Wednesday 17 March 2010, PM
GMG to drop original programming and cut staff at Channel M |Media |guardian.co.uk
The channel, which serves Great Manchester, will remain on air with four staff overseeing a mix of archive material, traffic and networked news in the short term. Channel M will stop broadcasting its magazine programme Channel M Today from Friday and switch to archive programmes and networked news. GMG said it was in consultation with the channel's 33 staff about the cuts. - guardian.co.uk
www.guardian.co.uk
The market doesnt need Project Canvas |Media |guardian.co.uk
The reason for Sky's growing interest in broadband delivered video is simple. As we invest more than 1.5bn a year in content, it is important to make that investment work as hard as possible. Taking an agnostic approach to technology means we can extract every drop of value from our investments while customers consume our content on their terms. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukTuesday 16 March 2010, PM
BBC iPlayer - Panorama: Are the Net Police Coming for You?
Music artists discuss unlawful file-sharing You must enable javascript to play content The record industry claims to be losing 200 million a year to people downloading music for free and the government is introducing the Digital Economy Bill in an attempt to combat this. - bbc.co.uk
www.bbc.co.ukVirgin Media HD V Box unveiled - Which? News
Virgin claims that the V HDBox, made by Cisco, will be 3D-ready. Film4 HD will show a daily line-up of movies. You'll also be able to watch international films in HD including US independent films, Hollywood blockbusters, mainstream drama and comedy. - which.co.uk
www.which.co.ukITVs Archie Norman considers U-turn on dumping regional news |Media |guardian.co.uk
The scheme is being rushed through parliament ahead of a likely May general election. ITV currently provides regional news programming for two of the three pilots, in Wales and the North-East and Border region, and staff in these areas will transfer to the consortiums. Should ITV wish to make a U-turn on dumping regional news production, the decision is not currently in its hands. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
Brits: ask your MP to demand a debate on new copyright law before voting! - Boing Boing
For context Labour cancelled its anti-fox-hunt legislation because there wasn't time for proper debate, but they're ramming through this copyright bill even though it's far more important and far-reaching -- for one thing, a broken UK Internet will make it harder for people who care about fox hunts one way or the other to organise and lobby on the issue. Now, 38 Degrees is asking Britons to write to their MPs and ask them to call for a full debate on this law before they vote on it. It seems stupid that we'd have to ask our elected reps to actually give sweeping proposals consideration before turning them into law, but there you have it. - boingboing.net
www.boingboing.netFive bails on Freeview HD
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blog.wotsat.comJohn Simpson: Im very pessimistic about the future of the BBC |Media |The Guardian
The BBC is very jumpy these days, and usually when you interview one of their bigwigs they insist on a PR person sitting in to make sure nothing controversial gets said. He makes it clear to me when we meet at his agent's offices in Chelsea that he didn't have to bring the PR along he is a freelance and not subject to staff rules but he wanted to because he has no intention of holding back and he wants the Beeb to know exactly what he said. We are meeting to discuss his new book, Unreliable Sources, an exhaustive and sometimes exhausting 600-page history of the 20th century, as seen through the eyes of the British media. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukMonday 15 March 2010, PM
The missing dimension in 3D TV | Tech Gear News - Betanews
I risk being tagged a curmudgeon, but I'll say it anyway 3D television isn't ready for prime time. Despite the headlines, breathless press releases, and similarly breathless product reviews, 3D TV has no immediate future in the living room. That may very well change, someday, but it'll take a whole lot of evolution -- in technology, content and marketing -- before 3D makes the mainstream leap from movie theaters to living rooms. - betanews.com
www.betanews.comChannel 5 HD slot deferred to BBC
Ofcom has announced it will currently not be reserving an HD slot for Channel 5 on Freeview. In June 2009, Ofcom made a provisional decision to reserve a HD slot for Channel 5 to provide new services on Freeview from 2010. This decision was subject to it resolving certain key criteria by the end of 2009. - dtg.org.ukwww.dtg.org.uk
No Channel Five on Freeview HD before 2012 |Media |guardian.co.uk
