Company Profile

YooMedia plc is one of the fastest growing interactive entertainment companies in the UK.
Since 1997 we have been developing and launching leading B2C consumer brands in the gaming and community sectors. We also work in a B2B capacity with leading brand owners, agencies, content developers and broadcasters to design and develop their interactive content strategies.

Led by Executive Chairman Dr. Michael Sinclair and Group Managing Director Neil MacDonald, YooMedia has assembled a highly experienced management team that possesses a unique blend of skills and experience in the areas of Digital TV, Internet and mobile phone services and technology.

With main office locations in London, Exeter and Maidstone, YooMedia manages core assets including:

Over 30 office locations throughout the UK alone

State-of-the-art studio, production and post-production facilities at our Wapping location.

UK broadcast return path & bandwidth owner

Fully fledged UK Bookmaker License

Database with over 350K UK singles

SMS Engine access with international reach

Fully staffed 50 seat Customer Contact Centre in Maidstone, Kent

YooMedia Dating & Chat - Our dating subsidiary company manages the oldest and largest UK-owned dating brands including Dateline, Club Sirius and Avenues. YooMedia Dating has over 20 office locations throughout the UK and also manages YooChat, our world-leading interactive chat service found on UK digital cable on the Telewest platform (platform extensions planned for 2005).

YooMedia Gambling & Games - Combining the brands of Avago and Channel 425 (in partnership with William Hill) YooMedia is on the leading-edge of interactive fixed odds, casino and poker gambling services for digital TV, the web and 3G mobile phones. Our gaming business also manages YooPlay, the only interactive just for fun games channel found on all four Digital TV platforms in the United Kingdom.

YooMedia Enhanced Solutions (YES) - YES works with brand owners, agencies, content owners and broadcasters to clarify the options, define the strategies and deliver the interactive content that enhances consumer and audience experiences. YES customers include the BBC, Nestle, Celador, William Hill, Channel 4, ZipTV, The Cartoon Network and HR Owen.

but no mention of YOO?

016622. No mention of YOO>

Gambling and Games to Drive Mobile Entertainment Growth - From $17.6bn This Year to $59bn by 2009

Hampshire UK, 5th May 2005: A rapid expansion in mobile content, allied to a sharp increase in 2.5G and 3G handset adoption, will combine to deliver global mobile entertainment revenues of more than US$59 billion by 2009, according to a new report from Juniper Research.

But while adult content frequently heralded as mobile's "killer app" will generate healthy revenues of nearly US$2.2 billion by the end of the decade, the key drivers of mobile content are expected to be gambling and games, with their respective markets worth US$19.3 billion and US$18.5 billion respectively by 2009.

According to report author Dr Windsor Holden, "Lotteries are ubiquitous in many countries, and if you start launching lotteries on mobile handsets than you're tapping into a form of gambling in which the majority of adults indulge on a weekly basis, while sports betting and casinos are also high-revenue businesses."

Dr Holden added that mobile games were also beginning to generate substantial revenues, while sales in emerging markets with little or no established PC or games console base were particularly encouraging.

Other findings from the report include:


The mobile entertainment market will reach US$17.6 billion in 2005, up by 71% on 2004


After gambling (33%) and games (31%), the most popular entertainment services in 2009 will be music (16%) and sports (8%)


Ringtones which currently account for 31% of the mobile entertainment market will contribute no more than 8% by 2009


The increasing adoption of non-voice services in the US and Canada will push North American revenues to US$11.3 billion in 2009, up from just over US$1 billion in 2004.

White papers and further details of five new studies (Adult, Gambling, Games, Music & Ringtones and Sport & Infotainment) that comprise the 'Mobile Entertainment Content Series (second edition)' can be obtained at www.juniperresearch.com or from Michele Ince at

michele.ince@juniperresearch.com, Telephone +44(0)1256 345612.

Juniper Research provides analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, providing analyst reports, consultancy and industry surveys.

