Monday 15 November 2010, PM
BBC Worldwide sells 97m stake in Discovery joint venture | Media | guardian.co.uk
Today's deal brings to an end a 13-year broadcast partnership between the BBC and Discovery, which began in 1997. He said the scale of next year's dividend payment to the BBC was still to be decided. The dividend to the BBC has been growing very substantially over the last few years. - guardian.co.uk
www.guardian.co.ukBBC - Jersey goes digital on 17 November
Jersey will switch to digital television at the end of 2010 On Wednesday 17 November 2010 Jersey's analogue television signal will be switched off, with a new digital system turned on in its place. This will then allow Freeview digital channels to be broadcast across the islands for the first time. All terrestrial TV services from the Fremont Point transmitter will be off-air during the night. - news.bbc.co.uk
news.bbc.co.ukMonday 15 November 2010, AM
Channel 6 would favour local programming - Telegraph
There has been much scepticism in recent months as to whether Mr Hunt's vision for a nationwide network of local TV channels is commercially viable. Mr Shott is looking at other proposals but Mr Horwood's is understood to be one of the preferred options. However, it is understood one concern held by Mr Shott's team is that the geographic spectrum suggested by Mr Horwood to carry the channel will not be sufficient to cover certain parts of the country. - telegraph.co.uk
www.telegraph.co.ukIts audiences who make and break TV stars l Maggie Brown | Media | The Guardian
The Miriam OReilly and BBC tribunal doesn't focus on the fact that it is actually audiences who decide on the stars they love or hate. This group of media achievers, one of whose founder members is Sheila Hancock, plays a gutsy role in promoting the achievements of women across these fickle sectors. Now it seems the next really fundamental cause has presented itself via an industrial tribunal the issue and practice of ageism, ruthless station controllers drumming wrinkly women off screen, and excluding, without regret, unknown others. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukSunday 14 November 2010, AM
In the Grip of the Internet Monopolists - WSJ.com
It wouldn't be impossible, but for even a moderate Internet user, it would be a real pain. For most of us, avoiding the Internet's dominant firms would be a lot harder than bypassing Starbucks, Wal-Mart or other companies that dominate some corner of what was once called the real world. So why does it look increasingly like a Monopoly board - online.wsj.com
online.wsj.comSaturday 13 November 2010, PM
BT and TalkTalk win judicial review of Digital Economy Act on all four grounds | Technology | guardian.co.uk
TalkTalk is challenging the Digital Economy Act with BT. It does little to change the course of the controversial Act in the short term, but it stops the dust settling. Other rights holders, also generally supportive of the Act and its measures, believe there is little to say until Ofcom's draft initial obligations code, expected in the next few weeks. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukSaturday 13 November 2010, AM
Sling Media Slingbox Pro-HD network TV tuner reghardware
Review It's really hard to recommend a product from a vendor who, having taken 250 for the hardware, then expects you to fork out a further 18 to get the best out of your purchase. At least you get all the cables you need... Its parsimony might not be so bad if said hardware - the latest in the Slingbox line - delivered a more consumer friendly experience than it does. - reghardware.com
www.reghardware.com25 workers sacked at call centre for handing out free Sky TV packages - The Daily Record
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www.dailyrecord.co.ukFriday 12 November 2010, PM
Unthinkable - UK company can put four TV channels in your PC server
-www.unthinkable.biz
BBC Red Button 'must be cheaper' says BBC Trust
The report found while it was the UK's most used interactive TV service with 12.7m users per week, its cost - 39.3m last year - needs to be reduced. The Trust recommended a less varied service between digital TV platforms to lower distribution costs. It also suggested it focuses on its digital text and live events content instead of covering various genres. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukDAB+ and DAB the differences, and why it s not for the UK - James Cridland
Given its been many years of work, Im delighted for him and his team. Your iPod uses AAC as standard aacPlus uses a number of clever techniques to make it more efficient, so audio sounds better at lower bitrates. Many DAB radios on sale today will cope with DAB automatically, or will prompt you with instructions on how to upgrade which could be as easy as typing a code in, or downloading some new firmware. - james.cridland.net
james.cridland.netOctober BBC iPlayer monthly performance pack
This is a month-on-month increase of 22, with requests up 43 year-on-year. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukBBC iPlayer on BT Vision: top line technical details
This is all the more enjoyable when the experience is accessed from the same remote as the TV, as is the case with BT Vision. TV programmes are delivered in the WMV format at a total data rate of 1300kbit/sec. BT Vision tell us that all customers should be able to watch this without interruption, whatever their broadband connection speed. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukFormer ITN chief demands urgent action on ITV local news | Media | guardian.co.uk
