News Corp-BSkyB deal faces probe

News Corporation has said it wants to buy the 61 of BSkyB it does not own. These account for a third of the UK's national newspaper circulation, while BSkyB has almost 10 million customers. In a statement, News Corporation said it believed its plan would be cleared. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

For the sake of democracy, Vince Cable must intervene over BSkyB | Ivan Lewis | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

It prevents any one organisation dominating the landscape to such an extent that plurality becomes a false prospectus. That is why the coalition will face intense scrutiny when it decides on the response to News Corp's bid to take total control of BSkyB. The government's claim to be serving the national interest will be put to the test as it makes crucial decisions with profound implications for the future of the media in Britain. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

Vince Cable set to refer News Corps BSkyB bid to regulator | Media | The Guardian

Vince Cable has intervened in News Corp's attempted takeover of BSkyB. Cable has issued an intervention notice under the Enterprise Act ordering Ofcom to investigate the proposed transaction, which would see News Corporation take control of the 61 of the satellite broadcaster it does not already own, on public interest grounds. On the basis of the report Cable will then decide whether to refer the deal to the Competition Commission. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

Lords to pile pressure on Murdochs BSkyB buyout - TV Radio, Media - The Independent

Lord Puttnam will tell his fellow peers that the buy-out would make Mr Murdoch the most dominant media figure in any democracy in the developed world, with a greater share of the sector than even Silvio Berlusconi's in Italy. The commission has 25 days to examine the merits of the deal on competition grounds. He will say that in the past 13 years BSkyB's income has grown to 163 per cent of the BBC's budget and will forecast that it will be at 220 per cent by the new licence fee settlement in 2016. - independent.co.uk

www.independent.co.uk

David Prosser: Murdoch is not blinking in the battle for Sky nor should Vince Cable - Business Comment, Busi

News Corp's notice to the European Commission that it intends to make a formal bid for the 61 per cent of Sky it does not already own gives Vince Cable a nasty little problem. The Business Secretary has two weeks to decide whether to intervene in the deal by referring it to Ofcom, the media regulator. It would be remarkable if Mr Cable did not at least ask Ofcom to investigate a deal that has the potential to transform Britain's media landscape for ever. - independent.co.uk

www.independent.co.uk

Actus Digital... Transmission Supervisor (Software) : Satnews Publishers

An Actus customer since 2010, BSkyB recently scaled the Actus View installation to monitor 72-channels in total. At the core of every Actus installation is the Actus media management platform. Developed to leverage IT-based hardware, the highly scalable architecture provides an agile environment for supporting a wide range of media monitoring, analysis and management capabilities. - satnews.com

www.satnews.com

BBC One HD launch and BBC Childrens mission

You can have a peep at the continuity announcer - whose voice you'll totally recognise as the 'voice of BBC One' but whose face you've probably never seen - rehearsing the junctions. Who could have imagined that the most watched drama on any children's channel is based on British books about a young girl in the care system Tracy Beaker Returns - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

Synchronising broadcast and IP delivered components - IBC 2010 - BBC Research and Development

You get some interesting, and sometimes rather annoying, problems as soon as you have more than one device simultaneously presenting the same content or more than one delivery path for separate components of the same content. It gets even worse if you have two separate devices with two separate delivery paths. Anyonewith an AV amplifier hooked up to a TV receiver will have either struggled to get the lip-sync right or given up and stopped paying too much attention to lip movements. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

ITV is too quick to sneer at ratings winners | Mark Sweney | Media | guardian.co.uk

At least that is the theory promoted by the ITV trio yesterday. To find out more information about driving traffic to your content or to place this widget on your site, visit outbrain.com. We welcome your feedback at userhelpguardian.co.uk or feedbackoutbrain.com. - guardian.co.uk

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Sky Television: A History - Manchester Evening News

