Great things to read about British TV from March 2008 to today

ITV Player to go on PlayStation 3 | Media | guardian.co.uk

It is the first commercial catch-up TV service to go on the games console, which already gives users access to the BBC's iPlayer. Total long and short-form video views on ITV.com more than doubled last year to 200m. ITV Player content on PlayStation 3 will be free and advertiser funded. - guardian.co.uk

France blamed for TV signal glitches down to

Viewers across the Island have reported losing the signal for ITV, Channel 4 and related channels. Experts believe the problem is linked to the switch to digital transmission in France, which like the UK, is replacing its terrestrial network. Wight Aerials boss Mike Downes said they had been contacted by people from Freshwater to Sandown, experiencing problems. - iwcp.co.uk

www.iwcp.co.uk

Thursday 19 August 2010, PM

Thursday 19 August 2010, AM

IP Vision submits Canvas complaint to Ofcom

However, this group of industry Goliaths, supported in part by BBC licence fee funds, will have the power to dominate the sectoreven though what Canvas will offer will not be superior to solutions already on the market. Surely this cant be good for the UK television industry or for the consumer Abrams continued As well as requesting a level playing field for IP Vision and other young, innovative companies in this space, we believe that by questioning the validity of the Canvas joint venture, we are also championing the consumer. - dtg.org.uk

www.dtg.org.uk

Television viewing increases despite rise of internet and social media | UK news | The Guardian

Television viewing figures have continued to rise to their highest point in five years despite competition from the internet and social media networks. Photograph Getty Predictions that the internet would kill the television star appear to be premature. Just as the cinema survived the advent of home video, TV is booming despite the growth of digital media and popularity of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. - guardian.co.uk

Too high a price: Why huge executive salaries are the bane of the BBC -TV Radio, Media - The Independent

So much so that corporation staff, furious at plans to change their pension scheme, are threatening strike action next month that could target landmark broadcasts such as coverage of the Last Night of the Proms and the autumn party conferences. The BBC employs 85 senior managers on salaries of more than the 142,500 paid to the Prime Minister. The corporation's top 15 executives were paid 4.76m last year, up from 4.6m in 2008-09, according to figures released last month. - independent.co.uk

Wednesday 18 August 2010, PM

Ofcom s legal team: 2 people : | OfcomWatch |

www.ofcomwatch.co.uk

Project Canvas prompts new Ofcom complaint The Register

Some of the issues raised in the new filing are familiar and were discussed by Virgin Media in its own Canvas Ofcom filing. One is that the project isn't needed and would swamp the market. Ofcom hinted last year that Canvas could be halted if it was judged to skew the market, reminding broadcasters that they must give alternative platform access to the content. - theregister.co.uk

www.theregister.co.uk

Safeguarding the BBCs archive

There are almost five million items held on a wide variety formats including film, dating back to 1936, videotape, first introduced into the BBC in the late sixties and numerous audio tape and disc including a small collection of wax cylinders which date back to the early 1900s. The collection is made up of 650,000 film components, 2.4 million videotapes and 2 million Radio sound items. 75 of the holdings reside in London with the rest deposited around the BBC's Nations and Regions in smaller local collections. - bbc.co.uk

Tuesday 17 August 2010, PM

Music licensing: A nightmare in the digital world | MyCE My Consumer Electronics

Now we can all see the complexity of music licensing, rights, and royalties at a glance, thanks to a flowchart created by Pure, the company which just launched cloud-based music service FlowSongs. Yassaie noted during his talk that it took him about three hours to decipher the chart after it was explained, and that there were many instances when he felt like giving up. Basically, what you are looking at in the flowchart is based upon copyright legislation which was enacted in the 18th century and has simply been added on to as technological innovations have eventually brought us the digital world we live in today. - myce.com

