Edelman PR

Grainne Seoige has been joined by her sister Sile as the new co-presenter on what was the Seoige and O’Shea Show, following Joe O’Shea’s departure at the end of last season. The Irish Independent has more on RTE’s new schedule. In related news, the Irish Times reports on comments by RTÉ Director General Cathal Goan that 2009 could be the “most financially challenging year RTÉ will experience for many years.”

The Irish Independent points out that “Today FM is gearing up to launch a radically revamped website, including integrated podcasting, blogs, video content and pictures.”

TV3 has purchased Channel 6 in a deal reportedly worth €10 million. The Irish Examiner has more on the story.

The Irish Independent reported that eircom is set to end its League of Ireland sponsorship at the end of the current season, but is set to retain its sponsorship of the national team.

The Irish Times reports that “election and referendum posters could be the subject of tougher regulations under measures to be considered by Minister for the Environment John Gormley…Submissions are invited from all interested individuals and organisations by September 15th, 2008, either by e-mail to electionposters_at_environ.ie or by post to Election Poster Consultation, Environment Policy Section, Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Ardcavan Business Park, Wexford.”

The Irish Times points out that “Boxer DTT, a consortium 50 per cent owned by Denis O’Brien’s Communicorp group, has won the three national digital terrestrial television (DTT) multiplex licences.” However the rollout of DTT is already expected to be delayed.

While there is a lot of focus on public sector spending on advertising and PR, the other noticeable effect of the recent economic downturn is the struggle to fin sponsors for high profile shows. The Irish Independent reports that “Advertising executives at RTE are searching for new sponsors for its two flagship chat show programmes just weeks before they are due to return to our screens. Despite delivering some of the strongest viewership figures for the station, neither ‘The Late Late Show’ nor ‘Tubridy Tonight’ have found new sponsors ahead of their return in September.”

The Times points out that “YouTube’s advertising revenues are falling short of expectations because of concerns about intrusiveness, fears among corporate advertisers about copyright infringement and an inefficient sales operation.”

Technorati Tags: Edelman, PR, Public Relations

The Irish Times has a new blogger - Bryan Mukandi.

RTÉ’s Belfast office has moved to new studios in the city centre.

The Irish Times reports that TV3 has “added to its growing portfolio of live sports coverage yesterday by outbidding RTÉ for the exclusive terrestrial rights to the Uefa Cup from September 2009.”

Paparazzi boss Darryn Lyons is now offering regular consumers cash for mobile phone pics of celebs according to the Guardian.

The Sunday Business Post reports that “Half of the decisions published so far by the Press Ombudsman relate to model Katy French, 24,who died last December after taking cocaine.”

The Irish Times has removed the paywall and is now available to read online on www.irishtimes.com. Ireland.com has become a lifestyle portal.

The Irish Times reports that Sky News has closed its Dublin News Bureau.

Joe O’Shea will not be returning for a third series of Seoige and O’Shea, following planned changes in the presenter’s role on the programme. According to the Irish Independent he will be looking for other broadcast opportunities in the future.

The Irish Independent reports that RTE recorded net profits of €26.4m last year, up 45pc from the 2006 figure of €17.9m.

NewsTalk is set to be punished by the Broadcasting Complaints Commission due to breaching the rights to privacy of civil servants by putting them live on air without their permission according to an article in the Irish Times (subscription required). The incidents occurred when the Your Call programme began to air live conversations with civil servants after interview requests were turned down. The Government subsequently boycotted the station due to its conduct, but the Times reports that this boycott finished six weeks ago and Government officials have since appeared on the station.

The Guardian reports on ITV’s soaring web video figures, with Euro 2008 driving visitors to their web offering this month.

Technorati Tags: Edelman, PR, Public Relations

Unfortunately Shane Hegarty has finished writing his blog on the Irish Times website due to commitments.

Adam Maguire has an interesting post off the back of an article about The Guardian’s move to consolidate its varying newsroom into one entity. Maguire ponders the implications for various Irish media outlets.

