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

Sky found to make "excess profits" from movies | 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

Sky Movies making excess profits, says Competition Commission | Media | guardian.co.uk

We believe that Sky's profitability today reflects its past investments and its success in delivering highly valued products to customers. Ofcom is also concerned that over the longer term Sky will look to dominate the growing market from viewers who choose to watch movies through online video-on-demand VoD services. The regulator's preliminary conclusion is based on analysis provided by economics consultancy Oxera. - guardian.co.uk

Sky bringing top shows to Freeview

Sky has announced it will bring some of its best content to its free-to-air digital TV channel Sky3 this weekend. It was bumped to a lower place on Sky's EPG at the start of the month, with its previous location - 108 - taken by the newly launched Sky Atlantic. - cable.co.uk

www.cable.co.uk

Tuesday 08 February 2011, AM

Review of BBC Radio 3, Radio 4 and Radio 7

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

Monday 07 February 2011, AM

Premier league decision could have implications for other media rights | Media | The Guardian

Her battle against Sky and the Premier League two organisations that long ago merged without any competition authority noticing has got to the European court of justice, where, unaccountably, a single German advocate recommended that the court rip up the way television rights are sold in Europe after umpteen years. Who knows what the European court will decide, but anybody who believes this will end up changing power and pricing in pay TV is the kind of person who would be prepared to be believe that Richard Keys is about to start a six-week gender awareness course sponsored by the Guardian. It's between selling TV rights to football, or whatever, on a country-by-country basis, or a pan-European basis. - guardian.co.uk

News Corps Sky bid may be better off in Jeremy Hunts hands | Media | The Guardian

He has received advice from Ofcom telling him he should and most people and organisations concerned about the implications of the deal in commercial and/or public interest media plurality terms agree. For a start, the principal concerns of News Corp's commercial competitors that the company might be able to bundle services and cross-subsidise failing newspapers from Sky's booming profits, thus threatening the viability of other media operators have been examined by the European Commission and dismissed. So these questions are now effectively closed, leaving media plurality specifically over the supply and consumption of news and current affairs as the only source of potential reasons to block the deal. - guardian.co.uk

Jeremy Hunts local TV plans let off Tory councils Shott free | Media | The Guardian

Local TV according to Nick Shott's review on behalf of Hunt is only going to be viable in the major conurbations, which are far more likely to be Labour controlled. Conservative councils in the shires including Surrey county council, which covers Hunt's rural constituency will face no such scrutiny. The point is neatly illustrated by comparing the total number of councillors elected in metropolitan borough councils which more or less correspond to the major conurbations of the proposed local television. - guardian.co.uk

Sunday 06 February 2011, AM

Google Offers Tools for Bringing Websites to TV

As if Web designers and developers didn't have enough on their plates, what with the variety of browsers and standards to code for, there's a new kid in town - Internet TV. Today, Google has acknowledged this problem, writing that it has worked to create some easy solutions for developers looking to optimize their content for Google TV. According to Google, it's not only using the same standards and tools that are in use for the Web, but also providing some simple starting points Google TV enables developers to build powerful websites using the same technologies they already work with. - readwriteweb.com

www.readwriteweb.com

Young turn to piracy to watch pay TV for free | Media | The Observer

Sky Atlantic's exclusive rights to series such as Boardwalk Empire have been infringed by streaming from illegal sites. If you Google 'Lady Gaga download', certainly not every site that comes up is legal. Broadcasters would not enjoy seeing their name linked to a legal action against a 12-year-old who has downloaded from the wrong place. - guardian.co.uk