www.myce.com

ITV.com Managing Director Appointed - ITV Press Centre

ITV.com should be about extending exclusive content, video on demand and monetisation both through the business of advertising and directly from the consumer. It is also vital that we identify the right distribution strategy for the ITV player and effectively integrate the product where appropriate. Please note that the above press contact will only respond to enquiries from the Press. - itv.com

www.itv.com

Digital switchover reaches final stage

www.thecourier.co.uk

ITV.com MD revealed | News | Broadcast

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.uk

Monday 16 August 2010, PM

Intel succumbs to evolution of 4G

Over recent months, a number of network operators who supported WiMax have indicated they are making the switch to LTE. Intel itself recently closed its WiMax program office in Taiwan, although it insists that this does not mean it is dropping the technology. Weve never said it will be the only solution, weve said it will be a timely solution. Nevertheless, analysts said the company appeared to be backing away from the technology. - ft.com

www.ft.com

Hundreds of Colchester homes still not ready for digital TV From Gazette)

Many homes in the district still cannot pick up digital television just months before the analogue TV signal is switched off for good. Greenstead residents in and around Scarfe Way and Avon Way have often had poor reception and say they have never been able to use Freeview boxes. Tiptree residents Brian and Linda King, of Oak Road, had to install Sky just to be able to watch television. - gazette-news.co.uk

www.gazette-news.co.uk

Greg Dyke rejects approach over top job at Five | Media | The Observer

Seven of the channel's nine directors are leaving as part of a cost-cutting drive that will see up to 80 jobs go from the 300-strong workforce. The most high-profile departure is that of Airey, Five's chairman and chief executive. Airey was Channel 5's director of programming when it launched, with David Elstein as chief executive until RTL assumed control in 2000. - guardian.co.uk

i-CAN EASY HD TO OFFER SKY SPORTS 1 2 AND ESPN TO FREEVIEW VIEWERS WITH TOP UP TV

www.pr-inside.com

BBC Feedback: 13 Aug 2010: coverage of the Charles Taylor trial

downloads.bbc.co.uk

Tories backtrack on broadband promise | Technology | guardian.co.uk

The government has shelved plans to look at how fibre-optic networks are taxed in the UK. Several network operators are angry that Ed Vaizey, minister for culture, communications and creative industries, has not delivered on his pledge to review the business rates that are applied to fibre networks. Vaizey revealed last week that this review would not take place, following a meeting with the branch of HM Revenue Customs which taxes fibre networks in the UK. - guardian.co.uk

HD: Highly Disgusted

As you know Im not the biggest fan of the Royals but even I think the latest slice of celebrating Queenies Jubilee year has gone too far. Last updated 21 December 2012 Published by http//www.newsandstar.co.uk Stay out of peoples private lives In the grand scheme of things and in a real world where innocents are slaughtered in their schoolrooms and homelessness, abject poverty and hunger live cheek by jowl with eyewatering wealth it matters not a jot. Last updated 20 December 2012 Published by http//www.newsandstar.co.uk Follow the News Star on - newsandstar.co.uk

www.newsandstar.co.uk

Project Canvas specification not so open after all

The specification is still work in progress and as such a wider release would not be in the interests of either members of the DTG or wider interested parties. However, the completed technical specification will be published in due course. Separately, informitv has made a formal request for the release of the documents under the Freedom of Information Act. Given that the stated aim is to create an open technical specification, the BBC appears remarkably reluctant to release any details for public scrutiny, at least until the specification is completed. - informitv.com

informitv.com

Monday 16 August 2010, AM

Two months to plot a media regulation big bang? Get ready for shrapnel | Media | The Guardian

Pity those poor civil servants in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. MPs may wail that the usual three-month summer recess has been cut to two such an outrage but in Cockspur Street there is justifiable woe. Not only may half of them be made redundant under plans put forward by the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, but they are working harder than ever to find ways of cutting media regulation. - guardian.co.uk

