Switzerland's Myriad Group is buying a UK-based rival, Synchronica, for GBP23.9 million in what appears to be an all-share deal. Myriad says the deal will make it one of the biggest providers of messaging services in the world. Together they provide messaging services to a huge range of tier-one carriers, covering some 2.5 billion subscribers and 100 carriers and 25 OEMs worldwide. Myriad CEO Simon Wilkinson becomes Synchronica executive chairman. Myriad's CFO James Bodha is now an executive director at Synchronica.

The purchase of Jobrapido is a significant move to expand Daily Mail and General Trust's online advertising business overseas. The site, which was founded in 2006, claims to be the world's second-largest international job-search engine with 32 million monthly visitors in 50 countries. Profits were about GBP5 million last year on sales of GBP20 million.

Five of its daily newspapers - the Halifax Courier, Scarborough Evening News, Northampton Chronicle & Echo, Peterborough Evening Telegraph and the Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph - will be relaunched as weekly titles by the end of May. Johnston Press said it would launch new iPad versions of the titles, as well as 24-hour news coverage online. A spokesman said that the Scotsman and the Yorkshire Post, the publisher's leading daily titles, would not go weekly as part of the shift.

Mike Duerksen, from Winnipeg, Canada, sent dozens of tweets with the hashtag #MikeProposes as he live-tweeted his extravagant proposal to his girlfriend Janelle Freed, and gained hundreds of new followers as Twitter users followed his every move on Friday. Duerksen announced his plans late on Thursday night, tweeting: "Tomorrow I'm proposing to my girlfriend. I'll be using the hashtag #MikeProposes. Follow along! #Winnipeg" He then gave details of his plans and the couple's history, adding: "Yes I think she'll say yes."

Turkey has the highest penetration for sports sites, with 70.7% accessing the sites, per comScore. Ireland, Spain and the UK also have high penetrations at 70%, 65.9% and 64.3%, respectively. Russia dominates in terms of total online audience with 54.6 million users going online during the month, followed by Germany with 50.9 million users. Males accounted for 58.6% of the web traffic to sports sites and females 41.3%. The average male user spent 68 minutes consuming sports content compared to 36.5 minutes for the average female.

Michael Grade urged broadcasters to start charging for online viewing, calling for micropayments for such TV shows as Downton Abbey. But he said viewers were now more willing to pay. "If you download an app for 99p, you don't even think about it," he said. "Take the example of missing an episode of Downton Abbey. You say to yourself, 'Here's a chance to watch it on the train for GBP1.25.' You wouldn't even think about it. Or you're sitting at home and there is nothing on TV tonight. 'I know, let's watch that episode of Spooks we missed for 25p'."

The first of Centaur's title to adopt a paywall, New Media Age will require a subscription to access most of its content. Marketing Week, Design Week and Creative Review are still open online. Down under, Rupert Murdoch's Herald Sun, Australia's biggest-selling daily newspaper, has introduced a paywall for premium content. The Melbourne-based tabloid is offering a "digital pass" that will give readers access to exclusive news, opinion and sports behind a paywall. The pass is free until June but will then cost A$2.95 (GBP1.90) per week. Other content on the paper's online site will remain free.

The State of the Media Democracy Survey by business advisory firm Deloitte found that the average Welsh person owned 9.9 devices capable of accessing media at the end of 2011. The UK average was 9.7 devices - up from an average of 8.7 a year earlier - suggesting that demand for technology remains strong despite the downturn. The average UK consumer now owns 20% more devices than their counterpart in France and 14% more than the typical German.

Confused.com is highlighting the dangers of driving in heels with a film showing a woman walking along a busy shopping street in towering black shoes and a short skirt, admired by men as she sashays past. But when she gets into her car to drive home, elegance turns to clumsiness as she struggles with the pedals and battles to master the vehicle, shuttering forward in stops and starts. The message, "Don't drive in high heels" flashes on-screen, along with a link for a chance to win a pair of Butterfly Twist lightweight folding flat pumps. To score the more-sensible shoes, …

Such Hearst titles as Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire and Harper's Bazaar are collaborating on the Hello Style channel on YouTube, beginning last weekend. YouTube is spending $100 million to help media companies launch the programmes, in the belief that the higher-quality content will bring in more advertisers. Publishers hope video and other platforms will make up for slower print advertising growth. Next up on May 1 is the Car and Driver TV channel, from Hearst's motoring magazines.