U K
B U S I N E S S
P A R K
home page


Media 1999
2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996

The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
Click here for further details

Chrysalis is forming a joint venture with Rivals.com of the US to develop a European-based internet sports business. 29-Dec-1999 United News & Media has appointed advisers to help with the process of selling non-core businesses, in preparation for its £9bn merger with Carlton Communications. 23-Dec-1999 Telewest has added WH Smith to the list of 15 retailers for its Active Digital interactive TV service. 22-Dec-1999 Trinity Mirror has expressed interest in acquiring News Communications & Media, which could result in a three-way takeover battle with Johnston Press and Newsquest. 21-Dec-1999 Britt Allcroft is to acquire a 50% stake in Sooty International, which could lead to the worldwide development of Sooty merchandise. 21-Dec-1999 Telewest has taken 105,000 sq ft of space in the Export House office building in Woking. 20-Dec-1999 BSkyB is acquiring a 5% stake in Sunderland FC for £6.5m, and will also become the football club's media agent for five years. 18-Dec-1999 Daily Mail & General Trust is planning to increase its investment in new internet ventures, free daily newspapers and digital teletext. 17-Dec-1999 Carlton Communications is forming a £63m joint venture with TF1 of France to help internet businesses expand across Europe, and other media groups may be invited to join the project. 17-Dec-1999 Carphone Warehouse has acquired an undisclosed stake in the Switchdigital consortium that is bidding for the Greater London digital radio licence. 16-Dec-1999 The BBC is linking up with Vodafone to develop a news service for mobile phones, as part of a BBC strategy to supply content onto digital platforms. 16-Dec-1999 Pearson is looking to sell its 50% stake in the AFX news wire joint venture with Agence France Press. 15-Dec-1999 NTL is considering plans for a stock market listing in London, following its acquisition of the Swiss cable company Cablecom. 14-Dec-1999 Telewest is to launch an internet service provider in February, offering unmetered internet access for £10 a month. 14-Dec-1999 Rutland Trust has received a number of offers for Castle Music, the owner of 60,000 music and video copyrights. 14-Dec-1999 News Communications & Media, the regional newspaper publisher, has rejected a takeover approach by Gannett of the US. 11-Dec-1999 Reed Elsevier is to spend up to £200m on the development of new internet-based services next year, and has also announced a restructuring programme to create three global divisions. 10-Dec-1999 BSkyB has acquired a 10% stake in Gameplay.com for £10m, and further deals are expected to follow with BSkyB taking equity stakes in start-up companies in return for airtime on its channels. 10-Dec-1999 NTL's Premium TV subsidiary has won a contract to manage the media interests of Newcastle United football club. 10-Dec-1999 Northsound Radio is to sell its headquarters in Aberdeen's West End in a £2m deal, and alternative premises are being sought. 07-Dec-1999 BSkyB has bought a 24% stake in Kirch PayTV, in a £1.5bn deal that gives it a first foothold in the German market. 07-Dec-1999 Flextech is selling a 38% stake in TV Travel Shop to Barclays Private Equity in a £20m deal, and the proceeds will be used to move into the German holiday market. 07-Dec-1999 Telewest is in merger discussions with Flextech, which would enable Telewest to add new content to its interactive cable TV business. 07-Dec-1999 Carlton Communications and Granada are each investing £20m in a joint venture to create a UK version of the Ask Jeeves internet search engine. 06-Dec-1999 Telewest is aiming to have 40 retailers and information providers on its interactive TV channel by the time it launches next year. 03-Dec-1999 Sandwell Council has become the UK's first local authority to introduce lamp post advertising as a new source of income, and the scheme is being operated by Mediasign Marketing. 02-Dec-1999 ITE has bought a 50% stake in Turkey's largest exhibition business for £6.5m, and is now looking to spend up to £40m on acquisitions in Asia. 02-Dec-1999 Scottish Radio Holdings is to apply for digital radio frequencies in London, and aims to co-ordinate the launch of local digital radio in key metropolitan markets in the spring. 01-Dec-1999 The National Film & Television School is in negotiations to sell Ealing Studios to Fragile Films for about £5m, and the complex will be transformed into a multi-media facility. 01-Dec-1999 EMI has sold its 13% stake in the GWR radio group to institutional buyers for £81m, in order to focus on its music business. 30-Nov-1999 ANT Marketing, the Sheffield-based telephone marketing firm, is to create 150 jobs by opening a new office in Queen Street. 29-Nov-1999 VTR is planning to focus its film and TV production business on its core editing strengths, following the sale of the Portman film rights division to PrimeEnt. 26-Nov-1999 Origin Publishing is relocating its magazine publishing business to larger offices in Bristol. 25-Nov-1999 The ITC is to consider plans from City Television to set up a local TV station in Exeter next year, which could create up to 40 jobs. 24-Nov-1999 Flextech is acquiring a 77% stake in ticketing agency Way Ahead for £7.2m. 24-Nov-1999 EMI is planning to sell off its CD manufacturing and distribution operations, in response to changes being forced on the music industry by the internet. 24-Nov-1999 Scottish Media is in discussions about a possible £225m takeover bid for Ginger Media. 