Thursday 14 January 2016, AM
BBC eyes digital services to improve Scottish offering
Tony Hall has indicated that the BBC will use its digital strategy to better serve Scottish audiences over the next charter period. He pledged to ensure that the next charter would support the global distribution of stories about the country. - www.broadcastnow.co.ukwww.broadcastnow.co.ukWednesday 13 January 2016, PM
Monday 11 January 2016, PM
DISH offers video recorder with 16 tuners
Hopper 3, the latest version of the digital video recorder from DISH Network in the United States, has 16 tuners. Hopper 3 has more tuners than any other digital video recorder. - informitv.cominformitv.comSunday 10 January 2016, PM
Panasonic DMR-PWT550 review
The recording times above relate to DR mode, which captures programmes in the best possible quality, but you can free up space by converting them to a lower-quality recording mode afterwards. All recordings are made in DR mode first and converted to lower quality when the recorder is in standbyDual Freeview HD tuners let you record two channels at once. - www.trustedreviews.comwww.trustedreviews.comSunday 10 January 2016, AM
BBC News Channel faces axe as BBC launches cost-cutting drive led by James Harding
BBC News has launched a root and branch review of its operations in a bid to save millions of pounds that could potentially lead to the end of the BBC News Channel as we know it. A further 550m in annual savings will required across the corporation by 2021/22 as it faces cuts brought on by the new licence fee settlement and BBC News will need to take its share of the cutbacks. - www.radiotimes.comwww.radiotimes.comFriday 08 January 2016, PM
DTG :: News :: New TV Partners for Android TV, Connected TV consumer's favourite iPlayer streaming device, and Consumer
New TV partners for Android TV. Google has just made an announcement about the future of Android TV, specifically regarding a range of new TV partners who have just signed up to the operating system. Roid TV will be available in 2016, on Arcelik, Vestel, RCA, Hisense, TCL and Bang Olufsen branded TVs. They join early adopters Sony, Sharp and Phillips. - dtg.org.ukdtg.org.uk
BBC launches review of news arm, saying it can't 'afford to do everything'
Harding, who needs to find an initial 5m in savings as part of the corporation's overall target of 150m in annual savings by 2017, said he was launching a three-month review on the future of BBC News. He said there were four main areas to examine in making BBC News relevant to future consumers - the platforms people will use to consume news and current affairs, the type of content BBC News should deliver, ways serving all audiences across the UK and working practices. - www.theguardian.comwww.theguardian.comWednesday 06 January 2016, PM
Tuesday 05 January 2016, PM
EFF Confirms: T-Mobile's Binge On Optimization is Just Throttling, Applies Indiscriminately to All Video
Streaming a video embedded in a webpage using HTML5, Downloading a video file to the phone's SD card, Downloading a video file to the phone's SD card, but with the filename and the HTTP response headers changed to indicate it was not a video file, and Downloading a large non-video file for comparison. Test Results No Optimization, and Everything Gets Throttled The first result of our test confirms that when Binge On is enabled, T-Mobile throttles all HTML5 video streams to around 1.5Mps, even when the phone is capable of downloading at higher speeds, and regardless of whether or not the video provider enrolled in Binge On. This is the case whether the video is being streamed or being downloaded-which means that T-Mobile is artificially reducing the download speeds of customers with Binge On enabled, even if they're downloading the video to watch later. - www.eff.orgwww.eff.orgTuesday 05 January 2016, AM
Privatising Channel 4 would be a disaster for risk-taking programmes
All these programmes featured original journalism on a vital issue of public policy - continuing ITV's proud tradition of being a thorn in the side of government. So what about those current assurances that any privatisation of Channel 4 would be accompanied by cast-iron regulation to ensure programme standards Strangely enough, the same assurances were given when ITV was sold. - www.theguardian.comwww.theguardian.comUKTV matches Channel 5 and Sky in ad size for first time after record 2015
Hits including Storage Hunters and Dave Gorman Modern Life is Goodish helped propel UKTV to a record share of the TV advertising market last year to match rivals Channel 5 and Sky for the first time. The figures put UKTV marginally ahead of Channel 5's portfolio of channels, with a Soci of 9.26, and Sky's own branded channels, including news and sport, which stood at 9.25. UKTV is already bigger than Channel 4's flagship station in terms of Soci, but smaller than its whole family of channels which include E4, Film4 and More4. - www.theguardian.comwww.theguardian.comMonday 04 January 2016, PM
New Year. New look. New Beginnings.
