Martin Sorrell's WPP Group is facing a new media-related legal challenge, according to reports in the European financial press. Richard Desmond, owner of London's
Daily Express is suing WPP for
$5.5 million in costs and lost revenues associated with an alleged agreement WPP reneged on to support the launch of
OK! magazine in the U.S., reports the Sunday edition of
The Observer.
According to the paper, WPP pledged to buy 15 pages of advertising in each issue of the new weekly. The paper said WPP's clients so far have averaged less than one page per issue in the six months
since
OK! launched in the U.S. The agreement reportedly was tied to
OK!'s account assignment, which WPP's MediaCom unit handles.
