Monday 31 January 2011, AM
Politics in play as the new chair of the BBC Trust is selected | Media | The Guardian
On the evidence of the last four years, becoming the public guardian of the BBC may seem tantamount to volunteering for a life lived on a bed of nails. From dealing with own goals including lewd voicemail messages, to public spats with politicians over executive pay and the corporation's funding, and a barrage of negative coverage from the rightwing press, the BBC Trust chairman is rarely out of the firing line. However, as the final interviews to find a successor to Sir Michael Lyons take place today, it is clear there are at least five keen candidates for what is still viewed as one of the country's most prestigious establishment jobs. - guardian.co.uk
www.guardian.co.ukRights holders alliance to defend Digital Economy Act | Technology | guardian.co.uk
The Premier League is expected to join forces with eight trade bodies to defend the Digital Economy Act. The group was given permission to intervene in the review through the consent of the government as well as BT and TalkTalk. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukCuts pay off for BT as broadband pressures rise - Sharewatch, Business - The Independent
BT Group will hope to put out a strong response to moves by rivals to muscle in on its territory when it reports third-quarter numbers this week. Last week, Sky announced the fastest growth in take-up of broadband in 10 quarters, and bought Wi-Fi rival The Cloud. O2 also announced it will start rolling out a Wi-Fi hotspots network. - independent.co.uk
www.independent.co.ukSaturday 29 January 2011, PM
Icecrypt T2400 Freeview HD DVR reghardware
Review Icecrypt is a little known name in the UK. You can change the volume, or channel, and even access all the menus without the remote, although navigating the menus is a little fiddly at first. The remote is fairly large, the buttons have a positive click feel when pressed and arent as rubbery as some. - reghardware.com
www.reghardware.comMy hero: the BBC World Service by Jeremy Paxman | Books | The Guardian
Yet I have never, ever, anywhere in the world, heard anyone say a bad word about the World Service. It has a team of steady, dedicated and resourceful correspondents stationed around the world. Its television service puts its poverty on proud display every day. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukSaturday 29 January 2011, AM
BBC News - Could 3D television be dangerous to watch?
A shop employee, misinterpreting head office advice not to rent out 3D glasses, did exactly that - prompting the story to first be picked up by the national newspapers and then spread around the world. Most echo Nintendo's advice about young children but advice also extends as far to those who have been drinking alcohol, pregnant women, senior citizens, people with heart problems, those who experience frequent drowsiness or are in need of sleep. Perhaps above anything else, this seems to clash with the big effort to get 3D TVs into pubs - over 1,000 establishments have signed up in the UK alone. - news.bbc.co.uk
news.bbc.co.ukUK broadcasters to publish HD production standards
The DPP also draws on industry experts from the worlds of technology and production to fulfil its remit. DTG Staff 28.01.2011 Links open in a new window. - dtg.org.ukwww.dtg.org.ukWhats On BBC Red Button 29th January - 11th February 2011
The first two instalments are a two part series Henry Moore Carving a Reputation 1898 1945. A documentary that marked the centenary of Henry Moore's birth, with film footage notebook extracts that build up a picture from Moore's early life and his student days in Leeds, to his wartime experiences. The show will run until the end of May 2011. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukBBC Red Button video service arrives on Freesat
2008 saw the launch of a brand new digital TV platform, with the BBC instrumental in delivering both channels and interactive content on to Freesat. In particular, Freesat viewers have been keen to enjoy the same video content that was made available on other platforms. I want to update these Freesat viewers on some exciting developments. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukOptimize your display for Windows Media Center
In Windows 7, Windows Media Center includes a wizard for just this purpose. The first part of the wizard is where you tell Windows Media Center about your display what type it is, its width, and resolution, how it is connected and so on. Note The display configuration will be optimal if you are in full screen mode. - windowsteamblog.comwindowsteamblog.comIn praise of the BBC World Service Friday Documentary - James Cridland
The BBCs coverage on World Briefing was thorough, clear, and benefitted from the extra couple of hours to offer good analysis as well as some eye-witness reports. It was a reminder, if one needed it, why the BBCs news reporting if not its peculiar habit for self-flagellation is revered the world over. More or less all this respect came from the BBCs international services, and more or less all of that came from the World Services highly potent cocktail of history, mythology and reality. But it was what came next that reminded me of the wonder of radio as a whole. - james.cridland.net
james.cridland.netFriday 28 January 2011, AM
Media Talk podcast: A new investigation into phone-hacking