He also argued that the new local TV services should be subject to more relaxed regulations regarding advertising and impartiality. To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editormediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukFirst broadcast of interview with creator of Doctor Who theme
In the interview she reveals that one of the primary influences on her music, including Doctor Who, were the abstract sounds she heard as a child during the Coventry blitz. Inside Out also features previously unseen footage of Delia later in life at a Doctor Who fan convention. But, 47 years on, the Doctor Who theme is probably the most famous piece of electronic music in the world. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukFriday 12 November 2010, AM
download.guardian.co.ukThursday 11 November 2010, PM
Digital Economy Act to get judicial review - November - 2010 - Which? News
The act, which aims to curb illegal filesharing, was passed in April prior to the coalition government coming to power. BT and TalkTalk feel that the act was rushed through parliament, and are concerned that the basic rights and freedoms of internet users are impinged upon. Most controversial is the so-called three strikes rule, whereby users accused of illegal file sharing would be disconnected after three warnings about their online behaviour. - which.co.uk
www.which.co.ukBBC Red Button: BBC Trust Service Licence Review
This review follows a public consultation undertaken in late 2009, which produced over 5,600 responses, and included a study of the BBC's own research into how viewers engage with the service. I have captured the key points below but the full report can be read on the BBC Trust website. Wide usage The review shows that BBC Red Button has a large and varied audience. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukBBC and BT partner to bring BBC iPlayer to BT Vision
All BT Vision customers will be able to access the service by April 2011. Over 20 million of those requests were delivered to TVs. The software will be delivered as a phased upgrade, which will start in December 2010 and conclude by April 2011. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukBBC Trust review of Red Button finds service has high reach but should look to tighten focus and reduce costs
Please visit the BBC Trust homepage to find the information you want. you may have typed the web address incorrectly - please check the spelling, or that there are no spaces or capital letters. Alternatively, please try the other links and search box on this page. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukFuture of Digital Economy Act in limbo until next year, say lawyers | Technology | guardian.co.uk
The house of commons during a reading of the digital economy bill, April 2010 The Digital Economy Act, which has divided creative industries since its first inception, has hit what may turn into a considerable stumbling block. He heard both sides and fairly quickly came to the view that there was a case to answer. Privately, though, lawyers familiar with the proceedings suspect BT and TalkTalk don't rate their chances of an injunction being granted, and that the review is little more than an adjunct to the pair's campaign against the act. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukThursday 11 November 2010, AM
YouView presses ahead with plans for 2011 launch | City A.M.
BBC-backed online TV service YouView stepped up preparations for its launch next year by officially approaching content providers who want to join the venture. YouView, which will support video and audio streaming as well as web-based apps, is discussing the technical implications of uploading content from disparate providers to a single platform. Richard Halton, chief executive of YouView, said Our ambition is to open up the TV screen to content providers who until now have been unable to build an audience, bringing viewers a brilliant choice of content. - cityam.com
www.cityam.comTV ad growth forecast to continue | Media | guardian.co.uk
The 2010 rebound in UK TV advertising revenues looks set to run to the end of the year, with December forecast to be up by as much as 10 year on year. A straw poll of media buying agency executives by MediaGuardian.co.uk puts the average expectation for December at about 8.5 up year-on-year. The runup to Christmas is being closely watched by the industry because last December marked the end of the TV advertising recession, with revenues rising by about 11 compared to the same month in 2008. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
Former BBC1 controller: I dont hate women - TV Radio, Media - The Independent
Jay Hunt, the former BBC1 controller, insisted that during her tenure at the channel, she had promoted a number of women in their forties and older into prime-time television slots. I am a 43-year-old woman, I have had my own difficulties surviving this industry. For that reason, the last thing I would ever do is ever discriminate against anyone on the basis of gender or age. - independent.co.uk
www.independent.co.ukBBC offers unions fresh pension talks for call to end next strike | Media | The Guardian