Who will Richard Desmond keep at Channel 5? | Media | The Guardian

Richard Desmond outside Channel 5's Long Acre offices - which will be one casualty of his cost-cutting. Desmond doesn't need a well-paid broadcasting cadre his lieutenants do all that. The previous management structure was one for a standalone terrestrial channel, aping Channel 4, in a highly regulated market. - guardian.co.uk

Coronation Streets dramatic dilemma | Media | The Guardian

I feel I understand the soul of the show my mum worked in a factory like the factory that sits on the street and I grew up on an estate that I suppose people would call a bit rough. If Collinson is daunted at taking the programme through its 50th anniversary this December, he doesn't show it. People haven't got used to Thursdays yet so we need to look at how to make them feel more important, but all the conversations have been about what we do between now and December and how we make sure people don't turn on for the anniversary week and then turn off again the week after. - guardian.co.uk

Where CBeebies toddles next | Media | The Guardian

Fletcher presents and helps create some of CBeebies' most popular programmes, from Something Special, where he uses sign language to communicate with children with learning difficulties, to Gigglebiz, a sketch show in which children also tell their own jokes. Benbow, 48, comes from the heartland of the children's department CBBC. She helped to commission two of the biggest hits supplied by independents In the Night Garden and Waybuloo, which mixes children with animated characters exactly the kind of crossover she wants more of. - guardian.co.uk

Wales needs S4C but it needs debate, too | Media | The Guardian

Traditionally, this Welsh-language television network was regarded in Wales as a sacred cow and by British politicians as not worth meddling with. This is a very welcome development, even if it has been forced by a crisis. Trouble has been quietly brewing at S4C for several years. - guardian.co.uk

LTE or not, WiMax 2 set to roll out in 2012 - Computerworld

802.16m will be significantly faster than its predecessor. In contrast, Sprint's initial Xohm WiMax offering, which debuted commercially in 2008, delivered downlink speeds ranging between 3.7M to 5Mbps. 802.16m will also be backward compatible with 802.16e, the WiMax standard currently used by operators in the United States. - computerworld.com

www.computerworld.com

Sunday 15 August 2010, PM

Murdoch s New iPaper: One Last Tragic Roll Of The Digital Dice

Surely no-one, not even a dyed-in-the-wool newspaperman like Murdoch, would be stupid enough to launch a new national title in the current climate. Of course the idea is doomed that much should go without saying. Like so many of Murdochs recent forays into paid-for online news, it reflects less a bold strategy to convince a new generation of readers that good journalism is worth paying for and more the 79-year News Corp proprietors desperation to keep the cash flow coming until the companys profitability becomes someone elses problem. - techcrunch.com

techcrunch.com

Humax HDR-Fox T2 review - Pocket-lint

Sorry, we couldn't find the page you were looking for. The page has either been moved, or the link you entered was wrong. - pocket-lint.com

www.pocket-lint.com

Friday 13 August 2010, PM

Whats On BBC Red Button 14th - 27th August

Viewers pressing red on their remotes from Monday 16th August can watch performances from 12 Melas across the UK on a special programme available for 7 days. Viewers will have a choice of up to three streams of music recorded live from the festival, plus we'll be showing extended sets from more than 30 bands including Blink 182, Arcade Fire and the long-awaited return of The Libertines. This is a part of a BBC Learning campaign to get the nation to learn how to bake and go on to raise some money for Children in Need. - bbc.co.uk

No charge for Coronation Street -TV Radio, Media - The Independent

- independent.co.uk

icperthshire.icnetwork.co.uk

TV picture quality getting better and better - Which? News

14 August 2010 Television test cards have never looked this good The latest TV test results from the technology experts at Which show that the upsurge in picture quality is no flash in the pan. A core of big brand TV manufacturers are producing televisions that deliver excellent picture quality, both in standard and high definition. Best Buy TVs TVs with great pictures don't necessarily make the fabled Which - which.co.uk

www.which.co.uk

Digital switchover in progress in Strath

Despite the myriad of information that has been circulating since the announcement of the process, many residents were disappointed to find that the change from analogue to digital was not going to be as straightforward as they thought, nor were they going to receive as many channels as presumed. There are a number of different ways to receive digital television, one of which is via an aerial. Almost everyone will be able to receive the UKs public service television channels by this method after switchover. - icperthshire.icnetwork.co.uk

