On 31st October BT announced that Q2 EBITDA and EPS will be slightly below expectations as a result of a sharp deterioration in performance at Global Services (GS) and that GS CEO Francois Barrault has been replaced by erstwhile Group Finance Director Hanif Lalani

The Nokia Comes With Music (CWM) service bundles a music-centric handset with an unlimited music downloads service, allowing consumers to easily take advantage of their handsets’ music functionality, and have no need for a separate iPod

Following Channel 4’s decision not to proceed with its plans for digital radio, there is a glut of unused capacity on the existing national digital commercial radio multiplex (owned by Digital One) which threatens its commercial viability

Google has lost another copyright proceeding in a major European market, this time in Germany (it will appeal), on top of the 2007 judgement in Belgium that found against Google in favour of Copiepresse, on behalf of a group of newspapers. In the US, Google is also facing litigation over copyright, plus the suits filed against YouTube

Distribution connection numbers were strong (+9%), especially on contract (+21%), despite a reduction in store expansion and the consumer slowdown which is affecting other consumer electronics businesses

The Copyright Royalty Board ruling issued on 2nd October gives the US music industry certainty on the statutory mechanical royalty rates payable to music publishers for 2008-2012

Channel 4 has announced the immediate withdrawal of its majority stake in 4 Digital Group, a new venture that was awarded the licence by Ofcom in 2007 to build the UK’s second national commercial radio DAB multiplex, and Channel 4 will not be launching its promised portfolio of broadcast radio channels

The obvious culprit is the weak economy, with mobile telecoms seeming to be more vulnerable to consumer cutbacks than previously thought, a hypothesis supported by recent consumer research

With European economic growth forecast to decline further, revenue growth is likely to drop below zero by the beginning of 2009, and then progressively worsen through 2009 as regulatory effects worsen, creating a very tough environment for mobile operators to preserve margins

Call it the Personal Video Recorder (PVR), the Digital Video Recorder (DVR), the Digital Television Recorder (DTR), or just Armageddon brought to Madison Avenue, this machine excited curiosity and angst from the very beginning due to its destructive potential for ad avoidance. That was at the end of the last millennium, since when the TV advertising industry has learned to take a more relaxed view. Early take-up was much slower than the forecasts had suggested, and once it became possible to measure PVR use electronically, there appeared to be more live viewing and less fast-forwarding through commercials than early market research interviews of PVR owners had suggested. But, it is also clear that the PVR is changing viewing habits over time and take-up in the UK is at last starting to rocket. This report examines current market trends and the impact of the PVR on viewing habits. It also updates our forecasts from April 2006

UK classified advertising, which generated £4.8 billion in 2007 (26% of total UK advertising spend), could decline to £4.2 billion in 2008 and to £3.7 billion in 2009. In our view, advertisers are accelerating their shift online as a result of the economic downturn, while the property market’s steep decline depresses associated classifieds. Online has already overtaken national newspapers and magazines as classified advertising media, and looks set to rise above directories in 2008. In the near future, online will be the leading classified advertising medium, ahead of regional newspapers. The enclosed presentation updates for 2008 the information contained in Classified Advertising in the UK [2007-55]

The second national digital radio multiplex, awarded by Ofcom in July 2007 to 4 Digital Group, has not yet been built, despite having promised a launch within twelve months