Friday 04 February 2011, PM

Norway announces FM switchoff in 2017 - James Cridland

Norway announces FM switchoff in 2017 Posted on Friday, February 4th, 2011 at 330 pm. This helpful translation of the Norwegian governments announcement today shows that Norway is following the UK in digital radio switchover. There are a set of criteria, not dissimilar from the UKs 50 of listening must be done digitally by 2015, and coverage should be equal to FM. - james.cridland.net

james.cridland.net

Humax adds BBC iPlayer to Freeview HD DVR reghardware

Despite its name, the Portal also links up to a host of internet radio stations. Humax will begin transmitting the DVR's software update over the air starting today. - reghardware.com

www.reghardware.com

Three cheers for Karen Murphys win over Sky Sports | Michael White | Politics | guardian.co.uk

Of course, it ought to be a good story for Sun readers how a lone publican challenged corporate might greed, even on behalf of her customers, who want to watch football while having a drink with their mates at the Red, White and Blue in patriotic Portsmouth. Mrs M went to court after a running battle with Premier League lawyers, who invoked copyright laws to insist that only Sky had the right to broadcast their matches in Britain, and have paid a startling 1.6bn for the privilege for the three years to 2013. She won, arguing that the set-up breaches the principles of the EU's internal market agreed by Margaret Thatcher whereby there is free movement of people, goods and services, capital and labour throughout the EU, except in specified circumstances or via derogations of one kind or another. - guardian.co.uk

Landlady wins ECJ backing on Sky battle | 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

Friday 04 February 2011, AM

Prices Of Freeview HD Boxes Plummet To All Time Low | ITProPortal.com

Over the last few weeks, the prices of Freeview HD set top boxes have fallen to less than 40, just over twice as much as their SD counterparts. The box, which is unassuming, comes with a LED display unlike most entry level Freeview boxes. It also gives you access to free-to-air HD and non-HD channels 50 at the moment. - itproportal.com

www.itproportal.com

Media Talk podcast: The Daily, Lionel Barber, and Top Gear

download.guardian.co.uk

Landlady 1, Sky Sports 0 the legal victory that has Murdoch worried - TV Radio, Media - The Independent

For four years she has been fighting to overturn a criminal conviction for breach of the Premier League's copyright. She was fined 8,000 but has taken the case to the High Court on appeal. The case was referred to Luxembourg by the High Court because of a perceived lack of clarity in the European law. - independent.co.uk

www.independent.co.uk

CITY FOCUS: Ian Livingston leads the BT fightback | Mail Online

And, most importantly, the cash haemorrhage at its calamity-prone IT business has been staunched. It's a result that Livingston would surely have accepted with glee back in October 2008. In the first of a series of profit warnings late that month, BT started shedding a light on years of poor financial management at the fastgrowing unit. - dailymail.co.uk

www.dailymail.co.uk

Thursday 03 February 2011, PM

BBC - 5 live blog: Record audience figures for 5 live announced

The latest Rajar figures, which were announced this morning, reveal that 5 live has enjoyed its biggest ever audience figures. In the last measurement period 20 September to 19 December 5 live's average weekly reach was 7.09m. Watch Adrian talk to Torin Douglas about 5 live's audience figures In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. - bbc.co.uk

Latest RAJAR figures a curate s egg - James Cridland

Some large radio brands are also doing particularly poorly on digital. - james.cridland.net

james.cridland.net

Pub landladys EU case paves way for Premier League rights revolution | Media | guardian.co.uk

The European Union's highest court was today advised to rule that EU law does not prohibit pubs showing live Premier League matches from foreign broadcasters, potentially sparking a revolution in the way media sports rights are sold across the continent. She dismissed the copyright argument put forward by the Premier League that it held exclusive rights to matches broadcast to the public. No figures are given for Europe, however it is understood that France, Scandinavia and Germany are the most lucrative markets for Premier League rights. - guardian.co.uk

