Grocery shops got an unexpected windfall from the snow drifts and Storm Emma, with shoppers’ bulk-buying of milk, bread, and, alcohol helping to add €9.6m in sales in a week, according to Nielsen data.

Sales of Munster and Ireland rugby legend Paul O’Connell’s autobiography helped boost profits at O’Mahony Booksellers last year.

With the success of the Harry Potter series and David Walliams’s books, you might think writing for kids is easy. Think again, says Áilín Quinlan.

Tesco shares struggled — rising gradually after being down for most of the day — despite data showing that the supermarket giant probably outperformed its smaller UK rivals during the festive season.

By Geoff Percival

Each of the "big four" grocers lost customer share in the last quarter despite increasing sales as Aldi and Lidl collectively accounted for half of the entire market's overall growth, figures show.

Ireland is now the fourth most confident country in Europe with consumer sentiment here higher than in the UK for the first time in nearly nine years, according to market research firm Nielsen.

US cable channel Discovery has agreed to buy Scripps Networks, the No 4 most watched US cable network, for $11.9 (€10bn) in a bet that uniting ownership of cable channels like Animal Planet and HGTV will help the company adapt to the changing television landscape.

In our constantly connected world, we are becoming increasingly uncomfortable in our own company. The author of a new book tells Marjorie Brennan how we need to reclaim our solitude

“Adapt or die.” These were the words of RTÉ’s director general Dee Forbes yesterday. She was announcing the sell-off of nine acres of the state broadcaster’s land and the culling of up to 300 jobs.

Revenues at the Irish arm of bookseller WH Smith hit record levels of €26.85m last year.

Board composition has been a topic of conversation in the commercial world for some time. 

Britain’s decision to quit the EU in last month’s referendum has not had an immediate impact on grocery prices or the volume of goods sold, according to industry data.

Former Fox News Channel anchor, Gretchen Carlson, has sued network chief executive, Roger Ailes, claiming she refused his sexual advances and that this was why her contract was not renewed.

US retailers adopting cage-free eggs — laid by non-battery hens — sooner rather than later could gain a profit advantage over competitors.

Our TV habits have been transformed. So how do we judge the ratings anymore? And who delivers the best on the box?

International best-selling thriller Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn last year helped one of the largest independent booksellers in the country, O’Mahony’s Booksellers, return to profit after two years of losses.

The maker of Cadbury Creme Eggs has defended the controversial change of recipe after losing millions in sales last year.

Shop prices in Britain fell in December for the 32nd consecutive month, the British Retail Consortium said yesterday, the latest sign that UK inflation is likely to remain tame.

Adele’s new album 25 has sold 3.38 million copies in the US its first week, smashing single week sales records.

Nielsen released a list of the most anticipated games for this holiday season after gathering data from around 4,800. Unsurprisingly, Call of Duty: Black Ops III tops the multi-platform list with a rating of 98%.

Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence has topped Forbes list of the world’s highest-paid actresses, earning $52m (€45.7m) the past year but still far behind the best paid actor.

An estimated 24 million Americans watched Fox News Channel’s prime-time debate with the top 10 Republican presidential candidates, the highest-rated broadcast in the network’s history.

Oscar viewership was down 16% from last year and reached its lowest point since 2009, with 36.6m people watching the Neil Patrick Harris-hosted awards show on ABC Sunday night.

Britvic — the British-owned international soft drinks producer — has reported a marginal turnaround in fortunes at its Irish operations.

A director at one of the largest independent booksellers in the country, O’Mahony’s Booksellers, said yesterday that the firm’s performance “has improved dramatically”.

Spotify has stopped streaming Taylor Swift’s music at her request, setting up a business struggle between the leading provider of a new music distribution system and the industry’s most popular artist.

Coca-Cola has held on to its position as the biggest selling brand in the Irish grocery market for 10 years, according to the latest Checkout Top 100 Brands report, produced by Checkout magazine in association with Nielsen.

If you’re suffering television angst, that sinking feeling that you’ve so many boxsets to catch up on that you’re in danger of becoming culturally adrift, those number crunchers at Nielsen have put together a guide to help you work out which series will be the biggest drain on your life.

Up to 150 jobs are to be created as Ireland’s first ever international satellite television channel, IrishTV, is launched.

The Fifty Shades blockbuster trilogy, which sold 100m copies, contributed to the Irish arm of WH Smith almost tripling pre-tax profits last year to €1.542m.

The man who delivered pizza to actors during the Oscars ceremony revealed he thought he was only going to be feeding backstage staff at the awards ceremony.

Carlyle Group, the world’s second-largest manager of investment alternatives to stocks and bonds, said fourth-quarter profit more than tripled as the value of its fund holdings increased and the firm sold assets at a profit.

Pilot Gaffes

TELEVISION was central in the American home after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, a national trauma that unfolded in real time and was suited to the emerging medium.

Coke is still it, at least as far as Irish consumers are concerned as a new list of the best-selling brands in the country shows Coca Cola is the most popular.

I’VE OFTEN been asked what underpins my attraction to Simon Cowell — bad taste in men, a potential styling project, weird Machiavellian fetish.

Britvic has reported that its Q3 revenue decreased by 5.5% in Ireland so far in 2013.

WHEN the definitive history of television is finally written, perhaps the date of Feb 1, 2013, will be marked as a significant milestone.

Justin Timberlake’s comeback album has sold nearly one million units in its first week.

It’s no surprise that some in the Middle East were not happy about the movie Argo, which focuses on the Iranian hostage crisis which lasted from 1979 to 1981. But this is a reaction no one was expecting.