Monday 24 January 2011, PM
Cameron-Murdoch meeting will not affect BSkyB decision, says No 10 | Media | guardian.co.uk
Rupert Murdoch with his son James, who had dinner with David Cameron over the Christmas period. The Guardian revealed last week that Cameron had been a guest of Brooks over the Christmas period. A Downing Street source denied last week that the meeting had taken place on Christmas Day, but declined to confirm or deny whether the prime minister had met Brooks over the Christmas period. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukThe BBC Radio Blog: Surround sound for streaming radio - the challenges
Simon Tuff, a senior engineer at the BBC, takes up the technological challenges being met in producing surround sound for online audio. Alan Ogilvie in the first surround sound blog post talked about some of the challenges we face when delivering surround sound online as well as some of the changes that make this increasingly feasible. In this second part I'll look at what broadcasters like the BBC are doing to create surround sound content for you to enjoy as well as some of the challenges this has created - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukRadio leaves the BBC iPlayer, and more - James Cridland
A large amount of tweets appeared after this announcement, unnecessarily worried and it even made Erik Huggers come out of Twitter retirement and post his first tweet for three months Audiences will still discover both live and ondemand audio in iPlayer. We will however build a new dedicated product for Radio and Music which looks a little confusing to me is it coming out, or staying in. BBC radio is mostly consumed live online 74 is live, rather than the 13 of TV viewing. - james.cridland.netjames.cridland.netMurdoch employs BP strategy
It goes like this company suffers a disaster company offers comprehensive financial settlement to victims of the disaster company admits to its own shortcomings, but implies that an entire industry has also engaged in similar flawed practices. That broadly describes the response of BP to the appalling oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Once they have the details, they will offer settlements to those celebs, politicians and others whose privacy may have been invaded - to cut out the requirement for huge lawyers' fees. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukAirCast Red Button TV Information System Launched - UK Broadcast Film and Television News
AirCast is a new information system that enables hoteliers to distribute information to their guests via one or more interactive TV channels dedicated to hotel-specific information. As AirCast is truly interactive, guests can quickly and easily access the information they want, when they want. The information that can be made available to guests via the TV is wide-ranging, including live feeds - such as News, Sports and Weather - together with standard hotel information and current promotions. - 4rfv.co.ukwww.4rfv.co.ukMonday 24 January 2011, AM
Local TV: a picture at last, but still poor reception | Steve Hewlett | Media | The Guardian
We've moved a long way from his initial ideas for a network of 80 local stations across the UK. His own inquiry, chaired by the investment banker Nicholas Shott and set up to examine the prospects for commercially sustainable local TV, put paid to that. Other things could be possible in future but that would depend on the availability of fast broadband to provide low-cost distribution. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukThe new BBC Broadcasting House: So what does 1bn buy? | Art and design | The Guardian
I am standing in the News Room of the BBC's gleaming and much-talked-about new building. With its vast pillars, spiralling staircases, and towering lift shafts painted red and orange, this cavernous, boldly modern space seems more like a submarine dock, the sort of place you might expect a James Bond shoot-out to take place, rather than somewhere for Huw Edwards to calmly read the news. The News Room may take up most of the basement and ground floor of the main wing of the 1bn new addition to Broadcasting House, but it is a surprisingly bright space, thanks to thefact that its glass ceiling is all but invisible, vanishing into the crevice-like atrium. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukYouView: mixed signals on new television platform
YouView will be different. One of the main criticisms of YouView from manufacturers and other platform operators is that YouView seeks to specify and control the user interface. However, the director general of the BBC observed that The user-experience and search and navigation environment will not unfairly exclude or favour some content players. He said anyone who meets the standard will be able to build YouView boxes, TVs and other devices which will encourage genuine competition in the consumer electronics market, just as it will in content and in the provision of broadband services and and encourage new entrants and new investment. - informitv.cominformitv.comFreeview viewers face retune as Dover transmitters changes signal
- www.kentnews.co.uk
The Andy Coulson affair raises the question who runs Britain? | Jackie Ashley | Comment is free | The Guardian
Westminster stories have a simple arc the scandal the uncovering therefusal to resign the resignation and closure. Sometimes the period from the first intimation of scandal to the resignation can be a matter of hours. So the Andy Coulson story seems on the surface to have a typical shape. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukStephen Glover: Does Cameron dare to disappoint Murdoch? - Stephen Glover, Opinion - The Independent