Channel Five will not be launching a high definition TV service on Freeview before 2012 after failing to give a launch date or programming schedule to the media regulator, Ofcom. Ofcom, which last June reserved a slot on Freeview for a HD service for Five, said today that it would no longer reserve capacity on the service for the broadcaster, which made a loss last year. The broadcaster had intended to run a selection of its own programming in HD each evening and shows from other suppliers during the day. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukMonday 15 March 2010, AM
D-Day looms for Channel M as rescue consortium confers - North West Media News - How-Do
- how-do.co.uk
www.how-do.co.uk
It may be time to pin down some blue Sky thinking | Emily Bell |Media |The Guardian
In terms of control, it is very much a Murdoch company, but this is 39 stake of equity. A feeble rise in BSkyB's share price reflected a rumour that News Corp would buy the 61 of the satellite broadcaster it does not already own and take the company private. Often the markets are wrong about such rumours, but it would be unusual if News Corp was not thinking about how best to tackle the next five years and whether the publicly traded market is necessarily the best place for its prized assets. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukMaggie Brown interviews Jay Hunt, the controller of BBC1 |Media |The Guardian
Jay Hunt, the controller of BBC1 for the past two years is talking very, very fast in coherent sentences about the thinking underpinning her approach to running the channel. You have viewers, journalists, audiences of all persuasions who have strong views about what we do, and there will be occasions when they are not happy with what we do. Event television can be an incredibly compelling way of bringing audiences to the channel. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukFriday 12 March 2010, PM
Feedback: 12 Mar 2010: Jon Venables case, political bias and 6music
downloads.bbc.co.ukITV1 HD on Virgin, Sky, Freeview and Freesat from April 2
-blog.wotsat.comBBC HD quality complainers get a boost from Astra
-blog.wotsat.comFriday 12 March 2010, AM
Thursday 11 March 2010, PM
Tories to pledge fastest broadband in Europe
All parties say broadband access is important for UK business The Conservatives have pledged to give Britain the fastest high speed broadband network in Europe, if they win the general election. The Tories say they want the next generation of firms like Microsoft and Google to be created in the UK. The party has said it will deliver broadband speeds of 100 megabits per second Mbps to most homes by 2017. - news.bbc.co.uknews.bbc.co.ukBBC Trust - Trust to review Radio 3, Radio 4 and Radio 7, and nations local radio
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
RTL cuts value of Channel Five by half after tough 2009 |Media |guardian.co.uk
The writedown values Five, and its digital channels Five USA and Fiver, at 112m. RTL made a 337m writedown in the value of Channel Five to 252m in its full-year results for 2008. RTL said that it planned expansion into digital pay channels to reduce reliance on TV advertising. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukThursday 11 March 2010, AM
Wednesday 10 March 2010, PM
Humax Freesat iPlayer service out of beta
-blog.wotsat.comget_iplayer dropped in response to BBC s lack of support for open source | Linuxcentre
The events of the past two weeks here, here, here, here and here have clarified the BBCs stance on allowing interoperability with open-source iPlayer clients. I have no desire act against the BBCs wishes in this respect. The BBC iPlayer is built on many open-source products and yet, in this case, they have failed to let open-source clients access the very same service. - linuxcentre.netlinuxcentre.netTories media policy is their own, not Rupert Murdochs, says Ed Vaizey |Media |guardian.co.uk
The Conservative leader, David Cameron, last year set out plans to reduce Ofcom's size and strip it of its policy-making powers. Vaizey added that the principle of using licence-fee money to fund other projects was now well-established. To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editormediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukBTs boss comes out fighting
I did indeed get that from Ian Livingston but I also got far more - a robust account of what was wrong with the Digital Economy Bill and an insistence that fast broadband would not reach across the whole country without some public money. What Mr Livingston had to say will not make comfortable reading for Labour, the Conservatives or the Liberal Democrats. On the bill, he was concerned that people were going to have their right to fair hearing in court taken away - that his customers could end up having their internet accounts suspended for alleged illegal file-sharing without due process. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukWest and Central Wales goes digital
