Tuesday 30 March 2010, AM
BBC News - Freeview to launch new HD service
Freeview is to launch a new free high definition HD TV service later. Freeview HD recorders will also be available later this Spring. Viewers will only need to update their equipment if they want to watch the new HD channels on Freeview, otherwise their existing set top boxes will continue to receive all of the current standard definition channels. - news.bbc.co.uk
news.bbc.co.uk
New 1m high definition channel for Wales
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www.walesonline.co.ukBBC News - Wales will be first UK digital TV nation
Wales has become the first nation in the UK to go fully digital in its television signal. The Wenvoe transmitter and its relay stations, serving 649,000 homes in south east Wales, started switching from analogue to digital at midnight. Digital UK, which manages the switch, said the last relay station, at Tonyrefail in Rhondda Cynon Taf, shut off analogue in mid afternoon. - news.bbc.co.uknews.bbc.co.uk
The ITV regional news bidders have something in common at their core |Media |guardian.co.uk
The panel making the choice has, unanimously, gone for those promising convergence. Together they are currently struggling to employ 1,000 newspaper journalists. The panel felt they could safely do this and spurn the incumbents, STV with ITN, because, under existing employment regulation, the winners have to take on the otherwise redundant television journalists already supplying the services. - guardian.co.uk
www.guardian.co.uk
MPs attack BBC over executive pay and BBC3 costs |Media |The Guardian
Published today, the committee's review of the BBC's 2008-2009 annual report questions how the corporation measures the success of its programmes. Last autumn the BBC revealed that its top 50 executives earn basic salaries of between 160,000 and 647,000, with nine executive directors, including director general Mark Thompson, sharing 4.6m, including bonuses and benefits. The report was prompted by the publication of the BBC's latest annual report last summer. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
Pay-TV sports shakeup leaves Sky a winner |Business |The Guardian
Six million people currently pay for Sky Sports through Sky or rival providers. The move, which comes after a lengthy three-year investigation, is likely to lead to protests not just from Sky but from sports bodies who fear that their broadcasting rights will be worth less when they are next auctioned and that this will hamper investment in sport. Ofcom is expected to set the wholesale price of Sky Sports 1 at about 10.50, as compared to the current 13.88. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukMonday 29 March 2010, PM
One less news app: Did BBCs iPad support threaten the EUs Digital Agenda? | Tech Policy Law News - Betanews
Either the news media is convinced that Apple's forthcoming iPad is the vehicle for delivering news publishing out of its funk, or it's convinced that Apple is conspiring to circumvent the natural course of news with its own walled garden platform. The BBC is sustained by UK citizens who pay regular license fees, so on paper, the reason for the delay is to determine whether free distribution of the app goes against its mandate. In an online op-ed yesterday, the Times defended its decision, saying it believed true customers will recognize the value of investing in real journalism. - betanews.com
www.betanews.comITV Advertising Restraints May Be Scrapped by U.K. Regulator - Bloomberg.com
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www.bloomberg.com
A 2015 digital switchover is absurd | Tony Stoller |Media |guardian.co.uk
So the House of Lords has woken up to the absurdity of 2015 as a switchover date for digital radio. In case other politicians and government officials haven't noticed, that would mean making obsolete the vast majority of car radios, and perhaps 150m analogue radio sets. What will they do to a government that turns off all their radio stations - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukSelect Committe report on DSO - PDF
- publications.parliament.ukwww.publications.parliament.ukMonday 29 March 2010, AM
BSkyB downgraded to neutral at UBS - MarketWatch
The broker noted that the firm's shares have risen by 33 since last June and outperformed the Stoxx 600 index by 7. British Sky Broadcasting is roughly 39-owned by News Corp, the owner of MarketWatch the publisher of this report. - marketwatch.com
www.marketwatch.comTories attack BBC cuts to niche stations -UK Politics, UK - The Independent
- independent.co.uk
www.independent.co.ukSaturday 27 March 2010, AM
Freeview HD televisions at test lab - Which? News
For 'coming soon' reviews plus almost 200 full reviews of televisions tested in 2009 and 2010 visit our television review page. Full results are due online towards the end of May. For 'coming soon reviews' plus almost 200 full reviews of televisions tested visit our television review page. Keep an eye on Which news and ourtelevision brand overview pages for the latest developments, or check out our 3D TV essential guide for everything you need to know - which.co.uk
www.which.co.ukFriday 26 March 2010, PM
BBC - Pestons Picks: Ofcom v Sky: The epic business battle of 2010
The latest is the three-year pay-TV probe, which reaches an end - of sorts - next week, when the media watchdog, Ofcom, publishes its final conclusions and proposed remedies. There have been thousands of pages of submissions to Ofcom in this enquiry, a fair number of them from the company directly threatened, British Sky Broadcasting which was still lobbying Ofcom, with some 100 pages of detailed economic analysis, some five months after the consultation was formally closed. So BSkyB will be forced to sell rival broadcasters access to its films and sport - in normal and high definition format - at keener prices than it does today. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukFeedback: 26 Mar 2010: Listener panel on R4's Today
