Virgin Media and the BBC have announced a new deal that will bring next-generation BBC TV services to the Virgin Media TiVo Service in 2012, continuing the successful partnership which saw BBC iPlayer launch on its first TV platform.

The BBC and Virgin Media will now begin to develop new applications and user experiences for TiVo homes – paving the way for Virgin Media customers to gain access to the BBC’s interactive coverage of next year’s major sporting events via a brand new Red Button experience, including Formula 1, Wimbledon, Euro 2012 and the London 2012 Olympics.

A forthcoming BBC Sport app will build on these “enhanced Red Button” services to bring next-generation viewing experiences to connected TVs in 2012. The new app will bring together all the live streams from the BBC’s existing Red Button service, video streams on-demand and additional content from BBC Online – providing a next-generation TV experience of Wimbledon, Formula 1, Euro 2012 and London 2012.

The BBC Sport app will sit alongside the BBC’s existing BBC News and BBC iPlayer apps.

The partnership between Virgin Media and the BBC has already delivered full integration of BBC iPlayer into Virgin Media’s TiVo Service. BBC catch-up programmes are now even easier to access through the search, menus, and EPG, made possible by the openness and flexibility of the TiVo platform.

The award-winning BBC News app, which brings together the best of BBC News on TV and online in an on-demand service will launch on Virgin Media TiVo. Accessible via the Red Button and the Virgin Media TiVo ‘Apps and Games’ section, it is expected to launch in the first quarter of next year

Jane Weedon, Controller of Business Development, BBC Future Media said: “With its pioneering BBC iPlayer service now available on more than 300 different internet-connected TV devices, the BBC has successfully taken catch-up TV beyond the PC and into the living room.

“Having partnered with Virgin Media to bring BBC iPlayer to TV back in 2008, we have since brought a vastly-improved, fully-integrated experience of BBC iPlayer to Virgin Media’s TiVo Service. With the addition of the BBC News app and enhanced BBC Sport services – all accessible via the Red Button – we plan to build on this partnership and continue to innovate in connected TV through 2012.”

Cindy Rose, executive director of digital entertainment at Virgin Media, said: “Our innovative new TiVo service offers a whole world of catch-up, on demand, HD, 3D and live TV content and we’re delighted to be adding the BBC’s next generation News and Sport services to the line-up.

“2012 promises to be an unforgettable year for UK viewers and our customers can look forward to every minute of it. We’re pleased to be partnering with the BBC to make even more of their content available on what is the UK’s most advanced TV platform.”

WPP announces that its wholly-owned operating company, Ogilvy, the global marketing communications group and Scangroup, one of Africa's leading marketing services groups in which WPP also owns a minority stake, have established two advertising firms in Ghana as joint ventures with a local partner.

The two firms, Scanad Ghana Limited and Ogilvy Ghana Limited will take over the existing operations of Media Majique & Research Systems Limited and Ogilvy Africa Media Limited respectively, which are currently majority owned by Reginald Laryea. Mr Laryea will be appointed Chairman of Ogilvy Ghana Limited and will retain a minority stake in both businesses.

These joint ventures increase WPP's footprint in sub-Saharan Africa and continue the company's strategy of investing in fast-growing markets and sectors, affirming its commitment to developing its businesses throughout the African markets.
 

Paris : 24/7 Real Media has announced an exclusive agreement to represent Skype’s display advertising sales in France. The partnership helps expand the reach of 24/7 Real Media by providing brands with access to Skype’s user base. The first campaign that has been driven by the media agency OMD (Omnicom Media), with advertiser Sony, is already running and so far is delivering very positive results. Sony’s campaign will run on ad-enabled versions of Skype in France on four separate days during August and September.

“The Sony Internet TV offers the opportunity to take advantage of Skype: communicate with friends and family, displayed in your living-room.” said Nathalie Hoffet, Communications Director Sony France. ‘It is therefore natural that Sony took the opportunity to be the first advertiser of Skype in France, both in line with Sony’s Internet TV and reaching a CSP+ audience

Edouard Dinichert, Head of Media at 24/7 Real Media, says Skype is one of the new advertising phenomenon in France. “Skype’s reach and engaged user base make it an attractive platform for brands to market their products,” said Dinichert. “Skype’s biggest strength lies in its intimacy factor, as the average Skype user has a positive association with their experience because they use it to stay in touch with family members, close friends or professional contacts. There are not many opportunities that can deliver that type of setting to advertisers combining social media and strong video / rich media format.”

