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

Ariel - Local radio to keep afternoon shows

16 May 2012 Last updated at 1111 Most local radio stations will keep their own afternoon shows, and they will lose fewer journalists and reporters than originally proposed under DQF. The trust agreed that local radio will now face cuts of 8m a year rather than the 15m that had been mooted by the BBC. Planned savings to content making of 8.5m have been reduced to just over 2.1m. - bbc.co.uk

stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk

Ofcom - BBC Trust Significance Tests

BBC Trust - Strategy

Please visit the BBC Trust homepage to find the information you want. you may have typed the web address incorrectly - please check the spelling, or that there are no spaces or capital letters. Alternatively, please try the other links and search box on this page. - bbc.co.uk

BBC Trust - Trust's service review of BBC Local Radio

Wednesday 16 May 2012, AM

Former BBC Trust chairman says search for new DG should be widened - Media - guardian.co.uk

Lyons said he does not believe there is a single standout successor to Mark Thompson within the BBC, due to a failure to institute succession planning. Panorama occasionally takes risks, but there is not enough investment in it, though it's a touchstone. Also there's a danger, of taking premature positions on international news the BBC was enamoured of the Arab spring. - guardian.co.uk

From 6am to 1am, daily: BBC1 runs into Olympic overload - Olympics - Sport - The Independent

Then the corporation was criticised for profligacy the final took place more than 1,000 miles away in Soweto. In all there will be 2,500 hours of coverage spanning 25 channels showing every second of Olympic action. BBC 1 will show nothing but Olympics from 6am until 1am, with the occasional break for news. - independent.co.uk

Tuesday 15 May 2012, PM

Apple TV, iTV release date, specs and rumours - PC Advisor

We know its going to be called iTV. Apple iTV rumours, release date, specs But do we It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. - pcadvisor.co.uk

www.pcadvisor.co.uk

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/techandgadgets/the-smart-approach-connectivity-is-playing-key-role-in-the-home-775321

Today we have hundreds of television channels at our disposal but it is still not enough. The term Smart TV like smartphone is not an indication of intelligence but of possibility. The sets have Wi-Fi built-in or they are Wi-Fi ready meaning you have to splash out a little extra on a separate dongle in order to get things working. - thisislondon.co.uk

www.thisislondon.co.uk

Ofcom: Now's your chance to make Local TV for Local People â€¢ The Register

Ofcom has received 87 expressions of interest from groups interested in running Local TV channels, and three companies interested in broadcasting them, so has launched the beauty contest to see who gets to be the next Alan Partridge. Local TV should be up and running within the next two years, in the 21 locations selected for the first roll out, but those interested in running a channel need to get their application in by August 13 to be considered in a process which will let the regulator decide who will provide the best, and most sustainable, local content. The channels will be broadcast at low power in White Space spectrum not being used locally for one of the proper channels. - theregister.co.uk

www.theregister.co.uk

Broadband Britain mapped: your web speeds - Technology - guardian.co.uk

We asked you to test your broadband speeds for us. You can filter by actual speed - or click on a dot to see what people said about their broadband. Explore and debate this data More data journalism and data visualisaitons from the Datastore - guardian.co.uk

ISPs must improve speed info says Ofcom - May - 2012 - Which? News

15 May 2012 Ofcom reveals results of broadband speeds mystery shopping Ofcom has released results of research that some broadband providers aren't consistently providing speed estimates to potential customers. In a mystery shopping exercise, TalkTalk and BT Total Broadband were less likely than other providers to give an estimated speed with prompting from the caller. The research, undertaken by Ofcom, has highlighted areas where it says providers need to improve. TalkTalk and BT are just two of the provider rated by their customers in Which's twice annual broadband survey. - which.co.uk

www.which.co.uk

Channel 4 chief upbeat despite main network's audience share dropping - Media - guardian.co.uk

David Abraham says Channel 4's 2011 figures have held up better than its rival terrestrial broadcasters. The flagship Channel 4 network had a 6.8 share of the audience in 2011, falling to 5.9 without its timeshifted offering, Channel 4 1. This was down from 7 in 2010 and its lowest since 1984, when it had a 6 share including Welsh-language channel, S4C. - guardian.co.uk

