19 Dec 2003
Brand Republic wishes all of its readers a happy Christmas and a prosperous 2004. We'll be back on January 5. We leave you with your top 10 most read breaking news stories of 2003, starting with Mother and Naked winning Boots advertising and media accounts respectively.
19 Dec 2003
1. Christian O'Connell, Xfm. 'Mould-breaking', 'standard-setting', 'pure genius': these are just some of the quotes made up by Christian O'Connell about his own breakfast show on Xfm. O'Connell, together with his newsreader-turned-sidekick Chris Smith, regularly break broadcasting boundaries, making...
19 Dec 2003
1. The Matrix: Reloaded; Directors: Andy and Larry Wachowski; Box office gross: £33.2m. Never the stirring sequel to The Matrix everyone was panting for, murmurs that Reloaded would give the series the same mythical status as the Star Wars trilogy were way off the mark. If anything, the Wachowski brothers...
19 Dec 2003
1. New!: In a year where launch activity from the major stables was distinctly lacking, Richard Desmond's rip-off of IPC's Now was the biggest launch. Selling more than 300,000 copies a week, New! is proof that, supported by a low cover price, the celebrity bubble is here to stay. As if one copycat...
19 Dec 2003
1. Jonathan Durden, the chairman of PHD . Many things have been written about Jonathan Durden in recent years. That he's the daddy of clever media thinking. Or the grandfather. Or the Old Testament Patriarch. He is actually the head of the Academy of Strategic Communications Philosophy. A man with the...
19 Dec 2003
1. Mark Jarvis, the head of media at Carat . Press sales directors have been alarmed at the number of follicularly challenged people muscling in on 'the press party'. The industry's new-fangled multidisciplinary buying directors, as in Mark 'Billiard Ball' Jarvis, have shiny domes. The response of one...
19 Dec 2003
| by Claire Billings,
LONDON – Five is continuing its move upmarket with plans to strengthen its science and history programming in a further move away from its roots of 'films, f***ing and football'.
19 Dec 2003
| by Claire Billings,
LONDON – 'The Last Temptation of Christ' is the most complained about TV programme or film, triggering 1,554 complaints after it was shown on Channel 4 in 2001, the ITC has revealed in a final top 12 of complained-about TV as it prepares to shut its doors for the final time.
18 Dec 2003
| by Claire Billings,
LONDON - As many as 50 parties have now declared an interest in buying Hollinger International's newspaper assets, which include the Daily Telegraph, but a decision on a sell-off may not come until the spring at the earliest.
18 Dec 2003
Something pretty weird has been happening to me. I think it's more of this late-youth regression. To be honest, it started a while ago but came to a head just recently and, well, it involves horses, writes Gordon MacMillan .