Sky Television A History The growth of Sky Broadcasting from a service that could barely provide one channel to fewer than 10,000 homes and into a multi format entertainment-broadcasting provider and instantly recognisable brand is a story that is common to many highly successful companies. In its embryonic stages the company existed as two separate broadcasting providers, Sky Television Plc and British Satellite Broadcasting. Developed almost simultaneously in 1989, both companies endured a severe lack of success in their first year making considerable losses. - menmedia.co.uk

menmedia.co.uk

John Simpson: BBC licence fee deal is like waterboarding | Media | guardian.co.uk

Instead the corporation has agreed to take on extra funding commitments including the World Service and most of S4C's budget from 2015, contributing 150m a year for the rollout of superfast broadband to rural areas from 2013, and subsidising local TV and online content. As our head is pulled out of the bath, we'll be so desperate that we can't be certain what compromises and deals we might be tempted to make. The BBC won't die it'll just cease to be the envy of the world. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

News Corp notifies Brussels of BSkyB takeover bid | Media | guardian.co.uk

Today's move will end speculation that News Corp might walk away from a deal that has become politically and commercially contentious. It also triggers a regulatory process that could lead to the business secretary, Vince Cable, blocking the deal on public interest grounds. The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has said he will decide within two weeks whether to step in. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

ITV appeals to MPs for lifting of ad rules - TV Radio, Media - The Independent

Airing another episode of a soap was preferable to investing in quality new drama because of the system, he said, promising higher-quality shows if it was axed. It cuts the amount advertisers have to pay if ITV1's audience shrinks, which has hit ITV hard in recent years, adding to an already depressed ad market. - independent.co.uk

www.independent.co.uk

The viewers are revolting | Mark Lawson | Comment is free | The Guardian

A career in TV has become increasingly similar to one in politics the audience is on constant gaffe alert and looking for reasons to vote you out. Fellowes himself has made a Westminster connection, rather bizarrely suggesting that the sniping at his hit is politically motivated. It's true that Fellowes has been the victim of a social revolution, but the groundswell is technological rather than ideolological. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

ITV: were stuck in a ratings rat race | Media | guardian.co.uk

Crozier was effectively asked by the committee if he could give a guarantee that a CRR-free ITV would create a more diverse schedule by investing in regional news, an area the broadcaster has said is too uneconomical to continue to maintain in the long term. 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

www.guardian.co.uk

BBC Builders: Vicky Spengler prototypes the future of TV | Media | guardian.co.uk

Spengler works with a team of designers, producers and engineers as well as behavioural scientists and accessibility specialists to develop prototypes that explore new ways of presenting BBC content. Rather than translating projects directly into products, the prototypes inform the direction of various BBC projects, and some are results of collaborations with programme makers. We were working on new ways for audiences to consume and play with our digital broadcast content. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

BBC ONE HD: test transmissions

The Red Bee engineers are currently rebuilding the BBC One playout suite in two stages. The SD channel is completely unaffected by the changes in Stage 1. Audio Description - We have been using Doctors to check how the audio description service works. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

Murdoch s war with the BBC escalates | Ian Burrell | Independent Editors choice Blogs

Rupert Murdochs News Corporation empire this morning introduced an unprecedented level of vitriol into its long-standing war of words with the BBC. The peg for this attack extraordinary even by The Suns standards is the use of a 22-year-old interviewee who the BBC claimed was a victim of benefit cuts. Such blunt accusations of bias are no small thing, especially when the BBC has just had its wings clipped by the Government, withthe corporationslicence fee frozen for six years and an effective cut of 16 in its budget. - blogs.independent.co.uk

blogs.independent.co.uk

Channel 4 and FilmFlex team up for Film4oD

Film4oD will be available at www.film4.com/film4oD and will house a selection of new films available to rent online, with over 500 films available at launch and many available on the same day as their DVD release. According to a statement issued by Channel 4, the new on-demand service will closely replicate the editorial tone and content of the Film4 channel. Andrew Keyte, Chief Executive of FilmFlex, said We believe streamed movie rental is now becoming a much more satisfying choice for many movie fans. - dtg.org.uk

www.dtg.org.uk

Lord Fowler declares BBCs charter unsustainable | Media | guardian.co.uk

His intervention is part of a rising tide of concern over the implications of the surprise BBC funding deal, announced as part of the October 20 comprehensive spending review. Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, cancelled a scheduled meeting with VLV members last week, because he was travelling to America at the request of the prime minister. To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editormediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

