BBC News - Mark Thompson apologises over project failure at BBC

He added there had been other larger, successful technological innovations at the BBC. The Public Accounts Committee is examining why the efforts to move the BBC away from using video tape failed. The gross estimate of the amount spent on DMI was 125.9m, although the net cost to the licence fee payer was estimated to be 98.4m. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

Ian Burrell: You might get a good sitcom out of it – the belated tarnishing of Mark Thompsons BBC ca

Earlier the former Director General had attempted his own rather glib humour over a fiasco that has cost 100m of public cash. I want to apologise to you and the public for the failure of this project. His strategy in deflecting the wrath of MPs who believed they had been deceived by his earlier testimony in February 2011 was to argue that he believed what hed said at the time. - independent.co.uk

www.independent.co.uk

Lords warn against top-slicing BBC - 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

Ofcom should have final say on media takeovers, say peers - Media - The Guardian

News Corporation abandoned its bid to take full control of BSkyB in 2011. Lord Inglewood, the committee's chair, said the industry regulator Ofcom should have the final say on plurality and competition issues surrounding any major media deal. Inglewood indicated that Ofcom was better positioned as a neutral, non-partisan body for evaluating media takeovers. - gu.com

gu.com

Mark Thompson faces MPs over BBC's £100m IT debacle - live coverage - Media - theguardian.com

Thompson repeatedly declines to be drawn into such a bald statement. He says what is now clear is that there was a difference of opinion between the BBC's technology department and other departments about DMI. - gu.com

gu.com

DTG :: News :: EBU puts subtitles on line

The specification is derived from the base W3C TTML specification. This builds on work done by MPEG, not yet published in international standard form. DTG Staff 03.02.2014 Links open in a new window. - dtg.org.uk

dtg.org.uk

News Republic

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www.news-republic.com

Former BBC boss Mark Thompson faces MPs over £100m IT fiasco - Media - theguardian.com

He is one of a handful of current and former BBC employees giving evidence to the public affairs committee about the scheme which was intended to create an integrated digital production and archiving system and ended up being abandoned having cost 100 million of licence fee cash. DMI was meant to allow staff to handle all aspects of video and audio content from their desks, but after years of difficulties during which 125.9 million was ploughed into it the plug was pulled last year leaving a net cost of 98.4 million. - gu.com

gu.com

Ian Burrell: One casualty of the digital revolution we should not lament – the old-school newsroom bully - Opinion - M

Bullying, Im sad to say, has become a potent topic in modern British media. For some it will be a non-issue, particularly those old-stagers who argue that it was forever thus in an industry that rewards ruthless ambition. Traditional media is under pressure surely a factor in workplace tensions but for the multi-skilled, digital natives emerging from colleges with a hunger to tell stories there have never been so many career options. - independent.co.uk

www.independent.co.uk

BBC News - Why radio has an enduring appeal

Down the years plenty of technologies have looked set to curb the appeal of radio - the cassette tape, the CD, the iPod and streaming services like Spotify to name but a few. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

BBC attempts to break into a global audience by harnessing the viral power of YouTube - TV Radio - Media - The Ind

The BBC2 flagship news programme has become active on the Google-owned video platform since the arrival four months ago of new editor Ian Katz and has scored a number of online hits with short clips taken from the show. The closest Newsnight has come to going viral is an interview with Russell Brand in which the actor and comedian discussed democracy, revolution and beards with Jeremy Paxman. The 10-minute clip has had 9.7m views since it was uploaded in October. - independent.co.uk

www.independent.co.uk

BBC News - Radios star continuing to shine

The intent was clear the channel was going to kill off old-fashioned radio. Down the years plenty of technologies have looked set to kill off radio talking pictures, TV, the cassette tape, the CD, the iPod. What may surprise you is that there are plenty of venture capitalists betting big that good old, steam-age radio cannot just survive but thrive. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

‘Try TV on Us’ offers blinkbox customers chance to sample episodes

Fans of great TV have never had it so good and were proud of our selection of amazing TV shows. Offering a taster is a great way to introduce people to our service and help customers find their next TV obsession. Customers can watch as many of the 28 episodes as they like during the promotional period. Comparison based on top 50 UK box office movies for 12 months preceding 25/10/2013. - news.blinkbox.com

news.blinkbox.com

BBC - Blogs - About the BBC - What's On BBC Red Button, 1-7 February

If you are a fan of 4 O Clock Club, then press Red for exclusive extras. As the week closes, join us for the first events and the opening ceremony of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. Throughout the Winter Olympics, up to two red button streams will offer live content and highlights from Sochi. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

