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

#16 - Radio 1 to launch iPlayer channel, BT wins access to Sky Sports and the TV ads going viral for Christmas - The Med

#15 - RAJARS, Vice Media plans, Whisper scoop - The Media Podcast with Olly Mann

#14 - Radio Festival 2014 SPECIAL - The Media Podcast with John Plunkett

#13 - Viacom invests in C5 / MIPCOM preview - The Media Podcast with Olly Mann

#12 - Trinity Mirror payouts, Emma Watson hoax - The Media Podcast with Olly Mann

Wednesday 03 December 2014, AM

BBC Trust begins another review of Radio 4 5 live | RadioToday

Radio 4 and 4 Extra were last reviewed by the Trust in 2011, and 5 live and 5 live sports extra were reviewed in 2012. The review will look at how well the radio stations are serving audiences, whether they are delivering high quality, distinctive programmes and content, and whether they are delivering value for money. Audience views are being sought on Radio 4s provision of news, current affairs, drama and comedy, and its use of digital technology. - radiotoday.co.uk

Sweden to switch off FM - media.info

In Stockholm yesterday it was announced that Sweden will be turning off FM radio within the next ten years. As in other countries contemplating switchoff, there are a set of conditions for the industry to hit, including a coverage requirement and a 50 digital radio reach figure. The UK has already hit a 50 digital radio reach figure - 51.2 now listens to digital radio every week however, the Swedish target is a daily reach figure which will be harder to hit. - media.info

media.info

Tuesday 02 December 2014, PM

VisionTV expands Freeview line-up | Advanced Television

TV technology specialist Vision247 has extended to the number of channels that it is streaming via the FreeviewHD service to include new channels focused on news, shopping and religion. These will join more than 20 other news, sport and lifestyle channels freely available in the UK on channel 244 via a connected FreeviewHD service. Best Direct is a shopping channel that offers a variety of home, kitchen, fitness, health and beauty, and DIY products directly to consumers at a reduced cost. - advanced-television.com

advanced-television.com

Tuesday 02 December 2014, AM

Digital TV Labs HbbTV 2.0 Test Suite | Advanced Television

Additionally, dynamic advert insertion tests will be included. The test suite shall be utilised by iDTV and STB manufacturers to ensure conformance with the technical requirements. These test suites form part of the Ligada iSuite for HbbTV product range which is used by over 90 per cent of manufacturers globally, by market share. - advanced-television.com

advanced-television.com

Monday 01 December 2014, PM

BBC News - Why are people charged for 'landline rental'?

Once upon a time owning a landline telephone was the only way to make instant contact with people outside your home. The rise of mobile phones, now used by 93 of the population, means fewer calls are made from landlines. By the first quarter of this year, 16 of UK homes no longer made landline calls, according to the industry watchdog Ofcom. - bbc.co.uk

Ofcom visits Castle FM to turn off transmitter | RadioToday

Ofcom has visited Castle FMs unauthorised transmission site in Edinburgh to turn off its transmitter. The incident happened after Ofcom recorded breaches by the station, including failure to provide the licensed service. The station was on notice that if similar compliance issues arose in future, further regulatory action could be taken. - radiotoday.co.uk

Talking TV: BBC1’s entertainment quest Charlie Higson

www.broadcastnow.co.uk

Monday 01 December 2014, AM

BBC News - How will the 5G network change the world?

They say 5G will be different - very different. So, how best to understand this joined-up, superfast, all-encompassing 5G network Radio waves are split up into bands - or ranges - of different frequencies. - bbc.co.uk

Inside the BBC's visual journalism unit - Digiday

The unit comprises of 10 online journalists, 10 online designers, 10 developers and around 50 TV designers a setup that epitomizes the need for inter-disciplinary skill sets for TV and Web output. When the unit was established after the 2012 Olympic Games, Farnsworth said one of the key requirements was to help its various team members understand each others capabilities. The unit continues to promote awareness of its team members capabilities and train them up to collaborate better. - digiday.com

digiday.com

Sunday 30 November 2014, PM

http://www.theguardian.com/media/mediamonkeyblog/2014/nov/30/david-mellor-bbc2-danny-cohen

