Last year about 700000 poetry volumes were bought to the tune

Last year about 700,000 poetry volumes were bought, to the tune of £5m – equivalent to barely 1 per cent of the value of overall book purchases.These findings paint a picture of an art form in decline, and have provoked a frenzy of hand-wringing and discord in what is normally viewed as one of the more rarefied literary realms. More evidence of this stark “generation gap” is reflected in an Arts Council snapshot of the book trade revealing that 96 per cent of poetry bought by the British public is by dead writers.There is little consolation to be had in official sales statistics. The survey comes as separate research reveals that sales of verse have plummeted by a fifth in the past five years – and now make up just 1 per cent of the overall book market. Fewer young poets are being published than ever before, according to new figures from the Poetry Society. If the merger goes through, he won’t be able to bid adieu to Hollywood as he had hoped, but he might just manage to emerge with his dignity still intact..

Fourtou’s interest to act sooner rather than later and secure a deal with General Electric while it is there for the taking. Apple made noises about acquiring UMG in April, but the idea was scotched by Apple’s shareholders.Vivendi claims it is in no immediate hurry, having committed itself to a final decision only by the end of September But with the auction rapidly falling apart, it may be in M. Mr Diller has said rather firmly that he sees his future in his successful online business empire, USA Networks, but some still see him as a saviour.The other question mark hangs over the Universal Music Group, which is not part of the current auction but might conceivably be folded into a deal. One is Barry Diller, who briefly ran Vivendi Universal in his spare time last summer and has repeatedly been mentioned as a possible partner, go-between or kingmaker of some sort. The case is due to be heard in court in New York, also starting on Tuesday.As if the picture is not already complicated enough, there are still some wild cards in the pack that may or may not come into play. It was Mr Bronfman, along with the then board president, Marc Vienot, who approved the package – remarkably generous at a time when the company was on the brink of bankruptcy – a decision M Fourtou now calls “scandalous” and “indecent”. According to the French financial daily Les Echos, the offer is believed to amount to be around $8bn, which is less than even MGM or Comcast was prepared to pay.To complicate matters, Mr Bronfman is involved in a bitter legal dispute between Vivendi and its former chief executive Jean-Marie Messier, who is demanding the payment of a $23m severance package promised to him when he left the company last summer.

Fourtou may at last have to bite the bullet and make a decision.If he really wants to bale out of Hollywood, and rejects the NBC/GE offer, then the only other thing on the table is a cash buyout proposed by Mr Bronfman, backed by a number of financial interests, including the Wachovia Bank and Merrill Lynch. GE says it is willing to pay $6bn for its 75 per cent share, plus another $2bn in debt accumulation.All indications from the various corporate headquarters in Paris, New York and Los Angeles are that negotiations are proceeding at a frenetic pace ahead of a scheduled Vivendi board meeting on Tuesday at which M. Instead, he is proposing the creation of a joint venture, 75 per cent owned by GE and 25 per cent by Vivendi, which would last three years in the first instance. NBC is the only major US network unattached to a Hollywood studio, and its news-driven cable-television interests (primarily, MSNBC and CNBC) don’t present a clash with Vivendi Universal’s movie, sci-fi and drama serial channels.The bad news, though, is that GE’s Jeff Immelt has no intention of paying $14bn either. The good news, from Vivendi’s point of view, is that the NBC/GE corporate stable is a good match for the Universal empire.