Ofcom investigates Sky over complaints of ignored cancellation requests

The broadcasting watchdog Ofcom is investigating Sky over concerns that customers' attempts to cancel their contracts are being ignored. Ofcom launched the investigation, which will look at Sky's TV, phone and broadband services, after monitoring the way that providers across the board give customers opportunities to cancel their contracts. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

Two-thirds of UK's Netflix and Amazon users don't watch their original shows

Amazon recently struck a 160m deal to create a new show with former Top Gear stars Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. Just 31 of people told Ofcom in April they used an online TV service to watch original programming, compared to 75 who said they used the service to watch films and almost half who said they watched US shows. An earlier survey from the beginning of 2014 found that only 24 of Netflix subscribers and 15 of Amazon Prime subscribers said the reason they had signed up to the service was to watch original programming. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

TV industry revenue breaks £13bn barrier boosted by advertising growth

The BBC's contribution to total broadcaster income has grown slower than most other sources over the last five years, up only 1.3 from 2009 and down as a proportion of the total from 23 to 20.1. Subscriptions remain the biggest single source of revenue for broadcasters. Advertising revenue increased 3.9 to 3.8bn, with broadcasters increasing their total share of display advertising - which includes print ads and online banners - slightly to 44. The core channels of the public service broadcasters including ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 attracted 2.1bn in advertising, well over half the total. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

RAJAR: 50% of houses now have DAB radio

Listening to analogue radio declined to a new low of 53.7 and digital listening in cars grew by 48 year on year and now accounts for almost 17 of all in car listening. Capital XTRA grew on digital platforms by 27 to 511k digital listeners, whilst the Gold Network grew by 22 to 612k digital listeners with over 50 of its listeners being digital for the first time. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

Media bans for sports journalists, Vice's new women's channel, Clarkson on Amazon Prime

open.live.bbc.co.uk

Cheap Premier League football on TV

If you take the full Sky Sports package with Sky or Virgin, you'll get access to all seven Sky Sports channels, including the newest, Sky Sports 5, which covers European football. To get BT Sport Lite - If you have BT broadband but Sky TV, you'll get BT Sport Lite for 'free' but you'll need to opt into it, otherwise you'll automatically be upgraded to the full BT Sport pack costing 5/month. - www.moneysavingexpert.com

www.moneysavingexpert.com

BT Sport Ultra HD Review: Makes Even My Mum Want to Watch 4K Football

Using a new 4K-enabled YouView box, BT follows in Netflix's footsteps, piping the BT Sport Ultra HD channel down your broadband connection rather than attempting to channel it over the UK's antiquated airwaves. Though a free add-on for those already signed up to it, the BT Sport Ultra HD channel is only available as part of the top BT TV package, Entertainment Ultra HD, for 15 a month, while the new YouView box comes with a 44 installation fee. - www.gizmodo.co.uk

www.gizmodo.co.uk

ITV threatens DCMS over closure of iPlayer loop-hole

ITV chief executive Adam Crozier has written to government ministers raising concerns that proposals to close the iPlayer loophole would result in consumers being charged to access ITV Player. According to Sky News, ITV has warned the Department of Culture, Media & Sport that it is considering legal action over the proposals that will force users of terrestrial broadcasters’ catch-up services to buy a TV licence. Currently iPlayer users do not need to buy a TV licence, a loophole estimated to cost the BBC £150m a year, but the government’s proposals to “modernise” the system include expanding it to include the commercial PSB’s catch-up players. - www.broadcastnow.co.uk

www.broadcastnow.co.uk

Diane Coyle: Former vice-chair of BBC Trust says licence fee payers deserve to know how organisation will be funded in f

Sources told The Independent that the Osborne-Murdoch meeting, understood to have been in Downing Street, took place in late June before the BBC's Director-General, Lord Hall, was informed of the government's plan to shift financial responsibility for free TV licences for the over-75s from the Department of Works and Pensions to the BBC. George Osborne is alleged to have held a meeting with Rupert Murdoch in late June. She equated the scale of the loss - 650m - as the equivalent of losing BBC 2's budget, all of BBC network radio, or all of BBC3, 4 and Radio 5 and 6, plus all the BBC's local radio operations. - www.independent.co.uk

www.independent.co.uk

First small scale DAB starts. in Brighton

Small scale digital radio took to the air in Brighton this morning with the UK's first local DAB multiplex. Ten small scale DAB multiplexes will be launching in the next few weeks across the UK.. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

