Screen Digest Ltd was a company providing

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, research and analysis on the global media markets based in

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, 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

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In 2019, successor company IHS Markit sold most of its Technology, Media and Telecoms division to

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. In exchange, IHS Markit received Informa's Agriculture Intelligence unit. Informa merged the business with in 2020 to form Omdia.

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 The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', 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. From the first issue, it has been characterised by the use of

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to identify the broad media subject area of each news story and the inclusion of contact information for companies, as well as organisations mentioned in news items. Other features from the start were the inclusion in the subscription of a free binder and detailed annual index, based on the concept of acting as a

journal of record A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...

. 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 RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

, film director and teacher

Thorold Dickinson Thorold Barron Dickinson (16 November 1903 – 14 April 1984) was a British film director, screenwriter, film editor, film producer, and Britain's first university professor of film. Dickinson's work received much praise, with fellow direct ...

and the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

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. 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 Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

, and repeated the exercise the following year's 18th International Industrial Film Festival at the

National Film Theatre BFI Southbank (from 1951 to 2007, known as the National Film Theatre) is the leading repertory cinema in the United Kingdom, specialising in seasons of classic, independent and non-English language films. It is operated by the British Film Ins ...

in London. In 1976, ''Screen Digest'' formed an alliance with Nord Media, a London-based research business owned by Ebav, an audio-visual company jointly owned by the Scandinavian enterprises

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and Bonnier. The partnership ended in May 1980. Chittock sold the company in July 1996 to a management team comprising David Fisher, Allan Hardy, Ben Keen and Mark Smith. At that time, the company had one full-time employee. Since then, ''Screen Digest'' has expanded its consultancy and report publishing activities, as well as developing a set of continuously updated online information and data services on Advertising, Broadband Media, Cinema, Games, Mobile Media, Television, Television technology and Video. ''Screen Digest'' now counts over 50 full-time employees, with bases in New York and California in the US and Melbourne, Australia, as well as London. In 2007, ''Screen Digest'' acquired the US video market research company Adams Media Research (AMR), and established Screen Digest Inc. The Global Media Intelligence (GMI) division was formed in 2007 to supply reports on media companies for corporate investors. During this period, Hollywood screenwriter Arash Amel was formerly a leading media analyst at the company, overseeing the launch of the US services.

Media conferences

In its association with Nord Media, ''Screen Digest'' staged two video conferences: Video Disc 77 and Video Disc and Videogram 79. In May 1981, ''Screen Digest'' was involved in conference organisation for the International Video Week, co-ordinated by ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' and held on the

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, 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 Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing more t ...

and Rosita Sarnoff, granddaughter of

David Sarnoff David Sarnoff (February 27, 1891 – December 12, 1971) was a Russian and American businessman who played an important role in the American history of radio and television. He led the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) for most of his career in ...

. 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.Screen Digest PEVE Digital Entertainment conference
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References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.screendigest.com Business intelligence companies