The most interesting question arising from Andy Coulson's resignation is whether it puts the Prime Minister in a better place. One or two have even speculated that David Cameron was happy to see his spin doctor go because he was generating so much unfavourable publicity for No 10. If Mr Coulson did end up in court, and were to be convicted, the uproar against Mr Cameron would know no bounds. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukSaturday 22 January 2011, AM
Friday 21 January 2011, AM
MPs to quiz candidate for role of BBC Trust chair | Media | The Guardian
Jeremy Hunt has rejected a Labour proposal that the last two shortlisted candidates for the BBC Trust role should be interviewed by parliament. Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt wrote to his Labour shadow, Ivan Lewis, saying it was appropriate that the candidate appear before the culture, media and sport select committee before they were confirmed in the job. Former education secretary Ed Balls caused a political furore when he overruled the education select committee in October 2009 after it said Maggie Atkinson should not be appointed children's commissioner. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukMaking the new BBC One HD trailer
The BBC likes to throw out challenges, and the wheel stopped on this one for me and the marketing team I work with. The BBC One part was the easy bit. BBC One is the place that brings people together to watch an incredibly rich and diverse range of programmes. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.uk
Get DAB radio on your mobile phone - January - 2011 - Which? News
The headset includes earphones and will enable users to listen to DABradio stations like Radio 5 Live Sports on the move and see station, artist and track information on the screen of their phone. Key criteria must be met before an FMto DAB radio switchover can take place. One of the key triggers is that 50 of all radio listening must be on a digital platform. This brings a switchover date within easier reach than if the digital listening figure was based on DABalone. - which.co.ukwww.which.co.ukNokia gives away DAB headset
- radiotoday.co.ukThursday 20 January 2011, PM
Viewers could wait until 2012 for YouView launch - January - 2011 - Which? News
A senior YouView executive is quoted by the Daily Telegraph as saying It just doesn't work when you turn it on and keeps crashing. We will understand our launch position better by the end of March 2011. The YouView project is expected to cost a total of 115 million, shared across its partners, and the BBC is predicted to have spent six million pounds on the project to the end of April 2011. - which.co.ukwww.which.co.uk
Digital switchover in Harpenden and Wheathampstead From St Albans Harpenden Review)
The existing analogue television is being turned off and to keep a service residents will need to convert their TVs to digital before the switchover date. Satellite and cable services such as Sky, Freesat and Virgin Media are not affected by switchover. Residents can check when they will be affected on the website for Digital UK, the organisation leading switchover in the UK at www.digitaluk.co.uk/home or by calling the helpline number 08456 505 050. - stalbansreview.co.ukwww.stalbansreview.co.ukCan Hunt do a deal with Murdoch to meet Ofcoms concerns?
Today I think Mr Hunt is doing just that - or at least over the past few days a number of informed sources have told me that is what Mr Hunt is doing. As I revealed in a post earlier this month, Ofcom has made a clear recommendation to Mr Hunt that the proposed takeover should be referred to the Competition Commission for further scrutiny, because of the potential damage to plurality or media choice for citizens, especially in the provision of news. They insist there is nothing strange in Mr Hunt's failure yet to publish Ofcom's report - which he received on the last day of 2010 - or to say how he will respond to its recommendation. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukLandmark arts series Civilisation in HD
The critically acclaimed 13-part series was first shown on BBC Two in 1969 and swiftly became one of the most important arts series of its time. Last shown in its entirety on the BBC in 2005, the repeat is part of the BBC's wider commitment to the arts through showcasing the jewels of its arts archive to new audiences and providing the biggest depth and range of original arts programming. The series was originally shot on 35mm film to ensure the highest possible quality, which has enabled it to be remastered for HD. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.uk
Time to switch on local TV? | Comment | Broadcast
20 January, 2011 By Lisa Campbell Jeremy Hunts plan is laudable, but lessons must be learned from radio. It takes just 2 minutes and offers full, instant access to the Broadcast website along with a copy of the magazine delivered every week. - broadcastnow.co.ukwww.broadcastnow.co.uk
Sky boosts development budget 160%
C21Media.net is Everything about content in the 21st Century, from television to web, mobile, tablet and beyond. - c21media.netwww.c21media.net
BBC News - Rural UK could get cheaper broadband under Ofcom plans
20 January 2011 Last updated at 0937 ET Rural parts of the UK could be set for cheaper broadband under plans set out by the communications regulator. Ofcom wants BT to reduce its wholesale charges by between 10.75 and 14.75 below the RPI measure of inflation. It is mainly in rural areas where BT is the only provider of wholesale broadband services. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.uk
YouView risks becoming obsolete as launch further delayed until 2012 - Telegraph