The Irish Independent reports that RTE’s Joe Duffy Show was strongly criticised by a prominent judge for interviewing family members of a victim after his attacker was convicted but before he was sentenced.

According to the Guardian, Channel 4 and Channel Five have collaborated on a programme-makers’ handbook designed to stamp out the TV deception incidents that dogged the industry last year.

Honda got a lot of publicity last week for a live prime-time advertisement break broadcast on Channel. The Times reports that the advertisement which consisted of a skydiving team lasted spelling “out a message to viewers from Honda before pulling their parachute cords. The revival of ‘live’ adverts, once a common feature of soap operas in the Fifties, is seen as a weapon in the battle against apathy to advertising in the television audience. The spread of personal recording systems now allows viewers to speed through the commercial breaks at 30 times normal speed.”

According to the Irish Times (subscription required) the broadcasting regulator plans to review the radio licences held by billionaire businessman Denis O’Brien, after he increased his stake in Sir Anthony O’Reilly’s Independent News & Media (IN&M) to 25 per cent.

Technorati Tags: Edelman, PR, Public Relations

SiliconRepublic reports that RTE.ie has launched a text service for consumers of business news.

Adam Maguire gives a good roundup of the week’s other stories including Setanta Sports winning the rights to broadcast the FA Cup Final in the United States and Johnson Press’ debt burden.

The Labour Party wants students from 2nd and 3rd level to create short YouTube videos to engage the Irish public in learning about and supporting the Lisbon Treaty. Students can win a €1,000 prize for the best entry promoting a ‘Yes’ vote on the Lisbon Treaty. The deadline for entries is June 1st

Technorati Tags: Edelman, PR, Public Relations

RTE Business reports on the latest JNLR figures. The biggest surprise perhaps was the strong performance of most stations, with the phrase ‘everyone’s a winner’ encapsulating the statistics. Cian Ginty has a quick round up and links on his blog, pointing out that RTE’s Drivetime won out in the battle of the three main drivetime radio shows. While the Irish Times provides a detailed breakdown.

The Irish Times broke a news story (subscription required) on Friday that it was in discussions about possibly buying TV3 for 10 million euro. The Sunday Business Post follows up on the story this weekend, reporting that should the deal go through the station would be made available on its proposed new digital television platform if it succeeds in buying the loss-making Irish station.

In a separate report, the same paper reveals that RTE plans to launch a third television channel, provisionally called RTE 3, as part of a free-to-air digital terrestrial television (DTT) service which is likely to be on air by 2012.

The Sunday Business Post also goes onto report that Halifax will not be renewing its sponsorship of the Late, Late Show and that RTE has already begun the search for a new sponsor.

TV3 launched the lineup of its live GAA championship coverage. The Irish Times reports (subscription required) that it marks the first time a terrestrial broadcaster has been assigned a share of the rights held exclusively by RTÉ for the past 46 years.

In a busy Irish media week, the Irish Independent reports on plans for a new free-to-air Irish film TV station which is expected to be launched in 2009. The Independent reveals that “the operating cost of the low-budget channel…would range between €3m and €4m a year [less than the cost to run each year than one series of RTE medical drama ‘The Clinic’.] A decision has not been made on where the new station will be based, or whether it will show Irish, European and world films around the clock.”

The biggest news of the week was the announcement of the new Broadcasting Bill. The main premise of the bill is that the “RTÉ Authority and the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland are to be replaced by a single regulator under new legislation” (via RTE.) The Irish Independent reports that “TV and radio stations will have to give people who are damaged in a broadcast a right of reply.” The same paper also goes on to point out that “bad language and fast-food ads targeting children are being banished from the airwaves as part of a dramatic revamp of Ireland’s broadcasting landscape.”

RTE Sport reports that the FAI have appointed Peter Sherrard as its new Director of Communications. Sherrard joins from Ryanair where he held a similar role.

The Irish Film Board has put forward proposals for a new Irish TV Channel which will be dedicated to broadcasting the best of Irish, European and World Cinema.

