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

www.thisisnorthdevon.co.uk

North Devon Digital television switchover is on July 1

THE job of getting the West Country ready for the big switch to digital television falls to Bill Taylor. Around the UK switchover will take place gradually as each transmitter is converted to provide high-power digital signals. These will reach virtually all households including those unable to receive Freeview today. - thisisnorthdevon.co.uk

Friday 02 January 2009, AM

Competition rules would scupper Channel 4 and Five merger, report says |Media |guardian.co.uk

The idea of the merger, previously examined in 2004, resurfaced in December as a possible scenario for plugging the 150m-a-year funding gap that Channel 4 claims it will face by 2012. Ofcom has put the figure at between 60m and 100m. A combined Channel 4 and Five would control 34 of the UK TV ad market. - guardian.co.uk

Where Are Our Extra FTA Digital Channels? - Gizmodo Australia

- gizmodo.com.au

www.gizmodo.com.au

Wednesday 31 December 2008, PM

Viacom pulls nine channels from Time Warner US cable network |Media |guardian.co.uk

If the channels are pulled tomorrow morning as planned, viewers will be able to log on to a website IWantMyChannelsBack.com to complain. 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.uk

BBC Media Show: 31 December 2008

downloads.bbc.co.uk

Wednesday 31 December 2008, AM

Plug is pulled on Southampton tenants' cable TV (From Daily Echo)

They will instead give 13,000 Southampton tenants the choice of hooking up to Sky TV or Freeview in time for the digital switchover in 2012. Tory council leaders will spend 2.6 million installing a new system enabling tenants to receive digital TV signals from a communal aerial or satellite dish. John Radmore, treasurer of the Southampton Federation of Tenants and Residents Association, said there had been complaints about picture quality and a lack of channels. - dailyecho.co.uk

www.dailyecho.co.uk

Monday 29 December 2008, PM

BBC NEWS | Technology | Getting the most out of broadband

With retail, housing and even hi-tech grinding to a bit of a halt in recent months, most commentators would agree that 2009 is going to be a slow year. Both BT and Virgin Media will kick-start their plans for next generation access in the UK in 2009. Virgin Media will upgrade its cable network to deliver speeds of up to 50Mbps megabits per second during the first six months of 2009. - news.bbc.co.uk

news.bbc.co.uk

Turn off Sky News to get the real picture - The Daily Record

I've watched him do this on several international stories, and even seen him up close and personal in the Sky studios. As has been his network's coverage of Gaza. In endless footage of the massacre, not a head severed from the body has been shown, not a dead child, a mutilated woman. - dailyrecord.co.uk

www.dailyrecord.co.uk

Saturday 27 December 2008, PM

Australians get ready for the future of free TV | The Courier-Mail

WITHIN the next 12 months, Australian audiences will have access to a range of brand new digital television channels. Anews or classic-movies multi-channel, a 24-hour sports network and a channel that plays repeats two hours later are among plans being worked on by the big commercial networks. Viewers will also be able to buy a Freeview box that will allow them to record and store digital television content and have access to free electronic program guides all big advantages that subscription TV currently has over free-to-air. - news.com.au

www.news.com.au

Saturday 27 December 2008, AM

BBCs 9 out of 10 triumph in Christmas ratings battle |Media |The Guardian

The latest adventures of Wallace Gromit smashed viewing records, becoming the most-watched programme of the year with an audience of 14.3 million. The average total audience in peak time was 24.4 million, up from 23.8 million in 2007, said the BBC. A Matter of Loaf and Death, commissioned by the BBC, was one of the high points of the year for the corporation, with a 53 audience share. - guardian.co.uk

Friday 26 December 2008, PM

Media Talk: 2008 in review

download.guardian.co.uk

Wednesday 24 December 2008, PM

BBC Media Show: 24 December 2008

downloads.bbc.co.uk

Wednesday 24 December 2008, AM

Radio Labs in 2008

It's about that time for an end of year review, so here's how 2008 went for Radio Labs. I started off in January writing about our 10 percent time scheme which allows our team use 10 of their time to do their own work-related projects. The team have certainly impressed me with how many ideas they have and how many of them they actually build as well. - bbc.co.uk

Can technology keep television relevant in the digital era?

