8th March 2010

Pigsback.com goes local
After a successful pilot in the Kildare area local businesses countrywide will be allowed to offer coupons, offers and rewards to the pigsback.com membership base. Commenting on the development Michael Dwyer, CEO said: "For the past 10 years at Pigsback we have successfully brought national brands to our members. Only now are we making the connection between our members and their local restaurants, gyms, hairdressers, tradesmen and the likes. By using a network of 18 regional agents, we can now bring a very effective online service to local brands, while doing a much better job for all of our members."

Consumers prefer print to e-readers
According to a survey by ireach market research, Irish consumers are unlikely to give up print newspapers and magazines in favour of e-readers such as the new Apple ipad with the majority of those surveyed preferring the physical connection with a newspaper or magazine. A further 13% said that they wish to hold onto their newspaper or magazine to share it with family or friends.

ITV reports £25m profit
ITV has reported pre-tax profit of £25 million for 2009, a big improvement on the £2.7 billion loss in 2008. TV ad revenues fell 9% on 2008 to £1.3 billion, with total revenue across the group down 7% year on year to £1.9 billion. Adjusted pre-tax profits were down 43% to £94 million. It expects TV ad revenues to be up 18% year on year in March and 15% to 20% in April, with an overall increase of 7% in Q1. The company also revealed that Adam Crozier will join the company as its new chief executive on 26 April.

Pop Idol creator launches multi-platform TV show
Simon Fuller, creator of Pop Idol, is launching a new multi-platform reality TV show that encourages viewers to interact in real-time via blogs, social networks and mobile. If I Can Dream, which follows five contestants as they attempt to make it in Hollywood, airs live 24 hours a day at www.ificandream.com, with a recap show available for viewers on Hulu.com. The show which launched last week lets a live global online audience interact in-real time through text, blogs, MySpace, twitter and Facebook. Viewers will also be able to introduce new contestants, visitors and other characters.
Fuller's production company 19 Entertainment said the new show "is tailor-made for a new generation who broadcast all aspects of their lives to the public via their mobile phones, MySpace updates, Facebook updates and their tweets. It's entertainment for the social networking set - unfiltered and unvarnished".

Condé Nast to launch top magazines on the Apple iPad
Condé Nast is set to launch digital versions of Wired, GQ, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and Glamour for the Apple iPad. GQ is likely to be the first magazine to be made available on Apple's latest gadget, following on from the success of the single-edition GQ iPhone app, which saw December and January's editions downloaded more than 20,000 times in the US. An iPad version of the popular men's magazine is expected to be ready next month, shortly after Apple begins shipping the iPad. Reports suggest that Wired and Vanity Fair will be made available in May, followed by The New Yorker and Glamour. Thomas Wallace, editorial director of Condé Nast, confirmed that the iPad experiment will last for several months, with different pricing and advertising models tested alongside content and formats. If the trial proves a success, other magazine titles could also be made available on the tablet-style device, including Vogue and Condé Nast Traveller.

AIB Pitch
In line with IAPI’s and AAI's pitch guidelines AIB has invited three agencies to pitch for its media planning and buying account. The agencies pitching are Starcom, Vizeum and the incumbent, MCM Communications, which is part of McConnell integrated.

RED FM to take legal action
Cork radio station Red FM is to take legal action against the company which carries
out the JNLR surveys of radio listenership, Ipsos MRBI, after revelations that some of
the station’s listenership numbers have been incorrect. The figures in question do not directly relate to the JNLR figures, but to listenership numbers extrapolated by software from the main results since 2007. Sources said that the figures apparently indicating the number of under- 35year-olds tuning in to Red FM were actually those of a rival station aimed at an older audience. Red FM is claiming it suffered financially as a result. The discrepancy was uncovered by Independent Radio Sales (IRS), which was carrying out research into listenership trends among under-35s.

Radio stations to fight against broadcast levy
The debate on a levy to broadcasters to fund regulation which was due to come into play this week looks set to continue on. The issue came to a head last week as the Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources disputed the levy. They have requested detailed budgetary information from the BAI. Eamon Ryan, the Minister for Communications, promised the committee that he would work with them and the BAI to reduce the financial burden on broadcasters ‘at a difficult time’’, while still funding a decent system. The controversy has arisen because of a drop of up to 30 per cent in radio stations’ commercial revenue. Commercial broadcasters have said they cannot afford what they expect to be levies of at least €40,000-€50,000 for smaller local radio stations, or up to €350,000 for national. The BAI’s 2010 budget is €7.6million, 46 percent more than the €5.2 million that, was spent last year by the bodies it replaced, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland and Broadcasting Complaints Commission.’ We’re in the teeth of a recession,” said Willie O’Reilly, chairman of the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland (IBI) group, which has been lobbying TDs on the issue. ‘‘When putting together a budget, the overarching principle needs to be modesty. We would ask the BAI to be realistic and
Operate under the same rules as everyone else.”RTE has not made any comment.