Freesat ad gives the bare facts about satellite TV - Media Monkey - Media - theguardian.com

Judging by its latest ad campaign the strategy seems to be based on a less is more philosophy. - theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

at800 announces better support for UK viewers affected by disruption to Freeview from 4G at 800 MHz - at800

at800 is revising its approach to improve its support for UK viewers of Freeview services. These changes are expected to help at800 better meet its objective of ensuring people can still watch Freeview when 4G mobile services at 800 MHz are activated in their area. Five months after the launch of mobile services using 4G at 800 MHz, at800 is confident that disruption to Freeview will be less widespread than initially estimated. - at800.tv

at800.tv

Ariel - Editorial values course to launch for new staff

31 January 2014 Last updated at 0914 New BBC staff will be invited to attend a new course that provides an overview of the corporation's editorial values. The editorial values course will also be open to employees on contracts of less than six months and freelancers, with plans to offer it for free to key independent production companies. Launched by the BBC Academy, the two-hour, face-to-face course will help journalists and production staff make creative and sound editorial decisions. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

SES’s ASTRA 2E SATELLITE GOES LIVE at 28.2/28.5 DEGREES EAST OVER EMEA - SES.com

Extensive in-orbit tests have since then confirmed the satellite to be fully operational and performing to specifications. The satellite was built for SES by Astrium of France. Based on the highly reliable Eurostar E3000 platform, the spacecraft carries 60 Ku-band transponders, including 12 incremental transponders for delivery of services outside Europe, as well as 4 Ka-band transponders. - ses.com

www.ses.com

Let s face it: social TV is dead Tech News and Analysis

Okay, video startups, its time to get real That social TV thing youve been trying for the last couple years The evidence is all around us A few days ago, Yahoo announced that it was shutting down Intonow, the social TV service it had acquired three years ago. The announcement came on the heels of i.TV discontinuing the GetGlue service and brand which it acquired late last year in favor of its new tvtag app. - gigaom.com

gigaom.com

S4C and YouView bring Welsh language programming to whole UK - seenit.co.uk

Viewers in Wales can already watch the channel as one of the 70 live channel offered via the programme guide. Todays addition of a S4C on demand player means viewers across the UK can the broadcasters programmes on demand for up to 35 days following their original broadcast. Our aim is to expand the methods of watching S4C making it easier than ever for people to watch our excellent programming. - seenit.co.uk

www.seenit.co.uk

BBC News - UK government tackles wrongly-blocked websites

Many sites on the list are run by charities that aim to educate children and others about health, sex education and drugs issues. The whitelist will be used to ensure the sites are not immediately blocked. The list has emerged from a working group looking into accidental blocking and how to fix the problem. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

Ariel - Trust protects World Service news focus

30 January 2014 Last updated at 1259 News, current affairs and factual programmes must constitute 75 of all World Service output in future. The condition was added to the draft document after concerns were raised that the World Service's commitment to news might be eroded after it moves from grant-in-aid to licence fee funding. BBC Persian television only has to meet a 50 news and current affairs quota as it does 'not have the capability to produce 75 news and current affairs schedule'. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

More help for less people as 4G Freeview Fail fears fade - Recombu

All homes reporting 4G Freeview interference will get free aerial installer visits as mobile operators focus on getting a faster response to fewer people. AT800, the body set up to tackle 4G Freeview problems, said its confident no more than 90,000 homes across the UK will be affected, after initial fears problems would hit almost a million homes. After five months of 4G operations, theyve confirmed that only homes within 900 metres of a 4G mobile mast face Freeview interference, and few of those are reporting problems. - recombu.com

recombu.com

LBC to take on Radio 5 Live with national expansion - News - TV Radio - The Independent

Global is putting its long-running London station LBC on a national footing and creating the countrys first news talk broadcaster on a commercial platform. As well as challenging 5 Live for ratings, the station will bring new competition for local stations from smaller commercial radio groups. The station is a pioneer in commercial radio and launched 40 years ago as the London Broadcasting Company. - independent.co.uk

www.independent.co.uk

DTG :: News :: at800 announces better support for UK viewers affected by disruption to Freeview

at800 is revising its approach to improve its support for UK viewers of Freeview services. The company is committing to quicker response and resolution times, aerial installer home visits for affected viewers and additional support for properties using a communal aerial such as flats. These changes are expected to help at800 better meet its objective of ensuring people can still watch Freeview when 4G mobile services at 800 MHz are activated in their area. - dtg.org.uk

dtg.org.uk

Radio Today - Global Radio to take LBC national on D1

The station will position itself as the first ever national full news talk commercial radio station, complete with current features including Call Clegg, in which this news was first announced to London. From February 11th 2014 Global is investing further in digital radio, and in speech radio, to create the UKs first national commercial news talk radio station, giving listeners across the whole of the UK a voice and a forum to engage in the issues that matter to them. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

BBC - Blogs - About the BBC - A day in the life of a BSL Interpreter for BBC News

Since 1January 2014, Deaf viewers have been provided withadditional weekend bulletins with an 'in-vision' signer. As well as live sign language interpretation on news programming, we also cover a wide variety of pre-recorded programmes, from childrens programmes to documentaries to current affairs. Many people ask why sign language over subtitling - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

SES AND EUTELSAT SETTLE THEIR DISPUTE AND CONCLUDE A SERIES OF AGREEMENTS CONCERNING THE 28.5 DEGREES EAST ORBITAL POSIT

The dispute concerned a right of use of 500 MHz spectrum at the 28.5 degrees East orbital position. Eutelsat ceased to operate this spectrum on 3 October 2013 and SES has operated this spectrum since that date. The dispute over this right of use has now been resolved, with SES continuing to operate its satellites at this location, and Eutelsat independently commercialising part of the capacity of the previously disputed frequencies. - ses.com

www.ses.com

Media Talk podcast: ITV and BBC to launch new channels

download.guardian.co.uk

BSkyB profits hit by cost of Premier League deal - Media - theguardian.com

BSkyB's profits have been dented by the cost of its three-year 2.3bn Premier League deal. The company's adjusted operating profits, the measure of profit most closely watched by analysts and investors, fell by 8 year on-year to 595m. Total revenues grew by 6.3 to 3.75bn as the company hailed a strong performance in the runup to Christmas. - gu.com

gu.com

BSkyB signs new five-year deal for exclusive rights to HBO TV catalogue - Media - The Guardian

BSkyB has struck early to extend its existing agreement out to 2020 in a deal worth as much as 275m over five years. In addition BSkyB has also reached an exclusive agreement to co-fund and co-produce top-end dramas, of the scale of the multi-million pound per episode Game of Thrones, that could run to tens of millions of pounds investment in new shows per year. Investors will be closely watching the company's churn, the rate at which customers leave Sky, to see if BT's big money move into pay-TV is significantly damaging its customer base. - theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

I swapped my TV for Netflix, and here s what it taught me - Television radio - theguardian.com

Photograph Jessica Miglio/Netflix I used to work with a guy who didn't have a TV. I am a Netflixer and I have my reasons. I moved house last year and, when I went to plug in the TV, I found the cable had been severed. - theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

Media: NFL; DMI failure; News UK; Sky results 29 Jan 2014

downloads.bbc.co.uk

Ariel - Wright perplexed by Classic FM copy claims

The Radio 3 controller believed there was 'probably clearer water now than there's ever been between the two stations'. He said that while their commercial rival had lost almost 25 of its listeners, these had not been poached by Radio 3, which had maintained a steady audience. 'We have two entirely complementary radio stations,' Wright insisted, in response to the complaints made in Classic FM's submission to MPs towards the licence fee debate. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

ITV Encore to launch on Sky

ITVs brilliant dramas contributed to a fantastic on-screen performance last year - we had three out of the top five dramas in 2013, which helped us increase our share of viewing on the main channel for the first time in a decade. - corporate.sky.com

corporate.sky.com

ITV launches pay-TV drama channel - 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

Mark Thompson to face MPs again over failed £99m Digital Media Initiative - Media - The Guardian

I was shocked to learn how poor the BBC's governance arrangements for the Digital Media Initiative were. John Linwood, the former BBC chief technology officer dismissed over the failed initiative, confirmed in written evidence to the committee that he was taking legal action against the corporation. Thompson previously gave evidence to parliament about DMI in 2011 when he incorrectly claimed the scheme was already up and running. - theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

Top Gear and Doctor Who dominate record ratings for BBC iPlayer - Media - The Guardian

The total of 2.2bn TV programmes and 800m radio shows requested last year was a third up on 2012 with requests on iPads and other tablets growing more than 100. Viewers will have longer to watch shows later this year, with the catch-up window set to be extended from seven to 30 days, alongside advanced plans for a BBC Store in which viewers will be able to buy and download programmes permanently. - theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

BBC News - Confusion led to BBC digital project failure

A failure to understand the problems the project faced also led to its cancellation, the National Audit Office said. The BBC's technology chief John Linwood was sacked in July over the project's demise. DMI had been intended to move the BBC away from using video tape. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

Ariel - Alix Pryde to leave BBC for Vodafone

28 January 2014 Last updated at 1135 Alix Pryde, director of distribution for the last five years, is to leave the BBC. She will join Vodafone to run its consumer product department. Pryde led the distribution team behind digital switchover, with the massive broadcast engineering feat delivered on time and under budget. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

Ariel - Television and Future Media converge

28 January 2014 Last updated at 0932 The worlds of television, technology and future media converged on Monday for a series of workshops and presentations aimed at encouraging collaboration between the different BBC divisions. Continue reading the main story Threats to television in 2014 Nic Newman highlighted three major challenges to traditional tv 1. Audience attention 49 use smartphones at the same time Younger people do not engage with peak time early evening news 2. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

No, Pandora Is Not Radio - jacoBLOG

Pandora is not radio. Pandora is just a soulless, poorly-executed, music jukebox. Pandora wants people to think theyre radio, because people love radio, and advertisers understand radios power and connection but they are not radio. Instead, they are attempting to redefine radio as some kind of music jukebox. As Freds post showed, they have succeeded. We, the radio industry, have sat idly by as companies like Pandora, Slacker, Apple and others have christened their inferior product radio. They have stolen our brand. It has already caused us immeasurable damage. We are fools for letting that happen. Radio, according to these stations, is some kind of personal hell for the Pandora generation forcing you to listen to someone elses Pandora channel, but covering up the thumbs down button. If the only thing radio stations offer is non-stop music, Pandora will win every time. - jacobsmediablog.com

jacobsmediablog.com

Microsoft ditches SkyDrive for OneDrive after BSkyB dispute - Microsoft - CNET News

Microsoft's SkyDrive won't be around much longer -- at least, not by that name. Rather than continue to battle it out in court, Microsoft decided it was time to change the service's name. One place for all of your photos and videos. - news.cnet.com

news.cnet.com

Sky launches biggest year of entertainment with major new marketing campaign

27 January 2014 Sky launches biggest year of entertainment with major new marketing campaign Sky is to launch its biggest ever year of entertainment with a major new marketing campaign that for the first time gives everyone a chance to sample entire episodes of Sky shows online. During 2014, Sky customers can look forward to Skys biggest and best year of entertainment content. More than 30 million people watch Sky content each week. - corporate.sky.com

corporate.sky.com

BBC ‘to be asked to pay licence fees for the elderly’ - 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

Broadcasting's poor ethnic mix has an impact on everyone - Media - The Guardian

Actor Lenny Henry told a diversity roundtable organised by culture minister Ed Vaizey that 'structural change' is needed to turn around the decline in the representation of black and minority ethnic groups in the industry. In short, the position of BAME Britons in broadcasting and the creative industries is now significantly worse than it was ten years ago. So much so that a visitor from Mars or even Brixton might well be wondering if what was going on amounted to direct and deliberate racial discrimination. - theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

The BBC's independence rests on being influenced by the public, not politicians - Media - The Guardian

Building the future John Tate asks why should a politician set the BBCs income, let alone without reference to the publics willingness to pay Organised, professional attempts to describe the truth would on this view be outdone by multiple independent voices, from which would emerge sometimes fuzzier but ultimately richer, speedier, more independent reports. At the right time and place one person with a camera-phone wields influence once reserved for elites. - theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

Ignorance - Benedict Evans

It hasn't been possible to understand all of engineering or technology for perhaps a hundred or a hundred and fifty years. - ben-evans.com

ben-evans.com

BBC - Blogs - About the BBC - New studio for BBC Scotland

I recall when we moved to our new purpose-built headquarters on the banks of the River Clyde in Glasgow in 2007, it was hailed as one of the most modern, state-of-the-art digital broadcasting facilities in the world. In juxtaposition with our Scottish output, Studio C at Pacific Quay was in danger of looking a bit dated. So, with a big year ahead of them, the bosses here decided now was the ideal time to bring the visual look of their flagship news and sports programmes up-to-date. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

BBC - Blogs - Internet blog - What's on BBC Red Button - 25-31 Jan

We're all over the UK this week as Winterwatch invites us all to join in with the Big Garden Birdwatch. Wildlife footage will be streamed online, on tablets, smartphones and on BBC Red Button, and its accompanied by running commentary from our guest experts. For a full list and times of sport coverage on the Red Button see the BBC Sport website. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk