Company:Screen Digest
Screen Digest Ltd was a company providing business intelligence, research and analysis on the global media markets based in London, United Kingdom, that has grown out of a monthly journal of that name that was founded in 1971. It was acquired by the technology researcher iSuppli in 2010, which was in turn acquired by information services company IHS Inc. In 2019, successor company IHS Markit sold most of its Technology, Media and Telecoms division to Informa. In exchange, IHS Markit received Informa's Agriculture Intelligence unit.[1] Informa merged the business with in 2020 to form Omdia.[2]
Company history
Screen Digest was founded in 1971 by journalist and documentary film-maker John Chittock, then film and video correspondent of the Financial Times, together with his business partner and wife Joy Chittock. Initially, it was a news digest containing abstracts of a range of media, including film and cinema, television and in particular the nascent video sector, with editorial emphasis on the relevance and brevity of stories.
In February 1972, a four-page centre section on yellow paper was introduced, initially to carry a page of reference material and articles from members of the industry. Among early contributors were Robert W Sarnoff, then chairman of RCA, film director and teacher Thorold Dickinson and the BBC director-general Charles Curran. This developed into a data-related eight-page section based on the company's recent research. Also in that month David Fisher joined as news editor and led in the shaping of the standards of the commercial publication. He became editor in July 1974 and held that position until January 2011.[3]
In the mid 1970s, Chittock and Fisher produced a daily half-hour closed-circuit radio programme for delegates at the 1976 British Industrial Film Festival in Brighton, and repeated the exercise the following year's 18th International Industrial Film Festival[4] at the National Film Theatre in London.
In 2007, Screen Digest acquired the US video market research company Adams Media Research,[5][6] and established Screen Digest Inc. The Global Media Intelligence (GMI) division was formed in 2007 to supply reports on media companies for corporate investors.[7] During this period, Hollywood screenwriter Arash Amel was formerly a leading media analyst at the company, overseeing the launch of the US services.[8]
David Fisher
David Fisher was educated at Bolton School and graduated from the London School of Film Technique. He published a book, The Craft of Film (Attic Publishing, 1970). He has been the editor of the media journal Screen Digest since 1974. He was executive editor of Television: The Journal of the Royal Television Society between 1978 and 1982.[9]
Kraszna-Krausz Foundation[10] awarded a grant to continue David Fisher's compilation of an international hypertext cross-referenced chronology of media development from 1820 to present day and arrange publication as Chronomedia by Terra Media.[11]
Media conferences
In its association with Nord Media, Screen Digest staged two video conferences: Video Disc 77[12] and Video Disc and Videogram 79.[13]
In May 1981, Screen Digest was involved in conference organisation for the International Video Week,[14] co-ordinated by The Economist and held on the South Bank, London. The event was staged again the following year. Several industry lunches were also held in London around this time, which included guest speakers such as Buckminster Fuller and Rosita Sarnoff, granddaughter of David Sarnoff. In 1996, Screen Digest became responsible for arranging the conference programme for the annual European Video Perspective (PEVE) home entertainment conferences and in 2007 acquired the sole ownership of the event.[15]
References
- ↑ "IHS Markit swaps group that researches optical communications for Informa's agribusiness unit". Lightwave. 2019-05-24. https://www.lightwaveonline.com/business/market-research/article/14033814/ihs-markit-swaps-group-that-researches-optical-communications-for-informas-agribusiness-unit.
- ↑ "Informa Tech Combines Research Houses Under Omdia Moniker". Data Centre Knowledge. 12 February 2020. https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/uncategorized/informa-tech-combines-research-houses-under-omdia-moniker.
- ↑ Update by Fisher
- ↑ "BFI | Film & TV Database | International Industrial Film Festival" (in en). http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/event/2867.
- ↑ "Adams Media Research, Inc.: Private Company Information". http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=9709978.
- ↑ "Adams Media Research: Press Releases". http://www.adamsmediaresearch.com/site/contact/pressreleases.asp.
- ↑ "Merrill Lynch Agrees to Exclusive Distribution Agreement With Global Media Intelligence, a Producer of Independent Research in the Media Sector". http://www.ml.com/index.asp?id=7695_7696_8149_74412_82725_84553.
- ↑ "The media analyst turned screenwriter behind Disney+ Giannis biopic 'Rise' shares how he survived over a decade of rejections to break into Hollywood". Business Insider. 2022-06-23. https://www.businessinsider.com/media-analyst-became-hollywood-screenwriter-disney-giannis-nba-rise-2022-5. Retrieved 2024-05-28.
- ↑ "David Fisher biography". https://www.terramedia.co.uk/david_fisher.htm.
- ↑ "Home" (in en). https://kraszna-krausz.org.uk/. "Since their inception in 1985 the Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards have been the UK’s leading prizes for books on photography and the moving image."
- ↑ "About the site". https://www.terramedia.co.uk/about.htm.
- ↑ David Fisher (compiler): Video Disc 77. London: Nord Media, November 1977, 40pp.
- ↑ David Fisher (compiler): Video Disc and Videogram 79. London: Nord Media, February 1979, 40pp.
- ↑ "BFI | Film & TV Database |" (in en). http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/event/289.
- ↑ "Screen Digest PEVE conference". http://www.screendigest.com/events/peve/index_html/view.html.
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