One reason could be because technology is giving viewers clear alternatives to scheduled programming. NBC declared this year's Olympics the most-viewed event in television history, with the 17-day coverage attracting 86 of US television viewing households, or 214 million viewers. Events related to the presidential election also attracted a huge amount of viewers. - betanews.com

www.betanews.com

Tuesday 23 December 2008, PM

Media Talk on The Guardian - adambowie.com

He saw it as a straight ad for BBC viewers and listeners to go out and buy a DAB digital radio. The BBC is not promoting a particular brand of radio - they're promoting the format. That's not surprising since they broadcast in the format and have a national DAB multiplex. - adambowie.com

www.adambowie.com

Will viewers choose their own running order? BBC - Journalism Labs - blog

Historically FMT Journalism has focused primarily onweb development. The reasons for this are many and none of them are any of my business but it is odd, because the first experiments that BBC News made with 'On Demand' started in the early 1970s and they were on television sets. The principle is relatively simple, take some text Journalists with access to agency feeds and ask them to write short news stories. - bbc.co.uk

Is Channel 4 heading towards oblivion? - TV Radio, Media - The Independent

Instead of enjoying a preferential place as one of a select group of universally available broadcasters, Channel 4 has to compete with an unruly mob of digital upstarts. Commercial revenues are predicted to fall between five and 10 per cent next year, and Channel 4's own predictions put the annual deficit at 150m by 2012. That shortfall is the cause of great concern for both Channel 4 and the Government, which sees the broadcaster as a crucial balance to the BBC's establishment voice. - independent.co.uk

Dramas cant match TV reality, says Grade - TV Radio, Media - The Independent

From Brideshead Revisited to Cranford, Britain's sumptuous TV dramas are renowned around the world as examples of broadcasting brilliance. The key to good drama is originality, storytelling, adventurism, reaching out to audiences and that isn't being done. In this context Michael Grade is indulging in a bit of spin ... - independent.co.uk

Last rites for Christmas TV? - TV Radio, Media - The Independent

With the onset of catch-up TV over the internet and on-demand services from companies such as Virgin Media, the next generation of Freeview is in the works to dramatically boost the service to households across the country. After a few initial hiccups, its traffic has leapt 14 times in the past year, and has had nearly 252 million requests for programmes. This is part of a wider trend that has seen traffic to video sites jump 48 per cent in the past year. - independent.co.uk

BetaNews | Internet radio interoperability group to launch at CES

At CES next month, a new organization formed to promote interoperability across media devices will get off the ground -- and by that, they mean a way to get podcasts and streaming content to work on multiple device platforms. Initially formed earlier this year at the Interent Radio Summit, the group is spearheaded by radio broadcasters, content providers, and technology specialists in the area of Internet radio. Registration to attend the group's first general meeting is available on the IMDA's Web site. - betanews.com

www.betanews.com

iPlayer subtitles increase: our early Christmas present to hard of hearing people

As the person responsible for ensuring that iPlayer is giving the best experience it can to disabled audiences, I thought it would be worth looking back at how far we've come this year in the provision of subtitles for the service. It took until 1986 for us to subtitle our first live programme an episode of Blue Peter, with the subtitling of news programmes following in 1990. Well, back when I started my role in February, the situation didn't look good - subtitles had been suspended from the iPlayer launch in December 2007 because a robust subtitling solution wasn't ready for launch. - bbc.co.uk

Please Wait... - BBCi Labs

However due to the way our service has to be structured, it's an unfortunate necessity. BBC Red Button has a chunk of space on each of those transponders which enables us to have a service alongside the TV channel - so that when you press red you don't need to leave the channel you're watching. Our video services too also sit in another transponder to the TV channel. - bbc.co.uk

Metronic Sat HD 100 review from TechRadars expert reviews of Digital TV recorders

Simple styling Aesthetically, the Metronic doesn't deviate too far from its Freesat siblings its all-black stylings and diminutive size fall in line with boxes from Grundig and Bush. There's no CI slot this is strictly FTA. This can be used to install software updates from a flash drive also achievable via satellite and adds the bonus of multimedia playback, although chunky drives can be a tight fit. - techradar.com

www.techradar.com

Top of the blogs for 2008 - blog - James Cridland

james.cridland.net

Tuesday 23 December 2008, AM

Television 2008 quiz |Culture |The Guardian

Who has replaced Nicky Hambleton-Jones as presenter of 10 Years Younger a child prodigy, traumatised mute and all-round weirdo River Tam on the good ship Serenity a Transformer a seasonal eye infection 3. Which TV news show presenter appeared in several issues of Spider Man comic this year, lambasting Peter Parker for being a bleeding-heart liberal - guardian.co.uk