Advertising on Skype in France provides brands with access to Skype’s customer base. Advertisers gain access to multiple advertising opportunities through a single format, including the option of utilizing expandable video. Skype also offers new ways to communicate with end users by offering brand advertisers a click-to-call button that can be included within the ad and allows users to directly contact them.

“After successful launches in several countries, we are excited to expand to advertisers in France,” added Andy Sims, Director of Global Advertising Services at Skype. “We have found a great partner in 24/7 Real Media who compliments Skype in their approach to media and we’re confident that they will help us bring the Skype offering to France's great brands.”

London : SapientNitro, part of Sapient (NASDAQ: SAPE), announced today that Football League Interactive (FLi) has signed a multi-million pound deal with integrated marketing and technology services firm SapientNitro to build the next generation digital platform for its member clubs.
 
With 86 club websites (65 Football League, 9 Premier League and 12 non-league), FLi is the largest global football network, attracting in more than six million unique users to its websites each month.
 
FLi delivers a wide range of products providing fans with the latest news through a variety of devices including the iPhone app, the soon-to-be-launched Android app and mobile internet sites, as well as providing excellent fan engagement opportunities for partners.
 
The new state-of-the-art digital platform, to be delivered by SapientNitro in the lead up to the 2012/13 season, will be optimised for speed and based on SDL Tridion, a Forrester Wave leading Web Content Management System.
 
Designed for multi-platform use, the new service will further offer greater individuality for clubs andprovide enhanced sponsorship opportunities. 
 
SapientNitro, who will deliver innovation and support to clubs throughout the FLi network, secured the contract after an extremely competitive procurement process consisting of over 25 high quality delivery partners.
 
Perform Group will continue to provide video and audio services including the highly successful Club Player subscription product which has over 80,000 global subscribers.
 
Ian Ritchie, Chairman of FLi, said: “FLi is proud to be at the vanguard of digital development providing the very best products for the millions of football fans in our network. We are extremely excited about working with SapientNitro who will provide the necessary means for us to continue pushing the boundaries of our range of digital platforms.”
 
Peter Ford, Vice President at SapientNitro, said: “Football fans are united by a passion for the game, but divided by their fierce club loyalties. Our work for FLi will reflect this truth, with a best-in-class shared digital platform for clients, but a clubwebsite experience that is as passionate and as tribal as the fans that useit.”
 
 

New York : WPP [NASDAQ: WPPGY], the world’s leading communications services group, and IMG Worldwide, the global sports, fashion and media company, announced today a worldwide partnership to collaborate in offering consumer products licensing and merchandising services.

As part of the multi-year agreement, WPP and IMG will establish a joint team and share resources to offer and provide licensing services to clients from WPP’s portfolio of agencies.
Martin Sorrell, CEO of WPP, commented: "More than ever, licensing is emerging as one of the new creative ways of developing brands and sales. It is a capability we see as increasingly important to our clients. We wanted to offer this important discipline in a global execution and with the market leader – that is IMG. In our view, there could be no better partner to help us achieve our goals in this area."

George Pyne, President of IMG’s Sports and Entertainment Group, added: “WPP’s agencies have an impressive roster of clients coupled with the brand knowledge and consumer insights that come from years of experience working with them. We believe that our global execution capability and specialized expertise in the licensing business coupled with their deep-rooted knowledge and relationships with certain client companies can yield some very beneficial and successful partnerships. This is a really natural collaboration that was waiting to happen.”
Executives from the WPP-IMG partnership will be meeting with advertisers who have expressed interest in developing brand licensing programs or who have potential to do so.

The new WPP venture is an additive unit to IMG Licensing's existing operations and the latter will continue to serve existing and new clients without change.

The BBC in partnership with the National Trust today announced a major new collaboration. To The Manor Reborn is a 4 x 60-minute landmark BBC One series looking at the process behind bringing an historic property back to life.

Presented by Penelope Keith and Paul Martin, To The Manor Reborn will see a team of historians, experts, and volunteers refurbishing 500-year-old Avebury Manor in Wiltshire, putting the country house in to a national, historic perspective.