Channel 4 launches Film4oD | Media | guardian.co.uk

Film4oD, which Channel 4 claims will have more films available than rivals such as Lovefilm and Blinkbox, will offer a 48-hour rental service with titles priced from 50p to 3.99. Channel 4 already runs the 4oD on-demand service, which focuses on catchup TV programming. Last month, Channel 4 announced that it was increasing the budget of its Film4 production division, which was responsible for hit movies including Slumdog Millionaire, by 50 to 15m a year. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

Welsh politicians unite to query future of S4C | Media | guardian.co.uk

The letter to David Cameron says that any future review should 'ensure that S4C as a Welsh publisher-broadcaster remains independent'. From 2013, the BBC will take over responsibility for the governance of the S4C and provide more than 90 of its budget. S4C is expected to place ads in a number of newspapers later this week as it kicks off the search for a new chief executive. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

A DIGITAL switchover help scheme aimed at supporting older and disabled people was launched in the region yesterday.

All analogue channels in the region will be switched off by August 17 next year, so the scheme is designed to support those who are unsure of what to do. Going digital Maggie Philbin launches the Switchover Help Scheme coming to Scunthorpe. Conversion equipment, an approved installer and 12 months' free aftercare are available for 40, or for free for those eligible to help everyone access digital TV. - thisisscunthorpe.co.uk

www.thisisscunthorpe.co.uk

Gamasutra - Press Releases - VIDEO GAMING RETURNS TO UK FREEVIEW WITH THE RELAUNCH OF TVNEWS AND THEIR BRAND NEW GAMING

Initially running as a daily breakfast show from 06.00am 08.00am TV News features exclusive video gaming related content from their resident gaming addicts Platform32. Platform32 P32 is the only dedicated video gaming TV show on UK Freeview, and we aim to inform, entertain and excite our viewers with our friendly, lighthearted but knowledgeable style. If you love gaming or know someone who does, make sure you tune into TV News every day of the week for P32s gaming segments - gamasutra.com

www.gamasutra.com

YouView search for on line partners

Preliminary talks have been held with the UK broadcaster Sky and some of the big Hollywood studios with the aim of adding their content via dedicated IP channels or content on demand services. Although a launch date was originally penned for early 2011, YouView's non-executive Chairman, Kip Meek, recently announced that the service was more likely to arrive towards the middle of next year. YouView will actually combine linear broadcast content, including schedules currently available via Freeview and Freesat, digital radio, along with broadband content. - hdtvorg.co.uk

hdtvorg.co.uk

YouView Look For More IPTV Online Content Partners

Talks have been held with the UK broadcaster Sky and some of the big Hollywood broadcasters with the aim of adding their content via dedicated IP channels or content on demand services. Although a launch date was originally marked in early 2011, YouViews non executive Chairman, Kip Meek, recently announced that the service was more than likely to arrive near the middle of next year. YouView will combine standard linear broadcast content, including tv schedules currently available via Freeview and Freesat, digital radio, adding to this will be broadband content. - worldtvpc.com

www.worldtvpc.com

Sky invited to join YouView joint venture

Monday, November 1st 2010 by Editorial YouView's chairman has insisted there is a place in the joint venture for Sky. Sky would be welcomed into the YouView joint venture with open arms, the internet protocol television project's chief has announced. However, Mr Meek revealed that Sky will not be able to become one of the stakeholders in the platform. - cable.co.uk

