Wednesday 19 January 2011, PM
Minister announces local TV channel plans - TV Radio, Media - The Independent
Licences for local television services will be handed out before the end of 2012. One that will sit alongside other public service broadcasters, offering a new voice for local communities, with local perspectives that are directly relevant to them. We will wait for the necessary technical assessment to be completed and we will listen to the commercially viable proposals that come forward. - independent.co.uk
www.independent.co.uk
Ivan Lewis accuses Jeremy Hunt of bias over News Corp/Sky takeover | Media | guardian.co.uk
Lewis launched a broadside against Hunt, the culture secretary, accusing him of failing to act in the public interest by continuing to sit on the media regulator's recommendation on whether the News Corp/Sky deal should be referred to the Competition Commission on media plurality grounds. He was referring to comments Hunt made last year, before taking over Vince Cable's responsibility for deciding whether to refer the proposed deal to competition regulators, where he said he could not see much difference in News Corp taking full control of Sky. To this end he said that Labour intended to launch a review investigating the possibility of transforming the BBC into a mutual organisation. - guardian.co.uk
www.guardian.co.ukMark Thompson warns over two-speed internet | Media | guardian.co.uk
Mark Thompson has now entered into the debate about net neutrality. There have been discussions recently about whether ISPs should have the right to charge premium rates to companies who are willing to pay extra to ensure their own content is delivered first. Opponents of that idea argue all content should be treated equally and delivered over networks on a first come, first served basis. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukJeremy Hunt plans new national TV channel - video | Media | guardian.co.uk
-www.guardian.co.uk
Local TV channel carrying news and information to be launched on Freeview by 2013 | Mail Online
The coalition aims to have the service up and running by 2013. It is believed it will be part of the channels offered on Freeview. He will invite firms to register their interest in running the channel, which will carry local news and content, by March 1. - dailymail.co.uk
www.dailymail.co.ukBBCs Thompson issues warning over future of free-to-air broadcasting
He said platforms such as YouView, which is a partnership with other public service broadcasters, were becoming increasingly important because of the fact there is going to be an intense battle for the living room over the coming years. - thestage.co.uk
www.thestage.co.uk
Thompson: free TV "has a lot to prove" | News | Broadcast
19 January, 2011 By Catherine Neilan Free-to-air broadcasting has a lot to do and a lot to prove if it is to exist in the future, Mark Thompson has claimed. 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.ukJeremy Hunt considers online TV crackdown | Media | guardian.co.uk
Jeremy Hunt is to consider tougher regulation of online TV. Hunt admitted that while he did not believe it was possible to introduce blanket regulation for the internet, he was keen to put online content rules under scrutiny. Today, TV content on the internet is subject to no regulations even if it was made by a traditional broadcaster and streamed over broadband meaning that there are no taste and decency or impartiality requirements. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukGovernment unveils local TV action plan
Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has launched an action plan for introducing local TV. New and existing media providers have been invited to register their interest by 1 March and come forward with suggestions on how a channel dedicated to local news and content could work best. The new act will aim to allow the UK's digital and creative industries to move to the next stage and play their fullest possible role in promoting competition, innovation and economic growth. - dtg.org.uk
www.dtg.org.ukGovernment confirm new DCMS responsibilities
Competition and policy issues relating to media, broadcasting, digital and telecoms sectors are now the responsibility of the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport. He will continue to work closely with BIS ministers. DTG Staff 19.01.2011 Links open in a new window. - dtg.org.ukwww.dtg.org.uk
Belgiums TV phone-in scandal | Media | guardian.co.uk
Well, Belgian TV is now embroiled in a similar controversy. A government minister said tighter rules were essential, but if they did not work then Belgium should follow the example of the Netherlands by banning all TV phone-in games. To find out more information about driving traffic to your content or to place this widget on your site, visit outbrain.com. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukLord Patten first interviewee for BBC Trust chairman | Media | guardian.co.uk
Lord Patten was said by one insider to be 'very keen' about the job. Interviews to find a replacement for Sir Michael Lyons, who is leaving in April, were not expected to begin until the end of this week. Some Department for Culture, Media and Sport insiders are also said to wonder whether or not his profile might eclipse that of culture secretary Jeremy Hunt. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukMinister announces local TV channel plans - TV Radio, Media - The Independent
Licences for local television services will be handed out before the end of 2012. One that will sit alongside other public service broadcasters, offering a new voice for local communities, with local perspectives that are directly relevant to them. We will wait for the necessary technical assessment to be completed and we will listen to the commercially viable proposals that come forward. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukJeremy Hunt to radically rethink media regulation | Media | guardian.co.uk