From the age of Elizabeth I through to the eve of the Second World War – and taking inspiration from other houses across the country – the series and project will reflect on the story of Britain across five centuries, exploring a wide range of craft and furniture-making skills and revealing the invention of "the home". The house will be restored as an immersive experience – it will be one of few National Trust properties open for the public where they can touch, sit on and enjoy all aspects of the house.

Danny Cohen, Controller, BBC One, says: "Our partnership with the National Trust on this ambitious project encapsulates so many of the BBC's ambitions. The channel aims to keep engaging audiences in new ways and this series offers them the chance to follow the story on screen, and to experience it first hand."

Sarah Staniforth, Museums and Collections Director for the National Trust, says: "The National Trust is delighted to partner with the BBC in this exciting series. It is not only a unique opportunity to engage viewers in the history of interior design and architecture but is also a way for the Trust to push the boundaries in bringing properties to life."

Along with the house, a walled wilderness will be transformed into a Victorian kitchen garden, and together they will reflect four different periods of history – Tudor, Georgian, Victorian and 20th century.

Also contributing to the series, leading interior designer Russell Sage; architectural writer and expert Dan Cruickshank; Anna Whitelock, lecturer in early modern history at the University of London Royal Holloway; and expert gardener David Howard will all bring their expertise to house and garden alike. Joining them will be many volunteers – from the Trust and from around the West Country – and some extraordinary craftsmen and specialist companies who preserve the heritage skills needed to bring an old house back to life.

Furniture and objects will either be recreated by modern craftsmen to embrace antique skills or genuine antique furniture that has had a troubled life will be restored, brought back to life – but nothing will be so delicate that it cannot withstand the rigours of normal life. BBC cameras will capture all the processes of living craftsmen working to create an historic interior.

To The Manor Reborn has been commissioned by Mark Bell, Commissioning Editor, Arts. Basil Comely is the executive producer and the series producer is Kate Shiers. The 4 x 60-minute series is produced by BBC Vision London Factual and will be broadcast later this year.

Cambridge : MediaCom, one of the world's leading media agencies and Aurasma, the world's leading augmented reality platform, today announced a partnership to transform the advertising campaigns of some of most recognized brands in the world.

Aurasma is a radical technology that uses smart phones and tablets to recognize images in the real world and bring them to life – by overlaying video, animations or games, precisely in context. The new technology is taking the media world by storm, and has already been installed on over one million devices.

MediaCom's client, Universal Pictures, is now using Aurasma to supercharge their advertising campaign for the hit movie Bridesmaids in the UK. The print advertisement campaign for the film includes major publications such as London titles Metro and Stylist, and leading women's magazines Closer, More and Grazia. Readers simply download Aurasma Lite and point their device to the print advertisement to see the static creative come to life on the page, overlaying a trailer and linking directly to the movie's Facebook page.

"An influential brand, such as Universal, needs to stay at the cutting edge of digital media and, at MediaCom, we are there to ensure this happens," said George Dixon, Head of Mobile, MediaCom. "Whilst Universal have completely embraced mobile, they still have a strong commitment to outdoor, print and TV. Therefore, opportunities to tie this emerging channel with traditional media, offering more opportunities for our target audience to engage, are keenly snapped up."

"Aurasma has successfully delivered a rich execution, tying our print display to mobile and bringing it just a click away from our social media touchpoints. We fully intend to continue to work with Aurasma on behalf of all of our clients, to explore the endless possibilities we believe this technology has to offer," continued Dixon.

New York: Kantar Media, which provides Internet, TV and radio audience measurement in 59 countries worldwide, and Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR), a leading broadband communications company and the fourth-largest cable operator in the United States, today announced the expansion of initiatives to integrate aggregated, anonymous audience viewing data with demographic and product interest data to markets beyond Los Angeles, CA.

Kantar Media’s TV measurement service matches Return Path Data (RPD) from Charter set-top boxes with external data sets reflecting anonymous demographic and purchase preferences. New markets for data integration include suburban Boston, Hartford, Birmingham, Stockton/Sacramento and the Fort Worth DMAs. This new data integration effort provides advertisers with better insight into how audience viewing behavior correlates with shopping or purchasing patterns.