www.cable.co.uk

informitv - Network television audiences fall as viewers leave grid

Fewer people in the United States are watching prime-time television on Thursday nights, as changing viewing habits and increased competition erode audiences on the evening that has for decades defined by must-see network television shows. One study suggests a third of the adult online population in America no longer selects its programming from the traditional television schedule. For the first time in decades, pay-television subscriptions are falling. - informitv.com

informitv.com

informitv - Unique identifier scheme provides missing link

A universal unique identifier scheme is being developed for audiovisual media to streamline digital distribution. EIDR has been developed to address the need for a universal identification system for all types of audiovisual assets in the entertainment industry, making it easier for businesses to search, track rights and report revenue based on the unique identifier of an asset. Members of EIDR will have open access to the registry and be able to supply media to the registry for identification. - informitv.com

informitv.com

Tony Ageh on the BBC Archive and how to remake the internet | Media | The Guardian

Now controller of development for the BBC's archive project, he has an ambitious vision for that too. After two years analysing the content, framework and potential of the BBC's archive, Ageh's conclusion is that many of the challenges not least rights, accessibility and the cost of digitisation are shared by other public institutions. Essentially it would be a new layer of the internet in which institutions would make publicly owned content available, free, for non-commercial public use. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

YouView and on-demand TV: the battle behind the screens | Media | The Guardian

Have Sky and Virgin Media got what they wanted On 22 October, Sky quietly launched Sky Anytime, a video-on-demand service that required a vastly expensive rewrite of its set-top box software. Virgin Media finds itself in a similar position. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

News Corp seeks European approval for takeover of Sky | Media | The Guardian

The move will kickstart a regulatory process that could result in the media conglomerate's offer to buy the 61 of Sky it does not already own being blocked by the business secretary, Vince Cable. News Corp offered to pay 700p a share for the Sky stake in June, but the board of the pay-TV group wants it to increase its offer. Both parties have agreed to defer negotiations while News Corp seeks regulatory clearance. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

Brands must seize the opportunities internet-connected TVs offer - Telegraph

What does it mean, for example, in terms of video advertising Enders Analysis predicts that TV advertising spend will come in at 3.4bn by the end of 2010, while online video advertising revenues for the year will only reach 45m. Yes, there will be a lag between consumer adoption and the new pieces of kit going on sale at the end of this year and the start of next, but experimenting should begin now in earnest. - telegraph.co.uk

www.telegraph.co.uk

Why DAB will be a failure (or not) - James Cridland

Terry Purvis is a reader of this blog, and comments to a blog post I made recently about the unspun digital radio figures by posting a number of reasons why he thinks DAB will be a white elephant. Now, firstly, I am a proponent of a multi-platform future for radio. The future isnt DAB alone it cant be. - james.cridland.net

james.cridland.net

Freeview wheels out talking TV and teapot - advertising news - Campaign

- campaignlive.co.uk

www.campaignlive.co.uk

Behind the scenes at S4C - BBC iPlayer - Week In Week Out: 26/10/2010

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. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

UK.gov plans net censor service The Register

The minister responsible for internet regulation is planning a new mediation service to encourage ISPs and websites to censor material in response to public complaints. The Information Commissioner reopened his investigation into the harvesting of Wi-Fi data this week, but Vaizey said the Met has now decided not to launch a separate criminal investigation. - theregister.co.uk

www.theregister.co.uk

S4C: what does the future hold? | Media | guardian.co.uk

For the first time ordinary viewers and not just the Welsh intelligentsia are debating the value of S4C, if any, to them. Few seem to have prior knowledge of the degree of public subsidy S4C and its suppliers have received for 28 years it's just always been there. There was input from bitter independent producers, some based in north Wales, cut off as the number of S4C suppliers has been whittled away from 80 to a little over 30. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

YouView would be 'delighted' by Sky involvement

Despite its fierce opposition to the YouView platform, Sky has been very careful not to exclude the opportunity to sell its content should the platform be a success. Sky has to make their own decision like any other affiliate organisation. For Sky, and many other content providers, to consider the platform, a more cohesive payment method may have to be considered but Meek and the YouView board are already thinking about this. - techradar.com

www.techradar.com

Media Talk: The Independent's i, Rajars, YouView, The Apprentice

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The un-spun digital radio figures - James Cridland