24-Nov-1999 Littlewoods is to expand its digital TV shopping channel from seven hours of live shows a day to about 12, in partnership with Granada. 23-Nov-1999 GWR and Radio Investments are to acquire the remaining 50% of Minster Sound Radio, the York-based local radio operator, for up to £4.8m. 22-Nov-1999 Reuters is acquiring an 84% stake in TowerGroup, the US-based supplier of research for the financial services sector, in a £12m deal. 20-Nov-1999 Scoot.com is in discussions with Vivendi of France to expand its telephone and internet directory business across Europe, at a cost of £200m. 18-Nov-1999 Flextech has reached agreement to transmit all its channels over Telewest's new digital TV service. 18-Nov-1999 Reed Elsevier is selling its 64% stake in REZSolutions, the developer of IT systems for hotels, to Pegasus of the US for £101m. 18-Nov-1999 Money Channel is to sell a 5% stake in its personal finance TV station to Primark of the US for £3.1m. 17-Nov-1999 Emap is to reorganise its media operations into four divisions - lifestyle, health, automotive, and music - and each division will aim to expand from magazines and radio into e-commerce and events. 16-Nov-1999 Photobition is planning to expand its display graphics business in the US through a series of acquisitions, and has just relocated its four New York offices onto a single site. 15-Nov-1999 Salford Council is to consider plans from film services company Web Lighting to set up a studio and production village on an old colliery site, to produce movies, TV and videos. 13-Nov-1999 Capital Radio is planning to invest £5.5m in the development of an internet-based radio station, in order to build up a nationwide presence. 12-Nov-1999 ITE Group has acquired 50% stakes in two trade shows in Egypt and the Czech Republic for a total £7m. 09-Nov-1999 Sportal is planning to raise £30m to fund the development of its sports-based internet sites, and expects to float the business next year. 08-Nov-1999 BSkyB is to donate three years of transponder capacity to a new digital TV channel called the Community Channel, which is being launched by the Media Trust charity next May. 06-Nov-1999 Capital Radio has been awarded a digital radio licence for the Cardiff-Newport area of South Wales. 06-Nov-1999 Johnston Press is to close its print works at the Derbyshire Times in Chesterfield with the loss of 20 jobs, and the work will be transferred to sites in Hartlepool and Sunderland. 06-Nov-1999 Carlton Communications is considering plans to bid for one of the next generation of mobile phone licences, and is discussing potential alliances with phone manufacturers and retailers. 06-Nov-1999 BBC Wales is considering plans to redevelop its current base in Llandaff, and it may decide to vacate the site and build a new Broadcasting House. 04-Nov-1999 Granada Media Group is planning to form a TV production joint venture with Seven Network of Australia, in order to serve international markets. 04-Nov-1999 EMI has bought a 51% stake in Hit & Run Music Publishing for £11m. 04-Nov-1999 GWR is to focus on the expansion of its UK digital radio and internet operations, but is not looking to acquire any more businesses in continental Europe. 03-Nov-1999 Techniques Marketing, the Newcastle-under-Lyme marketing company has gone into liquidation with the loss of 15 jobs. 02-Nov-1999 IPK Broadcast Systems, the radio and TV consultancy, has been acquired by AZCAR of Canada, and has relocated its 30 staff to new offices in Reading. 30-Oct-1999 Flextech is to launch five new home shopping channels on the Open interactive TV service, selling videos, concert tickets, music, travel and BBC merchandise. 29-Oct-1999 Capital Radio is to launch a national digital radio station through the Digital One consortium in January. 28-Oct-1999 Carlton Communications has bought a 20% stake in PeopleBank, the online recruitment company, in a £2.3m deal. 27-Oct-1999 Clear Channel Communications of the US is looking to acquire radio and cinema assets in the UK, having registered an interest in both Ginger Media Group and Odeon Cinemas. 27-Oct-1999 Pearson is in discussions with Endemol Entertainment of the Netherlands to co-operate in TV production projects. 25-Oct-1999 Regional Independent Media is buying the Nairn-based Writers News magazine as part of a strategy to build up a portfolio of specialist publications. 23-Oct-1999 Dune FM, the Southport radio station, has received a £1.8m takeover bid from Forward Media. 22-Oct-1999 Solent City Television has applied to the Independent Television Commission for a licence to broadcast across Southampton. 22-Oct-1999 Antena, the Welsh TV production company, has taken over the former TV-AM studio in Castlebridge, Cardiff, having secured work for S4C Digital. 22-Oct-1999 Telewest is creating 840 jobs with the launch of its digital service, which will include 150 TV and radio channels. 22-Oct-1999 Trinity Mirror is to close the Live TV cable channel due to ongoing losses, and up to 270 jobs could be lost. 22-Oct-1999 SKD Media, the cartoon production company, is in discussions with Carrington Productions International about a reverse takeover. 22-Oct-1999 BSkyB is in negotiations to buy a 25% stake in Premiere, the German digital pay-TV service, for £300m. 22-Oct-1999 Golden Rose Communications is changing its name to Jazz FM in order to reflect the radio stations it runs in London and the north west. 21-Oct-1999 Winchester Entertainment is linking up with Dorling Kindersley to produce children's TV programmes. 21-Oct-1999 Capital Radio has sold its seven Latin restaurants to SFI for £9.5m, while its two Paris restaurants are being sold to Groupe Bertrand. 