United News & Media has warned the City that its 1998 trading
results will be worse than expected because of economic downturns in the
UK and the US. Its business publishing arm, Miller Freeman, has been hit
by a slowdown in the travel, engineering and agriculture sectors while
its US operations were affected by a slowdown in advertising demand from
the hi-tech sector.
Capital Radio and Emap Radio have announced plans to bid jointly for
local digital radio licences in the London, Birmingham and Manchester
areas. If the applications are successful, Capital and Emap will
simulcast their existing stations, and will automatically have their
analogue licences renewed for a further six to eight years.
Concord, the poster-buying specialist, has won the outdoor media
planning and buying account for the publishing giant, Acumen. Acumen’s
Transworld Publishing division represents authors such as Frederick
Forsyth, Catherine Cookson and Terry Pratchett. The company spends about
#750,000 a year on outdoor advertising.
The novelist, Robert Harris, has confirmed that he has met with the
lawyers of Geoffrey Robinson, who owns the New Statesman, to discuss the
possibility of buying the magazine. Harris has been quoted as saying the
magazine, which sells around 26,000 a week, would be ’of the left but
independent’ under his control.
Men’s Health has appointed Simon Geller its new editor-in-chief. Geller
was managing editor of Dennis Publishing’s lads title, Maxim, and fills
the gap left by Phil Hilton who left earlier this year. Geller said:
’It’s far and away the most grown-up of all the UK men’s titles, and I
look forward to helping take it to greater and greater heights.’
The airport advertising company, Sky Sites, has launched what it claims
is the largest advertising site at a UK airport. The 29-metre by
eight-metre site is positioned on the Heathrow Express atrium building.
The first advertiser to sign up is Nortel, the networking and
communications company.
Time Out, the weekly listings and entertainment guide, has appointed
Vicky Mayer editor. Mayer, who replaces Dominic Wells, was the new
launches editor of Attic Futura. She recently returned from two years in
Australia and previously worked as features editor on TV Times and
Options. She starts work in the New Year.
Lego has launched the first 3D bus ticket campaign to promote its new
toy, Znap. The campaign includes more than 20,000 specially designed
tickets to be issued on buses throughout London with a 3-D animation on
the reverse. Bus drivers will also hand out 3-D glasses which make the
animation come to life.
Loot has appointed Mirror Group its national distributor as it moves
from being a local specialist title into a national publication. Wally
Cowley, the circulation sales director of Mirror Group, said: ’We regard
Loot’s decision as a major vote of confidence in Mirror Group’s
professional approach to our third-party business.’
Maiden Outdoor has launched an interactive six-sheet which combines a
recycling machine with a promotional game and three poster panels. The
Maiden Adcan is being tested at six Safeway stores before being rolled
out nationally. Ever Ready, Eurostar, McDonald’s, Penguin and Daihatsu
are among the advertisers taking part in the trial.
Talk Radio will not take up its option of a 10 per cent shareholding in
Digital One, the national commercial multiplex for digital radio,
although it will still broadcast on the service. Kelvin MacKenzie, the
chief executive of Talk, explained that he saw the station’s role as a
content provider and not a multiplex operator.