After the Sun broke the story of David Mellors cab rant in its splash on Tuesday, for most papers it gave columnists material but dropped down the news agenda. Any connection, Monkey wonders, to the fact that Mellor is the classical music reviewer of the hated Mail on Sunday, the daily papers sister title but one with which it conducts Fleet Streets most entertaining feud The pieces scheduled are all by men, no woman has ever conducted the annual gig and the chances of a woman soloist are pretty slim, given that all the orchestras 16 divisions bar the harpists are headed by blokes. - theguardian.com

BBC plays high stakes with 6 Music roulette | Media | The Guardian

In the battle over the future of the BBC, which can at times feel like a civil war, the economists are often seen as the Roundheads arguing for change against the Cavaliers confessing undying loyalty to the institution itself, whatever the cost. Last week, those at the top of the BBC presented themselves as a newish model of Cromwellian efficiency. The bulk of them have come from shrewd property decisions hello 200m from the sale of Television Centre at White City rather than job cuts although staff numbers have apparently fallen 12 to 18,500 in the past seven years. - theguardian.com

Wave of merger mania could change the face of UK telecoms industry | Business | The Observer

Convergence has come to our mobile phones, laptops and TV screens and now it is the turn of Britains fragmented communications industry. BT revealed last week that it was considering buying the mobile network O2, and is also in early-stage talks with the UKs largest network, EE. Investment bankers are alert to the prospect that BTs dive back into mobile, 13 years after spinning off the company that became O2, will trigger copycat mergers across the telecoms and pay-TV sector. - theguardian.com

Friday 28 November 2014, PM

Feedback: World Service funding: 28 Nov 14

downloads.bbc.co.uk

Talking TV: BBC1’s entertainment quest Charlie Higson

www.broadcastnow.co.uk

Thursday 27 November 2014, PM

Ariel - More cuts 'will impact services'

27 November 2014 Last updated at 1602 Today's well-trailed report into efficiency at the BBC concludes that the organisation is doing a lot more for less but is now running out of options to make savings that won't 'diminish' programmes and services. It confirms that since the start of the current charter the BBC has made annual savings of 1.1 billion - mainly through property rationalisation, savings in procurement and staff cuts - and is on track to deliver 1.5 billion by 2016/17. That proportion is expected to rise to 50 in the final years of these programmes. - bbc.co.uk

BBC set for additional 400m GBP cuts | News | Broadcast

The BBC faces fresh cuts of £400m across the next two years that will take total savings by 2016/17 to £1.5bn. Programming spend is being hit by the new cuts, which follow £1.1 billion of earlier savings. The total £1.5 billion figure encompasses savings from all of the BBC’s efficiency programmes since 2007, including Delivering Quality First (DQF). The figures were revealed as part of a report that was ordered earlier this year by director general Tony Hall, which claims that the efficiency drive compares favourably with other organisations, including the government. - broadcastnow.co.uk

www.broadcastnow.co.uk

Thursday 27 November 2014, AM

NAPA boss says BBC should buy news from agencies rather than 'call centre' local newspapers | Press Gazette

The suggestion follows news from BBC head of news James Harding earlier this month that the corporation is investigating ways to buy content from local newspapers. Unlike newspapers, magazines, websites and broadcasters who are subsidised by advertising or licence fee, press agencies have to pay their own way to provide the most important stories of the day compiled to the best possible standard and more often than not with a picture package included. Our media partners on the UK national papers or magazines know that if they want a reporter on the ground anywhere in the country, they simply need to find the agency that covers that patch. - pressgazette.co.uk

www.pressgazette.co.uk

http://www.iptv-news.com/2014/11/at800-the-industry-could-do-more-to-support-viewers-that-rely-on-dtt/