download.guardian.co.ukUK TV viewing could have hit peak | Media | guardian.co.uk
Sofa bound ... average viewing has risen to more than four hours a day. Photograph Corbis More than 70 years after the BBC first began television broadcasts, the British love affair with the medium may have finally reached its peak. Viewers notched up an average of four hours and 2 minutes a day of live TV watching in 2010, an increase of 18 minutes year on year, according to a report published today by commercial TV marketing body Thinkbox. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
ITN cool on Hunts vision for local 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
www.broadcastnow.co.ukUK broadcasters announce Digital Production Partnership
The DPP also draws on industry experts from the worlds of technology and production to fulfil its remit. These guidelines will aim to provide clarity to the production community around HD equipment and techniques and, will provide common achievable technical standards for all major UK broadcasters. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukSuper High Vision Trials: Networking
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash Installed. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content. In this film John Zubrzycki and Chris Chambers describe the techniques used in the tests, and their potential future use for live events in the coming months and years. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukIllegal file-sharing solicitor tells why hes quit - January - 2011 - Which? News
Campaigns Making consumers as powerful as the organisations they deal with. Consumer Rights Your essential guide to consumer rights and what to do if things go wrong. Conversation Want to comment on burning consumer issues of the day - which.co.uk
www.which.co.ukThursday 27 January 2011, AM
Fears that UK will lose influence after huge cuts at World Service - TV Radio, Media - The Independent
Radio broadcasts will cease in China, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey and shortwave broadcasts will no longer be made in Hindi. Commentators said the cuts would reduce Britain's relevance in some of the world's most important markets. Jeremy Dear, its general secretary, said the service would lose its position as the leading international news provider by audience size as a result. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukThe BBC's "new radio product": birtspeak translation - James Cridland
Radio and music will come out of BBC iPlayer, and well develop a new stand-alone product. We will however build a new dedicated product for Radio and Music. As we said yesterday, there are things it the new radio music product wont do. - james.cridland.netjames.cridland.net
Letter from the editor: The beast that won t die - editor, i - The Independent
Yesterday I asked for your views on the big media issues of the moment - phone hacking and Murdochs bid for BSkyB - and whether you thought these were stories that newspaper people obsessed about, but left those in the world outside rather uninterested. He writes Abuses of press freedom, press monopoly, biased news reporting, illegal phone tapping by parts of the press must be exposed by the few remaining papers that are free of proprietorial influence. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukBSkyBs results to highlight pressure on News Corp| Reuters
News Corp has offered to buy the 61 percent of BSkyB it does not already own to consolidate a business it helped build but now needs to allay concerns the deal will not give too much control over public opinion to Rupert Murdoch. The government is considering unspecified proposals put forward by News Corp to alleviate competition concerns before deciding whether to refer the proposed deal for a full, six-month competition inquiry. As BSkyB consistently posts strong results, analysts say the pressure will only increase for News Corp to up its bid. - reuters.com
www.reuters.comWednesday 26 January 2011, PM
The biggest TV moments of 2010
-www.bbc.co.ukWhat a week it is proving for Murdoch | Snowblog
I grew up in a world in which sexism was the order of the day. For all the brickbats that have been thrown at the Murdoch empire of late, praise is due for this emblematic outcome. Doubtless the discovery that at least 50 per cent of their viewers in their own poll rejected the commentators sexist language will have played a part. - blogs.channel4.com
blogs.channel4.comBackstage.bbc.co.uk blog: Thanks for all the #tags
There's a few more things to sort out but generally its all come to an end. This blog will be mothballed for the future. Without people like yourselves giving up your time to get involved, hack, tweak and scrape the BBC of its data, it wouldn't have been anywhere near the success it turned out to be. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukThe media class, not the middle class, is the BBCs problem | Phil Redmond | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
'Grange Hill was made at the BBC, by some very nice middle-class folk'. If reports are to be believed, he sees the channel as having become too middle-class, with programmes such as My Family and Outnumbered squeezing out shows based around working-class characters. However, the eyebrow-raising is only because no one should get to being head of anything at the BBC without realising that one of its primary purposes is simply to be middle-class. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukBBC World Service cuts
To ensure the 16 per cent target is achieved and other unavoidable cost increases are met BBC World Service is announcing cash savings of 20 per cent over the next three years. In the first year, starting in April 2011, the international broadcaster will be making savings of 19m on this year's operating expenditure of 236.7m 2010/11. The changes include five full language service closures the end of radio programmes in seven languages, focusing those services on online and new media content and distribution and a phased reduction from most short wave and medium wave distribution of remaining radio services. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukTheres been a culture of bullying and sexism at Sky for a long time | Matt Scott | Football | The Guardian
Richard Keys and Andy Gray were part of a Sky Sports culture which 'looked down' on women, claim insiders. That is the view of three women who have all held frontline roles at Sky Sports. Fearing repercussions that could harm their careers if they were identified, the three spoke to the Guardian on condition of anonymity. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukGovernment cuts blamed as BBC slashes jobs - TV Radio, Media - The Independent
The news sparked anger from opposition politicians and unions and led to warnings of possible industrial action to fight the cuts. The BBC blamed changes to the funding of the World Service, which will be paid for by the licence fee from 2014 rather than by the Government, and made it clear that the corporation had made a strong case against the cuts. More than one in four of the World Service's 2,400-strong staff will be axed, with around 480 of the job losses going over the next year, with savings amounting to 46 million a year by 2014. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukPainful day for BBC World Service
Update, Monday 31 January Thank you for your comments. It's been a painful day for the BBC World Service and its audience of 180 million around the world. BBC WS will be funded by the licence fee from April 2014. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.uk
Sky Deutschland turns black
C21Media.net is Everything about content in the 21st Century, from television to web, mobile, tablet and beyond. - c21media.net
www.c21media.netWednesday 26 January 2011, AM
How Sky News could be sold
British Sky Broadcasting would - I am told - simply have to guarantee to buy Sky News's output for a very long time, probably a minimum of 10 years. With that guaranteed income stream, which would have to be sufficient to cover Sky News's costs, there would probably be quite a few potential buyers of Sky News, both media industry buyers and financial buyers. News Corp will almost certainly promise to separate Sky News just as soon as the takeover of BSkyB is completed. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukBBC set to announce World Service job cuts - TV Radio, Media - The Independent
The news sparked anger from opposition politicians and unions and led to warnings of possible industrial action to fight the cuts. The BBC blamed changes to the funding of the World Service, which will be paid for by the licence fee from 2014 rather than by the Government, and made it clear that the corporation had made a strong case against the cuts. More than one in four of the World Service's 2,400-strong staff will be axed, with around 480 of the job losses going over the next year, with savings amounting to 46 million a year by 2014. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.uk
Letter from the editor: Were clearly obsessed, but are you? - editor, i - The Independent
Because, put simply, were engrossed in these running stories, but were not sure that you are, too. Of course, these are not simply media village stories. Nevertheless, does the outcome of these stories really affect you - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukJeremy Hunts balancing act as he mulls Murdoch BSkyB bid | Media | The Guardian
Jeremy Hunt, culture secretary, has said he will take more time to consider News Corp's BSkyB bid. Andy Coulson, the former News of the World editor who resigned as Cameron's director of communications last week was also there, along with celebrity guests including Jeremy Clarkson. It emerged today that as soon as the festive period was over, Hunt had meetings with executives at the company to discuss its bid for Sky on 6 January and again last Thursday. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukOfcoms warning shows concern over the future impartiality of Sky - TV Radio, Media - The Independent
- independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukSky News independence to mirror that of News Corporation titles | Media | The Guardian
A year later, Evans who had been appointed to the editorship of the Times by Murdoch was sacked. News Corporation has not offered a specific undertaking at this point, but the company has told Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, that it is willing to negotiate a concession that addresses the future running of Sky News. However, it is not willing to see the 24-hour news channel sold. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukBBC iPlayer - Help - Why am I experiencing difficulties when playing BBC iPlayer content and other BBC related videos?