BBC journalists protesting outside television centre last week. The BBC director general, Mark Thompson, talked to union officials yesterday in an attempt to avoid another 48-hour shutdown, which would result in programmes being taken off air. The NUJ, which organised strikes on Friday and Saturday, will meet today to decide whether to accept the offer and call off the latest round of industrial action. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukWednesday 10 November 2010, PM
Domestic woe for the BBCs Earl of White City | Markets Analysis
Forget the historical nitpicking, Downton Abbey has been a huge success. Part melodramatic soap opera and part historical romance, it is a quality production that has achieved record audiences because of its appeal to a British society that remains obsessed with class. In recent weeks, that truth must have struck Thompson, a figure not unlike Downton Abbey's Earl of Grantham a liberal gentleman with a goodish fortune trying to protect an institution faced by problems in the servant quarters. - thisislondon.co.uk
www.thisislondon.co.ukLetter from BBC Trust Chairman to S4C Authority Chairman
Please visit the BBC Trust homepage to find the information you want. you may have typed the web address incorrectly - please check the spelling, or that there are no spaces or capital letters. Alternatively, please try the other links and search box on this page. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.uk
Net providers Digital Economy Act judicial review
A judge will now scrutinise whether the act is legal and justifiable, and could make wide-ranging recommendations. Internet service providers ISPs are unhappy with the part of the act that requires them to take action against suspected illegal file-sharers. Depending on the judge's ruling, the government may be forced to change or even scrap the legislation. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.uk
Ofcom told to improve performance | News | Broadcast
10 November, 2010 Ofcom must improve its handling of consumer switching, silent calls and broadband speeds, according to a report into the communications regulators performance. 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.uk
www.broadcastnow.co.ukTuesday 09 November 2010, PM
Ofcom plans supercharged Wi-Fi for rural areas - November - 2010 - Which? News
09 November 2010 Unless you live in one of our over populated cities, broadband access and speed can be a real problem. Ofcom, the communications regulator, has a plan to solve this problem and its called white space technology. Ofcom says white space, which is defined as the unused frequencies between TV channels, could be used to supply broadband access to remote rural locations that currently lack high-speed internet, or suffer a dearth of options. - which.co.ukwww.which.co.ukChannels 4 and 5 dismiss ITVs attack on CRR | Media | guardian.co.uk
The X Factor one of ITV's biggest hits. He said that there was no guarantee that ITV management would spend any more money on original programming if the broadcaster was freed from CRR. To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editormediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
Rupert Murdochs Sky bid will end up costing the earth | Media | guardian.co.uk
You can buy the shares, or rather a few of the 61 per cent that News Corp does not already own for 732p at the time of writing. All of which suggests at first sight that the City is pretty sure that the proposed bid - at 700p a share - will get past Britain's regulators. We ought to call this the Cameron/Murdoch-put. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukBBC iPlayer to go global - November - 2010 - Which? News
If you're yet to experience the freedom of on-demand TV, find out more in the free Whichonline TV guide. International iPlayer may take advertising Overseas viewers do not pay a TV licence fee, meaning that an international version of the iPlayer will have to be funded differently. One option is for the international version of the iPlayer to show advertising. - which.co.ukwww.which.co.ukTuesday 09 November 2010, AM
Monday 08 November 2010, PM
Trust's service review of BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four
Please visit the BBC Trust homepage to find the information you want. you may have typed the web address incorrectly - please check the spelling, or that there are no spaces or capital letters. Alternatively, please try the other links and search box on this page. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.uk
Homes hit with digital TV troubles From Bromsgrove Advertiser)
The problem has varied from people being without just a few programmes to homes losing all channels. Resident Darren Mansell said Since Thursday night last week large proportions of Bromsgrove residents have been without Freeview to varying degrees. DigitalUK which is performing this digital switch over work on the transmitter has not communicated any of this to residents and I assume they will try to sweep it under the carpet when they find out the scale of this problem. The problem was also highlighted by resident Andrew Bull. - bromsgroveadvertiser.co.uk
www.bromsgroveadvertiser.co.uk
Hybrid TV "finally come of age"
-www.iptv-news.comBBC R+D: Super Hi-Vision Trials: The Audio Setup
We used NHK's loudspeakers for the front three and a pair of ours for the surround channels. The return feeds from the NHK SHV kit were again fed through the console for level control and then routed to a 6-channel digital-to-analogue converter and thence to the loudspeakers in the listening room. The O2R was also used to introduce compensatory audio delays to get the sound and pictures in sync in the listening room. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukBBC told to improve formulaic and derivative shows | Media | guardian.co.uk
