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Mandy Wheeler, managing director of radio advertising production house Mandy Wheeler Sound Productions, has urged actors’ union Equity to consider a sliding fee scale for actors’ fees and free casting. This is intended to counter concern about radio production costs as advertisers increasingly run more ads in their campaigns, with each ad played fewer times.

The number of UK satellite TV households grew by 22,000 in May to 3,076,000 – the lowest monthly rise since July 1994, according to figures published this week by GfK Marketing Services.

Grey has set up a new global media network, MediaCom Worldwide – a global expansion of the existing MediaCom network which currently spans 23 European countries and the US.

The Office of Fair Trading has extended the consultation period on whether the recent agreement between BSkyB and cable companies TeleWest and Nynex was anti-competitive…

…The Independent Television Commission is drawing up a code of practice for subscription television because of worries about BSkyB’s dominance of TV encryption technology.

Michael Grade has signed a new five-year contract with Channel 4 worth 450,000 a year.

Regional press sales house Amra has set up a division to handle ad sales for magazines.

Centaur Publishing, publisher of Marketing Week, has closed its personal finance magazine Inside Money, citing poor circulation of about 15,000.

ITV has confirmed plans for a 10m revamp of its night-time schedule. A raft of new programmes are now up for commission.

Gruner & Jahr’s Best has posted a January-June ABC of 572,367, up 7.8 per cent year on year. Prima is down 1.3 per cent year on year to 557,338, a fall of 9.8 per cent on the previous period. G&J has dropped Zenith and is seeking a new media buyer.

Prospect, a new monthly current affairs magazine, is launching in September. The first issue will be carried by the Financial Times.

Boris Kaz is senior vice president, advertising sales for MTV Networks Europe and not, as reported in Marketing Week last week, vice president sales and marketing – a role which is held by Chris Stephenson.

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Cider and soft drink producer Merrydown is losing its second marketing chief, only three months after signing a marketing and distribution deal with Whitbread. Merrydown marketing manager Deborah Merrens, who is head of the marketing department, is leaving to join Eurotunnel as a marketing manager. The distribution deal, which begins next week, allows Whitbread to […]