Media business chiefs brace for bleak 2012
NEW YORK Top media executives across North America and Europe are bracing for a global economic slowdown in 2012, and are already surrendering to demands by advertisers that they offer shorter-term, flexible deals in case of another crisis.
Ubisoft dances through holiday sales season
PARIS French video games maker Ubisoft said it was well-positioned for the Christmas season after Thanksgiving sales proved better than last year, helped by a dance game featuring pop group the Black Eyed Peas.
Old media executives too busy, private for Twitter
LONDON Twitter gives an instant snapshot of the buzz around television shows, computer game launches and even new ads, but many media executives are simply too busy to tweet or engage with the microblogging service very much themselves.
Start-ups refine web ad targeting, despite privacy worry
PARIS A boom in online display advertising like banners and videos has touched off a gold rush for tech start-ups seeking ever finer ways to target marketing to web surfers, turning the best of them into unexpected rivals and prey for Google Inc and major ad agencies like WPP Plc .
Publishers warm to e-books on their own terms
PARIS Book publishers have survived the first stage of a digital revolution in better shape than the music industry and are now embracing the shift to e-books in their search for new revenue streams and lower costs.
Forget fans, media execs can't get enough sports
NEW YORK Rather than cheering along in a soccer stadium or basketball arena, today's biggest sports fans can probably be found sifting through spreadsheets in a quiet corner office.
Eutelsat feels heat, sees growth in Mideast
PARIS Europe's biggest satellite operator Eutelsat is more accustomed to staking out territory in outer space than worrying about earthly politics, but this year it was plunged into the thick of the Arab Spring.
Hachette says France ready for digital books
PARIS Regulation and a devoted book culture look set to cushion the impact on French publishers and booksellers of the impending digital revolution that has so transformed markets in the United States and Britain.
Augmented reality enters the real world
LONDON/PARIS Augmented reality (AR), used for deadly effect by the movie character The Terminator, is poised to move into the mainstream as large companies build the technology into devices, according to a pioneer in the sector.
Borrowing from cable, game companies seek subscribers
NEW YORK Video game companies want to turn gamers from one-time purchasers into subscribers who generate a steady and predictable revenue stream to boost business and protect against economic uncertainty.
Hearst's Carey talks digital, new Time Inc CEO
NEW YORK November30 Hearst Magazines expects to reach one million digital subscriptions by the end of next year as more people sign up to read titles on tablet computers, the company's president told Reuters on Wednesday.