According to the Irish Times (subscription required), a director of the National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI) has said that repeated transgressions of the new press code of conduct by a journalist or editor should warrant dismissal.

Minister Eamon Ryan has announced a major revamp of TV licensing in Irelandas part of the launch of a new website – www.tvlicence.ie, which will allow Irish businesses and householders to purchase a television licence online.

Damien Mulley points out that Paddy Power, the bookmakers, is looking to hire a financial blogger.

Damien also has a post about how to monitor what people are saying about an organisation online.

The Irish Independent reports that up to 1,600 workers at RTE could walk off the job later this month after union members voted in favour of taking industrial action in a bitter row with management over pensions.

According to the Irish Times (subscription required) Denis O’Brien has sold Highland Radio to Gerry Rabbitte for approximately €10 million.

Finally, the Irish Times also reports that the press ombudsman Dr John Horgan has published his first judgment, in a complaint made by independent TD Tony Gregory against the Evening Herald.

Technorati Tags: Edelman, PR, Public Relations

Niall Cook highlights the introduction of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations Act, which comes into effect in May in the UK. Cook points out that “under the legislation, which comes into force on 26 May 2008, strict regulations will be placed on commercial communications. One particular clause will make the following a criminal offence”:

Falsely claiming or creating the impression that the trader is not acting for the purposes relating to his trade, business, craft or profession, or falsely representing oneself as a consumer.

Cook notes that the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising has advised that this affect marketing activities such as:

• seeding positive messages about a brand in a blog without stating that the message has been created by or on behalf of the brand;
• using buzz marketing specialists to communicate with consumers in social situations without disclosing they are acting for the brand;
• seeding viral ads on the internet that implies you are a simple [sic] member of the public.

The Irish Times reports (subscription required) that the distribution of advertising leaflets and other promotional materials in Dublin city centre is to be banned.

According to the The Sunday Independent, the newsrooms of NewsTalk and Today FM are to be merged as a consolidation measure following Denis O’Brien’s purchase of Today FM last year.

Technorati Tags: Edelman, PR, Public Relations

RTE Sport reports that Rally Ireland was the most watched World Rally Championship event in 2007 according to global TV figures.

Dubai Duty Free is the new sponsor of the Curragh Derby. The horse race will be known as the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby until 2012. The full story is available on the Irish Times website (subscription required.)

The BBC reports that France’s National Assembly passes a bill to make promotion of anorexia and extreme thinness an offence.

The Irish Times points out that funding for makers of radio and television programmes awarded by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) will be half what it was in previous years, from this year (subscription required.)

According to the Irish Independent, “the RTE Authority will be scrapped and a powerful new broadcasting watchdog will take control of regulation of both the State broadcaster and the independent TV and radio sector.”

Breakingnews.ie has been redesigned. Cian Ginty points out that “it’s the first attempt by an Irish national newspaper company to use embedded video and audio in the main section of their website.”

The Irish Independent reports on plans by Minister for Communications, Eamon Ryan TD, to restrict junk food adverts on children’s television as part of the the new Broadcasting Bill, which will see a Broadcasting Authority which will have the power to ban such adverts through a code of advertising standards.

And finally, Paddy Clancy has bowed out of RTE’s ‘Morning Ireland’. The Irish Independent reports that Clancy, “who has been reviewing the morning newspapers for the RTE flagship radio show since the early 1980s”, has retired.

Technorati Tags: Edelman, PR, Public Relations

The Irish Independent reports on speculation that the proposed €7.2m purchase by Radio Kerry of Clare FM has fallen through.

RTÉ is to give away free radios to the most needy and half-price radios to those who request them following the closure of its medium wave service according to the Irish Times (subscription required.)

MCD had the biggest ad spend in January (via Irish Independent)

Picturephoning.com points out a new start-up PicApp that is offering copyright news and stock photos from large photo banks like Getty Images and Corbis for free.