IPTV News Hi Ben can you begin by telling us about the origins of at800. Whos involved, and how did it come about Ben Roome at800s formation was directed by the government as a pre-condition of the 800 MHz 4G mobile spectrum auction. - iptv-news.com

www.iptv-news.com

Wednesday 26 November 2014, PM

Media: Sun editor on white van man; The National launches in Scotland; Kenyan Young Journalist; local TV in Birmingham

downloads.bbc.co.uk

Ariel - Newsround ties up rules for vloggers

26 November 2014 Last updated at 1616 A Newsround investigation has forced clarification of the rules around product promotion in online videos. The advertising watchdog advised Newsround reporter Ricky Boleto and assistant producer Chris Bailey-Foxx to make a formal complaint if they wanted to take the story further. Audience awareness In response, Mondelez said it was disappointed by the judgement but would not show the videos again. - bbc.co.uk

More transmitters added to local DAB multiplexes | RadioToday

It takes the indoor coverage of the Herts, Beds and Bucks multiplex from 67.69 720,109 of households to 88.60 915,600 and from 81.49 1,205km of major roads to 89.50 1,324km. The new transmitter is in Lichfield and brings local digital radio to around 200,000 more people in South Derbyshire and into parts of Staffordshire. BBC Radio Derby was promoting the extra coverage last week when one listener rang the station to say she was still having problems. - radiotoday.co.uk

DTG :: News :: DTG Testing to create product test suite for next generation connected Freeview receivers

The test suite will be used to ensure that trademark licensees meet the technical specifications of the platform and deliver an enhanced viewing experience. The Product Test Suite will cover the user journey including regionalisation, the correct use of broadcast and IP metadata, and correct handling of broadcast signalling. It will ensure device compliance, alongside test materials to demonstrate the correct co-existence of broadcast applications and a metadata test bed to simulate the real-world broadcasting and playout environment. - dtg.org.uk

dtg.org.uk

UK recording industry seeks review of law allowing fans to copy music | Media | The Guardian

The UK music industry is seeking a judicial review of new legislation allowing music fans to make copies of legally-purchased music, arguing that musicians must be compensated as a result of lost sales. We fully support the right of the consumer to copy legally bought music for their own personal and private use, but there must be fair compensation for the creators of the music, said Vick Bain, chief executive of Basca. The governmenthas scrapped a law that made it technically illegal for music fans to download a legally-purchased CD onto a laptop, smartphone or MP3 player. - theguardian.com

Jury still out as local TV celebrates its first anniversary | Media | The Guardian

Today marks the first anniversary for the launch of local TV. The publics reception to the channels has been noticeably mixed. For example, STV Glasgow managed to reach an audience of 572,000 viewers in its first month on air in June. - theguardian.com

Tuesday 25 November 2014, PM

Keep extra Freeview HD Channels - e-petitions

This would mean a massive retuning exercise and the probable ending of the extra HD channels recently introduced to about 70 of the population. This change would probably necessitate rendering a lot of equipment obsolete and cause a lot of confusion to those who don't understand TV technology. This petition calls on the Secretary of State to overrule Ofcom and preserve the current Freeview transmission frequencies for the foreseeable future. - epetitions.direct.gov.uk

epetitions.direct.gov.uk

North West Wales DAB digital radio multiplex to launch | RadioToday

Only the BBC services are at 128kpbs, with the commercial stations offering 112kbps, all in stereo. Communicorps Heart North Wales service is not part of the line-up, although it is on the neighbouring Wrexham, Chester and Liverpool multiplex. The multiplex will broadcast from transmitters at Arfon and Conway. - radiotoday.co.uk

stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/other/cross-media/digital-day/2014/digital-day-childrens

Published 251114 This document provides an in-depth study of the findings from the Digital Day 2014 children's consumer research. It focusses on the data from the children's quantitative 3-day diary study, and includes some comparisons to the adults' study. Key findings from the main adults' study were published in August as part of our Communications Market Report 2014. - stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk

Monday 24 November 2014, PM

Ariel - Can't keep on with cuts, says Bulford

24 November 2014 Last updated at 1650 Anne Bulford says the BBC needs to make 400m more annual savings by 2017, but insists that it can't keep on making cuts without repercussions. Speaking in the Sunday Telegraph, the managing director of finance and operations said the BBC had achieved 1.1bn in annual savings since 2007 and was 'on track' to hit 1.5bn by the end of the current charter. 'The conclusions that come through from the report are that we're better run, we're better organised and we're doing more for less,' she told the newspaper. - bbc.co.uk