Jeremy Hunt said new communications act would be about more than 'tweaking the current system'. The new communications act is also expected to be used to scrap contract rights renewal, the mechanism that governs ITV1's ad sales. To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editormediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukIs local TV really the best idea Jeremy Hunt can put forward? | Media | guardian.co.uk
Jeremy Hunt ... doing the real business behind closed doors That's the legal process you see that's how we debate media policy in this country. Dull discussion about media policy in public, while the minister takes the big decisions without wider consultation behind the scenes. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukWednesday 19 January 2011, AM
Action plan to make local TV a reality
Government aims to award licences by the end of 2012. Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has launched an action plan to make his vision of local TV a reality. Speaking at the Oxford Media Convention, Mr Hunt said the initiative would offer communities a new voice and provide local perspectives directly relevant to them. - culture.gov.ukwww.culture.gov.ukArqiva seeks partner for online TV venture | Media | guardian.co.uk
Last October Arqiva completed a strategic review of SeeSaw, which employs about 30 staff, and is set to begin the hunt for an investment partner. Arqiva plans to look at all investment options for the business in order to support SeeSaw's long-term success. To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editormediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
TV news gets local touch with new channel - Telegraph
The new channel will be available on Freeview and is likely to be in operation by the spring of 2013. The most likely spot is at Channel 6, which is currently occupied by ITV2. The channel may also be made available via Sky and Virgin, but no decision has yet been taken as to whether they will be forced to carry it. - telegraph.co.uk
www.telegraph.co.uk
Jeremy Hunt unveils plan for new national television channel | Media | guardian.co.uk
Under the plan, which echoes the model championed by local TV company Channel 6's Richard Horwood, the national digital terrestrial channel will use a network affiliate model, with guaranteed opt-outs at specific times of the day, so that a range of local services can be featured. He intends to use legislation to ensure that the new Freeview channel secures a slot high up on digital TV electronic programme guides. The final report delivered to government by Lazard investment banker Nicholas Shott last month said that a total of only 10 to 12 TV services might work in major conurbations, broadcasting up to two hours of content daily. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukI love TV innovations so why am I a 3D refusenik? | Media | guardian.co.uk
There is considerable consumer resistance to the heavily engineered and expensively adapted for TV glasses. Six of us sat down in a large drawing room, on a dark gloomy evening to watch the new 3D Sky channel on the new TV, which left little change from 2,000. Until going 3D, the household had subscribed to the basic Sky entertainment package, costing 19.50 a month, plus HD another 10. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukErik Huggers to leave the BBC
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www.bbc.co.ukDigital TV switchover "an unqualified success"
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www.cable.co.uk
YouView - the last of Skys problems
Sky, which could soon be fully-owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, currently has more than 10 million subscribers. For now, its new offering will come in the form of Sky Atlantic. However, at the moment only 42 of the UK population claim to be aware of connected TV, although the research shows that there has already been a significant shift in behaviour stimulated by the availability of on-demand services on the TV set. - mediatel.co.uk
mediatel.co.uk
Huggers quits as BBC technology boss | 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.ukwww.broadcastnow.co.ukTuesday 18 January 2011, PM
Government and industry back Digital TV Group recommendations on future of UK digital terrestrial tel
Key recommendations in the report were The horizontal platform must evolve post switchover to achieve maximum consumer and industry benefit. Above all, the interest of the consumer must be placed at the heart of the industrys thinking. The DTG and its Council has a unique role to play in drawing together the whole digital and internet television industry to address post switchover challenges and ensure consumer benefit. - dtg.org.ukwww.dtg.org.ukBBC Internet Blog: December 2010 BBC iPlayer monthly performance pack
This was the third month in a row that BBC iPlayer broke its total number of requests record, and is a year-on-year increase of 27. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukRichard Desmond brings OK! TV to Channel 5 | Media | guardian.co.uk
OK magazine, whose success Richard Desmond hopes to translate on to television with OK TV will replace Live from Studio 5 on Monday 14 February. It is expected to be backed by a big marketing campaign and heavy cross-promotion in Desmond's newspaper and magazine empire, including the Daily Star and Daily Express. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukITV considered replacing half of evening news with gameshow | Media | guardian.co.uk
ITV News ... halved if the price is right McKinsey proposed that ITV1's national news bulletin which goes out at 6.30pm and lasts 30 minutes should be reduced to 15 minutes and run immediately after a shortened 15-minute regional bulletin. ITV's programme-makers were asked if they could develop or buy a gameshow costing 30,000 an episode to fill the half-hour slot from 6.30pm the sort of budget traditionally used to fill daytime slots. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukNew Sky EPG line up to make it even easier for customers to enjoy the best in pay TV
The revised UK channel line-up will help make great TV - including the best of pay , in HD - even easier to find, which will deliver increased benefits to customers and broadcasters alike, in terms of channel accessibility and programme discovery. So, for example, HD subscribers will find Sky 1 HD at 106, with Sky 1 moving to 170. This change reflects the increasing demand from those customers to watch their favourite TV in HD. - corporate.sky.comcorporate.sky.comOfcom | Digital Television Update
Consumer survey results for the first quarter of 2011 show that take-up of digital television in UK households stood at 93.1, up by 1 percentage point year on year. Consumers are continuing to convert additional sets in the home. 75.7 of all secondary TV sets had been converted to digital by the end of March 2011, up by 5.2 percentage points in a year. - stakeholders.ofcom.org.ukstakeholders.ofcom.org.ukTuesday 18 January 2011, AM
Apples future without Steve Jobs wont be as bright | Betanews
As US stock markets open, investors will give their vote of confidence about the company's future. Yesterday, in a stunning and unexpected announcement, Apple CEO Steve Jobs took another medical leave, but this time with no set time period like the last one. Commenter rrode74 made similar observation I have zero doubt Apple announced this yesterday when US markets are closed. - betanews.com
www.betanews.com
YouView launch set to hit Sky | City A.M.
Sky is currently the undisputed king of pay-TV in the UK with more than 10m subscribers. YouView was set to launch in the second quarter of this year but industry sources believe delays may push the date back to late 2011 or early 2012. The report says Virgin Media will be the big winner over the next few years as its broadband is generally quicker and more reliable an increasingly important consideration for consumers. - cityam.com
www.cityam.comMonday 17 January 2011, PM
Humax: Never say never to Google TV | News | TechRadar UK
- techradar.com
www.techradar.comBBC Monitoring announces cuts in response to Spending Review
This represents 3m cuts over two years and follows a cut of 1.4m by the Cabinet Office in April 2010. Notes to Editors BBC Monitoring supplies news, information, and comment gathered from open mass media sources around the world. Financial Year / Cabinet Office funding m 2010/11 23.2 2011/12 21.7 2012/13 20.2 It operates around the clock to monitor more than 3,000 radio, TV, press, internet and news agency sources. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukWhat Biffen can teach us about Rupert Murdochs Sky bid | Media | guardian.co.uk
John Biffen ... reluctant agent of a leader impatient of inconvenient restraints and impediments. As Sabbagh says, Biffen was warned that the investment bank Warburgs, which drew up the prospectus, had painted a rosier picture when it was trying to squeeze cash out of would-be buyers. The whole proceedings seemed horribly suspect and shabby all the more disappointingly so when the decision came from the mouth of a minister I greatly liked and admired. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukBBC Monitoring to cut more than 50 jobs | Media | guardian.co.uk
The BBC monitoring station at Caversham Park, near Reading. Staff across the BBC are bracing themselves for hundreds of job cuts in the coming weeks and months after the hastily negotiated funding deal with the government, which will see the licence fee frozen at 145.50 and the corporation's income cut by 16 in real terms by 2017. BBC Monitoring, the division responsible for supplying information on the output of TV, press and internet outlets around the world, is to lose 72 posts 16 of its staff although 18 new positions will also be created. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukinformitv - YouView launch schedule slipping says report
YouView, the planned platform that promises to change the way you watch TV forever, seems to be taking forever to develop. Conceived in 2008, the launch has been pushed back by as much as six months, according to one report. That would be a further setback for the project, which has had a troubled past and drawn considerable criticism from platforms with which it would compete. - informitv.com
informitv.cominformitv - BBC Trust proposals on syndication strategy
This means that other providers will not be able to offer selected BBC programmes through their own on-demand services. Requests to allow bespoke versions will generally be refused, although they may be considered on an exceptional basis, with any costs of development and ongoing maintenance to be reimbursed to the BBC. How far this will benefit viewers, and ultimately the long-term future of the BBC is unclear. - informitv.cominformitv.com
Google TV vs Apple TV vs Boxee vs YouView | News | TechRadar UK
Those searches will inform our television about what we like, enabling it to highlight other programmes and services wemight be interested in. Soon, internet-enabled TVs will become the hubs of our lives. Our PCs will live in the study while we listen to and browse our music collections and music streaming services using the TV remote, flick through photo albums and share them with friends during ad breaks, or check up on Facebook and Twitter from the sofa. - techradar.comwww.techradar.com
