Mail letter-writer defends the BBC and the licence fee |Media |guardian.co.uk

I put the Daily Mail's Monday letters page to one side that evening and then forget to post it yesterday. Its lead letter was a spirited defence of the BBC, the licence fee and the director-general's salary plus a forthright attack on its media critics which, though it did not say so, include the Mail. I'm concerned at the salvos being aimed at the BBC, which I feel epitomises and fosters the Britishness of our youth and culture. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

Murdoch courts trouble if he blocks Google on news -Online, Media - The Independent

Microsoft would pay for the privilege, sources have told Reuters, but it was not clear how much. If Murdoch pulled this off, he will likely be followed by other newspaper publishers looking for ways to make money when all the old ones are waning in the digital age. Newspaper owners resent Google because the Internet company makes money from the advertisements that it displays next to news search results. - independent.co.uk

www.independent.co.uk

BBC News - Digital switchover in north east

Every home in Wales should have a digital television signal by March 2010 Thousands of homes in Denbighshire and Flintshire will be affected by the latest stage of the change to digital broadcasting. The Moel-y-Parc transmitter is switching over on Wednesday and all analogue services will stop broadcasting permanently. Viewers who have not switched to digital will lose their TV service. - news.bbc.co.uk

news.bbc.co.uk

Sony Bravia KDL40Z5800: Sony joins the FreeSat revolution

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www.unthinkable.biz

BBC Worldwide may plan a staged sell-off of some assets |Media |guardian.co.uk

BBC Worldwide has been asked to come up with a three-year action plan that could involve the staged sell-off of some magazines and its holdings in independent TV production companies, as well as a review of online operations. They're going to do more bench-marking and make it more transparent with more statistics. Lyons argued that the package of restrictions announced today would not affect BBC Worldwide's commercial goals. - guardian.co.uk

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BBC Worldwide would be allowed to buy Virgin Medias UKTV stake |Media |guardian.co.uk

He said that he was hopeful that the protracted and fraught negotiations with BBC Worldwide might result in a deal now that Channel 4 was coming close to resolving uncertainty about senior management. Lord Burns, the Channel 4 chairman designate, has already started work with finding a replacement for Andy Duncan as chief executive his top priority. They have been complicated by different views in Channel 4 about their priorities. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

Is Ofcom lean? : | OfcomWatch |

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www.ofcomwatch.co.uk

NPR doing everything right - blog - James Cridland

and a slightly odd West-Country sounding Dave Prowse telling me to be careful when crossing the road. NPR stations are all non-commercial, and revenue is raised by sponsor credits underwriting spots and listener donations, as well as grants from universities, state governments, and around 11 of its revenue comes via the CPB, which is mainly goverment funded. NPR reaches 27.5 million people each week thats 12 of the total adults in the US with expenditure of around 64million per year. - james.cridland.net

james.cridland.net

Trust announces new limits to Worldwide activity

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.uk

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Award wins for BBC Television

- bbc.co.uk

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BBC News - European MPs votes on new telecoms law

Member states have until May 24 2011 to include the legislation in their own rules. It comes amid controversial laws being introduced in France and the UK to cut off persistent illegal downloaders. Protecting internet access and users' rights was a high priority for MEPs hammering out the Telecoms Package. - news.bbc.co.uk

news.bbc.co.uk

BSkyB in fresh attack on BBC over Project Canvas |Media |guardian.co.uk

This comes after BBC management submitted additional information on Project Canvas's proposed governance structure and costs to the trust. BBC management said that non-public service broadcasters could become partners, reversing a previous position, and revealed that the costs for each partner are likely to be in excess of 20m in Project Canvas's first four years from launch. However, Sky again argued that the BBC Trust should still not allow the project to go ahead. - guardian.co.uk

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Is Rupert Murdoch really going to make news disappear behind a paywall? | Media | guardian.co.uk

Sarah Palin In 2012, her big moment could happen behind a paywall. Today, of course, such an interview would be broadcast and then retransmitted ad infinitum via YouTube, Twitter, blogs, websites. Other publishers think he might be right but are yet to decide whether to join the Long March. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

Where theres smoke: Apple warranty stance raises troubling questions | Security News - Betanews

I'm the last person who would ever come out in support of smoking. It's a noxious, nasty habit that according to the US Centers for Disease Control kills 443,000 Americans every year. The CDC says smoking is the root cause of over 30 of all cancer-related deaths, 80 of all lung cancer-related deaths, and 80 of deaths due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. - betanews.com

www.betanews.com

Murdoch madness BuzzMachine

Note in that same post the German consultancys calculation that all the top publishers in Germany, representing more than 1,000 brands, account for only 4.1 of top search results vs. 13.6 for Wikipedia. Let me repeat that Wikipedia comes up in the most valuable position in search three times more than all the top publishers of Germany combined. News Corp. leaving Google would be a mosquito bite on an elephants ass. - buzzmachine.com

www.buzzmachine.com

More on that licence to listen to radio while eating - blog - James Cridland

First, I guessed that this was something to do with PRS payments. Its not at least, the US has a similar payment, so Ive been informed. So perhaps its a behavioural thing instead. - james.cridland.net

james.cridland.net

Sky TV van torched by firebugs - Mansfield Chad

- chad.co.uk

www.chad.co.uk

The BBC lights up Christmas with a selection of seasonal delights

If a sensational selection of festive family TV favourites is on your Christmas list this year, look no further. The BBC promises to provide a sleigh-load of Christmas sparkle with an action-packed and fun-filled line-up, plus more content than ever in high definition. In a classic Christmas EastEnders, Archie's mission of hurt and destruction is brought to an abrupt halt when he is brutally murdered but who committed the crime - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