NTL swings into Q1 opg profit 16 mln stg from loss 7 mln - UPDATE


(Adds detail on customer numbers and drivers behind opg earnings)
LONDON (AFX) - UK cable TV and telecoms group NTL Inc said it swung into an
operating profit of 16 mln stg in the first quarter from a loss of 7 mln a year
earlier, mainly as a result of an increase in customer numbers, better operating
cash flow and lower depreciation charges.
The Nasdaq-listed group said overall revenues were up 0.7 pct at at 517.3
mln stg, with a 4.0 pct increase in domestic customer revenues to 384.5 mln and
a 9.7 pct rise in revenues in Ireland to 19.2 mln, partly offset by a 10.1 pct
fall in revenues from business customers to 113.6 mln.
At the net level, the group's loss from continuing operations narrowed to
62.6 mln stg from 75.5 mln a year earlier.
"We have started the year with continued margin expansion, robust gross
additions, improved customer churn and continued growth in our triple play
(internet, TV and telephone packages) customer penetration," said NTL chief
executive Simon Duffy.
Duffy added that the group yesterday concluded the sale of its operations in
the Republic of Ireland for 325 mln eur, "reinforcing our focus on building our
UK cable business".
Duffy said NTL added a net 58,100 residential customers to end the quarter
with 3.19 mln, up 4 pct from a year earlier and he added that improvements in
customers service have resulted in a reduction in the customer churn rate to 1.4
pct.
"Continued strong performance in gross additions and further improvements in
churn should put us back on track for our long-term on-net target of over 50,000
net customer additions per quarter from Q2 onwards, resulting in over 200,000
on-net customer additions this year," he said.

Replace "ntl" with "yoo"

here we go!

Hi 016622
I'm a novice and I'm in this share in a fairly small way. I don't understand your last couple of posts. Remembering that I am blonde and stupid, how is this NTL report so good for YOO? Keep it simple for me cos my IQ is similar to the ULT bid price!!
Thanks in advance
alan

Hi H!

McTavish would be the one to guide this question at.
To be perfectly honest, I have'nt got much of a clue whats going on and am just a little bored with no upward movement!

The NTL post would seem to suggest, however, that things in the industry are "hotting up" and that this should be good for YOO. But as I say, its not showing in the sp at t' moment!

Good luck H - and grab a few more if the do start a northward push!

thanks for that
alan

Very quiet today which is surprising bearing in mind the great write up in Shares Mag today.
Di

Haven't seen the mag yet....did they not recommend a sell a few weeks ago??

Yes Mr Mole but it was based on wrong info. Todays article is a extremely positive one saying that top property magnate Leo Noe has bought 1m shares recently and now owns 2.93% of Yoo. Invesco Perpetual holds 4.07%. It then goes on to say how Yoo are leaders in a rapidly expanding market and that profits will soon be on the horizon.

Share's Mag is rapidly becoming a joke.

A few weeks ago YOO was a sell, then it became a grudging hold and today it is a buy. There appears to be no editorial control over consistency and their analysts (I use that word loosely) are allowed to write what they like.

That is the very reason why i do NOT subscribe to Shares.

buyers coming back today...
yes - the lst shares comment was the infamous sell-haemorraging cash

be nice to see this back upto 20 smartish!

Still around the 13ish mark, on the 13 day of the month, lets hope it advances with the month, never reacts they we want it to!!!!!!!!! Why??????