BBC looks to make more long-form shows for iPlayer after success of Adam Curtis's documentary Bitter Lake

The BBC is looking to make more long-form programmes exclusively for iPlayer after a ground-breaking film, made for the online platform by Adam Curtis, was nominated for a major award. Bitter Lake, which ran for 2 hours 17 minutes, and explored themes including the growth of Wahhabism and America’s historic relationship with Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia, has been shortlisted for Best Historical Documentary at the Grierson awards.. - www.independent.co.uk

www.independent.co.uk

BBC iPlayer - Help - Downloading from the BBC Site

- iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk

iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk

EU accuses Sky and Hollywood's big six of illegally 'geo-blocking' film access

The European commission has accused Sky and six Hollywood studios of putting up anti-competitive barriers that restrict consumers from watching the films and TV shows of their choice. The commission has sent a statement of objections - a list of formal charges - to Sky UK and the six studios Disney, whose recent hits include Maleficent Fast Furious maker NBC Universal Paramount Pictures, which owns the Transformers franchise Sony, the studio behind the Spider-Man series Twentieth Century Fox, whose TV hits include Modern Family and Warner Brothers, owner of the Harry Potter franchise. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

Ofcom could take on BBC regulation but not governance, says Sharon White

Ofcom chief executive Sharon White has said the watchdog could take on the wider regulation of the BBC but ruled out absorbing the governance role of the BBC Trust, saying she would draw a line in the sand over the issue. With the future of the BBC under review by the government and the trust widely expected to be axed, chancellor George Osborne has indicated that he would like to see its regulation pass to the media regulator. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

BBC Radio 4 reignites the DAB v FM debate

Ten years ago listeners complained of poor reception, and BBC Radio 4s Today Programmes has sparked a debate resulting in listeners complaining of exactly the same thing. On Monday morning, James Cridland and DigitalRadioUKs and Laurence Harrison appeared on the show to defend DAB, and talk about the possible end of FM. Both provided facts and figures about DAB listing and a multi-platform world, but listeners reacted by complaining of the lack of reception. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

Peter Salmon to head BBC Studios

Salmon, who is currently the BBC's director, England, having overseen the set-up of its BBC North complex in Salford, will be responsible for the entirety of the corporation's in-house content production. BBC Studios proposals and the unprecedented production free-for-all is regarded as both an opportunity and a threat to the BBC's in-house team, opening it up to competition and free market pressures like never before. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

Will S4C return to bleak times?

When the last licence fee deal in 2010 handed the BBC responsibility for funding S4C, it replaced a long period of inflation-linked annual rises with a 24.4 cut. Will the government wish to provoke the comparatively sleepy red dragon of Welsh nationalism The Welsh Language Society ran a fierce picketing campaign after the 2010 deal, and is calling for a statutory funding formula for S4C. Its appetite for direct action reminded everyone that S4C is an effective piece of social policy engineering. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

Jonathan Dimbleby urges public to rise up in support of embattled BBC

The veteran political broadcaster Jonathan Dimbleby has attacked the commercial enemies of the BBC for setting out to destroy it, and has urged audiences to rise up to defend the corporation. A source close to the top of the BBC also claimed that, far from being cowed by criticism of its orchestration of support for the BBC in a letter signed by celebrities such as Michael Palin, David Attenborough and Emma Thompson, the BBC executive, led by director general Lord Hall, was to make the tone of the debate more combative, not less. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

17/07/2015 Radio 4 Feedback

open.live.bbc.co.uk

BT announces aggressively low price for 4K Ultra HD sports channel

BT has announced that it's Ultra HD sports channel will be available as part of a TV bundle costing just pound15 per month. As with BT's current line up of set top boxes, the new model has been developed in partnership with YouView, the aerial/broadband hybrid TV platform which BT co-owns alongside the BBC, Channel 4, ITV, Channel 5 and TalkTalk. - www.seenit.co.uk

www.seenit.co.uk

#34 - BBC debate begins, Quirker launch Moyles on XFM - The Media Podcast with Olly Mann