Oxford Media Convention 2011: Richard Halton | Oxford Media Convention | guardian.co.uk
How will it affect programming and how we watch TV YouView will very much build on this success as we combine DTT delivery of content with IP content, services and interactive features. We are working with our shareholders and other stakeholder groups to create a strong platform that will open up the television set to all types of new content from arts organisations and government services to local TV content, which can deliver quality channels, on demand services and applications at a low cost to content providers and easily accessible to viewers. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukNew start for Planet Rock
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radiotoday.co.ukJeremy Hunt refuses to rule out meeting News Corp over BSkyB bid | Media | guardian.co.uk
Jeremy Hunt ... left door open to talks with News Corp. Hunt appeared to leave the door open for face-to-face meetings by refusing to give a direct answer to a written parliamentary question tabled by the shadow culture secretary, Ivan Lewis, last week asking him if any are planned. The news that talks were taking place with News Corp prompted a complaint from the alliance of media companies that is co-ordinating opposition to the deal, which include Guardian Media Group, publisher of the Guardian, on the grounds that its members should be granted equal access to officials. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
Murdoch and BSkyB - will Hunt do a Biffen in a repeat of history? | Media | guardian.co.uk
The act exempted uneconomic businesses from being referred, and Murdoch argued that the two papers were indeed running at a loss. Similarly, the then Sunday Times editor, Harry Evans - who had put together a consortium to bid for the paper - also knew it was profitable and later wrote, without refutation, that Biffen had distorted the figures. Biffen, who died in 2007, always denied coming under pressure from the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, to give Murdoch the green light. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukMonday 17 January 2011, AM
Icecrypt T2400 (1TB) review - Home Cinema reviews - TrustedReviews
Well, its finally arrived and looks like a terrific prospect, boasting twin Freeview HD tuners, up to 2TB of hard-disk capacity and a superb-looking spec sheet. The box itself is fairly large at 400w x 60h x 270dmm, but its styled in a chic glossy black finish. To its right is an easy-to-read display showing the channel number and name in large illuminated digits. - trustedreviews.com
www.trustedreviews.comBBC -On-demand syndication - provisional conclusions
Possible reasons for this include We have a bad link out there on the web somewhere and you were unlucky enough to click it You may have typed the page address incorrectly Something has gone wrong at our end Sorry we couldn't find what you were looking for. Our site is pretty simple, you might find what you're looking for if you poke around a bit. If you give us a call on 0845 638 1848 we'd love to help. - consultations.external.bbc.co.ukconsultations.external.bbc.co.ukJeremy Hunts position on News Corp mirrors another cabinet ministers choice 30 years ago | Media | The Guardian
Jeremy Hunt, the secretary of state for culture, Olympics, media and sport. Rupert Murdoch had bid 12m for the Times and the Sunday Times, laid low after years of losses, and months of strikes and was chosen by the embattled Thomson organisation the then owners. However, the deal had to be approved by the regulators, and Murdoch made it clear he was prepared to pull out if the Monopolies and Mergers Commission did not approve. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukITV asks sales team to dance to a different beat | Media | The Guardian
T-Mobiles flashmob ad at Liverpool Street station. The ad sales operation provides 70 of ITVs revenues. On the face of it, the ousting of ITV's tough ad sales chief Gary Digby and his lieutenants, after producing a market-beating 16-plus increase in ad sales revenue, doesn't seem to add up. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukUS television networks are wallowing in midseason mire | Media | The Guardian
That's the question exercising US TV executives after one of the worst starts to a network season in recent years. Before the 2010-2011 season began in September the lineup of innovative dramas, solid procedurals and even the first Twitter-based sitcom, Four months later, six new shows have been cancelled while at least two others are in jeopardy. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukShameless, Skins and Being Human: Brits cement their place on US screens | Media | The Guardian
BBC2's new sitcom, Episodes, could not have been more impeccably timed. A lot of the shows being picked up are not mainstream, they were made for Channel 4 or in our case BBC3. Lack of creative input by the show's original creators is invariably blamed for their failure. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
If Murdochs so bad, what about Desmond? - Stephen Glover, Opinion - The Independent
Someone calling himself Henry Porter posted a comment below my column last week. I have written before about the need for vigilance so far as newspaper websites are concerned, and this case only proves my point. Still, whoever is passing himself off as Henry has done me a service by helping me to concentrate my thoughts about the media mogul. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukpick a page