16-Oct-1999 HMV Media is planning to open more than 32 new book and music stores around the world next year, including 14 in the UK. 16-Oct-1999 Incepta is planning to expand its marketing and communications business by acquiring investor relations companies in the US. 13-Oct-1999 Sanctuary Group has raised £11m in a share placing in order to fund the acquisition of a record company and invest in its internet-based music business. 09-Oct-1999 Turner Broadcasting is looking for up to 100,000 sq ft of space in London to house its CNN and Cartoon Network operations. 09-Oct-1999 Kingston Communications is planning to become the first company to offer an interactive TV service via normal telephone lines, and it will be rolled out across its Hull and East Yorkshire network. 08-Oct-1999 On Digital is to offer pre-paid subscriptions of its digital TV service through Sainsbury stores, and similar arrangements with other retailers will follow. 07-Oct-1999 Asia 1 TV has launched a new TV station from a studio in Birmingham, targeted at more than 1m Punjabi speakers. 05-Oct-1999 Telewest is creating 27 new jobs at its Brierley Hill customer service office, in order to cope with rising demand for its new digital services. 05-Oct-1999 National Westminster Bank is to support a new film finance house called Media Capital Partners, which will lend about £500m a year to British film makers. 04-Oct-1999 Money Channel has agreed a deal to broadcast its financial TV channel on the BSkyB network, and is building a new studio in Wapping. 04-Oct-1999 Romeike, the publisher of the Hollis press directory, has put itself up for sale, and could fetch more than £100m. 02-Oct-1999 Emap is planning to separate out its Emap Digital internet business as part of a strategy to increase investment in new media. 30-Sep-1999 Channel 9 is to launch a local terrestrial TV station in Northern Ireland in October, and has created 23 jobs. 29-Sep-1999 Carlton Communications has identified a number of non-core businesses which could be sold to their management teams or to outside bidders. 29-Sep-1999 Rapide Publishing, the Exeter-based magazine publisher, has ceased trading with the loss of 74 jobs, and a buyer is being sought for a number of magazine titles. 24-Sep-1999 Chrysalis is launching an internet service that will allow listeners of its radio stations to buy the songs being played via a link to a CD retailer. 23-Sep-1999 North Wiltshire District Council is considering plans from Corsham Studios to create a TV production studio at a former Ministry of Defence base in Hawthorn. 22-Sep-1999 NTL is to launch the first commercial video-on-demand service early next year, providing access to about 350 films. 22-Sep-1999 The BBC is to cut 50 editorial and production jobs at BBC World, in order to reduce costs at the loss-making international news channel. 21-Sep-1999 Capital Radio has applied for a digital radio licence to operate up to six channels covering Cardiff and Newport. 17-Sep-1999 VNU has sold its 9.5% stake in Scoot.com, the directory company, for £20m. 16-Sep-1999 Taylor & Francis is looking to spend over £100m on acquisitions in order to expand its academic publishing business in the UK and the US. 16-Sep-1999 BBC Worldwide is seeking a partner to raise finance for its beeb.com commercial web site, which should help it to resist proposals to privatise a 49% stake in the business. 15-Sep-1999 BSkyB is considering plans to form new media ventures with Kingston Communications, including interactive services such as video-on-demand. 14-Sep-1999 The BBC is considering plans to relocate its news staff to a new centre on London's South Bank, as the recently-built White City complex is considered to be too small. 11-Sep-1999 Aegis is considering plans to spend about $300m expanding its recently-acquired Market Facts research business around the world. 08-Sep-1999 Carlton Communications is to acquire the remaining 50% of Hamdon Entertainment, the distributor of US TV dramas, for up to £19m, and will rename the business Carlton America. 07-Sep-1999 Britt Allcroft is raising £11m in a share placing in order to fund the development of new children's characters. 04-Sep-1999 Capital Radio and Emap Radio have jointly won the first London digital radio licence, while Scottish Radio has won a licence for Glasgow. 04-Sep-1999 Scottish Media is in negotiations to increase its stake in GMTV, the breakfast TV company. 03-Sep-1999 Carlton Communications is to rebrand its Westcountry and Central ITV franchises under the Carlton banner. 01-Sep-1999 Granada is forming a joint venture with the New York Times to produce documentaries and current affairs programmes for the international market. 30-Aug-1999 Q Group is to raise £1.4m in a share placing in order to fund the development of its publishing business, and the company is also considering plans for a management buy-out. 28-Aug-1999 Flextech is in discussions to supply up to five branded TV channels to the Open home-shopping group. 27-Aug-1999 Guardian Media Group is to invest £30m in the launch of a new morning newspaper for Manchester next year. 24-Aug-1999 BBC Worldwide is in discussions with a number of US publishers about forming a joint venture to export some of its magazine titles. 24-Aug-1999 Daily Mail & General Trust has sold a 60% stake in the Soccernet football web site to Walt Disney's interactive division for undisclosed terms. 24-Aug-1999 Channel 5 is considering plans to swap equity stakes in new media companies in return for free advertising airtime, and discussions are said to be taking place with the Sportal network of sports web sites. 