Recently by Alisa Zykova

In light of the current economic recession, a number of France's production outlets like Endemol and Adven Studio are taking a new approach to sitcom production by creating programmes that will be financially backed by advertisers and will be aired only on the Web, Le Figaro reported Friday.

Drink company Sunny Delight will be holding a casting to find actors for a reality show filmed in a surfing camp in Brazil. The show will be co-produced by production firms Endemol and Adven Studio and will be aired on the Internet. Adven Studio already produced a mini-series for HollyWood Chewing Gum and had the French comedian Armelle to write a few sketches for laundry detergent Skip.

Metro International, which was not left unaffected by the global financial slump, mentioned that it would be evaluating the interest from an unnamed bidder "expeditiously." A shareholder meeting may be held in Luxembourg on Wednesday in order to discuss a possible takeover as well as a SEK550 (€49) million rights issue.

The United Kingdom edition of adult entertainment magazine Playboy has relaunched its Web site, shifting towards an advertising-backed model that will allow users to access most of its content for free, Brand Republic reported Tuesday.

The makeover features a dozen new entertainment channels featuring movies, music, games, TV and sport content as well as a social networking tool. The site recently launched an ad-funded lifestyle channel and will be launching a mobile site this month that would also be financed by adverts.

Software giant Microsoft, phone manufacturer Nokia and network operators O2 and Orange all announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that they will launch stores to rival Apple's "App Store," which contains nearly 500 million applications ranging from games to travel guides, Telegraph.co.uk reported Tuesday. 

"It's no longer about how the phone works by itself but how it works with the Internet," said Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer. "It is your instant access to all the people and information that you care about."

Magazine and newspaper readers in Russia experienced something "unexpected" this month, as their favourite titles were unavailable across numerous newsstands, gipp.ru wrote Tuesday. In addition to plummeting distribution, publications have become "thinner."

The financial crisis may be to blame as media outlets are forced to cut back the volumes in which they publish issues due to a 30 percent to 50 percent drop in advertising revenues. Distribution fell by 3-60 percent across various publishing houses as they struggle to accommodate printing costs.

Analysis from experts suggests that the trend may continue for a long period and may bring about a reorganization of consumer supply and "reader's priorities," gipp.ru reported.

Netherland's Telegraaf Media Groep (TMG) announced it is selling Dutch editions of magazines Elegance, Residence, CosmoGirl! and Hitkrant to Amsterdam-based Pelican Magazines Hearst, which publishes CARROS, Nautique, En France, The Big Black Book, Tableau and Golf Estate, Publicitas reported Monday.

Negotiations for TMG's other titles JAN, FHM and Motoplus are underway. However, Privé, Vrouw and Autovisie will remain as part of the group.

Popular microblogging network Twitter is rumoured to be receiving financial backing worth US$35 million from Benchmark Capital and Institutional Venture Partners, bigmouthmedia.com reported Tuesday. Benchmark partner Peter Fenton may join the Twitter board after the investment deal.

"We are now positioned extremely well to support the accelerating growth of our service, further enable the robust ecosystem sprouting up around Twitter, and yes, to begin building revenue-generating products," co-founder Biz Stone said.

Daily Mail and General Trust Chairman Lord Rothermere said it is "unlikely" that his company will sell any more titles, after tabloid newspaper the London Evening Standard was bought by Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev, Press Gazette reported Monday.

Rothermere also mentioned that The Independent and The Independent on Sunday will not be put on the market. The titles are expected to shift to Associated Newspapers' headquarters in the near future.

Video-sharing site YouTube announced Thursday that it will authorise downloads of "author-approved" content while charging users a small fee, Wired reported Thursday.

To make use of the service, users will have to team up with YouTube and sign an extra contract in order to minimise copyright violations. Video authors will have the chance to pick Creative Commons rights intended for video clips.

Phone manufacturer Samsung is "planning internally" to launch the Google Android phone in the second half of 2009, but not in time for the Mobile World Congress as rumours suggested, PC World reported Thursday.

Other manufacturers Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Asus, Toshiba and LG also intend to launch Google's Android system sometime in 2009. G2, T-Mobile's second Android-powered model, produced by Taiwanese portable device manufacturer HTC (High Tech Computer Corporation), is scheduled to enter the market by May.

Norwegian paper manufacturer Norske Skog announced it will be lessen its production of paper for newspapers and magazines by 200,000 and by 75,000 tonnes, respectively, gipp.ru reported Friday.

The move is temporary and will serve to optimise the company's efficiency, a spokesperson said. The necessity of decreased production will be evaluated through the year as Norske Skog strives to meet the changing demand for paper, gipp.ru wrote.

Media group Daily Mail and General Trust, based in the United Kingdom, announced it will be put a 20 percent stake in broadcasting firm ITN up for sale, MediaWeek UK reported Monday.

ITN, which governs IT1's News At Ten and Channel 4 News, is thought to be looking for new financial backing in order "to boost its commercial revenue in order to grow internationally." ITN's largest stakeholder, ITV, may be either put up its 40 percent stake on the market or reduce it, according to MediaWeek UK.

According to Forrester Research, online advertising expenditure in Europe is expected to mount by 10 percent in 2009 in spite of the global financial crisis, Net Imperative reported Monday.

"To prosper during the downturn, interactive marketers should look for value in highly targeted display ads and seek opportunity in the improved performance of contextual ad networks like Google's AdSense," said Nate Elliot, the report's author.

MySpace has launched an advertising strategy that positions overlays at the bottom of music video clips, permitting users to either purchase the songs they listen to or proceed to the artist's Web site, Tech Crunch reported Friday.

The project stems from the social network's partnership with Auditude, a content detection and management firm which offers advertising relevant to rights-protected material that it detects.

From October 2008 through the end of the year, France's magazines saw an estimated sales decline of 10.2 percent when compared to the same period in 2007, Le Monde reported Monday.
 
A confidential study by Nouvelles Messageries de la Presse Parisienne (NMPP) revealed that the industry experienced a 5.6 percent drop in distribution throughout last year. However, if bulk sales are not taken into consideration, the figure is closer to 3.4 percent.