Media: Things we like

Strong VoD figures from Virgin Media show that on-demand viewing, some of which is supported by advertising, has a rosy future. The media company announced that it handled 750 million views of VoD content during 2009, a 50 per cent leap on the previous year. This was driven by its 3.9 million subscribers accessing the likes of the BBC iPlayer and ITV Player on its service. Virgin said that 59 per cent of its subscribers regularly accessed VoD content.

Live football in 3D

Sky was once again a pioneer this week when it trialled its live 3D service by broadcasting the Arsenal versus Manchester United game in selected pubs across the country. A full roll-out of a 3D football channel is expected in April but the trial seemed to go down well with punters and reviewers were impressed with the coverage, especially on close-ups of players. The 3D revolution is set to continue apace with presentations of live England rugby union matches at the O2. Now it's up to advertisers and agencies to create commercial content that can match the live action.

The South Bank Show Awards

Sunday's final broadcast of The South Bank Show Awards was a bittersweet event, flagging as it did the impending demise of ITV1's flagship arts show. We weren't quite sure about some of the content, including the first airing of a new Andrew Lloyd-Webber ditty, but Lord Bragg carried himself with his usual hirsute resplendence. There was an added bonus for avid followers of UK media with the prominent appearance in the audience of ITV Sales' very own Gary Digby, revealing himself as a man of culture as well as the golf course.

GQ's latest promotion

GQ readers will have their very own golden ticket experience when the March issue comes out today (Thursday). Each issue contains a £15 gift card for the designer shoe retailer Kurt Geiger, but ten of the gift cards are secretly loaded with £1,000. The shrewd marketing ploy (usually the preserve of snack brands) should have a pretty positive effect on sales of the Conde Nast magazine. For a title that prides itself on eschewing cheap bulky covermounts, this seems a good alternative.

AND ONE THING WE DON'T ...

The I Believe In ... series on BBC Three

At a time when the BBC is trying not to tread on too many commercial toes, it was irritating to find that its new I Believe In ... series on BBC Three offers nothing innovative and of value to the taxpayer beyond what is already available on the likes of Bravo and Virgin1. So while there was some enjoyment to be had in watching Joe Swash going in search of ghosts and Danny Dyer trying to identify UFOs, this series has left us wondering - why on earth is it on the BBC?

This article was first published on Campaign