19-Aug-1999 Photo-Me International is planning to set up an internet music retailing business, and discussions are taking place with potential partners from the US. 18-Aug-1999 Telewest Communications is to create 40 jobs in Gateshead in preparation for the launch of its new cable digital service, with vacancies in operations, cable installation, equipment servicing and customer services. 17-Aug-1999 IPC Magazines is looking to spend up to £55m on acquisitions and internet ventures, and is investing £25m in a new business called IPC Electric that will consider internet opportunities. 17-Aug-1999 The BBC is linking up with Granada Media to form GB Productions in order to sell their comedy and drama formats in the US. 12-Aug-1999 Cordiant Communications is seeking acquisitions in the US and continental Europe, and is particularly interested in direct marketing, data mining and corporate branding. 11-Aug-1999 The Radio Authority has announced plans for a new FM commercial radio station in South Wales, and licence applications should be submitted by November. 06-Aug-1999 Carlton Communications has acquired a 49% stake in Real Image Digital, the digital film processing business, for £14m. 06-Aug-1999 Telewest Communications is to expand its cable TV service with high-speed internet access next year, and this will be followed by video-on-demand. 06-Aug-1999 Merlin Productions is seeking permission to set up a 24-hour TV station in Swansea, called West Wales Television. 05-Aug-1999 Carlton Communications is to establish a cinema advertising business in the US, by opening an office in New York in October. 05-Aug-1999 Pearson is planning to invest £120m in the internet side of its media business this year, but has dismissed rumours that it may sell Pearson Television. 03-Aug-1999 Thomson Directories Group, the publisher of local directories, has been acquired by Apax Partners from 3i and Advent International for £220m. 31-Jul-1999 Trinity has agreed terms for a £2bn merger with Mirror Group, but has been told by the government that it would have to sell the Belfast Telegraph if the deal is to proceed. 30-Jul-1999 Scoot has raised £18m through debentures in the US, in order to fund the development of its online directory database. 24-Jul-1999 BBC Scotland has confirmed plans to relocate its Glasgow headquarters to a £50m development at Pacific Quay on the river Clyde, with the transfer of about 800 staff. 23-Jul-1999 The Office of Fair Trading is to consider plans to relax the rules of ownership of independent TV companies, which could lead to consolidation among ITV companies. 23-Jul-1999 Granada and Pearson have sold stakes in BSkyB to Vivendi of France for a total £825m, and Vivendi now owns almost 25% of the pay-TV group. 23-Jul-1999 WPP has acquired the remaining 49% of the Austrian advertising agency Grill & Gull Thompson for undisclosed terms. 22-Jul-1999 Emap is to launch the FHM men's magazine in the US next year, and expects circulation of 400,000 by September. 22-Jul-1999 Intereurope Technology Services, the technical publishing company, is to undergo a £5.2m management buy-out. 22-Jul-1999 Hat Trick Productions has agreed a multi-million pound deal with Warner Brothers to produce entertainment programmes for US TV. 22-Jul-1999 Nomura International is acquiring a one-third stake in Worth Global Style Network, the information service for the fashion industry, for £15m. 21-Jul-1999 EMI is acquiring a minority stake in Digital On-Demand, the online music company, for undisclosed terms. 21-Jul-1999 Incepta is selling its 27% stake in the Lopex communications consultancy to Havas Advertising of France. 17-Jul-1999 Scottish Media has acquired two magazine titles - Independent Electrical Retailer and Independent Community Pharmacist - from Newvault for £3m. 16-Jul-1999 NTL is receiving a $1bn investment from France Telecom to support its planned £8bn bid for the residential cable activities of Cable & Wireless Communications. 16-Jul-1999 Scottish Media is to relocate 16 senior staff from its Glasgow headquarters to a new office in London, in order to be closer to customers. 15-Jul-1999 The Independent Television Commission (ITC) is considering an application from City Television of Wiltshire to set up TV stations in Bath and Bradford on Avon. 15-Jul-1999 The BBC is planning to spend £100m on millennium-related programming. 15-Jul-1999 Border Television is to apply for new regional commercial radio licences in the East Midlands and Yorkshire under the Century brand name. 13-Jul-1999 Cable & Wireless Communications is creating 100 jobs at a new call centre in Waterlooville. 09-Jul-1999 Reuters has set up a new division called Reuters Ventures, in order to invest in electronic commerce opportunities. 07-Jul-1999 BSkyB is planning to recruit 600 staff for its Scottish call centres as well as 2,050 installation engineers, in order to keep up with demand for digital TV. 05-Jul-1999 Carlton Communications is seeking a new office building in London of about 200,000 sq ft, having dropped plans to move to Unity Buildings in the West End. 03-Jul-1999 Incepta has launched a £48m bid for Lopex, the communications consultancy. 03-Jul-1999 Thomson Directories Group, the publisher of local directories, is set to be acquired by private equity group Apax Partners from 3i and Advent International for £250m. 03-Jul-1999 BSkyB is to give away free set-top boxes in Toys R Us stores and supermarkets in order to boost digital TV subscriptions. 03-Jul-1999 BBC Scotland is considering plans to relocate its headquarters from Glasgow's Queen Margaret Drive to a purpose-built building across the Clyde. 