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets CSS enabled. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets CSS if you are able to do so. - iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.ukiplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk
BSkyB: Impossible undertakings | Editorial | Comment is free | The Guardian
The advice from Ofcom was pretty clear that Hunt should refer the bid to the Competition Commission for deeper consideration of the serious plurality issues in creating a huge unified media company, boosting its share of news consumption from 14 to 24. There will be many who will believe it, particularly after learning of the extremely ill-judged Christmas social contacts between News Corp executives and the prime minister. More benign observers will argue that Hunt is simply going the extra mile to lower the chances that the Rottweiler tendency within the Murdoch camp will succeed in judicially reviewing the process. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukRupert Murdoch cancels Davos visit to negotiate over Sky buyout | Media | The Guardian
Rupert Murdoch is to personally lead negotiations with Jeremy Hunt. It is understood that any promises made by News Corp would concern an offering of editorial guarantees on the independence of Sky News, although the former refuses to contemplate a sale of the 24-hour channel. Hunt's team said that its decision was motivated by a desire to be seen to be fair to all parties, and avoid a legal challenge by News Corp or the alliance of newspapers, including the Guardian, that has opposed the bid. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
Murdoch given time to prove his BSkyB bid will not harm competition - TV Radio, Media - The Independent
This despite the UK's strong controls over the impartiality of news coverage. News Corporation, Rupert Murdoch's media empire, wants to take its 39.1 per cent stake in BSkyB up to full ownership. Vince Cable was stripped of his powers to adjudicate on the deal after unwise comments about Mr Murdoch. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukTuesday 25 January 2011, PM
News Corps BSkyB bid: the reaction | Media | guardian.co.uk
It is consistent to the approach the OFT or the European Commission would take, a policy to encourage merging parties to come forward as early as possible with any remedies. Referral to the Competition Commission is costly and extremely time consuming and often has a chilling effect on the deal. Hunt has received a clear recommendation from Ofcom and by his own admission has been unable to agree remedies with News Corp which would address public interest concerns. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukStatement on BBC World Service
They are all extremely important to their audiences and to the BBC. However, further information will be confirmed tomorrow at a press conference. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukBBC World Service to cut up to 650 jobs | Media | guardian.co.uk
BBC Bush House in the Aldwych where staff will hold a 'vigil'. There was also further detail on the impact of cuts on arts organisations across the country when the Arts Council admitted that it would probably turn down 600 applications for long-term funding as it finalises its budget for this year. The World Service is facing a 16 budget cut between now and 2014, imposed as part of the government's comprehensive spending review. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukHunt should steer clear of Murdoch decision so why hasnt he? | Jane Martinson | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
Jeremy Hunt has given Rupert Murdoch more time to justify his planned merger of News Corp and Sky. Surely, the easier decision would have been to refer the News Corp boss's bid to an independent body set up for just this purpose, the Competition Commission. The siren voices of a referral come from the fact that it would be backed by expert opinion, from media regulator Ofcom and public opinion. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukTNA set for Freeview | The Sun |Sport|Wrestling
A spokesman for Sky the satellite operator 39.1 per cent owned by News Corporation, parent company of The Sun added Well be showing all the episodes fans have missed. - thesun.co.uk
www.thesun.co.uk
Internet TV Thinktank: Jeremy Hunt needs to think beyond the retro yellow button - Telegraph
2011 is the year connected TVs are finally becoming a reality for the normal TV consumer and not just the early tech adopters. According to TV analysts, this self-styled next generation of Freeview risks becoming obsolete if it fails to meet its summer 2011 launch deadline as the connected TV market is moving so fast. The broadcasters are very aware that there is a battle on the horizon for the domination of the living room and those parties which develop and take advantage of the best technology platforms will win out. - telegraph.co.uk
www.telegraph.co.ukBBC Trust chairman: what the role demands | Media | guardian.co.uk
This is a direct reference back to the bruising events of last October, when the BBC found itself dragged into the government's comprehensive spending review and hurriedly concluded a six-year funding deal without public debate, which will see the licence fee frozen at 145.50 and income cut by 16 in real terms over the next six years. This is a reference to the divide between Mark Thompson and the executive board, and the trustees, who favour selective service cutbacks, not more salami slicing, to deliver the BBC director general's 20 cuts target. BBC managers, they believe, will naturally want to obfuscate and protect their baronies. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukDelivering Quality First: plans for online radio
Yesterday we announced the next phase of Putting Quality First. As part of that announcement, we made the first mention of our upcoming 'Radio and Music product', which created a bit of confusion about our plans for online radio I hope this post explains in a little more detail. Yes, we do plan to build a new product for radio but this isn't to cut corners, or downplay what we do for radio online - as with everything we announced yesterday it's because we want to make the service better, not worse. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukOfcom's NewsCorp / BSkyB report : | OfcomWatch |
-www.ofcomwatch.co.ukJeremy Hunt buys himself time over News Corp decision | Media | guardian.co.uk
Jeremy Hunt ... handed a political hot potato over the News Corp/BSkyB deal. Photograph Nils Jorgensen/Rex Features Jeremy Hunt knows that in the end he is not going to win. Ultimately he can't duck the decision as to whether the News Corp-Sky deal should go ahead but, luckily for him, he doesn't have to decide just yet. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukpick a page