All analogue TV channels in west and central Wales have now been switched off, and more than 26,000 viewers have gone digital. Existing Freeview viewers may find some of their channels missingthe services have moved to new frequencies and can be restored by retuning Freeview TVs and boxes. DTG Staff 10.03.2010 Links open in a new window. - dtg.org.ukwww.dtg.org.ukWednesday 10 March 2010, AM
Microsoft rolls out video-on-demand service across the UK |Media |guardian.co.uk
All the content on the MSN Video Player is available free. SeeSaw intends to launch a paid-for version to add to its existing free content before the end of June. Microsoft said it also intends to start making programmes and films available in high definition this year using its proprietary Silverlight technology. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukFurther DAB concerns
-www.radiotoday.co.ukBBC Trust chief accuses Sky of misrepresentation -TV Radio, Media - The Independent
The satellite broadcaster BSkyB was today accused of misrepresenting its position in the market place in order to benefit commercially from the current debate over the future of the BBC. Murdochs Fox International is to move some of its operations to Abu Dhabi to partner with the state-sponsored company twofour54. What is the most advanced high-definition TV without the dramas and comedies and news and sport to watch on it - independent.co.uk
www.independent.co.ukTuesday 09 March 2010, PM
YouTube- Adobe Demos Flash Air on HPs Slate Device
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www.youtube.com
Freesat and Freeview prepped for catch-up services | 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.ukGoogle trialling TV search service |Media |guardian.co.uk
Also, no set-top boxes that run on Android are currently on the market. A Google spokesman said the company does not comment on rumour or speculation. 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.ukMonday 08 March 2010, AM
Sky and Ofcom: the pay TV review will turn into a battle |Media |The Guardian
After more than three years of work, hundreds of pages of analysis and enough financial modelling to satisfy even the most principled of economists, the intervention will start a process that could see BSkyB's stranglehold on premium sport and movies loosened. It could allow several competitors to challenge Sky in the 4bn pay-TV market, leading to lower consumer prices for Premier League football. In simple terms, Ofcom is in effect forcing Sky to wholesale its key sport and movie channels to rival operators at a regulated price. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
Can Archie Norman cure ITVs long-term production problem? |Media |The Guardian
Archie Norman's first results as chairman of ITV appear to show the company in a more positive light than at any time in the past five years. The on-air creative shortcomings of the Charles Allen era were significantly addressed by Michael Grade and the recession which left him and the company's revenues for dead appears to be abating. Along with better than expected cost savings, stable shares of viewing, increased shares of all TV advertising, and advertising market improvements 7 up for the first quarter of this year, as much as 20 up for April and estimates for the whole of 2010 now running at increases of 3 to 5 plus could result in ITV's bottom line improving by as much as 100m. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
Where the TV fight goes BuzzMachine
I spent years sparring with Cablevision to get what I paid for and Im glad to be rid of them. They like Fox before them are trying to get us to pay for free TV channels. This was a point I wanted to make at last weeks FCC workshop on the future of media Its no longer true that broadcast channels are free. - buzzmachine.com
www.buzzmachine.comInternet access is a fundamental right
Internet users around the world are attracted by the availability of information Almost four in five people around the world believe that access to the internet is a fundamental right, a poll for the BBC World Service suggests. The survey - of more than 27,000 adults across 26 countries - found strong support for net access on both sides of the digital divide. Countries such as Finland and Estonia have already ruled that access is a human right for their citizens. - news.bbc.co.uknews.bbc.co.uk
Tally ho: why Hunt has the scent of BBC blood in his nostrils -TV Radio, Media - The Independent
Senior BBC management claim surveys show that executive salaries are of little concern to licence-fee payers, who it says are interested only in the corporation's content. Hunt takes a dig at the Trust's recent nest-building activities. Hunt argues that an oversize BBC is damaging to the British media ecology. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.uk
Tories would curtail BBC bosss power -TV Radio, Media - The Independent