Formula 1 TV coverage is moving from ITV to the BBC. Daire Whelan highlights an interesting article in the Guardian about it.

Alfred Hermida discusses the ethical and legal issues around the media’s use of social networks on the BBC website.

Technorati Tags: Edelman, PR, Public Relations

The Irish Times reports that two regional papers, the Kildare Voice and the Tipperary Voice, ceased publication this week (subscription required.) The Voice Newspaper Group put the closure down to was due to “a downturn in the economy and ‘unprecedented competition’ from UK newspaper groups.”

The National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI) have criticised the record libel payment in Ireland last week to a convicted criminal, the €900,000 award bore no correlation to acceptable values in modern society (via Irish Independent.)

The latest Joint National Readership Survey (JNRS) has recorded the following readership figures for Irish newspapers in 2007:

> The Irish Times - 325,000 daily readers
> The Irish Independent - 570,000 daily readers
> The Irish Examiner - 267,000 daily readers
> The Irish Daily Star - 441,000 daily readers
> The Irish Sun - 309,000 daily readers
> The Irish Daily Mirror - 204,000 daily readers
> The Irish Daily Mail - 117,000 daily readers
> The Evening Herald - 315,000 daily readers
> The Sunday Independent - 1,019,000 daily readers
> The Sunday World - 922,000 daily readers
> The Irish News of the World - 571,000 daily readers
> The Sunday Times - 363,000 daily readers
> The Sunday Tribune - 218,000 daily readers
> The Sunday Business Post - 159,000 daily readers

Another interesting fact from the survey which the Irish Times pointed out in their report (subscription required) was “almost 3.1 million, or 88.4 per cent of adults, read a newspaper during the week. Two million people, or 57.7 per cent of all adults, read a daily newspaper.”

Silicon Republic reports that RTÉ has created the world’s first daily multimedia news website in the Irish language.

Technorati Tags: Edelman, PR, Public Relations

Huge news in the Irish advertising world last week, the McConnell Group and AFA O’Meara merged. The Irish Times has a write-up on the deal (subscription required.)

The Irish Times also reports (subscription required) that four regional radio stations are up for sale - Ocean FM in the north east, Mayo-based Mid West radio and KCLR, which broadcasts in Carlow and Kilkenny have been made available as a group. In addition, Kildare’s KFM is being sold separately.

The top ten earners list at RTE garnered huge media attention as usual. Pat Kenny tops the bill with a pay packet of approximately €850,000. Ireland.com has a report.

Topping Kenny’s pay packet however was a record libel award. RTE reports, “A man has been awarded €900,000 in damages against the Sunday World newspaper for an article alleging he was a ‘drug king’. It is the largest damages award for libel in the history of the state.” The full article is available to read here.

Finally, Today FM have moved studios.

Technorati Tags: Edelman, PR, Public Relations

Government Ministers and the HSE are boycotting national radio station, Newstalk, after the station rang a number of civil servants live on air. In their report on the boycott, the Irish Independent quotes a HSE spokesperson:

“They seem to think the gimmick of putting young clerical staff on the phone is ok, but it’s very unfair. They are off our press lists and we are not answering their queries. This is being done with regret…The lack of respect for the privacy of ordinary, individual staff members, who are placed live on air without their prior knowledge or consent, means that we can no longer have confidence that your organisation will treat our contributors or responses with impartiality or fairness”

In response, the presenter of the show at the heart of the disagreement, Brenda Power, offered her view on the Government and HSE’s decision:

“It has an obligation to be accountable and no right to use press officers as firewalls. This is bullying. We will absolutely not stop what we’re doing….We’re not making hoax calls, but calls on behalf of people who are getting the run around. We’ve been fobbed off for years.”

There is an interesting independent viewpoint on the standoff in the Irish blogoshere, 0 2 = 1 pointed out reports in the Phoenix that the station was close to being blacklisted and criticised the station for what he deems as NewsTalk’s tabloid leaning.