Thursday 03 February 2011, AM

RAJAR 2010 Quarter 4: BBC Radio 5 Live posts biggest ever audience

The Sony Station of the Year's weekly reach was up from 6.11m last year and 6.30 last quarter, whilst its share during the measurement period 20 September to 19 December was up to 5.3 from 4.5 last year and 4.7 last quarter. The station's performance was boosted by 5 Live Breakfast with Nicky Campbell and Shelagh Fogarty, which added more than 600,000 listeners over the year to post a reach of 3.17 million from 2.51m last year and 2.72m last quarter. The network's share is 1.2 up from 1.1 last year and level with last quarter. - bbc.co.uk

Daily economics BuzzMachine

I have not seen News Corps Daily I was invited to the preview last night but travel, exhaustion, health, weather, and thus prudence had me take the train home and I couldnt get in today because of the ice. I am trying to get my head around the economics and I hope better mathematical and business minds than mine will analyze what it will take for the Daily to succeed. Rupert Murdoch said the Daily went through 30 million in development costs that are already written off. - buzzmachine.com

www.buzzmachine.com

Freeview predicts Royal Wedding sales boost - mirror.co.uk

- mirror.co.uk

www.mirror.co.uk

Radio Today: DIGITAL: 25 per cent reached

radiotoday.co.uk

Letter: Breaking point for the BBC World Service | Media | The Guardian

In a very real sense the final retreat from our status as a global player will not be marked by any decision to scrap Trident or our aircraft carriers, but by denuding the World Service to the point where it can no longer maintain the breadth, depth and authority of its coverage at a level that commands international respect. I spent over five years in south-east Asia reporting for the BBC when it was starting to reduce its coverage. It reduced the regionality of its World Today programme. - guardian.co.uk

Wednesday 02 February 2011, PM

Changing Media Summit 2011: Speaker Richard Halton | Changing Media Summit | guardian.co.uk

He was responsible for leading the development of the proposals from the start, achieving widespread industry support from device manufacturers to content producers. - guardian.co.uk

TNA UK TV show times revealed | The Sun |Sport|Wrestling

Sky channel Challenge is available on Sky 125, Virgin Media 139 and Freeview 46. - thesun.co.uk

www.thesun.co.uk

The Media Show: The Guardian and WikiLeaks; The PCC. 02 Jan 11

downloads.bbc.co.uk

Ofcom | Freeing up spectrum to meet demands for mobile services

New plans to help increase mobile network capacity and deliver faster and more reliable mobile services for consumers, were unveiled today by Ofcom. The proposals will allow mobile phone operators for the first time to trade the radio spectrum that mobiles use to communicate with mobile masts. Spectrum is of particular importance to the mobile phone and mobile broadband industry, which relies on it to carry information between customers handsets and mobile masts. - media.ofcom.org.uk

media.ofcom.org.uk

Channel 6 Bids To Be The National Network For Local TV | Real Time Market News | Dow Jones

-Channel 6 plans to launch the national network and around 9 local affiliates on Freeview, cable and satellite in 2013, building to 39 by 2017. -The exact locations depend on the work Ofcom needs to do to optimise the transmission network. -By Jana Weigand, Dow Jones Newswires 44-20-7842-9314 jana.weiganddowjones.com click here to return to the top of the page - automatedtrader.net

www.automatedtrader.net

Freeview HD hits the million milestone | News | TechRadar UK

Freeview has hit a major landmark, with more than one million Freeview HD televisions and set top boxes sold. Freeview believes that 642,000 homes are now using Freeview HD kit although it is not clear how many of those people are actually using the HD service or if it is just built into their new television. FreeviewHD PVRs also sold well, outselling standard Freeview boxes two to one and showing a 118 per cent increase. - techradar.com

www.techradar.com

BBC Internet Blog: Round Up Wednesday 2nd February

The relevant press release and the full report can be found on the BBC Trust's website. In the final year, the project ran four individual fields trials to evaluate the technology in different applications and environments... In the BBC field trial the target application was web-based radio and TV catchup services. - bbc.co.uk

Freeview HD sales pass 1.2m | 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