30-Jun-1999 Perth & Kinross Council is considering plans from the Scottish Film Studio Partnership to build a £255m film studio next to the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, including a film school, movie museum, golf course and five-star hotel. 30-Jun-1999 Kingston Communications and the Hull Daily Mail have applied to the Independent Television Commission for a licence to set up interactive TV services in the Hull area. 25-Jun-1999 CN Group, the Carlisle-based newspaper publisher, has acquired the Morecambe-based radio station The Bay and Belfast-based City Beat. 25-Jun-1999 Pearson has sold its stake in the Lazards investment banking group for £425m, as part of a deal that also sets up a strategic alliance between Pearson and Telefonica of Spain. 25-Jun-1999 Cable & Wireless Communications is to set up a call centre in Swansea with the creation of 1,200 jobs, in order to deal with the anticipated demand for digital TV. 23-Jun-1999 The BBC is considering plans to relocate its TV and radio news departments to London's South Bank, and a final decision is expected later this summer. 21-Jun-1999 GWR is claiming to be the first radio operator to offer a subscription-free internet service. 21-Jun-1999 NTL is planning to set up a joint venture with Real Media of the US to sell interactive television advertising. 17-Jun-1999 Capital Radio and Emap Radio have jointly won the local digital radio multiplex in Manchester, and will begin broadcasting by next May. 16-Jun-1999 Tinderbox, the desktop editing and TV multimedia production company, has closed due to a lack of major projects. 16-Jun-1999 Targetbase is planning to create at least 50 jobs in Middlesbrough over the next three years, having won a contract to provide market research to a Dutch firm. 14-Jun-1999 Golden Rose is considering plans to launch a TV version of its Jazz FM music radio station. 12-Jun-1999 EMI has acquired a 50% stake in Musicmaker.com, the US company that enables internet users to compile their own CDs. 11-Jun-1999 Book Club Associates, a member of the Bertelsmann Media Group, is creating 60 jobs for German speakers in Swindon. 10-Jun-1999 Granada is looking for acquisitions to expand its media and leisure business internationally, following a period of rapid growth in the UK. 10-Jun-1999 NTL is to launch the UK's first digital cable TV service in September, and is also aiming to become a national telecoms operator by reducing its telephone tariffs. 10-Jun-1999 Granada is planning to invest £30m in its online business over the next three years, including a free internet access service, educational facilities, interactive entertainment and electronic commerce. 07-Jun-1999 BSkyB has launched a free internet access service called Skynow, and it will be available through computers rather then digital TV. 05-Jun-1999 Picture Applications has applied to the Independent Television Commission for licences to broadcast local TV channels in Ipswich, Cambridge, Luton, and Chelmsford. 04-Jun-1999 Emap is considering plans to develop e-commerce sites linked to its magazine titles, including the possibility of selling cars direct to car magazine readers and the introduction of online professional training. 02-Jun-1999 The BBC is launching a public service education channel on digital TV called BBC Knowledge, and it will have a budget of £10m a year. 01-Jun-1999 Allders is forming a joint venture with Loot to launch an auction-based catalogue that will enable people to bid for consumer products. 29-May-1999 BBC Worldwide is planning to launch a free internet access service, and Scottish Telecom is expected to provide the network technology. 29-May-1999 MATV of Leicester has launched the UK's first terrestrial Asian TV station. 28-May-1999 Future Publishing is to raise about £165m in a flotation in order to reduce debt and develop its magazine operations in the US and Germany. 27-May-1999 Carlton Communications is considering plans to link up with Granada to launch a new TV channel to show the most popular ITV programmes. 27-May-1999 Southnews is considering plans to spend up to £100m on acquisitions in order to become one of the top three regional newspaper companies. 26-May-1999 EMI is planning to offer a limited volume of digital music for sale over the internet, and an announcement is expected within two weeks. 26-May-1999 Ulster Television is cutting its workforce by about 35, in order to reduce costs in response to increasing competition. 25-May-1999 On Digital is to offer free set-top boxes and subsidies on the cost of a digital TV set manufactured by Bush, in order to boost sales of digital TV subscriptions. 25-May-1999 The government has announced plans for the film industry to receive at least £150m of funding over the next three years, including some lottery money. 20-May-1999 Conde Nast has sold its 40% stake in magazine publisher Wagadon to its editorial director, prompting speculation that it could be sold on to a company such as Emap. 19-May-1999 Acxiom, the marketing services company, is planning to relocate 350 staff to Doxford International Technology Park in Sunderland, and a further 200 jobs will be created. 17-May-1999 Kingston Communications has announced plans to launch an interactive TV service in Hull later this year, using its existing telephone lines. 17-May-1999 Talk Radio is in negotiations to acquire The Bay music radio station for about £3.5m. 17-May-1999 Capital Radio is considering plans to move into TV using its XFM pop music brand. 