, cinema and video. 28-Feb-1996 Mohammed Fayed has made some senior appointments to his Liberty Publishing company, which are likely to pre-empt a major drive into the UK media sector either in radio or newspapers. 28-Feb-1996 Cable TV companies are joining together to launch a £12m national advertising campaign to increase the penetration of cable TV into homes. 28-Feb-1996 Virgin Radio is in discussions to buy a stake in FM104, the Irish radio station. 27-Feb-1996 Elstree Studios has been bought by Hertsmere Borough Council from Brent Walker, and it may now be refurbished for a return to film production. 23-Feb-1996 Independent Newspapers is to start printing the Irish Independent in England at a plant in Reading. 22-Feb-1996 There was a 4% rise in the video rentals market in 1995 to £457m, following six years of declining sales. 21-Feb-1996 Independent Radio Group is to bid for the Yorkshire radio licence under the Excel FM name. 20-Feb-1996 Landmark Communications' Weather Channel, based in Atlanta, is to be launched on cable in the UK and Scandinavia. 16-Feb-1996 Granada has increased its stake in Yorkshire-Tyne Tees Television to almost 25%. 16-Feb-1996 The government is changing Channel 4's funding formula, which should give the channel a further £35m a year to make programmes. 15-Feb-1996 Emap has bought Thompson Corp's Glenigan activities, which provide construction industry information, as well as Applied Property Research and BMMR. 15-Feb-1996 Pelmorex of Canada is linking up with The Weather Department of Birmingham to launch a 24 hour weather channel, offered by satellite to cable franchises. 12-Feb-1996 Virgin Radio is considering a stock market flotation, possibly as a way of funding international expansion. 12-Feb-1996 GWR of Bristol is buying a 31% stake in London News Radio for about £2.2m. 10-Feb-1996 Emap has acquired two telecoms magazines from CMP Publications of the US for about £1.5m. 09-Feb-1996 Videotron of Canada plans to sell its 56% stake in Videotron Holdings, the UK cable concern, in what is seen as another sign of the disappointing performance of the industry. 08-Feb-1996 The Daily Mail & General Trust plans to set up a number of radio stations in Australia, partly acquired through the future government auction of new FM licences. 07-Feb-1996 BSkyB plans to launch pay-per-view channels by the end of the year, concentrating on sport and films, and has also announced plans to start digital services which would enable it to vastly increase its number of channels. 07-Feb-1996 BSkyB is to apply to become a news supplier to ITV, in a first-ever challenge to the monopoly of ITN. 06-Feb-1996 Rapture TV, the cable channel for teenagers created by Kudos Productions and RocketScience, is expected to get its main funding from MAI. 05-Feb-1996 IBC Group has bought four magazine titles from Cheerman, including Mobile Communications International. 02-Feb-1996 Capital Radio has announced it will bid for the Yorkshire and Humberside commercial radio licence, making it one of up to 15 potential bidders. 01-Feb-1996 The European Broadcasting Union has won the rights to screen the Olympic games on terrestrial television until 2008, thus beating a bid from News Corporation. 31-Jan-1996 Virgin has lost its High Court claim that ITC had unlawfully awarded the Channel 5 licence to Channel 5 Broadcasting. 27-Jan-1996 TCI International and Sega Enterprises are planning to introduce Sega games channels on European cable networks. 23-Jan-1996 Visual Action, the film equipment hire concern, is planning a flotation in order to repay banks and grow organically and through acquisitions. 23-Jan-1996 VCI has agreed a £2.5m deal to publish books, videos and magazines using Manchester United's trademark. 20-Jan-1996 Scottish Radio Holdings has paid £1.6m for the broadcasting licences of West Sound Radio and South West Sound. 16-Jan-1996 UK Gold is threatening to stop supplying Videotron, the London and Southampton cable operator, as UK Gold insists it should be part of the basic channel service. 12-Jan-1996 Channel 5 Broadcasting has signed contracts of about £100m with NTL, the broadcast transmission and telecoms concern. 11-Jan-1996 Telewest has acquired Bell Cablemedia's Worcester franchise, where no cable has yet been laid, for £9.8m. 11-Jan-1996 News Corp has launched a $2bn bid for the European rights to broadcast the Olympics between 2000 and 2008, the contract which is usually won by the European Broadcasting Union. 10-Jan-1996 Nynex CableComms is planning to restructure with 310 job losses, the centralisation of customer services and the setting up of a national sales division. 09-Jan-1996 MediaKey is a new company being formed to bring together Video Arts and Marshall Information for a £20m flotation. 05-Jan-1996 Richard Woollam is planning a cable channel showing live coverage of the European parliament. 04-Jan-1996 The Performance channel is to be shown on satellite from March, following a distribution deal with NTL. 04-Jan-1996 The information below comes from the UK Activity Report. Click here for further details Copyright UK Business Park 1995-2007