The un-spun digital radio figures Posted on Thursday, October 28th, 2010 at 1043 pm. There have been a few headline figures in the press, and on blogs, today about digital radios takeup figures in the UK. Its probably useful just to reiterate the actual figures, in case the endless spinning of radio analysts begins to confuse. - james.cridland.net

james.cridland.net

Heard the one about Channel 4? - TV Radio, Media - The Independent

Boopus, a term that refers to a part female cartoon character and part Roman legionary, will be the title of Fielding's debut solo comedy project and no one appears to know what it means, certainly not Shane Allen, Channel 4's head of comedy. It has found fresh vehicles for three stars of the breakout E4 hit The Inbetweeners and is about to launch a comedian whom it sees as a female version of Kenny Everett. The broadcaster's plans can only be helped by the current lack of confidence at the BBC, which is being horsewhipped by the Government over its finances and has recently reissued its editorial guidelines to prevent recurrences of Sachsgate, limiting opportunities for risqu comedy. - independent.co.uk

www.independent.co.uk

Could Project Canvas spell the end of Sky and Virgin HD box subscriptions? |

Nearly every television made now comes with a freeview box built in, and were not too far away from the digital switchover when analogue television will become a distant memory. Theres nowhere near as much content on freeview as you can find on a subscription package, on demand content can be difficult to access without extra hardware or simply viewing on a computer, and plans to introduce over-the-air HD to service are still very much in their infancy with only a few channels signed up to the idea. Thats despite the large number of HDTVs being purchased in the UK right now. - kingpin-seo.co.uk

www.kingpin-seo.co.uk

YouView in trademark dispute - Media news - Media Week

' else if google_ads.length gt 1 / For text ads, append each ad to the string. - mediaweek.co.uk

www.mediaweek.co.uk

BBC pensions: NUJ to strike, Bectu accepts proposals | 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.uk

YouView could slip beyond first half of 2011 | News | TechRadar UK

YouView chairman Kip Meeks has admitted that the first set boxes may not actually appear in the first half of 2011. Speaking at a Broadcasting Press Guild event, Meeks confessed that technology projects were never guaranteed to hit their projected start dates, and that YouView was no different. Projected price point Meeks admits that cost is a key factor, but is not yet able to talk about the projected price point of the first YouView boxes. - techradar.com

www.techradar.com

News Corp plan to deny movie coverage reveals its misuse of power | Media | guardian.co.uk

One of the main worries about News Corporation's giant cross-media holdings is that it gives the company and its chief, Rupert Murdoch, too much power. In theory at least, it enables the company to ride roughshod over rivals. Not only that, if improperly used, News Corp could exercise undue pressure across the whole media landscape. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

YouView CEO stresses differences with Apple TV and Google TV - News - THE DRUM - Advertising, Design, Media, Marketing,

You might expect than anything defusing tension between North Korea and the rest of the world would be good news - but that's not what Google chief Eric Schmidt has found. 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.... - thedrum.co.uk

www.thedrum.co.uk

YouView chairman looks to 2012 Olympics and local TV news services | Media | guardian.co.uk

Hunt, who has been warned by advisers of the extremely limited prospects of being able to deliver local services via traditional TV, has nevertheless ploughed on with his plans, last week securing 25m initial investment plus 5m-a-year funding after that from the BBC as part of the licence fee settlement. Meek positioned YouView, which is aiming to deliver on-demand TV initially into at least 7m Freeview households with broadband, as a key tool in delivering a cost-effective version of Hunt's vision. It offers by far the best chance of local TV services making some money or at least washing their faces. - guardian.co.uk

www.guardian.co.uk

YouView gearing up to launch the future of television in the U.K. - The Hollywood Reporter

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www.hollywoodreporter.com