15-May-1999 Axel Springer Verlag of Germany is seeking to spend up to £1bn on the acquisition of TV production and business publishing companies in the UK. 14-May-1999 GWR is planning to invest up to £12m in digital radio services over the next six years, and is also in talks with a number of mobile phone companies about incorporating miniature digital radios into their products. 12-May-1999 Future Publishing is considering plans for a flotation later this year in order to fund the expansion of its magazines business. 12-May-1999 Capital Radio and Emap Radio have jointly won a licence to broadcast six commercial digital radio channels in Birmingham. 11-May-1999 WPP Group is acquiring a 49% stake in Market Segment Group of the US for undisclosed terms. 11-May-1999 Winchester Entertainment is to raise £3.4m in a share placing in order to fund the acquisition of larger premises and the development of new TV programmes for children. 07-May-1999 Cable & Wireless Communications is to create 2,000 jobs as part of its digital TV plans, including 740 technical staff in Manchester and London and 1,200 call centre staff. 07-May-1999 Microsoft is set to acquire the 30% stake in Telewest Communications held by MediaOne, which is expected to speed up consolidation in the UK cable TV industry. 07-May-1999 Newsquest is planning a multi-million pound investment in a new full-colour, double-width press at its Lancashire print factory. 06-May-1999 BSkyB is to give away digital TV set-top boxes in an attempt to remove all possible barriers for new customers, which could lead to a price war and a similar offer from rival company On Digital. 06-May-1999 Ulster Television is launching a new digital channel called TV-YOU, which will show repeats of popular ITV programmes, movies and sports. 29-Apr-1999 Smart Europe is seeking 70 new staff for its telemarketing call centre in Sandbach, and is also planning to open a second call centre in the north employing 30 people later this year. 28-Apr-1999 Henderson Publishing is to relocate from Woodbridge near Ipswich to Covent Garden in London, in order to expand its children's Funfax publishing business. 27-Apr-1999 On Digital is to create an additional 75 jobs at its digital TV call centre in Plymouth, and Plymouth is one of a number of potential locations for a new national customer inquiry centre, which could create 1,000 jobs over five years. 26-Apr-1999 United News & Media's Express newspaper is to launch a free internet service in partnership with LineOne. 24-Apr-1999 NTL has dropped plans to bid for Newcastle United, apparently due to government concerns about football clubs being owned by media companies. 22-Apr-1999 WPP is to relocate its Ogilvy & Mather advertising business in the West End of London to Canary Wharf. 22-Apr-1999 The Independent Television Commission (ITC) and Oftel are to study the way that cable TV companies sell joint TV and telephone packages, due to concerns that it may be anti-competitive to refuse to supply the packages separately. 21-Apr-1999 BSkyB is planning to increase the amount that cable operators pay for its Sky One channel, and is also said to be considering renting out capacity on cable networks and selling its channels directly to customers. 19-Apr-1999 Highland Council is expected to receive a planning application from Vincero Productions of Aberdeen for the construction of a £6m film studio and museum of the moving arts in Inverness, creating about 50 jobs. 15-Apr-1999 BSkyB, Pearson and United News & Media have held discussions with Warburg Pincus about acquiring the US venture capital group's 18% stake in Channel 5 for about £94m. 14-Apr-1999 BSkyB is to develop a business TV service, and is in discussions with banks and retailers about providing tailored programming for customers and staff. 14-Apr-1999 BSkyB's attempt to acquire Manchester United has been blocked by the government, as the Competition Commission said it would have given BSkyB an unfair advantage in sports rights negotiations. 10-Apr-1999 On Digital has announced plans to increase sales of its digital pay-TV service by showing one-off programmes based on popular ITV shows and by offering a pre-paid subscription option. 09-Apr-1999 The Stationery Office has split itself into four divisions - publishing, office supplies, document management and security printing - and some of the divisions are expected to be sold off while others will be floated. 09-Apr-1999 Tempus, the media sales company, is considering plans to demerge its Outrider internet marketing division, and is also planning to build up a network of regional offices in the US. 09-Apr-1999 Pearson is planning to link up with Dow Jones to launch a daily business newspaper in Russia. 07-Apr-1999 Cable & Wireless Communications and Telewest are in discussions to merge their cable TV operations. 07-Apr-1999 The BBC is cutting a further 30 jobs at the Pebble Mill studios in Birmingham, affecting staff involved in set design, management and administration. 07-Apr-1999 Television Corporation is to set up an office in Leeds in order to produce documentary programmes. 06-Apr-1999 The BBC has agreed a deal with Tomy of Japan in which it will design and market its own toys, as part of a strategy to increase the merchandising revenues from its TV programmes. 05-Apr-1999 Chesterfield Properties is considering plans to sell its entertainment division, which includes eight West End theatres and a film and TV distribution business. 05-Apr-1999 Scoot is to develop a digital TV version of its business directories for Cable & Wireless Communications. 02-Apr-1999 Mirror Group has cut about one third of the staff at its three Live TV local stations in Edinburgh, Birmingham and Manchester, and its news programming is being reduced in order to focus on entertainment. 