Virgin Blue handed boost in bid for Delta tie-up

HOT on the heels of Virgin Blue's recent profit upgrade, aviation watchers are seeing positives for the airline from the success of American Airlines and British Airways in winning tentative permission from the US Department of Transportation to deepen their trans-Atlantic alliance, pooling flights into London's Heathrow Airport.

Hopes raised for Virgin Blue alliance

Hot on the heels of Virgin Blue's recent profit upgrade, aviation watchers are seeing positives for the airline from American Airlines' and British Airways' success this week in winning tentative permission from the US Department of Transportation to deepen their trans-Atlantic alliance, pooling flights into London's Heathrow Airport.

From gambit to endgame, Stokes stalks Packer

THE truce between Kerry Stokes and James Packer that gives Stokes's Seven Network two seats on the board of Packer's Consolidated Media is both a recognition of reality and an instalment in a longer game.

Seven's chief can afford the long game

THE truce between Kerry Stokes and James Packer that sees Stokes' Seven group take two seats on the board of Packer's Consolidated Media group is both a recognition of reality and an instalment in a longer game.

Cashed-up Packer seeks to block Stokes' Foxtel raid

Privatisation rumours drive shares in CMH and Crown higher.

Telstra Clicks On In $76m China Deal

TELSTRA has again staked millions of dollars on its belief that China's online classifieds growth is yet to peak. Telstra has paid $A76 million for 55% shareholdings in both Norstar Media (owner of Che168.com and IT168.com) and Autohome/PCPop

Portals Exposed As Online Ads Slow

THE $1.3 billion online advertising market is bracing for a cyclical slowdown. This comes amid warnings that Australia's big online portals such as ninemsn and Yahoo!7 will struggle to hold their revenue market share against specialist websites and independent groups that bundle together thousands of smaller websites to create rival advertising networks.

Wan, News In Online Link

DAYS after the Seven Network failed to topple the board of West Australian Newspapers, the publisher has moved to beef up its internet presence by teaming up with the News Ltd-controlled realestate.com.au to expand its online property classifieds.

Rea Turns In An Impressive Result

ONLINE classifieds provider REA Group has continued its rapid growth in the past half, lifting profit 38.6% to $7.77 million. But it has no plans to pay dividends.

Fairfax Up Thanks To Online And Regional

FAIRFAX MEDIA'S expansion to cut its reliance on metropolitan newspapers appears to be paying dividends, with strong regional and online earnings outweighing a slump in the Sydney market.