During the first half of 2007, mergers and acquisitions in the media industry have set a new record, according to figures compiled by the investment banking Jordan Edmiston Group.

From January to June 2007, the transaction value of mergers and acquisitions in the media industry achieved $76 billion, growing 78 percent from $43 billion in the same period last year. The number of media companies involved in these deals also rose from 355 at the first half of 2006 to 399 this year.

Online marketing and media services remain the major participants in these deals, making up 42 percent of the overall value, or $32 billion in transactions, according to the figures.

Major online deals announced during this period included Microsoft's buyout of aQuantive for $5.7 billion, Google's acquisition of DoubleClick for $3.1 billion, and WPP's buyout of 24/7 Real Media for $649 million.