01-Apr-1999 The Independent Television Commission has given Caledonia Television the go-ahead to launch a commercial TV channel for the Highlands, creating 15 jobs in Inverness. 31-Mar-1999 Cardiff Bay Development Corporation has rejected plans from the Roger Black Partnership to set up a £12m Welsh National Media Centre at one of the waterfront sites in the bay. 31-Mar-1999 News International is launching a free internet access service through The Sun newspaper, while The Mirror is to launch a similar service next month. 31-Mar-1999 Cable & Wireless Communications is considering plans to drop BSkyB's pay-per-view sports and film channels from its cable TV service in favour of the rival offering from Front Row. 27-Mar-1999 Working Title Films has agreed a $600m deal to make five movies a year for Universal, the Hollywood studio. 26-Mar-1999 Flextech is planning to invest £20m in interactive TV services this year, and it also aims to acquire new TV channels to add to the existing 14. 25-Mar-1999 Independent Radio Group has rejected an approach by the Central Scotland Broadcasting group to acquire its Scottish radio stations for £8m. 24-Mar-1999 Granada is acquiring an 18.6% stake in Scottish Media from Mirror Group for £110m, which could lead to a full takeover bid. 24-Mar-1999 York & County Press has bought the York and Wetherby Advertiser, in order to increase its portfolio of local newspapers. 23-Mar-1999 Scoot has formed an alliance with Energis in which customers of its online services directory will be linked directly to advertisers via Energis leased lines, and advertisers will pay Scoot a fee for each introduction. 23-Mar-1999 Carlton Communications and Granada are said to be in discussions to acquire a stake in Video Networks, in preparation for the nationwide launch of its interactive TV services later this year. 22-Mar-1999 NTL is to buy Australia's broadcasting transmission network for £250m, and is now seeking to bid for similar privatisations in other countries. 20-Mar-1999 S4C, the Welsh TV broadcaster, has launched a new commercial arm to bring together airtime sales, programme sales, co-production, multimedia, sponsorship and event management. 17-Mar-1999 Telewest is planning to introduce video-on-demand to its cable TV service by the end of next year. 17-Mar-1999 Dorling Kindersley, the multimedia publishing company, is to close its Russian operations and spend £1m setting up an internet bookshop. 17-Mar-1999 Highbury House Communications is forming a joint venture with Internet Advertising to publish magazines on the internet. 16-Mar-1999 Mice Group, the marketing support services agency, is to raise £10m in a share issue to fund acquisitions in Europe, and it is also looking to set up businesses in Wales and Scotland. 12-Mar-1999 Euromoney Publications is considering plans for a stock market listing in the US, which could result in Daily Mail & General Trust selling some of its 71% stake. 11-Mar-1999 Thomson Directories Group, the publisher of local directories, has been put up for sale by its venture capital owners, and is expected to be valued at more than £250m. 09-Mar-1999 United News & Media is in discussions to sell the Daily Star newspaper to Ginger Media Group for about £20m. 08-Mar-1999 Mirror Group has put its 18.6% stake in Scottish Media up for sale, and interest is expected from TV companies such as Carlton, Granada and United News & Media. 05-Mar-1999 On Digital and S4C Digital Networks are forming a joint venture to offer pay-per-view films and sport on digital terrestrial TV. 04-Mar-1999 Kingston Communications is setting up a new business called Kingston TLI, in order to offer TV production and satellite distribution services. 03-Mar-1999 Aegis is planning to build up a global media buying business by spending up to £100m on acquisitions in Asia, Latin America and the US. 02-Mar-1999 S4C is launching a digital satellite TV service that will broadcast Welsh language programmes throughout the UK. 01-Mar-1999 Pearson is linking up with Gruner + Jahr of Germany to invest £60m in the launch of a German business newspaper. 01-Mar-1999 Golden Rose, the owner of the Jazz FM radio station, is getting a £3m investment from Clear Channel of the US which will involve the sale of a 34% stake. 26-Feb-1999 BSkyB is in discussions to merge with Canal Plus of France with a view to creating a dominant player in the European pay TV market. 24-Feb-1999 The Independent Television Commission is planning to set up an extra 20 broadcasting masts in order to improve the transmission of digital terrestrial TV. 24-Feb-1999 ITV has formed a pact with On Digital that will enable both companies to broadcast live football from the Uefa Champions League, in a four-year deal worth about £260m. 18-Feb-1999 ITV has agreed a £4m deal with Guinness for the sponsorship of TV coverage for this year's Rugby World Cup. 17-Feb-1999 Flextech is to run a six-month trial of Microsoft's WebTV interactive advertising system on its TV Travel Shop channel. 16-Feb-1999 Telewest Communications is to recruit an additional 50 people for its expanding telesales call centre in Team Valley, Gateshead. 15-Feb-1999 MTV is planning to launch three more music channels on digital TV this summer. 15-Feb-1999 Britt Allcroft has agreed a deal with Destination Films of the US to make a £9m film based on Thomas the Tank Engine. 