Media & Marketing/Siobhán O'Connell:What a year it has been for Irish media, and businessman Denis O'Brien has been right at the centre of the action.
O'Brien snapped up Today FM alongside FM104 and Highland Radio for €200 million but the Competition Authority forced him to put FM104 back up for sale again. It was bought by UTV for €52 million.
Elsewhere in his radio empire, O'Brien's talk radio station Newstalk 106 expanded its Dublin only franchise to become a national radio station.
It's O'Brien's interest though in Ireland's biggest media group, Independent News & Media (IN&M), that is likely to put him at the centre of the biggest media story in 2008 as well.
Since 2006, O'Brien has spent more than €250 million buying shares in IN&M to the point where he now holds 14.5 per cent, making him the second largest shareholder in the group behind Sir Anthony O'Reilly and his family, who speak for 27 per cent.
The IN&M share peaked at 381 cents in May 2007 and then tumbled all the way down to 210 cent in December.
Many other media assets also changed hands through 2007.
In January, CBS Outdoor bought Haveco, a company with the advertising contract for Croke Park. Also in January, Eason News, the newspaper, magazine and distribution business of Easons, established a joint venture with Menzies Distribution. The new entity will have greater distribution clout throughout Ireland.
In March, The Irish Timesacquired joint control over Gazette Group Newspapers, publisher of a number of weekly newspapers targeting different suburbs of Dublin.
Also in March, Agricultural Trust, publishers of the Irish Farmers Journal, bought the Irish Catholic, a weekly founded in 1888 which has a circulation of 27,000 copies.
In May, Thomas Crosbie Holdings secured approval from the Competition Authority for its purchase of majority stakes in two Waterford radio stations, WLR and Beat FM.
WLR had been on the market for over a year following the decision by a number of its smaller shareholders to liquidate their position. Thomas Crosbie Holdings also owns minority interests in County Mayo Radio, NWR FM and Red FM.
In August, Liberty Global, parent company of the NTL and Chorus cable networks, invested in cable TV station City Channel, which broadcasts in Dublin, Galway and Waterford.
Liberty took a minority stake, with a view to acquiring full control later and said it would expand the City Channel commercial model into other territories such as Hungary, where it has cable networks.
Irish investors also made a good turn on some overseas media assets.
In October, Ion Equity and private clients of Anglo Irish Bank were reported to have shared a profit €86 million from the sale of Ocean Media Group in Britain, just 15 months after acquiring the firm.
Ion and its partners originally bought the exhibitions, conferencing and magazine publishing firm from Trinity Mirror in July 2006 for £41 million. The business was sold to private equity firm AAC Capital Partners for £100 million.
In December, Radio Kerry said it was buying Clare FM for €7.2 million. Clare FM's shareholders include the diocese of Killaloe, politician Tony Killeen and the Galvin family, who own the Clare Champion newspaper.
Christmas came early too for Niall and Michael Townsend, publishers of the Sligo Champion, when IN&M bought the title for a reported €25 million. Founded in 1836, the Sligo Championhas a weekly circulation of 12,570 and had turnover of about €3.8 million last year.
IN&M already owns 12 paid- for titles, which have a combined weekly circulation of 112,000. Its regional titles include the Kerryman, the Corkman, the Drogheda Independentand Peoplegroup of titles in the southeast.
'Toy Show' still does the business
The Late Late Toy Show broadcast on November 30th was the most watched programme of 2007 with 1.1 million viewers tuning in, according to new figures released by Nielsen Media Research.
Rugby also dominated last year, with more than a million viewers watching Ireland's win over England in this year's IRB Rugby Six Nations broadcast by RTÉ 2.
Coronation Street was the only soap to make into the top 10 and was also the only TV3 programme to feature.
Meanwhile, the top programme for New Year's Eve this year was Celebrity Jigs 'n' Reels on RTÉ 1. The reality TV show attracted 521,000 viewers, an increase of 70,000 on last year. On RTÉ 2, Podge & Rodge's Bogmanay was watched by 193,000 viewers, 24,000 fewer than last year.