“Kantar Media’s work with Charter in Los Angeles has offered our clients unique insight into consumers in that market, benefiting both the media buying and selling process,” said Bud Breheney, Chief Commercial Officer for Kantar Media Audiences North America. “Because of the success of that program, the time was right to expand data integration to other markets.”

“The expansion of markets and addition of viewer interest data will provide our advertisers with even more insight into the audiences their campaigns are reaching,” said Jim Heneghan, President of Charter Media. “This in turn, enables a clearer picture of the efficacy of their media placement.”

To protect customer privacy and confidentiality and ensure that personal information or the identity of any individual Charter customer is not discernible, Charter provides only aggregated anonymous data to third-party partners, including Kantar Media.

New York : Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. (NYSE: MSO) and Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group at Random House, Inc., today announced an extension of their long-time collaboration with a new agreement to publish 12 books through 2016. All titles are expected to be published simultaneously in print and digital formats.

Clarkson Potter, the leading lifestyle and cookbook publisher, has published nearly 70 books with Martha Stewart since 1982, with approximately 20 million copies currently in print.

One of the first books to be published under the new agreement will be Martha Stewart's Cakes, a follow-up to her bestselling baking titles, including Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook (2005), Martha Stewart's Cookies (2008), Martha Stewart's Cupcakes (2009), and Martha Stewart's New Pies & Tarts (2011), which spent a collective 36 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list. Additional titles are expected to focus on cooking, crafting, and organizing.

Clarkson Potter and Martha Stewart have been publishing bestsellers together for nearly 30 years, beginning with the landmark lifestyle and cooking book, Entertaining, in 1982. The partnership will come full circle this fall with Martha's Entertaining, an eagerly awaited and highly personal guide that will be the author's first book dedicated exclusively to the subject of entertaining since the publication of Entertaining. Over the years, the two companies have collaborated on numerous noteworthy and influential titles, including Martha Stewart's Gardening, Martha Stewart Weddings and Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook.

Martha Stewart, Founder of MSLO, stated: "Our relationship with Clarkson Potter/Publishers has been very productive and I am happy that we will continue our collaboration with this new 12-book agreement. We are already hard at work on Martha Stewart's Cakes, which will provide readers with clearly written, carefully tested recipes that home cooks know they can trust and rely on for delicious results."

"Martha Stewart and Clarkson Potter have enjoyed a long and successful creative partnership and we are proud to be Martha Stewart's career-long publisher. With an aesthetic and vision that are unmatched, Martha remains the cornerstone of the lifestyle category, and our collaboration continues to reflect that quality and creativity," said Lauren Shakely, Senior Vice President and Publisher of Clarkson Potter/Publishers.
 

Sunnyvale :Yahoo! and Frontier Communications Corporation (NYSE:FTR), the largest provider of communications services focused on rural America, today announced an expanded partnership that will deliver rich and innovative online experiences to Frontier's broadband subscribers in 27 states. Later this year, Frontier customers will be upgraded to a co-branded Frontier-Yahoo! email experience powered by Yahoo! Mail, the No. 1 email service in the U.S.

In addition, they will be able to access Yahoo!'s industry-leading digital content experiences through co-branded sites that will be integrated with the email service. This new agreement extends the relationship between Yahoo! and Frontier that began in 2008, allowing Frontier customers to access co-branded homepage, Toolbar, and Search bars .

"By deepening our relationship with Frontier, we're reinforcing our commitment to deliver deeply personal digital experiences," said Raymond Stern, Yahoo!'s senior vice president, Americas Partnerships and Business Development. "Through our best-in-class digital content and services, we're providing Frontier subscribers with an enhanced platform to access what matters the most to them on the Web, while meeting the needs of advertisers."

"Our customers want access to the most complete suite of communication and digital content services available, and Yahoo!, with its superior package of easy-to-use features, was the logical partner," said Melinda White, Frontier's executive vice president, Revenue Development. "Yahoo! is more than an industry leader across multiple content and communications categories; like Frontier, it values delivering personalized digital experiences consumers seek from the Internet. For example, our current co-branded Frontier-Yahoo! homepage is customizable, enabling us to integrate Frontier's products and features, delivering more value as we engage with our customers and expand the speed and reach of our broadband network."