Ian Wright falls victim to Channel 5 costcutting | Media | guardian.co.uk

Wright, one of the co-hosts of magazine-style early evening show Live from Studio Five, failed to appear on last night's show after being told by management his contract would not be renewed. The programme, which airs between 6.30pm and 7.30pm, is also being cut to 30 minutes to avoid clashing with BBC1's The One Show, which starts at 7pm. To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editormediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. - guardian.co.uk

Friday 13 August 2010, AM

HTML5, open standards, and the BBC

Open standards have always been part of the BBC's DNA. They are fundamental to driving market innovation and will always be important to the BBC's mission to introduce the benefits of new technology to society. Open standards have the ability to transform our lives for the better. - bbc.co.uk

Media Talk: The Channel 5 'bloodbath'

download.guardian.co.uk

Thursday 12 August 2010, PM

Bloodbath on Five as Richard Desmond clears out seven directors | Media | The Guardian

Seven out of nine directors are leaving, including the chairman and chief executive Dawn Airey, as part of a 20m cost- cutting drive that will lead to between 60 and 80 job losses more than a quarter of about 300 employees. In the intervening period Desmond dispatched key lieutenants from his media company, Northern Shell, to conduct a root-and-branch review of Five, with cost-cutting top of the agenda. Here they are likely to share premises with Portland TV, Desmond's adult pay-TV business. - guardian.co.uk

Happy talk: The worlds first speaking Freeview box lands - Pocket-lint

The TTS capabilities are aimed squarely at groups such as the elderly, blind or partially sighted, and dyslexic who have to deal daily with EPGs, digital text and on screen menus and settings. John Edwards, director of communications at Harvard International added We are thrilled to be joining together with such respected and knowledgeable organisations to share the joint vision of creating a product which could help millions of people to enjoy the latest digital television. The box has all the usual features that you'd expect with a Freeview machine such as a 7-day EPG, reminders and parental controls. - pocket-lint.com

www.pocket-lint.com

"Merciless" C5 cuts stun suppliers | News | Broadcast

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.uk

UKTV confirms Darren Childs as chief executive | Media | guardian.co.uk

Childs, who was revealed late last month by MediaGuardian.co.uk to be close to taking the role, will start next month. He replaces David Abraham, who resigned in January to become Channel 4 chief executive. To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editormediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. - guardian.co.uk

Ofcom blocks BSkyB spoiler move against Top Up TV | Media | guardian.co.uk

Top Up TV subscribers with more basic set-top boxes that could only take the two sports services, rather than have them as part of a bundle of channels, would have been prevented from having them. Top Up TV lodged a complaint with Ofcom over the issue. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. - guardian.co.uk

Thursday 12 August 2010, AM

Enter Desmond, exit Airey with a sting in her tail -TV Radio, Media - The Independent

Richard Desmond announced a savage programme of job cuts at the terrestrial television Channel 5 yesterday, just weeks after his 103.5m takeover of the loss-making broadcaster. He told the channel's 300 staff that up to a quarter of them would lose their jobs. Its outgoing chief executive, Dawn Airey, will be one of seven executives to leave. - independent.co.uk

Knives at Five: Can Richard Desmond rescue his new channel? -TV Radio, Media - The Independent

Despite a dramatic cost-cutting drive during the downturn, Desmond has left employees reeling as he axed seven out of the nine executive-board directors and revealed plans to slash 80 further jobs. However, it is understood that she was asked to stay and will be managing the handover process over the next few months, before joining the broadcaster's former owner, RTL. Only Five's sales director, Kelly Williams, and Jeff Ford, its managing director of digital channels, remain from the senior team. - independent.co.uk