Monday 22 December 2008, PM

Review of the year in media |Media |The Guardian

It made several apologies during 2008, whether for showing 12 hours of sport or because the Doctor Who actor John Barrowman got his wanger out on radio. Dawn Airey wasn't especially sorry when she jumped job for the second time in 12 months, leaving ITV for Five, but there were a lot of sorry newspaper journalists, casualties of the credit crunch. News at Ten returns to the airwaves but sets the tone for the rest of the year by promptly losing out to BBC1's rival bulletin in the ratings on its debut and never recovering. - guardian.co.uk

Saturday 20 December 2008, AM

TV killed the Movie cubicgarden.com...

home networking to branch out The number of U.S. online households with home networks should quadruple by 2008, a report says, as consumers expand networks to include entertainment gear and appliances. - cubicgarden.com

www.cubicgarden.com

Channel 4s targeting of BBC Worldwide assets is bold and, potentially, brilliant |Media |guardian.co.uk

Johnson, remember, was effectively chosen by Ofcom's former chief executive Stephen Carter and soon-to-depart chairman Lord Currie in a bid to sort out Channel 4's financial vulnerability the fact it feels too small, and is too dependent on programmes commissioned from independent suppliers to thrive as a public service broadcaster. So far, most attempts at self-help, while trying to be a mini BBC, have rather blown up in Channel 4's face. The 28m spent on buying into the former Emap music channels last year has generated some cash, but distracted managers. - guardian.co.uk

Buying an HD TV? Don't wait!

blog.wotsat.com

Switch to digital radio could happen in 2017 - TV Radio, Media - The Independent

The UK could make the switch from analogue to digital radio as early as 2017 according to a Government-commissioned group's report today. The group singled out criteria which must be met to trigger this being able to happen, including at least 50 per cent of total radio listening taking place on digital platforms. In the UK, 31.4 per cent of adults listen every week on digital, which gives digital platforms a total share of radio listening of 18.7 per cent, according to figures from radio body Rajar. - independent.co.uk

Protecting consumers from unfair small print charges | Ofcom

Independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries. 4G auction bidders announced December 20, 2012 Ofcom has today announced the bidders in the forthcoming 4G mobile spectrum auction the largest ever sale of mobile airwaves in the UK. npower fined for making abandoned calls December 6, 2012 The conclusion of an Ofcom investigation has today found npower, the gas and electricity supplier, to be in breach of rules on abandoned calls. - ofcom.org.uk

www.ofcom.org.uk

Sky ditches its free deal |Money |The Guardian

Until now, Sky has offered its highly-regarded but basic broadband package 2Mb/s to any customer paying for one of its satellite TV packages. From 1 March, Sky will impose a 5-a -month charge for all customers that do not take Sky Talk - although most do, as it covers unlimited calls. Those taking its Mid or Max broadband will also pay another 5 a month if they do not take Sky Talk. - guardian.co.uk

Friday 19 December 2008, PM

Digital Radio Working Group: Final Report

This snapshot, taken on 12/05/2010, shows web content acquired for preservation by The National Archives. External links, forms and search may not work in archived websites and contact details are likely to be out of date. The UK Government Web Archive does not use cookies but some may be left in your browser from archived websites. - culture.gov.uk

www.culture.gov.uk

Friday 19 December 2008, AM

BBC introduces CBBC iPlayer, plus beta Mac and Linux downloads |Media |guardian.co.uk

The BBC has already set up a password-protected parental guidance lock that prevents children watching unsuitable on the standard iPlayer. It was just over one year ago, on 13 December 2007, that the BBC introduced an expanded version of the web TV catch up service that offered programmes via streaming rather than downloading. The BBC Trust had decided that the iPlayer should be limited to downloads within seven days of broadcast that could be watched for up to 30 days, which meant that digital rights management had to be used to control downloaded content. - guardian.co.uk