MEDIA

Regional - Its Asian offices are slowly starting to feel the effect of Reader's Digest's global ‘Recession Plan' which was announced in February, with a couple of key staff reductions in Asia.

India - TME, Rediffusion Y&R's media agency, has bagged two new businesses from Mindshare in the form of Tata Steel and Lafarge Cements.

Shanghai - Temix, a subsidiary of Fuqi International, has appointed Universal McCann as its media agency, with the Interpublic agency also notching up media duties for the Chinese Center for Disease Control & Prevention.

Regional - In a major corporate revamp Asia City Publishing Group has changed its name and logo as well as its senior management structure.

Singapore - In another major overhaul for the print industry the World association of Newspapers and IFRA, the international associations for print and digital news publishing, have merged to form a new organization.

Hong Kong - Metro Broadcast has announced a number of partnerships to expand its business in Macau, thanks to a surge in revenue despite the economic downturn.

Singapore - Global Magazines, the magazines arm of the Global Yellow Pages Media group, has appointed Tina Chopra as the business editor responsible for its business publications.

Malaysia - A new online news portal entered the market yesterday with the launch of Malaysian Mirror.

Singapore - The Mount Faber Leisure Group has appointed Mindshare recently as its media agency following a pitch.

India - Madison Media has won the media duties for Britannia Industries, one India's leading biscuit manufacturer, following a hotly-contested pitch.

Following the launch of the English edition of Chinese National Geography, M Media Group CEO Melvyn Goh shares his success about tapping the magazine market in China and abroad.

Regional - Discovery Networks Asia Pacific has launched a new logo and on-air look for Discovery HD across the region before it rolls out in the UK, Europe and Latin America next month.

Hong Kong - French network TV5MONDE has launched an online TV platform targeting French-speaking children between three to 12 years old that allows them to now watch its programs at their own time zones in Asia.

Hong Kong – In the face of weakening media budgets and a general slowdown in the print sector, The Economist has seen its yearly revenues jump 17% with its online portal recording a jump in ad revenue of 29%.

Regional - Following a slew of staff departures, GroupM has pooled in close to 10 members from its four agencies in the region to form a new digital council.

India - Starcom MediaVest Group India has appointed Amith Prabhu as associate director for corporate and brand communications, responsible for SMG India's internal and external communications programmes.

Regional - NBC Universal Global Networks' The Hallmark channel is going to launch an Asian version of the popular US television series The Biggest Loser, its first foray into local production.

Australia - Aegis Media has continued the roll out of its agency brand Vizeum, with Australia the latest market to join its network of 47 offices globally.

Malaysia - The Australian International School Malaysia (AISM) has appointed Creative Juice\Sil to handle its corporate website revamp project.

Beijing - US cable channel Nickelodeon will launch Chinese animation program, broadcasting Chinese animation to 13 territories across Asia.

Regional - As part of NBC Universal's expansion plans for Asia, the company has tweaked its family offering on the Hallmark Channel to be more appealing to women - and advertisers as well.

Singapore - Twitter can easily backfire on brands, according to the University of Adelaide's head of media Dr Mary Griffiths, and the social media platform is a contradiction to the basic principles of marketing. Is Twitter worth the risk for marketers? COMMENT NOW

Global - Aegis has bagged global media buying and planning duties for Nokia after a review that included Publicis Groupe's ZenithOptimedia.

Asia Pacific - CNN International has revealed a study that shows online and mobile advertising campaigns can be more effective than TV.

Regional - In these difficult economic times when tight budgets can limit creativity in media buying, ESPN Star Sports' Mega Cup Promotion is hoping to offer up something completely different.

Global - Kym Niblock has resigned as managing director at BBC.com, with Executive vice president of BBC's digital media business Luke Bradley-Jones taking on her role.

Singapore - Local agency Kult has launched its own self-titled magazine, a free creative-themed quarterly title featuring contributions from artists, designers, illustrators, photographers and writers from Singapore and around the world.

How to get these editors to feature your latest gadget or gear.

Asia Pacific - Media agency Initiative has added an estimated US$19 million in new business across Asia Pacific, winning China Telecom, Sanitarium and Pt. Sanghyang Perkasa-Kalbe Nutritionals.

Asia - Disney-ABC International TV Asia Pacific has integrated its distribution structure headed by Rob Gilby, senior VP and MD, and will include a newly-created channel distribution and program distribution teams.