Media & Marketing: The media and advertising industries are awash with predictions at this time of the year. But most of them are made in private and not stated with a lot of confidence.

However, this week media auditing firm Billetts Ireland put its forecasts for 2005 down on paper.

In the television market the agency is predicting 4 per cent growth in spending. It says while RTÉ will lose market share to new channels like Setanta and The Music Factory (TMF) it should be a good year financially. The agency expects the finance and insurance industries to be among the biggest spenders on TV in 2005.

While confident about the prospects for satellite in 2005, Billetts said some Sky channels were suffering. "The ailing Sky One channel is under pressure from the new channels. After high profile programmes not performing as expected and its hold over the Simpsons weakening, Sky needs new, original and less Americanised programming," said Billetts.

In terms of programming, the agency believes RTÉ could score big ratings victories with the likes of You're A Star, Joey, Scrubs and Desperate Housewives.

In the print media, the agency says overall revenue would be up 5 per cent, with overall net circulation up 1 per cent. The agency says a compact version of the Sunday Independent could "possibly launch".

Children's code

The Children's Advertising Code has been in place since the start of the new year and so far the BCI has received no complaints.

This not surprising, the first advertiser (or its agency) to step out of line on the code is likely to face serious public criticism, especially in the current climate where targeting children with fast food and sugary snacks has become almost unacceptable in some quarters.

An organisation called Central Copy Clearance Ireland (CCCI), which currently vets adverts relating to alcohol, is now offering a similar service in relation to children's advertising.

However, the Institute of Advertising Practitioners in Ireland (IAP) has made it quite clear the service is optional. "However we do believe it will assist those involved in the creative process to understand the complexities of the new code," said spokesman Mr John Holohan.

While generally welcomed, the mind boggling number of vetting procedures needed before any campaign hits the airwaves is upsetting some people in the industry.

Ms Orlaith Blaney, managing director at McCann Erickson, said: "The number of current vetting, advice, approval bodies for overall advertising approval is absolutely baffling for agencies and clients and in my opinion is unnecessarily complex. ".

She said there was considerable merit in the idea of centralising some of this activity in one body.

New format

Medicine Weekly, which has a circulation of about 6,000 readers, has switched from being a glossy magazine to a newspaper format. The new format will be published by The Irish Times at its printing plant in Citywest Dublin.

The title believes the new format is far more environmentally friendly, a key concern for a medical title. The change means using far less paper each year through the use of biodegradable, partly-recycled paper, said Mr Chris Goodey, managing director of Eireann Healthcare Publications, the publisher.

There was a wholehearted welcome for the change even in political quarters. The Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Mr Roche, said he looked forward to "other publications following their example".

Taxi ad campaigns

Taxi advertising in previous years had a slightly edgy reputation, with most of the clients promoting pubs and drink brands. But in recent weeks the Crisis Pregnancy Agency and Bank of Ireland have decided to go with the Clear Channel Taxis, formerly Cabvertise.

Mr Peter Maguire of Clear Channel Taxis said the campaigns were designed to specifically target a younger profile audience.

Aegis Media change

One of the largest media buying and planning firms in Dublin is now Aegis Media Ireland. It is the holding company for the agencies Carat Ireland and Vizeum.

It emerged recently that Mr Pat Donnelly, the current chief executive, is stepping down. Now the company has announced further management changes. Mr Liam McDonnell becomes chief operations officer of the whole group and will deal with all group issues.

Under the changes Mr Arthur Byrne becomes finance director of the group, while Mr Alan Cox and Mr Ciaran Cunningham will run Carat between them.

Mr Cox will operate as chief executive and Mr Cunningham becomes managing director.

The two businesses - Vizeum and Carat - are broadly similar, but run entirely separately. They are housed in different buildings.

Some of the company's contracts could be in conflict otherwise.

Emmet Oliver can be contacted at eoliver@irish-times.ie