“Normally I am cynical when a state body refuses to comment on something, but there is a difference between being allowed to comment, and being ambushed live on air with highly detailed issues related to a single case. The other prevailing line in the advertising for Powers program is her promise to put your questions to Mary Harney. Are people really naive enough to believe that Newstalk is willing to put these questions for any reason other than to increasing ratings?”

Social networking site Facebook has seen a decline in UK users in January (via BBC)

RTE reports on the latest ABC figures for Irish newspapers. The Irish Times and the Sunday World have the biggest gains. For a full synopsis read the RTE report.

There is an interesting report in the Irish Times (subscription required) that “the latest Joint National Listenership Research report for January to December 2007 found that, among 15 to 34 year olds in Dublin, most music stations lost listeners.” However the report points out a number of stations that bucked the trend, Spin 103.8, Today FM, Lyric Fm and Newstalk, all of which have been able to differentiate themselves from other mainstream stations.

RTE has won the rights to be the main media partner of the GAA. With the exception of a 10-game package which has been awarded to TV3, RTE won live television rights for all the GAA’s Championship games. The Irish Times reports:

The TV3 package gives the station rights to transmit 10 live games exclusive of RTE’s first choice selection of twenty games. RTE have rights to transmit forty live games.Live rights to the Allianz National Leagues and Club/Cup Championships have been awarded to TG4 and Setanta Sports respectively. TG4 will have the rights to Sunday afternoon League games and Club and Colleges games. Setanta will transmit floodlit games on Saturday evenings and four Sunday afternoon League games. A range of highlight packages were awarded to RTE, TG4, Setanta Sportsand the BBC, while a “Clips” highlights package has been awarded to UTV. BBC Northern Ireland will have the right to access any Ulster Championship games which are broadcast live by RTE. On the radio front RTE gains exclusive live national broadcasting rights and Today FM secured “score” update rights.

The Sunday Independent however questions the deal as RTE is set to be revealed as one of the sponsors of the Hurling championship. The GAA, who are in the process of changing their sponsorship setup similar to a UEFA Champions League setup, are reportedly set to announce RTE, Guinness and Ehiad Airlines as the Hurling sponsors, with Vodafone, Ulster Bank and Toyota to line up as the Football sponsors. This would mean that Bank of Ireland are set not to renew their sponsorship of the Football championship.

RTE reports that foreign brands are extremely popular in China, with Chanel, BMW and French wines among the preferred choices for affluent consumers in China.

Technorati Tags: Edelman, PR, Public Relations

credit loan adverse personal unsecured cheapcredit money loan adverse unsecured personalwoman loan small business affiliatecan i much afford loancredit bankruptcy mobile home loan afterobtaining loan after personal bankruptcyafter bankruptcy loan unsecured moneycertified loan signing agent Map

An Bord Pleanála has granted planning permission for the erection of six advertising hoardings in central Dublin, part of the deal will see advertising company JC Decaux provide 450 bicycles for Dublin City Council in exchange. RTE reports on the reaction to the decision.

Today FM’s The Last Word programme has become the most listened to drivetime programme in Ireland according to the latest JNLR figures. Ian Dempsey on Today FM remained at number 1 for the breakfast slot with 243,000 listeners. RTE Radio One had the most market share with 21.6 per cent up slightly by 0.4 per cent. FM 104 remains top in Dublin’s local stations with a market share of 12.4 per cent. The top five local radio stations outside Dublin for market share were: Highland Radio, Mid West Radio, Shannonside/Northern Sound, Tipp FM and WLR in Waterford. For a more complete synopsis read the Irish Times recap or here is the full report.

The Sunday Independent speculates that NewsTalk’s move to supply content to iRadio 102-104FM is the first salvo in a bid to dislodge Independent Network News (INN) as the main provider of news copy for regional radio stations.

RTE is launching a new show aimed at 16-25 year olds. The Once A Week Show will air every Saturday on RTE TWO from 11am.