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James Purnell: charter renewal paper 'depressing'

BBC strategy boss James Purnell has branded the government’s charter renewal green paper “depressing” in a heated debate with Daily Mail columnist Stephen Glover on Newsnight. Former Labour politician Purnell repeatedly raised his voice as he accused the government of attempting to tie the BBC’s hands behind its back. “We welcome the debate, it’s an important debate,” he told host Evan Davis. “The slightly depressing thing is that when you read the green paper every introduction is [about] how great the BBC is and what a precious asset it is, [but] all the questions are about how can we make it smaller, how can we tie its hands behind its back.”.... - www.broadcastnow.co.uk

www.broadcastnow.co.uk

Free to view TV for the connected age Update: July 2015

Digital UK’s increasingly important role alongside managing day-to-day operations for UK terrestrial television is leading the development of a long-term strategy for the platform as it adapts to shifts in technology and viewer behaviour - www.digitaluk.co.uk

www.digitaluk.co.uk

Department for Culture, Media and Sport BBC Charter Review: public consultation

Last year, as Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, I heard evidence from a range of experts about the BBC on the challenges it has faced and the issues for its future. This has helped to establish what this Charter Review needs to consider. As Secretary of State, I want to hear from people all over the UK, so I can understand what this country wants from and for the BBC. - www.gov.uk

www.gov.uk

No plans to reduce news on BBC local radio | RadioToday

The BBC has confirmed to RadioToday that there are no plans to reduce news programming on any BBC local radio stations. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

Ofcom seeks views on splitting BT and Openreach

Most internet service providers offer services through a fixed-line network controlled and maintained by BT. But Ofcom said it had concerns BT Openreach's performance on behalf of those providers had often been poor. Ofcom said the network had evolved in recent years, with the growth of fibre optic cable services - particularly in towns and cities - offering television, telephone and superfast broadband internet services. - www.bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/jul/15/friends-of-the-bbc-will-oppose-the-governments-vicious-attacks

Levy/PA Letters Wednesday 15 July 2015 19.43 BST Last modified on Thursday 16 July 2015 00.00 BST Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Share on Pinterest Share on LinkedIn Share on Google+ Shares 80 So the government wants a “root and branch” review to decide whether the BBC has “been chasing mass ratings at the expense of its original public service brief” (BBC faces ‘root and branch’ review of its size and remit, 13 July). Ministers appear not to know – or perhaps they have conveniently forgotten – that right from its foundation in the 1920s the BBC’s core mission was precisely to reach the entire population. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

Bad news week for BBC as Murdoch press sharpens claws

It’s to be yet another week of crisis, inspection and introspection for the forever under pressure BBC as the government is set to publish a green paper on Thursday, which will, the Guardian says, signal the next stage in the political battle over the broadcaster’s future size and funding. - theconversation.com

theconversation.com

BBC's annual report, Chris Bryant on the 'BBC under siege', Alan Whicker award.

open.live.bbc.co.uk

BBC Local Radio to reduce news programming

David Holdsworth has announced a new direction for BBC local radio stations, with a focus on personalities and production. Local news will continue to be important, but local radio journalism, David says, also needs to have personality through engaging interviews, debate and conversation with the audience. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

Celebrities sign BBC letter: Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz and JK Rowling tell David Cameron to leave Corporation alone

He added quotThe BBC does not belong to its staff. The BBC does not belong to the government. The BBC belongs to the country. The BBC is trusted and loved at home by British audiences and is the envy of the world abroad. During the course of the Charter, we will continue to make the case for a strong BBC at the centre of British life and will be vocal in making the case for the BBC as it approaches its centenary. - www.telegraph.co.uk

www.telegraph.co.uk

Seventy per cent of new cars now have DAB

The growth of digital radio in cars is linked to the increase of digital listening which now represents nearly 40 of all listening, and the expansion of digital coverage and content. Ed Vaizey quotI am pleased to announce that 70 of new cars now come with digital radio as standard - that's excellent progress and demonstrates the support of vehicle manufacturers for digital radio. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

