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Tuesday 01 February 2011, PM

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Challenge To Air On Freeview - Sky TV

The page may no longer exist, or possibly you typed the address incorrectly. - tv.sky.com

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Monday 31 January 2011, PM

Darwen and Rossendale MP airs view on TV reception From Lancashire Telegraph)

Hundreds of homes can only receive 15 free-to-air channels, instead of the usual 40. - lancashiretelegraph.co.uk

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BBC MyMedia Field Trial Report

FromChris Newell The MyMedia collaborative research project has ended with the publication of the final field trial reports. The MyMedia website has all the project publications and trial results available. This EC-funded project studied recommender systems, developing state-of-the-art recommender algorithms and a public source recommender system software framework. - bbc.co.uk

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SeeSaw offers UK TV streaming via Boxee Box - January - 2011 - Which? News

SeeSaw also offers a 'NonStop' service for 2.99 per month, which removes the ads, plus a rental service for either individual episodes or a whole series of programmes. According to SeeSaw, its test service will not initially be available through an app on the Boxee platform, but simply through its search function. Searching for a programme which is available on SeeSaw will take users to the SeeSaw player. - which.co.uk

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Trademark battle could force TV channel Dave to change name - Marketing news - Marketing magazine

Though Dave's application in relevant categories, including advertising, broadcasting and the production and distribution of TV, was rejected, the TV channel does have permission to use the name on decorative magnets and stationery. The branding consultancy's application to register the trademark will now be considered by the European Union while Dave, the TV channel, has two months to appeal against the decision. Why would they use us to create a brand if we're not prepared to protect our own - marketingmagazine.co.uk

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Interactive TV News Round-Up (VII): TVO, Verismo, Techstorm, Visiware, Fox, will.i.am, YouView | InteractiveTV Today

We anticipate that it will take us a few days to catch up with all the news we plan to cover so if your company has sent us a press release or briefed us on an announcement, and you don't yet see your news covered in this issue, please bear with us. Our regular daily news coverage will return shortly. Additionally, the new platform brings social networking applications such as Twitter, Facebook and MySpace directly to the TV set for the entire family to enjoy together. - itvt.com

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Radio Times takes over Freeview EPG content - Media news - Media Week

It is available on 37 different Freeview set-top boxes from 21 different manufacturers. Radio Times' average weekly circulation is 947,131, according to ABC results for the six months to June 2010. It is only the second time in the past 10 years that the magazine's circulation has fallen below one million. - mediaweek.co.uk

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Monday 31 January 2011, AM

Its a two-horse race over who should be the next chairman of the BBC Trust | Media | The Guardian

It may pay 110,000 a year for a four day week, which is apparently considered modest these days, but it is the single most important appointment that will be made in the media business this year. The kind of outfit that sees its job as ensuring that the BBC responds to some rightwing newspaper agenda aimed at reducing the public broadcaster's scale and ambition A serious FT lifer, he edited the title for 10 years from 1991, a golden sort of period if that is possible for a Pink 'Un. - guardian.co.uk

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BBC World Service must be reinvented after the pain of cuts | Media | The Guardian

No one who cares about serious journalism, Britain's place in the world or the importance of reliable news and information in developing countries can view last week's announcement with anything but regret, bordering on dismay. The World Service has a unique ethos little understood in the UK. Most people in Britain know of, but seldom listen to, the English language radio service but the bulk of the weekly 180 million audience to listen in their own languages 45 of them a decade ago, 31 of them today, 26 of them following last week's cuts. - guardian.co.uk

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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

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Rights 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.uk

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Cuts 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

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Saturday 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

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My 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.uk

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Saturday 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

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UK 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.uk

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Whats 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.uk

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BBC 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.uk

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Optimize 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.com

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In 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

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Friday 28 January 2011, AM

Media Talk podcast: A new investigation into phone-hacking

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UK 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.uk

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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

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UK 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.uk

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Super 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.uk

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Illegal 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

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Thursday 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.uk

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The 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.net

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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.uk

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BSkyBs 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

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Wednesday 26 January 2011, PM

The biggest TV moments of 2010

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What 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

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Backstage.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.uk

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The 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.uk

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BBC 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.uk

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Theres 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.uk

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Government 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.uk

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Painful 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.uk

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Sky Deutschland turns black

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

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Wednesday 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.uk

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BBC 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.uk

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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.uk

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Jeremy 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.uk

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