Bargain Hunt the BBC Trust said too many daytime shows were 'collectable hunting and property'. The report found that a third of viewers of BBC1, which has a total budget of 1.37bn or 41 of the licence fee, felt that the channel did not deliver good value for money. The report also said that, overall, it needed to work harder to reach some audience groups including viewers in Northern Ireland, Scotland, some regions of England and ethnic minorities. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukThe BBC has a duty to be distinctive | Media | guardian.co.uk
Car Booty the type of daytime show criticised by the BBC Trust in its review. Photograph BBC/Leopard Films The recently negotiated licence fee settlement, which will last for the remaining six years of our current royal charter, has predictably been the source of much debate. What is clear is that while the settlement gives the BBC certainty and stability, it is tough and will mean some difficult choices. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukBBC Trust publishes Licence Reviews
-www.bbc.co.ukBBC One, Two and Four performing well but audiences want even more distinctive programmes, Trust review find
Please visit the BBC Trust homepage to find the information you want. you may have typed the web address incorrectly - please check the spelling, or that there are no spaces or capital letters. Alternatively, please try the other links and search box on this page. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukMonday 08 November 2010, AM
Allan Leighton challenged James Murdoch on BSkyB bid - Telegraph
British Sky Broadcasting Group Mr Murdoch removed himself from the bid process but remained as chairman. As a result, Sir Nicholas Ferguson, senior independent director, was made deputy chairman to lead a special committee to consider the offer. News Corp notified the EC last week of its bid to buy the 68.9pc of BSkyB that it does not own. - telegraph.co.ukwww.telegraph.co.ukITV bosses narrowly avoid a Ratner moment | Media | The Guardian
Revenues are up and ratings are strong, driven by high-quality, high-value, must-see programming. Could this be the same network as the one that has The X Factor, Britain's most watched and talked-about show, the top-flight costume drama Downton Abbey, hard-hitting documentaries about life in prison in midweek prime time and the country's most popular soap in its 50th year and in some of the best form of its life Needless to say, perhaps, Norman and Crozier's comments have not gone down well back at the ranch, where programmers and producers thought they were doing creditably well. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
News Corp/Sky matters because only big news organisations can afford to survive | Media | The Guardian
Several years ago, when News International was last trying to lobby for a relaxation of the few cross-media ownership laws, two of its executives hit upon an ingenious idea. Why not calculate how much time people spend consuming each type of media during a day, and rank media companies' influence accordingly Not only did that fail to accord with any common-sense view of how the media influences us, it hardly suited NI to embrace a worldview that ranked Chris Tarrant those were the days above Rupert Murdoch's bestselling daily. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukBBC boss apologises after signing protest letter against BSkyB buyout | Media | The Guardian
BBC director-general Mark Thompson has apologised for signing letter criticising Rupert Murdoch. Today, the BBC Trust decided to release part of the minutes of its 21 October meeting early. Critically, though, the trustees did not say they were unhappy with the contents of the letter rather that they were unhappy with the process that was followed. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukSunday 07 November 2010, AM
A lesson for buyers of BSkyB: dont be beastly to the BBC and the Lib Dems | Media | The Observer
Suppose the Murdochs had tried to buy up BSkyB without spending the previous year politicking so volubly. James Murdoch explaining his call for the BBC to be shrunk not an ideal prelude to an attempt to increase the size of his own media empire. Photograph Murdo Macleod for the Guardian Suppose a few modest, going on demurely tactful, things. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukOfcom | Licensing Update Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2
Sky's retail prices are to change from 4 January 2011 as a result of the change to the VAT rate. The resulting changes to the maximum wholesale prices under the wholesale must-offer obligation have been calculated in accordance with the methodology set out in the Pay TV Statement. Ofcom has therefore decided to vary the licences for Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 to insert the new wholesale prices. - licensing.ofcom.org.uklicensing.ofcom.org.uk
Ofcom | Invitation to comment for public interest test
-stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk
Future of Freeview in doubt | News | Broadcast
4 November, 2010 By Kate Bulkley Freeview is fighting for its future after it emerged that top-level discussions have taken place about closing the organisation after digital switchover in 2012. 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.ukpick a page