Evening Standard comment: The battle is beginning over reform of the BBC

Government figures are already briefing that the paper will propose an end to some mainstream programming, limits on the BBC's website and scrapping the BBC Trust - as well as reconsidering the future of the licence fee. The BBC is one of Britain's greatest national institutions. - www.standard.co.uk

www.standard.co.uk

BBC Annual Report and Accounts

Part One is the BBC Trust's review and assessment of BBC performance during the year. The BBC Executive's report on its own performance during the 2013/14 is included in Part Two. - www.bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

but that doesn't affect its output

Then there's Robbie Gibb, the current excellent editor of all BBC TV's political programmes In a former life he was a vice-chairman of the extreme rightwing Federation of Conservative Students and went on to become chief of staff to the senior Tory MP Francis Maude before joining the BBC. And we, or the bias investigators, should not overlook the fact that David Cameron replaced his previous press secretary, Andy Coulson, with the then editor of BBC News, Craig Oliver and, around the same time, London mayor Boris Johnson recruited BBC political correspondent Guto Harri, to head his media team. In the context of Tory-aligned personnel in influential positions within the BBC, perhaps most importantly of all, one thinks of the recently retired chair of the BBC Trust, Lord Patten, a former Conservative cabinet minister. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

The battle for the BBC

quotChris Patten used to make jokes about the army of the People's Republic of China being the organisation that's the closest he's encountered to the BBC it is just huge numbers of people, many of whom don't appear to be doing anything. And every person I talk to in the BBC tears their hair out about all these people with mad titles. You know, the BBC is full of directors of sustainability and all those other sort of ridiculous titlesquot - the kind of thing satirised by the BBC's own comedy about itself, W1A. Hall told me last year quotI think we are at the end of a period of, as it were, unbridled expansion of the BBC. We're now in a period when we have to define much, much more carefully what it is the BBC offers and what is it the BBC can doquot He was contemplating acts of retrenchment, such as the moving of BBC3 - the channel much loved by younger and lower-income viewers - to an online-only service, which the BBC Trust has now ratified. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

Annual report highlights BBC challenge

The BBC annual report and accounts for 2014/15 - published on Tuesday - reveal that while nearly every UK adult watches BBC television, listens to its radio stations or uses BBC online, they aren't hanging around for as long and they appreciate the services less. Every BBC television channel lost both reach and audience appreciation - a trend across broadcasters as people spend more time online - while only BBC One and CBeebies kept audiences watching for longer than last year. - www.bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

Joan Bakewell calls for over-75s to continue paying BBC licence fee

Broadcaster Joan Bakewell has urged people aged over 75 to carry on paying the licence fee after the BBC was saddled with the pound750m cost of free TV licences for the elderly. quotAnyone who has previously applied for an over-75 licence but chooses to start paying again would need to contact TV Licensing, cancel their existing concessionary licence and then pay for a new licence via any of our standard payment channels. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

BBC radio shows now available to download

The programmes will be added to their download queue and downloaded whenever the device is connected to Wi-Fi. Andrew Scott, General Manager of Product, Radio Music, BBC Digital, says quotWith over 860m requests for radio streams across all devices on BBC iPlayer Radio in 2014, we're thrilled to bring offline listening to our audiences. We know this is something they've been asking for and we have been working hard to make it possible. Now they will have more choice than ever to listen to their favourite programmes, with all downloads available for 30 days and no need to worry about mobile data limits. quotMark Friend, Controller of Radio Music Multiplatform, BBC Radio, saysquotThe spectacular success of the BBC's podcasts, with around 70 million downloads in May, shows that people want to download high-quality audio to listen to at their convenience. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

BBC fights back against Tory assault on 'waste' and right to make popular shows

quotThere is an important argument to be made about what kind of BBC we want to see in the future,quot said a BBC source. quotThe government's plans are to scale back the BBC and to stop it making popular programmes. If it gets its way with the changes it wants, the BBC will be a national irrelevance by 2027. Audiences tell us they want big, popular entertainment shows as part of the unrivalled range of programmes the BBC offers, and given the universal nature of the licence fee, it's right that we provide something for everyone. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com