12-Feb-1999 News Corporation is discussing the formation of an alliance with Canal Plus of France that could create a dominant force in European pay TV. 11-Feb-1999 The BBC World Service is to invest £14m in the expansion of its internet services, which will enable it to broadcast local language services on its web site. 11-Feb-1999 Channel 4 is to increase its programming budget by 13% to £375m this year, as it will no longer be required to transfer some of its advertising revenue to ITV. 11-Feb-1999 WPP has acquired a 49% stake in International Presentations, and has an option to buy the remainder. 09-Feb-1999 Newsquest is in discussions to buy the newspaper assets of Portsmouth & Sunderland Newspapers, while plans by Johnston Press to acquire the whole of P&S have been referred to the Monopolies & Mergers Commission. 06-Feb-1999 Smart Europe is to create 70 jobs at its telephone marketing business in Sandbach, having won a number of new contracts from hi-tech firms. 05-Feb-1999 Telewest Communications has fallen into line with other cable TV groups by selecting internet software for the autumn launch of its digital TV service, and 100,000 desk-top boxes have been ordered from Pace Micro Technology. 05-Feb-1999 Scottish Media and Guardian Media are planning to sell their combined 35% stake in GMTV, which could result in Carlton Communications and Granada taking full control of the breakfast TV station. 04-Feb-1999 Reuters is to cut 100 jobs among its 2,100-strong UK and Ireland workforce, with technical support, sales and finance being hardest hit. 04-Feb-1999 ICC Information has bought the duplicate microfiche library of Companies House for undisclosed terms. 04-Feb-1999 Sports & Outdoor Media International has won a contract to advise the England & Wales Cricket Board on its commercial activities, and it plans to launch a sales and marketing programme to benefit from sponsorship opportunities. 03-Feb-1999 Pearson Television is planning to acquire EVA Entertainment, the animation production company, for £2m. 01-Feb-1999 Freepages, the directories company, is to sell a 25% stake in its Dutch venture to VNU for up to £7.8m, and also plans to form a joint venture with Flextech and change its name to Scoot. 30-Jan-1999 The BBC is to cut 14 of the 33 jobs in its TV drama production unit at Pebble Mill in Birmingham, prompting concern over the future of the studios. 27-Jan-1999 Scottish Media Group is to launch a new Sunday newspaper in Scotland within the next few weeks, but has not yet announced the name. 26-Jan-1999 Johnston Press is considering plans to make a hostile takeover bid for Portsmouth & Sunderland Newspapers, although it would need clearance from the Monopolies & Mergers Commission first. 23-Jan-1999 Pearson is looking to sell a number of publications recently acquired from Simon & Schuster, including the Appleton Lange medical titles and the Jossey Bass education and health titles. 23-Jan-1999 Carlton Communications is buying the ITC library of 300 movies and 5,000 hours of TV programming from Seagram for £94m. 20-Jan-1999 IPC Magazines is to cease production of the Options women's magazine, and plans to replace it with a new unnamed fashion title. 20-Jan-1999 NTL is launching an interactive internet service called TV-Internet for its cable TV subscribers, and it will use software supplied by NCI of the US. 20-Jan-1999 WPP is acquiring a 20% stake in Brierley & Partners, the customer loyalty concern. 19-Jan-1999 Candover Investments is planning an £800m bid for Mirror Group, which it would merge with its Regional Independent Newspapers subsidiary. 18-Jan-1999 WH Smith has acquired Helicon, the educational publisher, for £5.6m, which could lead to Smith offering free access to an encyclopaedia on the internet. 16-Jan-1999 Channel 4 has withdrawn from the bidding to provide a digital TV service for schools due to concerns over the commercial viability of the project. 16-Jan-1999 IPC Magazines is to cut up to 200 jobs in a restructuring programme that will create five separate subsidiary companies - TV weeklies, women's weeklies, the SouthBank monthly titles, music & sport and country & leisure. 14-Jan-1999 Pearson Television has bought a 10.9% stake in E-Pub, the US developer of internet versions of game shows, for £15m. 14-Jan-1999 Pearson is in negotiations with Gruner + Jahr that could lead to the launch of a German version of the Financial Times newspaper. 14-Jan-1999 Aura Books and Advanced Marketing, the book suppliers, are to relocate their operations to Bicester this summer, creating 100 new jobs. 12-Jan-1999 Trinity International has pulled out of merger talks with Mirror Group that would have created the UK's largest newspaper group. 11-Jan-1999 The number of job adverts in national newspapers fell by an average 6% year-on-year in November, the biggest fall since 1993, according to figures from NTC Research. 09-Jan-1999 EMI is considering the acquisition of the independent record label London Records. 08-Jan-1999 South Hams Radio and Regatta Radio have submitted applications to operate the new independent radio licence for the South Hams area of Devon. 07-Jan-1999 Cox Communications of the US has sold a 12% stake in Telewest Communications to institutional investors for £450m. 07-Jan-1999 A number of unnamed Hollywood movie studios and European media groups have approached the government with proposals to transform the Millennium Dome into a film and TV production complex with theme park after 2000. 05-Jan-1999 Mirror Group is linking up with Rangers Football Club to form Rangers Television, in order to provide match day TV at the stadium and to explore other opportunities. 05-Jan-1999 BSkyB is planning to develop a tailor-made digital satellite TV service for pubs and clubs. 02-Jan-1999 The information below comes from the UK Activity Report. Click here for further details Copyright UK Business Park 1995-2007