http://www.nma.co.uk/Document.aspx?did=b81fed59-a479-470c-9523-a414a17e3954

Deeply determined

YooMedia chief executive David Docherty is a man who believes in telling it like it is. For example, "Anyone who's not currently working on a convergent media strategy should be taken out and shot," he says assuredly.
As boss of one of the UK's fastest-growing interactive entertainment companies, Docherty knows a thing or two about where the new media industry is heading over the next few years. He's convinced that the growth of broadband-enabled digital devices will radically alter the way media is consumed, providing new opportunities for content providers to engage with audiences through a variety of different channels.
Docherty is working hard to ensure YooMedia is ideally placed to capture the high ground of these converging technologies by developing a range of brands that can be streamed across online, mobile and interactive TV platforms.
The company is already well on its way to achieving this, having specialised in interactive gaming, dating and public sector content since 1997. It has a number of distinct divisions dedicated to providing business-to-consumer and business-to-business services to broadcasters and digital network operators.
"It's not just about taking the same brands and distributing them through as many channels as possible," he says. "It's also about considering the appropriateness of digital devices and their relationship with consumers."
An intensive 12-month period of acquisition has already brought the Avago, Dateline and Fancy A Flutter brands under the YooMedia umbrella, but Docherty still has one eye on new formats that can be exploited across the spectrum.
"We're consolidating our core gaming and dating brands to give us growth at every level of the communications chain," he says.
Docherty sees digital TV as the unifying force that will join together these converging interactive technologies. He's keen for YooMedia to launch more linear content that will act as a shop window for the company's online, mobile and red-button capabilities.
YooMedia recently acquired independent production company ViaVision for this very reason, intending to use the firm's already established Pokerzone TV channel as a front end for its interactive services on the digital satellite platform.
Having overseen YooMedia's landmark 28m acquisition of Digital Interactive Television Group (DITG) late last year, Docherty is now in a better position than ever to start bringing his vision of a convergent media future to life.
The former 'perennial student' from Glasgow has responsibility for the biggest iTV company in the UK after Sky, and the only one to operate its services on all satellite, digital terrestrial and cable platforms. Despite loosing around 6m last year, the enlarged group broke even in March and turnover is predicted by Evolution Securities to reach 142m during 2005.
Docherty plans to spend the next few months focusing on consolidating YooMedia's string of recent acquisitions, strengthening its core dating and gaming propositions and exploring 'organic growth' opportunities.
He has been evangelising about the benefits of interactivity since he became deputy director of TV and director of new media at the BBC in 1998. Under then-director general John Birt, he spearheaded the Corporation's push into digital TV and helped set up the instantly successful BBC Online.
During this time, Docherty realised the potential of the Web and left the BBC to join Telewest, where he oversaw the launch of the company's Blueyonder portal under chief executive Adam Singer. "Both Adam and I thought that the future lay in broadband content that would act as a differentiator as bandwidth became a commodity business," he says.
It was this reputation for forward thinking that led Docherty to be invited this year to make a hypothetical pitch for the public service publisher being proposed by media regulator Ofcom.
With the Ofcom pitch still fresh in his mind, he envisages the creation of an "entertainment superhighway" that will take advantage of the rise of peer-to-peer communications, Internet blogging, podcasting and other emerging technologies capable of bringing people together in self-connected groups. "I think we'll see more and more people blogging rich-media content across the Internet," he says.
Docherty is convinced that these new interactive technologies are swiftly changing the face of the industry, with the balance of power shifting away from scheduled content towards a more user-generated experience. Some of the more traditional media companies are catching on to this idea, with both the BBC and Channel 4 increasing their focus on emerging media.
With brands available across a number of digital platforms, Docherty is convinced that YooMedia is in a strong position to take advantage of rapidly converging media channels.
"By the end of this year, I'd be deeply disappointed if we hadn't become the number one or number two UK-based interactive dating company," he says. "I'd be deeply disappointed if we hadn't expanded internationally both in Europe and in the US. And I'd be deeply disappointed if we weren't one of the top interactive gaming companies on mobile as well as on TV."
Docherty has something of a reputation for achieving his goals, with three university degrees and a handful of self-penned novels under his belt. The question is: will he be "deeply disappointed" when he looks back on 2005?

:: CV
Name David Docherty
Title Chief executive, YooMedia
Age 48
Education 1974-84: BA (Hons), Sociology, University of Strathclyde; PhD, Sociology, LSE; MSC, International Relations, LSE Career 1984-90: Research fellow, British Film Institute (author of three books on LWT, Channel 4 and British Cinema); 1991-2000: Several roles at the BBC, including deputy director of TV, director of new media and member of the board of management; 2000-03: MD for broadband content, Telewest; 2003-present: Board member and chief executive, YooMedia. Also author of three novels: The Spirit Death, The Killing Jar and The Fifth Season; member of various not-for-profit boards, including BARB and the Royal Television Society; chairman and pro-vice chancellor, University of Luton, 2001-05

What a mover and shaker he deserves to make a fortune!! As long as he makes mine as well I'm happy. Good to read he plans to consolidate all his acquisitions-perhaps all those who knocked this share will live to rue their words! here's hoping .

Yes, the second last paragraph is very encouraging!

price strengthening as well... might even see a bit of upward movement next week?