YouView, the BBC-backed internet connected set top box, which will offer viewers a programme guide that goes seven days back in time, was due to launch by July of this year. However, according to insiders, YouView, which was originally meant to go on sale in 2010, will be lucky to get off the ground before the 2012 London Olympics, having failed to agree technical standards with a key TV industry body and function properly when tested. If they can't get it out before the Olympics, which is looking less and less likely, I wouldn't bother. - telegraph.co.ukwww.telegraph.co.ukMedia Talk podcast: Jeremy Hunt unveils his grand plan for local TV
download.guardian.co.ukThursday 20 January 2011, AM
BBC remasters Civilisation for HD | Media | guardian.co.uk
Civilisation 'defined a new gold standard for arts programming'. Photograph BBC It was a landmark documentary series that is still discussed in hushed tones today. Now Kenneth Clark's Civilisation, the acclaimed BBC2 series from 1969 that traced the history of western art and philosophy, is to be remastered in high definition for a new generation of television viewers. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
Audiophiles make me laugh. If you visit the What... fscked.co.uk
If you visit the What Hi-fi offices, do you think their computers use these cables to connect to their proofing printers, so they can get better midrange colour saturation and superior high-end vibrance - fscked.co.ukfscked.co.ukRichard Lambert and Lord Patten favourites to be BBC Trust chairman | Media | guardian.co.uk
With his media and financial experience on the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, outgoing CBI director general Lambert is seen as a safe pair of hands. He has applied for the job before, after Gavyn Davies resigned in the wake of the Hutton inquiry in 2004. Patten has already been interviewed and the other candidates are due to be seen over the next few days. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukWednesday 19 January 2011, PM
Sky offers private landlords help in making the switchover to digital - RL news
Many private landlords are still unclear about the actions they need to make to prepare for the digital switchover according to research carried out by Sky. Many regions such as the West Country, Wales and Granada have already made the switch with the remainder to follow by 2012. Skys research found that a substantial number of private apartment blocks are still not fully digitally ready. - residentiallandlord.co.ukwww.residentiallandlord.co.ukMinister announces local TV channel plans - TV Radio, Media - The Independent
Licences for local television services will be handed out before the end of 2012. One that will sit alongside other public service broadcasters, offering a new voice for local communities, with local perspectives that are directly relevant to them. We will wait for the necessary technical assessment to be completed and we will listen to the commercially viable proposals that come forward. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukIvan Lewis accuses Jeremy Hunt of bias over News Corp/Sky takeover | Media | guardian.co.uk
Lewis launched a broadside against Hunt, the culture secretary, accusing him of failing to act in the public interest by continuing to sit on the media regulator's recommendation on whether the News Corp/Sky deal should be referred to the Competition Commission on media plurality grounds. He was referring to comments Hunt made last year, before taking over Vince Cable's responsibility for deciding whether to refer the proposed deal to competition regulators, where he said he could not see much difference in News Corp taking full control of Sky. To this end he said that Labour intended to launch a review investigating the possibility of transforming the BBC into a mutual organisation. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukMark Thompson warns over two-speed internet | Media | guardian.co.uk
Mark Thompson has now entered into the debate about net neutrality. There have been discussions recently about whether ISPs should have the right to charge premium rates to companies who are willing to pay extra to ensure their own content is delivered first. Opponents of that idea argue all content should be treated equally and delivered over networks on a first come, first served basis. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukJeremy Hunt plans new national TV channel - video | Media | guardian.co.uk
- www.guardian.co.uk
Local TV channel carrying news and information to be launched on Freeview by 2013 | Mail Online
The coalition aims to have the service up and running by 2013. It is believed it will be part of the channels offered on Freeview. He will invite firms to register their interest in running the channel, which will carry local news and content, by March 1. - dailymail.co.ukwww.dailymail.co.ukBBCs Thompson issues warning over future of free-to-air broadcasting
He said platforms such as YouView, which is a partnership with other public service broadcasters, were becoming increasingly important because of the fact there is going to be an intense battle for the living room over the coming years. - thestage.co.ukwww.thestage.co.uk
Thompson: free TV "has a lot to prove" | News | Broadcast
19 January, 2011 By Catherine Neilan Free-to-air broadcasting has a lot to do and a lot to prove if it is to exist in the future, Mark Thompson has claimed. It takes just 2 minutes and offers full, instant access to the Broadcast website along with a copy of the magazine delivered every week. - broadcastnow.co.ukwww.broadcastnow.co.ukJeremy Hunt considers online TV crackdown | Media | guardian.co.uk
Jeremy Hunt is to consider tougher regulation of online TV. Hunt admitted that while he did not believe it was possible to introduce blanket regulation for the internet, he was keen to put online content rules under scrutiny. Today, TV content on the internet is subject to no regulations even if it was made by a traditional broadcaster and streamed over broadband meaning that there are no taste and decency or impartiality requirements. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukGovernment unveils local TV action plan
Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has launched an action plan for introducing local TV. New and existing media providers have been invited to register their interest by 1 March and come forward with suggestions on how a channel dedicated to local news and content could work best. The new act will aim to allow the UK's digital and creative industries to move to the next stage and play their fullest possible role in promoting competition, innovation and economic growth. - dtg.org.ukwww.dtg.org.ukGovernment confirm new DCMS responsibilities
Competition and policy issues relating to media, broadcasting, digital and telecoms sectors are now the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport. He will continue to work closely with BIS ministers. DTG Staff 19.01.2011 Links open in a new window. - dtg.org.ukwww.dtg.org.uk
Belgiums TV phone-in scandal | Media | guardian.co.uk
Well, Belgian TV is now embroiled in a similar controversy. A government minister said tighter rules were essential, but if they did not work then Belgium should follow the example of the Netherlands by banning all TV phone-in games. To find out more information about driving traffic to your content or to place this widget on your site, visit outbrain.com. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukLord Patten first interviewee for BBC Trust chairman | Media | guardian.co.uk
Lord Patten was said by one insider to be 'very keen' about the job. Interviews to find a replacement for Sir Michael Lyons, who is leaving in April, were not expected to begin until the end of this week. Some Department for Culture, Media and Sport insiders are also said to wonder whether or not his profile might eclipse that of culture secretary Jeremy Hunt. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukMinister announces local TV channel plans - TV Radio, Media - The Independent
Licences for local television services will be handed out before the end of 2012. One that will sit alongside other public service broadcasters, offering a new voice for local communities, with local perspectives that are directly relevant to them. We will wait for the necessary technical assessment to be completed and we will listen to the commercially viable proposals that come forward. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukJeremy Hunt to radically rethink media regulation | Media | guardian.co.uk
Jeremy Hunt said new communications act would be about more than 'tweaking the current system'. The new communications act is also expected to be used to scrap contract rights renewal, the mechanism that governs ITV1's ad sales. To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editormediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukIs local TV really the best idea Jeremy Hunt can put forward? | Media | guardian.co.uk
Jeremy Hunt ... doing the real business behind closed doors That's the legal process you see that's how we debate media policy in this country. Dull discussion about media policy in public, while the minister takes the big decisions without wider consultation behind the scenes. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukWednesday 19 January 2011, AM
Action plan to make local TV a reality
Government aims to award licences by the end of 2012. Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has launched an action plan to make his vision of local TV a reality. Speaking at the Oxford Media Convention, Mr Hunt said the initiative would offer communities a new voice and provide local perspectives directly relevant to them. - culture.gov.ukwww.culture.gov.ukArqiva seeks partner for online TV venture | Media | guardian.co.uk
Last October Arqiva completed a strategic review of SeeSaw, which employs about 30 staff, and is set to begin the hunt for an investment partner. Arqiva plans to look at all investment options for the business in order to support SeeSaw's long-term success. To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editormediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
TV news gets local touch with new channel - Telegraph
The new channel will be available on Freeview and is likely to be in operation by the spring of 2013. The most likely spot is at Channel 6, which is currently occupied by ITV2. The channel may also be made available via Sky and Virgin, but no decision has yet been taken as to whether they will be forced to carry it. - telegraph.co.ukwww.telegraph.co.uk
Jeremy Hunt unveils plan for new national television channel | Media | guardian.co.uk
Under the plan, which echoes the model championed by local TV company Channel 6's Richard Horwood, the national digital terrestrial channel will use a network affiliate model, with guaranteed opt-outs at specific times of the day, so that a range of local services can be featured. He intends to use legislation to ensure that the new Freeview channel secures a slot high up on digital TV electronic programme guides. The final report delivered to government by Lazard investment banker Nicholas Shott last month said that a total of only 10 to 12 TV services might work in major conurbations, broadcasting up to two hours of content daily. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukI love TV innovations so why am I a 3D refusenik? | Media | guardian.co.uk
There is considerable consumer resistance to the heavily engineered and expensively adapted for TV glasses. Six of us sat down in a large drawing room, on a dark gloomy evening to watch the new 3D Sky channel on the new TV, which left little change from 2,000. Until going 3D, the household had subscribed to the basic Sky entertainment package, costing 19.50 a month, plus HD another 10. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukErik Huggers to leave the BBC
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