Sky has struck a deal to handle Channel 5's GBP250m TV ad sales business, thwarting Channel 4's hopes of expanding its own advertising sales operation. The satellite broadcaster has extended its existing deal with Viacom, which acquired Channel 5 from Richard Desmond last year, to handle the TV ad sales for its portfolio of channels until 2020. Channel 5 has been handling its own TV ad sales, but Viacom's new deal means its commercial airtime will now sold by Sky's sales team alongside its other 17 channels.

BBC plans to expand Radio 5 Live's sister digital station, 5 Live Sports Extra, have been attacked as "ill-judged and ill-timed" by TalkSport owner UTV Media. 5 Live controller Jonathan Wall wants to extend the broadcasting hours of 5 Live Sports Extra, including 10 hours of new magazine programming a week that will feature weekly shows about netball and women's football. UTV Media chief operating officer Scott Taunton said his company had "substantive concerns" about the plans.

Transport for London has begun the review process for its outdoor advertising contract, one of the biggest of its kind in the world. The contract will combine the ad sales for the Underground, the Overground, the Tramlink, the Docklands Light Railway (DLR), Victoria Coach Station and Crossrail, when it launches. Viacom Outdoor, now known as Exterion Media, won the GBP800 million eight-and-a-half-year contract to handle the outdoor ad sales in 2006. Following a legal dispute, the contract was renegotiated in early 2012.

The London Eye will act as the nation's political barometer ahead of the General Election next week, with a light show reflecting the discussions taking place on Facebook. Facebook will beam data comprising 52m interactions across more than 8m users onto the landmark. The social network's data will reflect the volume of conversation around parties and issues, rather than actual sentiment. The more discussed the party, issue or leader is, the bigger its share of lights on the London Eye will be.

Battersea Dogs and Cats Home have today launched a new form of digital outdoor advertising in which a dog on a billboard appears to follow shoppers as they walk past. Created by OgilvyOne UK as part of the charity's "#LookingForYou" campaign, the billboards are activated by a tag contained in leaflets that are handed directly to passersby at the Westfield Stratford shopping centre in East London. The RFID tag starts a video of Barley, a former Battersea dog, who begins to interact with the viewer.

P&G's recent decision to cut its agency roster and reinvest savings into marketing activity is reflective of the pressures the company is under to cut costs. However, while a crucial aspect, the move is not just about saving money, and the strategy could be viewed as indicative of the way brands will work with agencies in the future. A P&G spokesperson told "Marketing Week" that the opportunity for cost savings includes production costs and agency fees across advertising, media and public relations.

LinkedIn became the third social media company in a week to lose as much as a quarter of its valuation in minutes after reporting a weaker outlook, on a steep slide in European advertising as well as the costs of acquiring education site Lynda.com. The business networking site saw some $7bn wiped from its market capitalisation in after-hours trading, as it warned sales in the current quarter's revenues would be $45m below Wall Street's forecasts at $670m-$675m, partly because of currency fluctuations.

WPP's departing chairman Philip Lader has defended the record-breaking GBP43m package received by its high-profile chief executive last year, arguing its "Sorrellcentricity" is one of the advertising group's strengths. In his valedictory annual report, Lader said Sir Martin Sorrell's unique style was a major factor behind WPP's success and suggested that its generous incentive scheme for senior executives had helped retain talent more broadly.

The company is holding talks about CRM and e-mail marketing. It is understood that Etihad Airways does not currently work with an agency on this activity. Etihad Airways called a review of its global media planning and buying account in April. The company is planning to consolidate its media business, covering Etihad Airways and partner airlines such as Alitalia, Airberlin and Air Serbia. Etihad Airways is one of the national airlines of the United Arab Emirates.

Twitter has called its first UK pitch for creative and media agencies as the social network ramps up its consumer marketing. The brand is handling the pitch in-house and will select a small number of creative and media shops to compete for the brief. The winning agencies will be tasked with creating a campaign that will inform the UK public about how Twitter can help them. David Wilding, the company's planning director who joined from PHD in 2014, is understood to be overseeing the pitch.