downloads.bbc.co.ukFriday 26 March 2010, AM
Gerhard Zeiler approaches Channel 4 about commercial tie-up with Five |Media |guardian.co.uk
The possibility of resurrecting a Channel 4/Five merger is said to have been discussed, although this is thought far less likely to proceed than a more limited commercial partnership. One such option would be a merger between Channel 4 and Five's advertising airtime sales houses, which has been mooted in the past, although this would not solve RTL's problem long term. Obstacles to a full merger would include Five's onerous deals for US shows such as the CSI franchise. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukMedia Talk: Clay Shirky on Google, China, and all things internet
download.guardian.co.ukThursday 25 March 2010, PM
Digital economy bill to be pushed through parliament next month |Technology |guardian.co.uk
Harriet Harman, the leader of the house, said today that the bill will get its second reading. It does not allow for debate of issues the only changes that can be made to bills are deletions. The bill has proved highly controversial with many consumers and businesses because of the measures it would take against those accused of copyright infringement online. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
UTV hopes to launch Welsh ITV news pilot by October |Media |guardian.co.uk
Wales Live was the only bidder to have made a vox pop video of what people in Wales wanted to see in their regional news as part of its pitch for the contract. 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.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
ITV regional news bidders told: dont count on BBC licence fee funds |Media |guardian.co.uk
If Labour wins the general election, which is expected to be called within days for 6 May, the pilots can be run until the end of 2012. However, the Tories have pledged to block the necessary clause in the digital economy bill that would then enable Ofcom to fund an ongoing, national and regional ITV news services with public funds after 2012. The Conservatives have also pledged to scrap the plan for regional news consortiums if the party wins the general election. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukThursday 25 March 2010, AM
How I slashed my connection to cable TV without missing anything | Tech Gear News - Betanews
Mission Find an affordable alternative to cable/pay TV using only off-the-shelf products. Deadline Today with a clause for extension Like 24 million other Americans, I have a subscription to Comcast for cable television and like an untold number of those subscribers, I feel that it costs far more than it should. Annually, I pay more than 675 for service on one HD receiver with no premium content, even though I only watch a couple of hours of television a week. - betanews.comwww.betanews.comWednesday 24 March 2010, AM
Stop DRM on UK TV! Sign onto ORGs comments - Boing Boing
This is a bad idea for lots of reasons it's our TV, paid for with the license fee. If that wasn't bad enough, the BBC hasn't identified anyone who has promised to make programmes available if the DRM is added -- so we're being asked to turn regulatory control over the public service broadcaster to a corporate cartel without even being promised anything in return These businesses have shareholders who want to see a return on their investment, not a public tantrum. - boingboing.net
www.boingboing.net
Philips unveils Freeview HD recorder and receiver | News | TechRadar UK
There is also the ability to live pause TV, with a three-hour buffer limit and DD5.1 audio output. The recorder also comes with an eight-day EPG, parental locking and consumes less than 1W of power when in standby mode. As well as the recorder, Philips is also introducing a slim-line receiver to the market, which will offer up Freeview HD but with no recording capabilities. - techradar.com
www.techradar.com
Freeview could be a poisoned chalice | City A.M.
Allowing the pay-TV giant to access customers via the Freeview platform which has 10m customers is one of the sweeteners on the table. This would allow Sky to access a more casual consumer of sport it could sell big football matches on a pay-per-view basis, aping the way individual boxing fights are sold at 10 to 15-a-time. According to Execution Noble, around a third of Sky customers are considering switching to Freeview. - cityam.com
www.cityam.com
ITV boss eyes pay-TV future
C21Media.net is Everything about content in the 21st Century, from television to web, mobile, tablet and beyond. - c21media.net
www.c21media.netGaelic Freeview decision delayed
The BBC Trust had been expected to decide by April whether to put the channel onto Freeview. It will now make the decision after it its views on the future strategy of the wider BBC are published. MG Alba, which runs the channel in partnership with the BBC, said it was disappointed. - news.bbc.co.uknews.bbc.co.ukOfcom sets out vision and speed for superfast broadband for all |Technology |The Guardian
BT is being asked to share its network of telegraph poles with other internet providers. Ofcom also set out for the first time yesterday what it regards as the lowest speed that would merit the name. However, large numbers of homes and businesses are in locations which cannot get any sort of broadband, either because they are too far from an exchange or because the lines are of poor quality. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukTuesday 23 March 2010, PM
Arqiva bounces into Project Canvas...will SeeSaw follow?