Does Archie Norman have the X Factor that ITV needs? |Media |The Guardian

I'm not made for this sort of career ... After months of mayhem during which the board searched for and apparently lost a number of chief executives and persuaded executive chairman Michael Grade to relinquish both roles, Norman is obviously champing at the bit to start. He is to take personal charge of its hunt for a chief executive, which has been dragging on miserably for seven months, even before he officially starts in January. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

Bradshaw takes the gloves off |Media |The Guardian

Published on Friday, the digital economy bill includes proposals to crack down on illegal filesharing and to set up consortia to make regional news to be screened on ITV, ideas that emanate mostly from Ben Bradshaw's department. Channel 4 is barely mentioned, and there are no details at all about the future funding of the BBC. It falls far short of the plans Lord Carter, the former broadcasting minister, set out a year or so ago and may not even become law. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

Norman may need to break up ITV to achieve growth |Media |The Guardian

Photograph Reuters Archie Norman's appointment as ITV chairman has been well received and it didn't even get played out in the press beforehand. What's more, it doesn't seem to have triggered another round of corporate infighting at least not yet. However, Norman will need all his acknowledged personal qualities and experience to deal with the key questions facing ITV, which are strategic and cut right to the heart of the long-standing, fundamental disagreement between the broadcaster and some of its most powerful shareholders. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

Call it by its name - this is theft |Media |The Guardian

Part of the strength of the British economy recently has been its ability to adapt as the world, and what consumers expect, have changed. Its flexibility, resilience and mixed nature should stand us in good stead as we, and the rest of the world, exit recession. We are leaders in film, music, publishing, TV production and sports rights British popular culture, sport and production values are viewed as among the best in the world. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

Computer vs TV, where do you stand? |Media |The Guardian

Computers are becoming increasingly like TVs, and vice versa, so which dominates your living room at the moment Like a computer it has a USB 2.0 port to connect thumb drives with pictures or music. Many people already have powerful computers in their living room such as the Xbox 360 and the PS3. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

British press split in two by Wapping s great gamble -Press, Media - The Independent

Far greater than the ideological differences that have traditionally set apart the great national titles, this divergence in opinion over whether the written word should be a free commodity or one that is charged for will set the news industry at each others throats. The battle lines became clearer last week, as Rupert Murdochs senior executives proclaimed from the ramparts, or at least from the luxury hotels of western Europe, their determination to erect a pay wall around the content of News Corp websites. We are actually going to be charging a premium price, he said. - independent.co.uk

www.independent.co.uk

New ITV chief mulling pay-TV move - European, Business - Independent.ie

ITV's new chairman is considering charging viewers for some of its channels as part of a complete overhaul of the broadcaster, it has been reported. He is also understood to be planning a shake up in the boardroom in the wake of the firm's protracted leadership crisis in which it struggled to replace Michael Grade, who holds a dual executive chairman role. The former Conservative MP and Asda boss, who will lead the search for a chief executive, is expected to cut the number of board members over time. - independent.ie

www.independent.ie

Sale, clearance, half-price: satellite radio in Canada - blog - James Cridland

Sale, clearance, half-price satellite radio in Canada Posted on Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 at 442 am. It doesnt matter whether its XM or Sirius, this display, seen the other day in a store in Toronto, would seem to show the end of paid-for radio. In this store, there was not a single unit retailing at the normal ticket price. - james.cridland.net

james.cridland.net

Murdochs pay walls will be paper tigers and he darent put them round Sky |Media |The Observer

How can we build our own pay walls, attracting a bit of money back into our journalism, while bbc.co.uk sits there centre screen, spending 150m of our licence fee money For click on to the Sun's website knowing that the Bun, under Rupertian edict, will be playing the same wall games as Harding next year and go to the bottom of the home page. Yes, there's another range of sites you can click on down there the Times, plus Sky News and Fox News. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

YouTube introduces automatic captions for deaf viewers

YouTube's parent company Google has announced on its blog that automatic captions are to begin to roll out across the site. The machine-generated captions will initially be generated in English. At first they will only be found on 13 channels. - news.bbc.co.uk

news.bbc.co.uk

Radio Bill creates deep divisions among industry - Media news - Media Week

Andrew Harrison, chief executive of RadioCentre The Bill aims to provide all commercial radio stations with a time frame for digital switchover in 2015 and includes greater flexibility in the current localness rules. The move has been welcomed by the commercial radio industry's official body, the RadioCentre, which claims the proposed digital radio upgrade will offer a better service for listeners, as well as improved opportunities for all commercial radio stations. However, today's Bill has attracted strong criticism from former RadioCentre members who cancelled their membership with the association last month in disgust. - mediaweek.co.uk

www.mediaweek.co.uk

Watch UK TV shows on YouTube

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www.youtube.com

Marc Watson, BT Vision | In-depth | 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