Technorati Tags: Edelman, PR, Public Relations

The Irish Times has reported (subscription required) that the newly established Press Ombudsman has received 30 complaints in its first month of operation.

The Irish Independent has moved into the online dating space in a bid to drive online traffic and revenues (via Silicon Republic.)

The Sunday Business Post reports that “RTE is poised to secure all four of the remaining GAA television broadcasting rights packages, after fending off competition from commercial rivals TV3 and Setanta.”

It has also emerged today that Setanta Sports is reportedly “at the centre of takeover speculation following reports of a bid of more than €1.3 billion for the company.” (via RTE)

Technorati Tags: Edelman, PR, Public Relations

RTE business reports that “a consortium including the Irish Times and Thomas Crosbie Holdings has won the licence for a new music radio station aimed at people aged over 45….The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland has awarded the group a 10-year licence to operate the service in the Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick city and county areas and County Clare. 4FM says it plans to invest €9m in the station, which it hopes to have on air by October. It will employ 47 staff and is aiming for a 5.7% share of the market in its first year.“

A new monthly music magazine, State, is set to launch on March 6. The magazine’s webste is already live and is popular Irish music blogger, Nialler9, is the site’s online editor.

Cian Ginty highlights an Irish Times article (subscription required) “that the Irish Health and Safety Authority and gardai have told Dublin newspaper publishers to stop distributing at road junctions in the city. Freesheets Metro and Herald AM as well as the Evening Herald are affected. Last June the Evening Herald featured a story which announced that people moving between stopped traffic could be a hazard. That story was referring to window screen washers, but it now seams the HSA think newspaper sellers and distributes are also in danger, while the police are also concerned at any possible affect on traffic movement.“

Technorati Tags: Edelman, PR, Public Relations

The Irish Independent discusses RTE’s Winter/Spring lineup.

The national broadcaster’s main rivals TV3 also has reason to cheer. The station’s replacement for ‘News Tonight’, ‘Nightly News with Vincent Browne’ has avergaged 96,000 views after its first week of broadcast compared to its predecessor’s average of 78,000 (via Irish Independent)

The Irish Times points out (subscription required) that Setanta Sports has added Arsenal TV to its lineup. The paper also reports that “a Christian radio station will go on air from Cork from mid-March after it was granted a five-year licence by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland.”

Technorati Tags: Edelman, Irish Independent, Irish Times, PR, Public Relations, RTE, Setanta, TV3

The Irish Times reports (subscription required) that MediaMarket, Ireland’s largest media monitoring agency, has been acquired by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS).

The Sunday Tribune reports that the Irish Times is to become a 24 hour news service by incorporating the Ireland.com news team into the existing newsdesks.

Technorati Tags: Edelman, PR, Public Relations

UTV has bought Dublin radio station FM104 from businessman Denis O’Brien’s Communicorp for €52 million (via Irish Times)

Independent News & Media has agreed to buy the Sligo Champion (via Irish Independent)

RTE has signed a €20m deal with the FAI to secure television, radio and online broadcasting rights for football between 2010 and 2014 (via Irish Independent)

A YouTube channel was created for the Queen to broadcast her annual televised Christmas speech (via BBC)

Silicon Republic points to a Sunday Times article that reports “Google is now looking to old media to expand its advertising empire and is already in talks with several UK newspapers to sell print advertising space to its online clients.”

movies cumpool swimming moviesex movies twilightteen movies exploited blackhardcore free porn moviesmovie gay domemovie hilton porn parisin knightley keira moviesmovie sex samplesporn amateur movies

loan adjustable mortgage adjustable html rateloan business start advance paydayfast advance cash payday site loanloan cash payday advance personal simplepayday cash credit loan quick advancepersonal personal advance cash loanaffiliate loans q business programsloan agriculture real estatedebt loan consolidation alabama mortgagemortgage second alabama loan

loans 5 1 armabout loans cash quick2007 loan conventional limitsloan $100adjustable equity home loansadvance cash quick loan instantus cash cash payday advance loantv as on loans $100,000 Map