-blog.wotsat.comBBC reveals plans to expand digital radio coverage
More than a million additional people will soon be able to receive BBC national digital radio services under plans for a further expansion of the digital radio transmission network. The BBC is investing in a further 60 digital radio transmitters as part of its commitment to reach 90 of the UK population during this Charter period. This is the final part of a planned roll-out which started in 2008 and has which already resulted in more than 50 additional transmitters being added to the network. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukTuesday 23 March 2010, AM
Project Canvas is open and standardised and great for consumers |Media |guardian.co.uk
A version of how the Project Canvas website may appear. Photograph Public Domain There has been a great deal of recent discussion about the merits or lack thereof of Project Canvas. Canvas promises to create an open, standardised platform where consumers will be able to view programming from a vast number of video providers across a broad range of devices. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukMonday 22 March 2010, PM
ITV refunds viewers after David Dickinson phone-in contest gaffe |Media |guardian.co.uk
The ITV1 daytime repeat had been re-edited to include a new on-screen viewers' competition, but a production error meant at the end of the programme the voiceover was not also updated. A viewer complained to the media regulator, Ofcom, that it was not clear which question viewers were supposed to answer. ITV told the regulator that it had already refunded 5,026 of the 15,984 entrants eligible for the money back. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukinformitv - MSN Video Player fails to impress
Microsoft has finally formally launched its new online video service in the United Kingdom. Following a six month trial, the new-look offering now includes 1,000 hours of full-length television programmes, supplemented by other video clips and film trailers that were previously available on the MSN portal. Microsoft has been doing non-exclusive deals with independent production companies like Endemol to distribute their programmes once they come out of broadcaster holdback and the rights revert to the producers. - informitv.com
informitv.comMonday 22 March 2010, AM
Ban on broadcasting parliamentary clips on YouTube could be lifted |Media |The Guardian
The clip, watched nearly 470,000 times, remains on YouTube, despite the ban although Westminster authorities have periodically asked for such clips to be removed. There is a limited exemption for MPs, who are allowed to put up clips of their own speeches on YouTube, but even they have to prevent third parties from embedding those clips. Negotiations have been going on for over 18 months within the Parliamentary Broadcasting Unit Limited, a committee of officials and broadcasters responsible for licensing parliamentary footage. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
Channel 4 select committee review is a stinker | Steve Hewlett |Media |The Guardian
Last week's select committee review of Channel 4 hardly noticed amid the blizzard of media coverage of the BBC was a real stinker. The MPs on the culture, media and sport committee go so far as to suggest that the money might well have been better spent maintaining public service content on C4's main service. Even more serious, C4 was criticised for a lack of transparency in how it accounted for its digital channels that MPs said could not be justified. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukDigital economy bill: what you need to know |Media |The Guardian
The murmuring in parliament is that the digital economy bill will get its second reading on Tuesday 6 April the day that Gordon Brown is expected to hop into a car and head over to the palace to ask for the dissolution of parliament. This is not easy the bill tends to add bits to other existing acts, such as the Communications Act of 2003 and the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988. Minimum broadband speed of 2Mbps Doesn't actually require legislation. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukSunday 21 March 2010, PM
TDF - Radio sur mobile : une facture de 74 millions deuros par an
Grab this Headline Animator Inscription la newsletter Qu'est-ce que 'DR' Diffrents formats et normes sont aujourd'hui disponibles sur le march par le biais de diffrents consortia de fabricants et radiodiffuseurs. Trs simplement - la radio numrique utilise diffrentes technologies qui convertissent le signal analogue, musique ou voix, en un code numrique. - radio-numerique.frwww.radio-numerique.fr
Premier League football to be made available on terrestrial Freeview television - Telegraph
BT Vision, which is a digital television service, would be the main provider of the programmes, if, as expected, Ofcom decides to order Sky to cut the price it charges other operators for its premium content. Sky is set to launch a legal challenge against the watchdog's ruling on the grounds that Ofcom would be using its powers inappropriately in forcing Sky to drop its prices, thereby threatening its market position. The television operators argue that such a ruling would encourage competition for sports rights and would be good for consumers because it will result in more competitive pricing. - telegraph.co.uk
www.telegraph.co.ukFriday 19 March 2010, PM
iPlayer beta now on Sagem Freesat HD receivers
-blog.wotsat.comFeedback: 19 Mar 2010: Just A Minute rule changes?
downloads.bbc.co.ukDid 6Music hijack Radio 4 last night?
On Twitter, miss_s_b wondered is it just me, or did 6music just hack radio 4 Listen back to this most unusual upset Or download the MP3 here. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukFriday 19 March 2010, AM
New ITV boss to get 200,000 golden hello
The outgoing post chief dubbed Britains highest paid public servant after his years at Royal Mail is also guaranteed to get 3.2million over three years and could pocket over 16million by 2015. Hard-hit ITV will pay Mr Crozier 775,000 a year, a one-off deferred share incentive worth more than 2million, and further shares of 420,000. He will also be entitled to a regular annual bonus and long-term share scheme payouts, pushing up his yearly income to about 860,000. - express.co.uk
www.express.co.ukMedia Talk: Erik Huggers and Michael Wolff
download.guardian.co.ukThursday 18 March 2010, PM
British Sky Broadcasting (LON:BSY) report: Now Virgin Media may offer free Premier League
The package is expected to be priced at some 18/month, compared to BTs 21.99 and a Sky subscription for 26. - Sky currently offers wholesale access to its basic sports package at 13.40 the possibility exists that Ofcoms Consultation will force a reduction to as low as 8.00, which would allow the possibility of absorbing this within the current bundled package price range. - stockmarketsreview.comwww.stockmarketsreview.comMichael Grade leaves ITV with 2.7m as Adam Crozier chases 16m |Media |guardian.co.uk
Grade picked up 2.126m in salary and annual bonus for his last year as executive chairman of the broadcaster, and also sold shares worth a further 401,567 under the company's share options scheme, according to ITV's 2009 annual report, published today. The ITV board also awarded him a further 167,000 to cover the remainder of his contract which expires next month but calculated the payoff as if he were merely non-executive chairman of the firm. He will also be awarded 420,000 worth of shares when he joins on 26 April, which he can collect over the next 18 months. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukBogus Piracy Report Misleads EU Legislators | TorrentFreak
By selective use of sources and shoddy research techniques, lobbyists hope the report will open the doors to tougher anti-piracy laws. The entertainment industry is known to commission reports and research that hugely benefit their lobbying practices. A new report, Building a Digital Economy was released yesterday. - torrentfreak.com
torrentfreak.comGoogle and Partners Seek Foothold in the Living Room - NYTimes.com
Google and Intel have teamed with Sony to develop a platform called Google TV to bring the Web into the living room through a new generation of televisions and set-top boxes. The move is an effort by Google and Intel to extend their dominance of computing to television, an arena where they have little sway. The partners envision technology that will make it as easy for TV users to navigate Web applications, like the Twitter social network and the Picasa photo site, as it is to change the channel. - nytimes.com
www.nytimes.comThursday 18 March 2010, AM
Media: Reporting Sahil Saeed's kidnap 18 Mar 10
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BBC Trust ignoring Canvas concerns, says BSkyB |Media |guardian.co.uk
The pay-TV company, which has been backed by rival Virgin Media in opposing Project Canvas, says there is a conflict between the trust's role as guardian of licence fee payers as and its job setting the strategic course of the corporation. BSkyB has also cautioned that the funding mechanism, and in particular the start-up research and development budgets that the BBC has provided, run the risk of breaching state aid rules. However, a BBC spokeswoman said the corporation's RD spend had not increased 300, as last year's annual report suggested. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukWednesday 17 March 2010, PM
38 Degrees | Dont rush through extreme web laws
This week, Harriet Harman, leader of the House of Commons, received thousands of emails. Over the last week MPs have been sent more than 14,000 emails opposing the bill. Yet the government is still planning to force the bill into law - ignoring all opposition. - 38degrees.org.uk
www.38degrees.org.ukAnger over rushed digital economy bill leads to online lobbying effort |Technology |guardian.co.uk
The newly-created page on the 38 Degrees site lets people find their MP via their postcode, and then email them to demand that the bill gets a proper debate - or is abandoned for this Parliament. Despite all this opposition, the government is trying to rush it through quietly just before the election without proper debate without a chance for us to voice our opposition. Bad law isn't made good law by not being used badly it's made good by actually being well-drafted. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukpick a page