An incoming Conservative government would appoint a powerful new figure as executive chairman of the BBC to challenge top level salaries and act as a restraining influence on the director general Mark Thompson, who last week announced controversial plans for the corporation's future. As well as being director general of the 20,000-strong organisation, Mr Thompson is also chairman of the nine-member executive board which manages the BBC. The Tories have already angered Mr Lyons by indicating that they wish to scrap the trust, although it is enshrined in the BBC charter until 2016. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukSunday 07 March 2010, PM
informitv - Virgin slams BBC on Canvas
Even the Digital TV Group has argued that the partners in the project, most of which are among its members, have failed to engage with the wider industry. The stated aim of Project Canvas is to build an open internet-connected TV platform but cable and satellite operators, as well as many consumer electronics companies, have objected to the insistence of the partners in the project that this should define the user experience or specify the behaviour of the programme guide. The Virgin executive said there was no need to create an entirely new television platform with a mandated proprietary user interface in order to achieve its stated goals. - informitv.com
informitv.comSaturday 06 March 2010, PM
Friday 05 March 2010, PM
6 million for Freeview HD campaign | Broadband TV News
Howling said the campaign would be unified from the TV advertising through to the packaging of the box and, for the first time, the Freeview logo on the EPG. Howling gave further backing to online TV services including the BBC-supported Canvas. She said this represented between two to three million Freeview homes, but there would be many more that would be content with just the Freeview offer. - broadbandtvnews.com
www.broadbandtvnews.comBBC iPlayer Content Protection Enhancements
A number of our users have expressed concern about BBC iPlayer's recent content protection enhancements. It's a complex area so I asked our techical team for an explanation of what has happened. We also implement a range of technologies that attempt to check that our content is being played out in iPlayer, and not in an unauthorised 3rd-party application. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukMark Thompson: Thank you for your comments
-www.bbc.co.ukBBC iPlayer beta rolling out to more Freesat HD boxes this month
-blog.wotsat.comFriday 05 March 2010, AM
Media Talk: BBC plans to axe 6 Music
download.guardian.co.ukITV4 to broadcast Indian Premier League -Cricket, Sport - The Independent
It is significant that neither Sky, which at present broadcasts all the live cricket shown in Britain, nor the BBC, which is under constant pressure to show cricket, has shown not the slightest glimmer of interest. Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, was superficially delighted because it enables him to continue his mission to make the competition, which is his baby, a truly global event. ITV has not shown any cricket for 40 years or so, and to attract any kind of audience it will presumably have to advertise its wares on its main channels. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukThursday 04 March 2010, PM
BBC News - Lords force rethink of governments online piracy plans
The government argued that the new Digital Economy Bill should include the power to amend copyright law to ensure legislation could cope with more technically advanced forms of piracy in the future. 'Swift recourse' And on Wednesday, Lords voted to support a Conservative and Liberal Democrat amendment to the bill which paves the way for the clause to be scrapped. He said it would be hard to block sites offering illegal content without also blocking legitimate material, and agreed that sites linking to other sites - such as search engines - could be adversely affected. - news.bbc.co.uknews.bbc.co.ukThursday 04 March 2010, AM
Does The BBC Still Believe In Digital?| paidContent:UK
We do not transmit ANY un-encrypted content that has been delivered encrypted for example, no SKY content will be available. We do not change or alter the content or add advertising. No wonder Sky do not want anything to do with Spain as the 760,000 British expats are well serviced by pirated signals rebroadcast as microwave or direct from the satellite. - paidcontent.co.uk
paidcontent.co.ukOfcom may relax advertising restrictions - Marketing News | UTalkMarketing
Broadcasting regulator Ofcom has signaled that ITV and other commercial broadcasters should be freed of some of their burdensome advertising restrictions, according to reports. Commercial broadcasters are subject to European Union rules which stipulate the total amount of advertising that can be broadcast in a 24-hour period, and per hour in peak time. Analysts estimate that simply allowing ITV to run 12 minutes per hour of advertising instead of eight around hit shows such as Britains Got Talent could make tens of millions of pounds of difference to profits. - utalkmarketing.comwww.utalkmarketing.compick a page