Channel 6 keen to run local TV services | Media | guardian.co.uk

Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has unveiled proposals for a new national TV network. Horwood, who since December has indicated that Channel 6 was likely to submit a bid, has been one of the few voices offering unqualified support for Hunt's local TV plans. Last month Hunt unveiled proposals for a new national TV network that will initially launch on digital terrestrial TV and called for expressions of interest to run the service by 1 March. - guardian.co.uk

Wednesday 02 February 2011, AM

Can BBC R

Book now if you have a professional interest in the preservation of broadcasting and other audiovisual content. The conference will connect small and large archives, service providers, vendors, funders, policymakers and educators developing solutions to the most urgent questions facing audiovisual archiving. AV stakeholders in Europe and beyond are invited to attend the conference and to join the celebration of the launch of PrestoCentre. - bbc.co.uk

Tuesday 01 February 2011, PM

BBC Radio Blog: A RAJAR primer

Today RAJAR collects information on behalf of over 300 stations, ranging from very small local services to the national networks. These people are chosen at random within carefully selected areas to ensure the survey is completely representative in terms of the type of people who participate and the areas where they live. The random selection process also ensures inclusivity as much as possible - non-listeners are recruited, while people with disabilities are encouraged to take part with the help of a family member or carer if necessary. - bbc.co.uk

Digital Economy Act sent to Ofcom for review - February - 2011 - Which? News

Although reform of the Digital Economy Act did not form part of the Coalition Agreement, we have listened to the views expressed. They allege that the act doesn't comply with European law. The review is due to be heard on 22 to 24 March 2011. - which.co.uk

www.which.co.uk

Ofcom to review practicalities of Digital Economy Act | Technology | guardian.co.uk

Jeremy Hunt has asked Ofcom to review the Digital Economy Act. The site-blocking measures were included in the act, which was pushed through in the last hours of the Labour government in April, as a response to complaints by copyright holders, including trade bodies representing the music, film and TV industries, on the basis that file-sharing sites that encourage illegal downloading are a threat to the creative industries. The web-blocking provisions are a real mistake they would stifle freedom of expression, for unproven benefit, whilst being extremely costly and difficult to manage. - guardian.co.uk

Hands on: Humax TV Portal review | News | TechRadar UK

The firmware update is applied in the same way as all other Humax firmware updates. For the last year, new Humax remote controls have had a green 'TV Portal' button on them, and this button now has a purpose. A press of the TV Portal button will load up the new interface, and on our T2 it took about 10 seconds to load up properly. - techradar.com

www.techradar.com

DMOL consults on YouView IP channel list | Broadband TV News

Under the proposal numbers between 400-499 would be used to carry linear IP channels, but not those offering on demand services or virtual channels. A new category for shopping channels, promised as part of an earlier review, and a change in the category for local channels is also included. However a move to the 60s may not entirely meet the must carry obligations proposed for the UKs new local TV services. - broadbandtvnews.com

www.broadbandtvnews.com

Criticism of BBCs Digital Media Initiative | 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

Why is the BBC cutting Hindi radio from the World Service? | Sam Miller | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

Most of the rest of the BBC's decisions to cut or trim services were sad but predictable an acknowledgement that small audiences are probably the strongest reason to stop broadcasting to a particular part of the world, or in a particular language. Hindi radio has a very large audience, over 10 million regular weekly listeners with many more unmeasured in the conflict-ridden tribal areas of central India. That figure has come down significantly over the last decade, but it's still, in World Service terms, and in the context of international radio broadcasting, a huge listenership. - guardian.co.uk

Tuesday 01 February 2011, AM

BBC Asian Networks supporters plan final push | Media | guardian.co.uk

Eleven months later and staff are still waiting to find out when or if the station will close and what exactly will replace it. Listeners are being encouraged on Facebook and Twitter to phone the BBC's complaints line to protest about its likely closure. A BBC spokesman said the corporation had nothing further to announce at this time. - guardian.co.uk