Wales should seek own C3 licence, report says - News - Broadcast

11 May, 2012 By Catherine Neilan The Welsh government should seek a specific Channel 3 licence as part of a range of measures to safeguard the nations media interests, a new report has recommended. 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

Channel 4 reports Â£44m profit for 2011 - Media - guardian.co.uk

The company's annual report showed that the flagship public service channel ran up a 41.9m deficit, compared to 6.5m the year before, but the loss was eliminated by income generated elsewhere. Channel 4 ended the year with an increased bank balance of 292m. David Abraham, the chief executive, said that the broadcaster would start running down its cash pile to closer to 200m and indicated that the channel did not expect to break even in 2012. - guardian.co.uk

Ofcom raises concerns over C4 News ratings - 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

BBC News - Today - 80 years of Broadcasting House

Get in touch with Today via email , Twitter or Facebook or text us on 84844. - news.bbc.co.uk

news.bbc.co.uk

Monday 14 May 2012, PM

Ariel - BBC to buy Â£15m of local tv content

As part of the 2010 licence fee settlement, the corporation agreed to provide 40m for the creation of a 'new generation' of local tv services - an initiative championed by the Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt. From today, media regulator Ofcom are inviting applications from local tv companies to broadcast in 21 locations across the UK. They will award the licences this autumn but the BBC will not be involved in their selection. - bbc.co.uk

www.thisissouthwales.co.uk

Sunday 13 May 2012, PM

ATV Today News Ofcom may review existing EPG code

Ofcom have stated that they might review and change current code on where channels can be placed. The channel number on an electronic programme guide EPG can be vital for securing a good viewing audience. As Ofcom opens up for applications for new local television stations, Sky and Virgin Media have been asked where they intend to place the new local services. - atvtoday.co.uk

www.atvtoday.co.uk

Ballymena Times readers urged to watch out for information packs - Local - Ballymena Times

The Switchover Help Scheme is writing directly to people that are eligible for help and most eligible people in the area will receive their first letter and information pack through the post any day now. The pack, which is also available in a range of alternative formats, explains all the options available to eligible people and contains important information on how they can get help to convert one TV to digital in time for switchover which begins on October 10. Other options and equipment are also available, some at an extra cost, and these are outlined in the information pack. - ballymenatimes.com

www.ballymenatimes.com

Saturday 12 May 2012, PM

TV Catchup Beta Now available for Android

TV Catchup, the service that lets you stream live freeview channels direct to your handset for free is now available in beta format for Android. Changed app behaviour so that on a tablet in full screen mode, if a video error occurs then selecting cancel will cause the application to change back to preview mode. Added loading dialogue to tablets prior to Honeycomb. - coolsmartphone.com

www.coolsmartphone.com

Friday 11 May 2012, PM

City on course to get local TV station - This is South Wales

The city is one of 21 locations to be chosen to take part in the pioneering scheme and could begin transmitting programmes as soon as 2013. Ofcom is now inviting companies to bid for a licence to run the new service. Once up and running the local TV service will be broadcast on Freeview and be available to the majority of households within the transmitter area. - thisissouthwales.co.uk

London set for its own TV station as Ofcom invites bids for franchise - Business - London 24

It is one of the first 21 areas across the UK being offered franchises next year, under Government plans for a new network of city-based channels. Ofcom, the broadcast industrys independent regulator, opened the bidding following yesterdays announcement from Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt. I hope to see exciting bids for the new TV channel, he said. - london24.com

www.london24.com

Government invites companies to bid to run Plymouth TV station - This is Plymouth

THE Government is inviting firms to bid to run Plymouth's new local TV station. Ofcom wants to hear from applicants for the licence to run the new service, which is expected to launch on air as early as next year. Plymouth is one of the first 21 areas across to the UK to be given the opportunity to have its own local TV station. - thisisplymouth.co.uk

www.thisisplymouth.co.uk

Thursday 10 May 2012, PM

Norman: ITV ready for connected TV - 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

BBC seeks technocrat with vision - Media - guardian.co.uk

The next BBC director general will have to outline a vision to avoid its terminal decline. The BBC has not faced a radical challenge to its very purpose and existence since the dying days of the Thatcher government. Within six months of taking charge of the BBC, the next DG will have to prepare a vision that will see it through perhaps its most demanding and life-threatening period since 1926. - guardian.co.uk

Saorsat: Irelandâ€™s Freesat launches to reach the two per cent without a TV aerial - Recombu

Unlike Freesat, Saorsat doesnt share satellites with the very popular Sky pay-TV service at the Astra 2 location. Instead, its on Ka-Sat at 9E, about 19 degrees to the West of the Astra 2 satellites, although an experienced installer can get both on the same dish. Theres a coverage checker at http//coverage.rtenl.ie/. - recombu.com

recombu.com

VLV: 4G Freeview disruption â€Ž"an outrage" - 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.biggleswadetoday.co.uk

It could be time to retune - Local News - Biggleswade Today

- biggleswadetoday.co.uk

Ofcom - Licensing Local Television - Statement

Statement published 100512, updated 150512 Background 1.1 Three Orders have been passed by Parliament, which give Ofcom the necessary powers and duties to license a new generation of local television services. 1.2 Ofcom has consulted on how it would exercise these new powers and duties to create a licensing framework for local television. We set out our proposals before the Orders were passed so as not to delay the timetable for launching new local TV services. - stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk

stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk

Ofcom - Ofcom invites applications for first 21 local TV channels

Ofcom today invited applications for 21 local TV channels across the UK. This follows new duties given to Ofcom by Parliament to license local TV. In addition to inviting applicants for 21 stations, Ofcom is today also inviting applications to run the local TV multiplex. - media.ofcom.org.uk

media.ofcom.org.uk

Wednesday 09 May 2012, PM

Ofcom - Television Multiplex Licence Renewal - Multiplex B

stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk

Tuesday 08 May 2012, AM

Letters: The truth about Sky's free choice - Media - The Guardian

Sky buys its customers by buying their choices, by buying rights and companies so it controls how people can see the programmes previously free-to-air. There is a mass of programmes from the US channels it has bought, and films from their studios. Then Sky simply steps in and uses its financial might to outbid the terrestrial channels and take the programmes. - guardian.co.uk

BBC2's Janice Hadlow: 'I'm not opposed to romping' - Media - The Guardian

Not surprisingly BBC2 controller Janice Hadlow stands foursquare behind Clarkson and her channel's top rating show. In a break with tradition, the job ad for the director general said a background in programming or journalism was not required. It would be less challenging had management gone ahead with a plan to axe BBC4 in the latest round of cost-cutting. - guardian.co.uk

No laughing matter: BBC faces comedy crisis as rivals lure talent with big budgets - News - TV Radio - The Indepen

BBC1 could miss out on the next generation of classic sitcoms like Only Fools And Horses because talented writers can't handle the pressure of parading their wares in front of a mass audience, a leading executive said. It's a sellers' market in comedy at the moment, which has impacted the number of scripts we are getting. Other writers prefer the path taken by Tom Hollander, who launched his acclaimed religious comedy Rev on BBC2, where it was able to build an audience. - independent.co.uk

Vince Cable: I feel vindicated for declaring war on Rupert Murdoch over BSkyB - UK Politics - UK - The Independent

www.eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk

Monday 07 May 2012, PM

Richard Horwood has a tele-â€˜visionâ€™ of a Channel 6 for Londonâ€”and a reason why he wants Ofcom to act on it now - F

That set the broadcasting industry buzzing, not least Richard and his Channel 6 Group. We have good national advertising market in Britain worth around 3.4 billion, he points out. It can fund a high-quality channel that would sell London as a world city. The ex-lawyer turned financier, now media executive, is passionate about the new London TV franchise about to be offered for tender. - eastlondonadvertiser.co.uk

Friday 04 May 2012, PM

What would an independent Scotland mean for the BBC? - Television radio - guardian.co.uk

Salmond has been generally opaque on this issue, offering little beyond a cheery assurance that Scottish voters shouldn't fret because no one's going to deprive us of Eastenders or The X Factor. Yes, why would Scottish viewers have any interest in a programme with middle class people in it Good news for Sky and Virgin though Scottish subscriptions would soar. - guardian.co.uk

Making Windows Media Center available in Windows 8 - Building Windows 8 - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

This post is how we will deliver on that and continue to support Media Center for another product lifecycle. --Steven If you saw our recent post on the Windows 8 editions, then you know already that Windows Media Center will be available in Windows 8. You might also have noticed Windows Media Center is included in Windows 8 Consumer Preview. - blogs.msdn.com

blogs.msdn.com

YouView is coming â€“ slowly - Comment - Broadcast

3 May, 2012 But not everyones prepared to wait patiently, says Kate Bulkley. 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

Echostar launch Ultra Slim Box, world's slimmest PVR : HDTV UK

With analogue TV signals dying the death, now's the perfect time to grab a digital set-top box if you didn't already have one. The box also offers live TV rewinding and pausing functionality, as well as intelligently seeking out HD versions of shows when available and offering the ability to set shows to record from advertisements. - hdtvuk.tv

www.hdtvuk.tv

Thursday 03 May 2012, PM

http://www.how-do.co.uk/north-west-media-news/north-west-broadcasting/channel-m-'was-a-victim-of-bad-timing'-says-form

- how-do.co.uk

www.how-do.co.uk

Lord Sugar: Dont Hold Your Breath For YouView - Gizmodo UK

Bad news streaming fans those looking forward to a May launch for the revolutionaryYouViewstreaming TV service will be sorely disappointed. According to Lord Sugar, its not in any shape to launch before the end of 2012, let alone before the Olympics. Considering it was meant to get into our living rooms way back in 2010, well be lucky if it makes it out this year. - gizmodo.co.uk

www.gizmodo.co.uk

Will BSkyB's viewers turn on and tune in or drop out? - Telegraph

However, the phone hacking scandal and News Corp's contentious 39pc stake in BSkyB has not so much blotted the broadcaster's copy book, as upended a whole inkwell over it. The act has only forced a broadcaster off air once in the past, but Ofcom's steady flow of pronouncements on the subject suggest it has the appetite to flex its muscle again. If Ofcom reaches the same conclusion, News Corp could be forced to sell its entire stake or watch BSkyB, the broadcaster it tried to take over last summer, go off air. - telegraph.co.uk

www.telegraph.co.uk

Wednesday 02 May 2012, PM

Freeview homes face digital TV interference due to new mobile services - Media - guardian.co.uk

Nearly two million homes face disruption to their digital TV signal because of interference from new mobile services, with fears that a government help scheme to combat the problem will prove inadequate. About 1.9 million households all with digital terrestrial TV service Freeview will suffer interference from the next generation of mobile services 4G which could come online by the end of this year. Satellite and cable TV services will be unaffected by 4G signals. - guardian.co.uk

Wednesday 02 May 2012, AM

informitv - Future of Broadcast Television Initiative

This represents a laudable effort to define the requirements for future global terrestrial television standards, but it currently lacks representation from other fields of telecommunications and information technology. In the digital age divisions have remained and consequently there is no single digital television standard. The ambitious aim is to try and break down many of the long-standing barriers that have prevented common systems. - informitv.com

informitv.com

BBC News - Murdoch not fit to run News Corp

It will force the board of News Corporation to review whether the 81 year-old, who created one of the most powerful media groups the world has ever seen, should remain as its executive chairman. It will give ammunition to those News Corporation shareholders who would like to loosen the hold over the company of the Murdoch dynasty. I forgot to mention one very important conclusion, that the News of the World and News International also misled MPs as corporate entities. - bbc.co.uk

BBC and Arts Council launch joint digital Space for culture - Media - guardian.co.uk

An archive of John Peel's entire record collection is now available on The Space. The Space, which went live on Tuesday, will offer hundreds of hours of arts programming online, on mobile, and on digital TV. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. - guardian.co.uk