We are rolling out our brand new visual identity across BBC Three - the TV channel, our place on BBC iPlayer, on bbc.co.uk, on apps and pretty much anywhere else new BBC Three will be, which will be pretty much everywhere. The visual identity brings new BBC Three together - a new logo, new idents, new animations and new on screen presentation, all with a new colour pallete. - www.bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukSunday 03 January 2016, PM
Scottish culture secretary accused of preposterous claims about BBC spending
Television executives have accused the Scottish culture secretary, Fiona Hyslop, of making bizarre and preposterous claims about BBC spending in Scotland in an escalating dispute over broadcasting policy. Pointing to the 323m raised in Scotland from licence fees, she has asked the BBC to triple its spending to 100m, including new, dedicated Scottish channels. - gu.comgu.comFriday 01 January 2016, AM
#42 - Media Podcast Predictions 2016 - The Media Podcast with Olly Mann
feedproxy.google.comA number of AM services turned off in Europe
Medium-wave transmitters for Deutschlandradio have been turned off in Germany, along with services in France and Luxembourg. Here in the UK, the only recent closures of AM radio are from a number of BBC local radio stations which have turned off transmitters during a number of trials. - radiotoday.co.ukradiotoday.co.uk
Farewell Medium Wave
In the UK, the BBC has quietly begun to shut down some of its power-hungry BBC local radio AM transmitters, using the cunning plan of turning them off for a 'trial' and seeing if anyone notices. Radio 4 boasts a clutch of Medium Wave transmitters, but its prize possession remains its powerful 198 Long Wave transmitter, beaming out from an antenna slung from the 700' high masts at Droitwich. - davidlloyd-radio.blogspot.co.ukdavidlloyd-radio.blogspot.co.ukThursday 31 December 2015, AM
How Hollywood Caught the UK's Most Prolific Movie Pirates
In 2012 the same FACT investigator began monitoring Baker's release group 'HOPE'. During the same month in which FACT investigated 26K, the anti-piracy group discovered from the group's NFO files that they were affiliated with Reid's group, RemixHD. - torrentfreak.comtorrentfreak.comWednesday 30 December 2015, PM
Wednesday 23 December 2015, PM
Robin Esser; reporting migration; Formula 1; stories of 2016
open.live.bbc.co.uk
Broadband adverts confuse public, says Citizens Advice
In particular, line rental costs were often not included in the advertised headline cost. One advert, which the charity declined to identify, was so bad that only 22 of people in the research could work out accurately how much the deal on offer might cost them. - www.bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.uk
Ofcom opens door for BBC Studios
In the longer-term, it expects third-party producers to win more commissions, noting the relatively poor performance of BBC in-house to compete as part of the Window of Creative Competition - where it won under one-quarter of available hours in 2014/15. Concerns were also raised about the potential for increasing pressure on BBC commissioners to order shows from BBC Studios following its leap into the commercial space. - www.broadcastnow.co.ukwww.broadcastnow.co.ukTuesday 22 December 2015, AM
Licence rollover extension changes are made
Radiocentre has welcomed new legislative changes which will allow analogue licence rollovers for a further 5 years for stations that are also on DAB. Ofcom will outline the precise arrangements and planned timetable for renewals in the New Year. - radiotoday.co.ukradiotoday.co.uk
Channel 4 swoops for Formula One
Channel 4 has swooped for the terrestrial rights to Formula One, beating ITV to take over coverage of the motor racing competition from the BBC. The commercial broadcaster will air 10 live races a season from 2016, when Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton will defend his world championship. Broadcast revealed last week that ITV was favourite to land the rights, but C4's bid has ultimately proved more attractive for F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, seemingly because it has promised to broadcast the sport without adverts. - www.broadcastnow.co.ukwww.broadcastnow.co.uk
Streaming TV Isn’t Just a New Way to Watch. It’s a New Genre.
Full seasons, released all at once, are something genuinely new. And we’re just starting to figure out their conventions and aesthetics. - www.nytimes.comwww.nytimes.com
42 percent of cord-cutters don’t even subscribe to home broadband
Fed up with your cable TV? Tired of paying for an expensive satellite package you barely use? You're not alone: Up to 15 percent of Americans have cut the cord, joining the 9 percent who have never had a cable or satellite TV subscription. - www.washingtonpost.comwww.washingtonpost.comMonday 21 December 2015, AM
BBC hires Gus O'Donnell firm to review £700m costs of over-75s' licence fees
The BBC has hired the company chaired by former cabinet secretary Gus O'Donnell to explore how to get over-75s to voluntarily pay the licence fee and examine how the 700m annual costs might be reduced in the future. The BBC is to take on the cost of licence fees for over-75s in stages, with the government covering 468m of the total cost in 2018/2019 and 247m in 2019/20. - www.theguardian.comwww.theguardian.comSaturday 19 December 2015, PM
STV wants to take BBC Three's place in Freeview channel line-up
STV's local stations would then move from channel 23 to take up residence at channel 8, under the proposal. A second option would see BBC Alba on channel 7, BBC Four on channel 8 and the local Scottish services on channel 9. - www.thecourier.co.ukwww.thecourier.co.ukFriday 18 December 2015, PM
18/12/2015 Radio 4 Feedback
open.live.bbc.co.ukOfcom report reveals dominance of BBC in local, national and online news markets
Asked what specific outlets people use for news, BBC One was by far the most popular - listed by 48 per cent of respondents, down from 53 per cent last year. Some 31 per cent said they use a newspaper for news, down from 40 per cent last year. - www.pressgazette.co.ukwww.pressgazette.co.ukWednesday 16 December 2015, PM
Tuesday 15 December 2015, PM
Netflix launches on UK's Freetime by Freesat platform » Digital TV Europe
Netflix has launched on UK free-to-air digital satellite platform Freesat via its Freetime connected TV service. Netflix is already available via Virgin Media and the YouView-based services offered by BT and TalkTalk in the UK, but has yet to launch on the new Freeview Play service launched to complement free-to-air digital-terrestrial platform Freeview. - www.digitaltveurope.netwww.digitaltveurope.netTuesday 15 December 2015, AM
Netflix's New Tech Makes for Better-Looking, Lower-Bandwidth Streams
SEE MORE Why Netflix Is Pushing 'Breaking Bad,' 'House of Cards' in 4K Ultra HD. In recent months, Netflix has been silently testing the new encoding scheme by sending out streams with new and improved bitrates and resolutions to randomly selected customers. Once Netflix's video algorithms team is done with re-encoding the existing catalog, it already has a number of new challenges ahead. There is 4K, and there are a number of other ways to improve image quality, including higher frame rates and HDR. And then there is another crazy idea that could require the company to re-encode the entire catalog all over again After finding the best setting for each single video, Aaron's team is now thinking about even encoding each scene of a movie or TV show with different settings to account for higher information density during fight scenes and lower demands during slow moments of introspection. - variety.comvariety.comMonday 14 December 2015, AM
Guernsey gets national BBC stations on DAB
National DAB radio services have arrived in Guernsey from the BBC, after a week of testing. The island would have had the services earlier but there has been discussions about moving the transmitter site locally. - radiotoday.co.ukradiotoday.co.ukSunday 13 December 2015, AM
BBC continues to improve DAB coverage
The BBC has announced where it has boosted or introduced DAB coverage of its national digital radio stations since October, as its roll-out of national DAB heads towards the end. DorkingImproving coverage in Dorking, parts of Mickleham and Leatherhead. HaslemereImproving coverage in Haslemere and Liphook. - www.a516digital.comwww.a516digital.comSaturday 12 December 2015, AM
Netflix usage gaining ground on ITV Player and iPlayer in UK
Netflix use gaining ground on ITV Player and iPlayer in UK. New research from Parks Associates indicates that 18 of UK broadband households have used paid-service Netflix in the past 30 days, compared to 20 who used the free ITV Player and 33 who used the free iPlayer to stream video programming. Overall 58 of U.K. broadband households used a video streaming service or player within the past 30 days. - www.iptv-news.comwww.iptv-news.comFriday 11 December 2015, PM
11/12/2015 Radio 4 Feedback
open.live.bbc.co.uk#41: Would Channel 4 Survive Privatisation? - The Media Podcast with Olly Mann
feedproxy.google.comFriday 11 December 2015, AM
Heggessey accuses government of being 'underhand' over C4
Lorraine Heggessey has attacked the government for the underhand way it has handled the potential Channel 4 sell-off and warned that the UK broadcasting ecology could change very suddenly. Delivering the RTS Christmas Lecture on Wednesday, the former BBC1 controller said she was concerned how C4 privatisation had been sneaked on to the agenda by culture secretary John Whittingdale after he denied it was under consideration at the Edinburgh International Television Festival in August. To start proposing a major change like this at a time when they've refused to extend Terry Burns tenure, so that C4 is essentially without a chairman, and when everyone is very much focused on the BBC licence fee debate, makes it seem like the DCMS is trying to pull a fast one, Heggessey said.. - www.broadcastnow.co.ukwww.broadcastnow.co.ukWednesday 09 December 2015, PM
TV leadership debates, Royal interview conditions, Trump's social media strategy.
open.live.bbc.co.uk
Netflix, iPlayer and others to be available on holiday
Online service subscriptions, such as Netflix, BBC iPlayer and Sky's Now TV, will be portable across the EU under proposals announced on Wednesday. Supporters said the proposals were an opportunity for creative industries. - www.bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukWednesday 09 December 2015, AM
DAB radio coverage gets a boost in Sussex
Digital radio reception is being improved for over 330,000 people in the Sussex area - around Crawley, Newhaven, Heathfield and in the Sussex Weald, north of Shoreham. The Mayor urged all digital listeners in Sussex to retune to ensure that they could continue to listen to BBC Sussex, Heart Sussex, Smooth Radio Sussex, Capital, Gold, KISSTORY, heat, Gaydio and Smile Sussex. - radiotoday.co.ukradiotoday.co.ukTuesday 08 December 2015, PM
Is BBC One really the same as ITV?
Having cut the BBC's funding if you then freeze the BBC in aspic with very detailed regulations, there is a real danger that you end up with a diminished BBC. While a BBC that paints by numbers and ticks any number of boxes may be good news for commercial competitors, it would not deliver the genuine creativity and innovation valued by licence fee payers. 2 A ban on the BBC showing any acquired content or formats on BBC One or BBC Two. - www.bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukMonday 07 December 2015, PM
Disconnected viewing experiences
The ways in which we watch television are continuing to evolve, with online viewing increasing, but traditional broadcast television remains overwhelmingly the most important way of watching in the United Kingdom. More programming is being viewed over the internet than ever before, but most viewing continues to be to linear broadcast television. - informitv.cominformitv.comMonday 07 December 2015, AM
Ofcom pushing ahead with small-scale DAB and planning for terrestrial TV changes
As part of Ofcom's newly-published plans for the 2016/17 financial year, it has confirmed that it is going to continue its work on 'small scale DAB', a low-cost, simplified approach to enabling stations to broadcast across a small area on DAB. Ofcom wants to expand small scale DAB services to more areas and has been working on identifying suitable frequencies and setting up the regulatory framework for smaller operators if small scale DAB was to enter regular, full-time service across the UK. The current roll-out of local, mostly countywide DAB multiplexes will continue to be supported into the next financial year, according to the proposed Ofcom annual plan. - www.a516digital.comwww.a516digital.comNielsen: Smartphones and the Internet are eating our TV time
In the same age group, the demographic most highly coveted by advertisers, use of those devices fell 8 percent over the same period to a combined 16.6 million people per minute. The new Nielsen data also looks at time spent watching video on various devices, but not for TV-connected devices, where users were clocked playing games as well. - bigstory.ap.orgbigstory.ap.orgSaturday 05 December 2015, AM
Sir David Attenborough: 'I am concerned about future of the BBC'
Sir David Attenborough has voiced concern about the BBC's future as he returns to film at the Great Barrier Reef, after nearly 60 years. Sir David's new three-part series, which begins later this month on BBC One sees him return to the Great Barrier Reef in north-eastern Australia. - www.bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukFriday 04 December 2015, PM
Wednesday 02 December 2015, PM
Lord Puttnam on public service broadcasting, Peter Salmon on BBC Studios, I'm a Celebrity
open.live.bbc.co.ukDTG :: News :: Ofcom reveals TV homes drop, iPlayer on the rise, Virgin Media goes back to content
Virgin Media recently acquired US horror series 'Ash vs Evil Dead', marking a return to the business of owning content. The deal with US media firm Starz allows Virgin Media to make the first five episodes immediately available on their VoD service, with the remaining episodes added after airing in the US. This is the first significant move back into content since the Virgin Media channels division was sold off to Sky in 2010. - www.dtg.org.ukwww.dtg.org.ukWednesday 02 December 2015, AM
UTV shareholders agree on £100m sale to ITV
UTV has recently sold one of its stations to Global, meaning Juice FM Liverpool will become Capital next month. The company is gearing up towards the launch of three brand new national radio stations early next year on DAB. - radiotoday.co.ukradiotoday.co.ukpick a page