MediaCommunications

MediaCom View: A merger of the Commercial Radio Companies Association (CRCA) and the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) now seems unlikely. However amid pressure from the industry, a fall in radio revenues and the threat of GCAP pulling their estimate 4m funding, the RAB are preparing to step up their marketing activity, appoint a new managing director and consult media planners on what we need from commercial radio going forward.

MediaCom View: Online shopping is seeing a massive boom. Consumer confidence has increased along with greater trust in eCommerce sites. eCommerce specialist Actinic reported an 80% average growth in Christmas takings over last year. A recent survey by the Internet Advertising Bureau showed that eCommerce sites are the most popular online destinations with books being the most frequently bought items. Promotional emails, Sunday newspapers, and online ads are the biggest influences in getting people to spend online.

MediaCom View: The UKs first major free to air film channel will launch on digital television in July as Channel 4 confirmed plans to relaunch FilmFour. The monthly subscription will be removed and it is estimated that 18 million homes will have access by the end of the year across all the major digital platforms.

MediaCom View : Following its first full ABC audit the new Berliner format Observer has seen its monthly circulation increase by 21.32% compared to January 2005. Whilst this is obviously an improvement its hard to see whether the change in format itself has driven the change or perhaps more probably the heavy above the line advertising campaign along with the launch of Observer Woman, both of which would be expected to have an impact on the monthly sales of the paper. A more realistic indication of growth would be the six monthly Aug-Jan ABC which shows the Observer up just 1.36%. Only when the industry sees a Jan-Jun 06 ABC will we really know the true benefits of the transformation.