Give Ofcom the "off switch", says Gaunt | 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

Major reform of TV regulation under Tories, says Hunt | News | Broadcast

- broadcastnow.co.uk

www.broadcastnow.co.uk

Humax Freeview HD set-top box to debut early 2010 Register Hardware

- reghardware.co.uk

www.reghardware.co.uk

BBC iPlayer on the Wii: technical details

We have been bowled over by the positive response to the launch of the new BBC iPlayer for the Wii. First, the video we're using the H.264 codec at a rate in the region of 700kbit/sec. The quality is probably as good as H.264 can get on this device. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

Media Talk: Archie Norman, James Harding, and Adrian van Klaveren

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James Murdoch signals reduced role for his familys newspapers -Business News, Business - The Independent

James Murdoch, annointed heir to his father's media conglomerate, News Corporation, signalled that the family love affair with newspapers is coming to an end and the business will shift its focus to television and entertainment in the future. Rupert Murdoch, who is chairman of News Corp, has become, if anything, more vociferous in defence of newspaper journalism in recent months, threatening to ban Google from offering links to his papers' online content and promising soon to start charging for newspaper content that his titles put on the internet. James Murdoch's comments reflect a view that, no matter how successful that effort to convert readers to a paid-for service, newspapers will continue to offer less profitable opportunities for News Corp. - independent.co.uk

www.independent.co.uk

Humaxs new Freeview HD player pictured - Pocket-lint

We will bring you more on the new HD set-top offering as soon as we can prise it out of Humax, and we'll keep you informed of all Freeview HD developments in the mean time. - pocket-lint.com

www.pocket-lint.com

BT Vision boxes will pack Freeview HD in future | T3 magazine

- t3.com

www.t3.com

Andy Duncan makes quiet exit from Channel 4 |Media |guardian.co.uk

Andy Duncan handed over his responsibilities as Channel 4 chief executive on Tuesday. Duncan has handed over his responsibilities to Channel 4's finance director, Anne Bulford, who will be acting chief executive until his replacement is appointed by new chairman Lord Burns. The outgoing chief executive is expected to return next week for a low-key leaving drinks party at Channel 4's Horseferry Road headquarters in central London, which other directors are holding for him. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

BBC, ITV learned how to use HD bitrates - Digital Spy

ITV HD also suffered a temporary reduction in screen resolution in September from 1440x1088 down to 960x1088 due to routine maintenance on an encoder. However, existing HD screen resolution issues on Freesat have been widely criticised by viewers, leading to fears that the same problems could result on Freeview HD when the service launches. - digitalspy.co.uk

www.digitalspy.co.uk

The Ingex Project- an Introduction

If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content. - bbc.co.uk

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The future of audio: The UK Radioplayer

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Virgin1 Adds U.S. Dramas to 2010 Grid

The article you have selected requires a WorldScreen.com premium subscription. Sign up to WorldScreen.com's premium service to read exclusive content, receive discounts on program price guides and channel directories, and access our extensive archive of past news articles, features, interviews, profiles and columns. For corporate rates for 5 or more users please email sweaverworldscreen.com - worldscreen.com

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BT Vision to embrace Freeview HD | News | TechRadar UK

To receive HD channels consumers will need set-top boxes with DVB-T2 tuners, though none are expected to go on sale until 2010. - techradar.com

www.techradar.com

Power-guzzling TVs to be banned

Television sets in California will be required to be more energy efficient Energy-hungry television sets will soon be banned across California in a landmark move by state legislators to reduce energy consumption. The state will be the first in the US to impose a mandatory energy curb on TVs, an often-overlooked power drain. Supporters say the move will help save California residents more than 8bn over 10 years in energy costs. - news.bbc.co.uk

news.bbc.co.uk

Tories urge overhaul of UK media

At present, rules prevent any single media group from owning newspapers, radio stations and television channels in the same geographical area. He will also say that media companies have been prevented from taking full advantage of new opportunities online. A spokesman for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said the government would soon be piloting three regional news partnerships designed to help local providers cut costs. - news.bbc.co.uk

news.bbc.co.uk

The Big Question: Will appointing a new chairman be enough to end ITVs problems? -TV Radio, Media - The Indep

Britain's biggest commercial broadcaster yesterday unveiled its new chairman, Archie Norman, the former Conservative MP and chairman of the Asda supermarket chain. The process of filling this apparently prestigious post has bordered on the farcical. Channel 4 have endured similar difficulties in finding a chairman, finally taking on Lord Burns earlier this month. - independent.co.uk

www.independent.co.uk

Media: 18 Nov 2009 - The PCC fights back; Belle de Jour; Channel 5 newsreader; ITV changes.

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Pic of the day: iPlayer on the Wii

The iPlayer has been usable in the past using the Opera-powered browser channel, but has been of limited quality and, well, not very easy to use. Now we have a very specific channel just for iPlayer. The service went live last night and we're starting to see and hear what you think about it. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk