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Wednesday 30 March 2011, PM

LTE for radio? No thanks - James Cridland

3G coverage is hardly ubiquitous in the UK. I write this in Bournemouth, not exactly the ends of the earth, and I have no mobile coverage at all in the house Im in. 4G LTE seems a hugely expensive way of broadcasting radio. - james.cridland.net

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Culture Secretary defends News Corp plans - TV Radio, Media - The Independent

The Cabinet Minister told MPs he believed the proposed deal - which he announced earlier this month that he intends to accept - would strengthen media diversity. He said the News Corp plan to fund Sky News for 10 years as part of the deal would ensure financial security for the channel. - independent.co.uk

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Editor says sorry for BBC blackout - TV Radio, Media - The Independent

BBC bosses apologised today after the corporation's website went offline for almost an hour. Technical problems meant users were unable to access bbc.co.uk until just before midnight. We haven't yet had a full technical debrief, but it's clear it was a major network problem. - independent.co.uk

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BBC - The BBC Radio Blog: Radioplayer - all of UK radio in one place

Listening to the radio online has a history. BBC radio programmes have been available on the web for over fifteen years. A 1995 experiment by BBC Radio 3 also included what we've come to know as 'user-generated content' and webcams. - bbc.co.uk

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Wednesday 30 March 2011, AM

London to complete digital switchover in time for Olympics - Media - guardian.co.uk

Digital switchover London's Crystal Palace analogue transmitter is to be turned off next year. There had been fears that the biggest region to transfer from analogue to digital might not be done in time for the London Games, which start on 27 July. However it is understood that the process will begin about this time next year and be completed by June. - guardian.co.uk

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Digital switchover begins in Shropshire next week - shropshirelive.com

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Tuesday 29 March 2011, PM

BBC needs complaints ombudsman - TV Radio, Media - The Independent

The BBC needs an independent ombudsman to deal with complaints against it, the corporation's former chairman Lord Grade said today. The trust plays no part in the day-to-day production of programmes, but oversees standards and hears appeals over complaints. - independent.co.uk

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BBC News - Countdown to digital switchover

Digital UK, the organisation leading the change, says the analogue channels will be turned off in two stages. The Freeview digital service will then be boosted to reach virtually all households in the Yorkshire TV region. All the remaining analogue channels will switch to digital on September 21 2011. - bbc.co.uk

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Changing Media Summit 2011 Highlights: Richard Halton, CEO, YouView - Changing Media Summit - guardian.co.uk

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Monday 28 March 2011, PM

BBC - BBC Internet Blog: What's On BBC Red Button 29th March - 11th April

Viewers can press red at the start of the programme for the Filthy Cities red button experience with extra filthy footage and fun facts. If you haven't got your cards already they are available for free at your local library from April 1st 2011 while stocks last - please ask at the main enquiry desk. Red button viewers can watch exclusive performances from schools in the semi-final stage. - bbc.co.uk

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The state of British TV: entertainment - Television radio - guardian.co.uk

The X Factor ... questionable content maybe but it has more engineering than the Clifton bridge. Now entertainment shows are all about size and spectacle. The X Factor is like being punched in the face by an exploding petrol tanker for three months at a time. - guardian.co.uk

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Tech talk: with David Behrens - Gadgets and Tech - Yorkshire Post

MOST of us receive our TV signals digitally these days but come this September well have no choice in the matter. Theyre the ones that have carried BBC and ITV programmes since the 60s, and theyve radiated, with very few exceptions, a uniform service to town and dale alike. No History Channel, no Dave not even ITV3. - yorkshirepost.co.uk

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Monday 28 March 2011, AM

Radioplayer ready to launch

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Daybreak: ITV's morning has broken? - Media - The Guardian

When TV-am was launched it was obvious almost immediately that it had the wrong presenters, the wrong set, and the wrong programme. It too had the wrong set, the wrong presenters and the wrong programme. Again the audience didn't like it and within six months it was changed. - guardian.co.uk

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History suggests you shouldn't write Daybreak off - Media - The Guardian

To start with, the viewers voted with their rather bulky remotes. At its height in the 90s, GMTV was a brilliant programme. GMTV had a terrific run, but the last decade saw a period of sustained decline in audience levels a 30 loss in the show's share of viewing between 2001 and 2010. In the run-up to Daybreak, I made it clear that quite a few things would change. - guardian.co.uk

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Stephen Glover: Economies are a reality even the BBC must face - Stephen Glover, Opinion - The Inde

The BBC is fretting about having to cut its costs by some 20 per cent over five years. Last week its director-general, Mark Thompson, mentioned 21 areas where cutbacks might be made. There seem likely to be even more repeats. - independent.co.uk

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Jeremy Hunt must stand and deliver on growth - Media - The Guardian

Big Bang may not be feasible we have to abide by EU directives that, for example, require a ceiling on ad minutage, something the US networks find difficult to comprehend. In the US, TV execs do not bat an eyelid when they pay 3m for an hour of drama. In any case there will be far more to argue about than deregulation, ranging from digital multiplexes and spectrum to high-speed broadband. - guardian.co.uk

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Sunday 27 March 2011, AM

Time running out to switch over your TV From Worcester News)

The switchover will convert the UKs terrestrial television system to digital. Analogue channels are being switched off and replaced with free-to-air digital TV and radio services, also known as Freeview. The switchover of the Bromsgrove transmitter will take place in two stages with BBC Two being switched off first on April 6. - worcesternews.co.uk

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Saturday 26 March 2011, AM

TV's repeat prescription - Mark Lawson - Comment is free - The Guardian

Matt Smith, the new Doctor Who, slips in and out of the vision as repeats populate the BBC's schedules. It's seen at least every Christmas and every summer, and frequently in between, when broadcasting organisations announce schedules containing large numbers of programmes that have been shown before. The repetition of material has become symbolic of failure to provide proper value for the licence fee or advertising revenue. - guardian.co.uk

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Friday 25 March 2011, PM

BBC - Radio 4 Blog: On the way out - Sir Michael Lyons on Feedback

That was the apparently unflappable Prime Minister, Harold MacMillan, discussing what most concerned him. There was the almost peaceful revolution in Egypt, and widespread demonstrations in the Arab world, then the Japanese Tsunami which caused tens of thousands of deaths, followed by the crises at one of its nuclear power stations. BBC Chairmen have to get used to 'events', and to leaks from all over the Corporation when vested interests see what they most care about being threatened by cuts. - bbc.co.uk

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Media Talk: Arianna Huffington and Tim Armstrong

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Friday 25 March 2011, AM

BBC News - Design and technology classes out of date - Ofsted

24 March 2011 Last updated at 2250 ET Too many design and technology teachers in England are failing to keep pace with global technological advances, education inspectors have said. An Ofsted report on the teaching of the subject said too little use was made of modern technology in a third of the schools it surveyed. Schools in China and France emphasise the study of robotics, electronics and computer-aided design, it added. - bbc.co.uk

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Thursday 24 March 2011, PM

YouView announces content partners

YouView has confirmed the 29 organisations it is working with to make content available via the platform. We want all types of content providers to be able to deliver their content via YouView so viewers get the best possible choice. The diversity and expertise of the organisations that are informing our development will ensure that YouView is able to support a potentially unlimited range of content in the future. - dtg.org.uk

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Media: 24 Mar 11: BBC cuts

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Sky 'changes its mind on YouView' - Telegraph

Lord Sugar has only been in the job of non-executive chairman for two weeks, but has already created a stir with his hands-on approach at the 150-strong company based in the BBCs offices. Lord Sugar will either cure or kill off YouView. He has been brought on board by Richard Desmond the owner of Channel Five to cut through all the nonsense which has been continually delaying the launch and actually get the thing to work and be on sale as soon as possible, said on senior TV executive. - telegraph.co.uk

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BSkyB makes U-turn over YouView - Media - guardian.co.uk

Later this year, the broadcaster is launching Sky Anywhere, combining access to its Sky Player and Sky Mobile services and allowing subscribers to watch its video content on a variety of smartphone, tablet and other mobile devices. To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editormediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. - guardian.co.uk

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Sky listed among YouView content providers - News - TechRadar UK

- techradar.com

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Thursday 24 March 2011, AM

The number is up for the BBC's National Lottery draw - Business News, Business - The Independent

The BBC is almost certain not to bid for a renewal of the right to screen live National Lottery draws when the contract comes up next year. The corporation is searching for more ways to slash its costs and its six-year contract with the lottery operator, Camelot, expires at the end of December 2012. A spokeswoman for the BBC said it was committed to live draws until the end of 2012. - independent.co.uk

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Wednesday 23 March 2011, PM

BSkyB sets its lawyers on Virgin Media - Telegraph

In the letter Sky gave Virgin eight hours to take down the campaign before contacting the ASA. A Virgin spokesman said the campaign was designed to highlight consumer dissatisfaction with broadband speeds that appeared to be much slower than those advertised. Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, recently found that average broadband speeds are less than half the average advertised speed. - telegraph.co.uk

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BBC cuts could hit drama

C21Media.net is Everything about content in the 21st Century, from television to web, mobile, tablet and beyond. - c21media.net

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Ofcom relishing Google vs Sky vs YouView - News - TechRadar UK

- techradar.com

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Adam Crozier: ITV embracing digital but traditional TV still vital - Media - guardian.co.uk

Crozier said almost half of those watching the show on TV are also using Facebook or Twitter at the same time. However, Crozier used the show as an example of how some programmes perform better than others online in what was otherwise a defence of traditional TV viewing. ITV's long-awaited micropayments platform will be unveiled later this year, he added. - guardian.co.uk

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BBC - Research and Development: Building applications on large datasets

Recently there's been a lot of discussion in the technology scene about open-data and ways of working with large datasets. A recent high profile story was the UK government's data.gov.uk project, which aims to make reams of public data accessible on-line in electronic form. The opening up of this data suggests many possible use-cases. - bbc.co.uk

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BBC - About the BBC: BBC milestone moments

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OTTTV viewers to outnumber IPTV viewers in 2013

Informa forecasts that by 2015, 380 million people globally will view online video via connected devices such as TVs, games consoles or set-top boxes from the likes of Apple and Google. According to Informa, this growth will be driven by the popularity of services such as BBC iPlayer and Netflix. Its abundantly clear that viewing online video via connected devices will be both a long-term and mass-market activity. - dtg.org.uk

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Lord Sugar strives to sweeten YouView - News - THE DRUM - Advertising, Design, Media, Marketing, Digital, PR - News, Inf

Read more Press Gazette, the print trade title for UK journalists, has announced it is axing its quarterly print edition in favor of focusing its resources on a weekly digital edition, iPhone app and website. Read more International - 05/01/2013 Metro has revealed the figures from its activity during the Christmas period, seeing a notable rise in traffic to Metro.co.uk via mobile devices.... Read more Online voucher and daily deal specialist DiscountVouchers.co.uk has found that the people of Birmingham are the most committed to self-improvement. - thedrum.co.uk

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Digital TV switchover answers - Gloucestershire news

Switchover is the process of converting the UK's terrestrial television system to digital. Between now and 2012, analogue channels broadcast from more than 1,000 transmitter sites are being switched off region by region and replaced with Freeview digital TV and radio services. Switching off the existing analogue broadcasting system will create the capacity necessary to extend coverage to the whole country. - thisisgloucestershire.co.uk

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Wednesday 23 March 2011, AM

UK Internet TV service YouView could be killed off before launch

The service was originally due to launch last year, wasrescheduled for 2011 and is nowdelayed until next year. Creating a working and affordable YouView box for retail is reportedly proving a challenge to the team behind the YouView. - thenextweb.com

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Leading article: BBC savings have to come from somewhere - Leading Articles, Opinion - The Independ

When, a year ago, the BBC announced it would cut the digital radio station 6 Music, a public campaign succeeded in saving it from the guillotine. BBC Asian Network, which was threatened with closure at the same time, received its reprieve this month. He may be happy that audiences will rally around their favourite services to save them from the knife, generating publicity and an outpouring of public support for BBC content. - independent.co.uk

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The big turn-off: BBC set to cut chat and property shows as budget cuts bite - TV Radio, Media -

With inflation expected to eat into the BBC licence fee, frozen at 145.50 until the end of 2016, the corporation has promised to deliver efficiency savings of 20 per cent. Mark Thompson, the BBC Director General, outlined a series of possible reductions to services, designed to protect the prime-time programming that he believes is most valued by viewers. Screens could go blank or once again be filled with pages from a revived Ceefax. - independent.co.uk

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Tuesday 22 March 2011, PM

Lord Sugar to 'cure or kill' YouView - Telegraph

Meek, who has held several other senior broadcast and telecoms roles, including a stint on the board of directors at the controversial online advertising company Phorm, explained his unexpected departure It has been apparent for some time that the YouView board would benefit from additional expertise in consumer marketing and technology delivery. As the venture progresses towards launch, the change in Chairman makes sense. - telegraph.co.uk

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FetchTV delivers HD UI - Broadband TV News

IP Vision has unveiled a new high definition user interface for its FetchTV over-the-top platform. David Bloom, IP Visions commercial director, said The user interface is critical to an operators ability to communicate with audiences. - broadbandtvnews.com

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TELEVISIONS across Derbyshire will need to be re-tuned next week, while some analogue sets will lose BBC2 for good.

Almost one million homes that receive their signal through the Waltham and Nottingham transmitters, including those in Derby, Ashbourne, Belper and as far north as Matlock, will need to adjust their equipment. The analogue signal in the East Midlands will be turned off for good later this year. Those who have digital TVs will simply have to re-tune to make sure they get all channels. - thisisderbyshire.co.uk

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BlackGold BGT3620 review - TV tuners - Reviews - PC Pro

Considering that it arrives in such a tiny black box, barely any bigger than that of a pair of sunglasses, BlackGold's BGT3620 is absolutely feature-packed. The provision of a video input is something of a rarity, the supplied adapter cable adding composite, component and S-Video inputs for hooking up external set-top boxes or older video devices. Theres no bundled software, though we had to download drivers from BlackGolds site, and theres no documentation at all. - pcpro.co.uk

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Humax Licenses Intertrust Marlin Technology for YouView Set Top Boxes - Business Wire

About Humax Humax is one of the worlds largest manufacturers of digital set-top boxes, exporting its products to over 90 countries across the globe. The company has built a solid reputation as a leading supplier of high quality, feature-rich digital TV products, including digital TV recorders and high definition HD set-top boxes. The company holds over 150 patents and has over 300 patent applications pending worldwide. - businesswire.com

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Student questions on the DAB switchover - James Cridland

An email arrives, asking for help with a student project on the DAB switchover. Im a radio guy having worked in radio since 1989. Ive been a radio presenter, and worked in the commercial department of radio writing radio ads and helping sell them. - james.cridland.net

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BBC spent £700,000 on EastEnders episode - TV Radio, Media - The Independent

The BBC spent almost 700,000 on its anniversary half-hour live episode of EastEnders last year, a new report has revealed. Corporation bosses earmarked an extra half a million pounds - over and above normal costs - to fund the 25th anniversary programme. It found the cost of six key dramas, including EastEnders and Casualty, has reduced by a fifth in real terms over the past eight years. - independent.co.uk

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BBC - Press Office - Tim Davie announces plan for BBC Radio independent commissioning process

The criteria will be based on four areas of expertise Editorial Capability, Technical, Editorial Standards, and Business. The requirements for meeting the criteria include programme making experience knowledge of BBC Guidelines and compliance procedure talent management budgetary expertise and compliance with network specific requirements. The criteria will ensure consistency and transparency across the production and commissioning process for in-house and external BBC productions. - bbc.co.uk

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BBC 'could axe overnight programming' - Media - guardian.co.uk

Thompson suggested that slots used by overnight programming could be taken up by HD shows. To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editormediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. - guardian.co.uk

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UTV upbeat after 2010 profit rise - Media - guardian.co.uk

UTV's television revenue is expected to be up 8 year on year in the same period, broadly in line with the market, while Irish radio turnover is forecast to be at the same level as the previous year, compared with the overall market being down at least 5. The company reported adjusted pre-tax profits of 21.1m for 2010, up 17 year-on-year, on total revenue up 7 to 120.2m. Profit from continuing operations after tax was 16.4m, up 16 year-on-year. - guardian.co.uk

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