Great things to read about British TV from March 2008 to today

BBC Feedback: 31 Jan 2010

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Monday 01 February 2010, AM

Has the British PR industry grown too big for journalism? -Advertising, Media - The Independent

The one thing that hasnt dried up for print journalists is the stream of calls from public relations teams, trying to get publicity for a clients product. In the minds of some reporters the growth of the PR industry over the past couple of decades has been a factor in weakening the power of the press. Can under-pressure hacks, already filling in for redundant colleagues, cope with the barrage of calls and emails from ever-more PR executives flogging stories - independent.co.uk

Matthew Norman: And now on ITV1, the utterly creepy Adams family -Matthew Norman, Opinion - The Independent

For this is surely the Steve McClaren of television hirings... the case of a man hurriedly hired as the easiest option, by his old chum, Archie Norman, at a time of crisis. He may have left the FA with few admirers, and may now be leaving the Royal Mail with fewer still. What a cunning, sure-footed reference this was, to a show dropped by ITV as recently as 1975, but about to be revived and this is the special cleverness by the BBC. - independent.co.uk

So long Big Brother, and welcome to the revolution on Channel 4 -TV Radio, Media - The Independent

As head of programmes he has been overseeing the commissioning process designed to reposition Channel 4 for a new era beyond digital switchover under the newly-appointed chief executive David Abraham. When the decision to axe Big Brother was made in August, Bellamy heralded the moment as the start of the most fundamental creative overhaul in the broadcasters 27-year history. So how will he fill the void of 150 hours of air time with the 50m of programming budget that has been freed up - independent.co.uk

Why ad men like Adam Crozier are dominating television |Media |The Guardian

His appointment came less than a week after David Abraham, who co-founded the fashionable advertising agency St Luke's, was unveiled as the new C4 chief executive. Why have the commanding heights of the British broadcasting industry fallen into the hands of a group of slick advertising men He replaces Duncan, a marketeer who began his career at Unilever before breathing new life into a free-to-air digital TV platform by calling it Freeview. - guardian.co.uk

Why this Ofcom cloud has a silver lining for Sky |Media |The Guardian

In a few weeks, the regulator is due to announce its decision on whether Sky should be forced to charge its competitors less for its premium TV content. Detailed proposals went before the Ofcom board last week. They claimed that Sky's existing subscriber base meant it could always outbid potential competitors in the market for premium content rights despite regulatory pressure. - guardian.co.uk

Sunday 31 January 2010, PM

Conservatives would end BT monopoly to deliver superfast broadband |Business |guardian.co.uk

George Osborne, shadow Chancellor says allowing private investors to pay for high speed broadband fibreoptics will stimulate competition. If the market failed to deliver, then 3.5 of the licence fee currently used to pay for digital switchover could be diverted to pay for broadband expansion, Osborne said. That would raise between 750m and 1bn on the basis of 25m TV licences. - guardian.co.uk

3D - adambowie.com

This afternoon, I'll be watching Arsenal v Man Utd in 3D. No - I'm not going to one of Sky's un-named pubs which will be showing the game in 3D - instead I'll be in the ground. You the photos in the viewer and one eye saw each photo - together giving the impression of 3D. - adambowie.com

www.adambowie.com

Sunday 31 January 2010, AM

Apple + iPad + Huxley = Orwellian nightmare |Technology |guardian.co.uk

Apple boss Steve Jobs shows off the new iPad, criticised for being 'just a big iPhone' but potentially another world-beater. As the internet went mainstream, the Orwellian nightmare has evolved into a realistic possibility, because of the facilities the network offers for the comprehensive surveillance so vividly evoked in 1984. Then, two years ago this month, Jobs launched the iPhone, a product that was initially underestimated by many commentators this columnist included but which has radically transformed the mobile phone market. - guardian.co.uk

Displays and Screens Part 3

We're very happy to present the final part of Quentin's interview with Richard Salmon eploring the BBC's research and expertise in display screens for television. In this final section they look at the role of of Hi Definition screens and the large screens needed to watch them. Different technologies, their relative merits, and future developments are covered too. - bbc.co.uk

Saturday 30 January 2010, AM

Thanks, but I m waiting for the DroidPad | Good Morning Silicon Valley

blogs.siliconvalley.com

Friday 29 January 2010, PM

ITVs postbag is overflowing but can Crozier deliver? |Media |guardian.co.uk

The network's previous regime spent a wasted nine months last year attempting to appoint a chief executive in one of the messiest media operas on record. With today's anointment of Adam Crozier, Norman has delivered in three weeks. This is what is happening to the old terrestrial networks around the world, and Crozier's record of successfully slicing the Post Office, in the face of political, public and union opposition, speaks for itself. - guardian.co.uk

SeeSaw heads for March VoD launch

Freeview appoints House PR for launch of Freeview HD

There will be a particular focus on educating consumers about the benefits of Freeview HD and creating noise ahead of the World Cup. Freeview is now the provider of TV on the main set in 10 million homes. In total, more than two-thirds of the UK 18.2 million homes has Freeview. - prweek.com

www.prweek.com

BBC Worldwide should pay 60m a year for brand name, producers argue |Media |guardian.co.uk

The organisation said these reforms should be introduced whether or not part or all of BBC Worldwide is sold off. BBC Worldwide gains huge commercial benefits by avoiding the usual business practice of paying an annual licence fee for use of the valuable BBC brand, according to the report. The report examines the structure of the deals to licence the use of the Virgin Media and Virgin Radio brands. - guardian.co.uk

BBC spending criticised by Audit Office -TV Radio, Media - The Independent

The BBC spent 8.68m on covering the event, to which it sent 142 of its own staff. The tournament was one of six events analysed in a report published yesterday. The NAO found that coverage of Radio 1's Big Weekend cost 888,000, 5 per cent over budget. - independent.co.uk

SeeSaw reveals content line up

SeeSaw, the new online TV service, has revealed programming deals with content providers, broadcasters and independent production houses, including Channel 4 and Five. DTG Staff 29.01.2010 Links open in a new window. The DTG is not responsible for the content of other web sites. - dtg.org.uk

www.dtg.org.uk

Media Talk: iPad, therefore I am

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Friday 29 January 2010, AM

Alex Guest: SeeSaw under the spotlight

What is most obvious immediately is that there is very little content on the site. I can only expect that much more will become available before public launch and that it will continue to increase thereafter. Programme discovery The challenge for SeeSaw is going to be in programme discovery. - blog.alexguest.me

blog.alexguest.me

Now-playing information on TOKYO FM 100% correct - James Cridland

Its a laborious process, since you need to know exactly was and wasnt played, and include music from commercials and jingles. Instead, the music rights people in Japan have direct access to their now-playing information right off the playout system. Radio programmers must get the now-playing information correct before the songs played and therefore it drips through correctly to every other system and platform that the stations available on. - james.cridland.net

james.cridland.net

12 reasons why I wont buy an Apple iPad | Betanews

Yesterday, I asked Betanews readers if they would buy and Apple iPad. I couldn't limit the list to the usual 10. For me, there's relief in yesterday's iPad announcement. - betanews.com

www.betanews.com

Can Adam Crozier deliver as the new boss of ITV? -TV Radio, Media - The Independent

Yet Mr Crozier, currently group chief executive of Royal Mail and overseeing talks with the unions to avoid further strikes, was his first choice. His tenure was marked by cost cutting, which included shedding 60,000 staff. The strategy caused controversy when he was awarded 3m in pay and a bonus for 2007 despite losses. - independent.co.uk

No rush to digital radio switchover

Media: Haiti; Channel 4; Apple Tablet - 27 01 10

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Thursday 28 January 2010, PM

Ofcom welcomes new European telecoms regulation body | Ofcom

Independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries. 4G auction bidders announced December 20, 2012 Ofcom has today announced the bidders in the forthcoming 4G mobile spectrum auction the largest ever sale of mobile airwaves in the UK. npower fined for making abandoned calls December 6, 2012 The conclusion of an Ofcom investigation has today found npower, the gas and electricity supplier, to be in breach of rules on abandoned calls. - ofcom.org.uk

www.ofcom.org.uk

ITV appoints Royal Mails Adam Crozier as new boss

ITV has announced that Royal Mail boss Adam Crozier is to become the broadcaster's new chief executive. The announcement marks the end of ITV's long search for a replacement for Michael Grade, who said last April that he wished to give up the role. Prior to joining the Royal Mail, Mr Crozier had been the boss of the Football Association. - news.bbc.co.uk

news.bbc.co.uk

Tuesday 26 January 2010, PM

Radio may not go fully digital until 2020, says man in charge of switchover |Media |guardian.co.uk

Half a million digital audio broadcasting DAB radios were sold in December last year but digital radio switchover may not take place until 2020, according to the man charged with overseeing the process. The Christmas rush last month took the total number of DAB sets in the UK to 10.5m, with a total of around 2m sold last year. This marks a slight slowdown from 2008, when 2.2m sets were sold. - guardian.co.uk

BBC News - Piracy letter campaign nets innocents

Some 1,000 fresh letters have been sent to alleged illegal file-sharers More than 150 people have approached consumer publication Which Computing claiming to have been wrongly targeted in crackdowns on illegal file-sharing. ACSLaw has sent thousands of letters to people claiming they have illegally downloaded material and offers them a chance to settle by paying around 500. - news.bbc.co.uk

news.bbc.co.uk

BBC News - EU to assess piracy detection software

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UK standard to boost 3D TV development

Welsh viewers can name their HD channel | Broadband TV News

Viewers to the Welsh language service S4C are being invited to put a name to the broadcasters new high definition channel. S4C will then broadcast entirely in the Welsh language having previously shared some programmes with Channel 4 that will also be available as a terrestrial service in Wales for the first time. The remainder of Wales will receive the HD service on Freeview by July. - broadbandtvnews.com

www.broadbandtvnews.com

C21Media: Uncovering Discovery

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

www.c21media.net

Monday 25 January 2010, PM

Backstage.bbc.co.uk blog: Freeview HD content management, what the community thinks

Graham Plumb wrote a piece for the Internet blog just recently about the difficult area of content protection for HD Freeview. As you can imagine, there has been quite a few comments attached to the blog post but there has also been even more on the backstage mailing list. B obtain the decoded tables from a third party in a country where this decryption is not illegal. - bbc.co.uk

Local TV news consortiums will never make money, says Tinopolis owner |Media |guardian.co.uk

This view is unlikely to alter Conservative opposition to the government's plans to provide replacements for ITV's regional news services around the country, led by the shadow culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, who has vowed to kill off the scheme if his party wins the general election later this year. Jones said that if Tinopolis won the Welsh IFNC pilot contract, any of the news content, from raw feeds to produced packages, would be made available, free, as a public service, to any organisation that asked for it radio stations, community broadcasters, websites or newspapers. In Wales Tinopolis is bidding on its own, without any partners. - guardian.co.uk

Record 10m televisions sold in UK in 2009 - Telegraph

Fifteen years ago just four million new sets were sold each year, but in 2009 over 10 million were sold, according to GfK, the market research firm. However, the most popular size for a new television now averages 40 inches, according to John Lewis, almost double the size in the last 15 years or so, encouraged by video gamers enjoying playing their games on extra large screens. In the last five years, 32 million flat teleisions have been sold in the UK but the figures are expected to continue to climb once 3D televisions are introduced in a few months' time. - telegraph.co.uk

www.telegraph.co.uk

SeeSaw online TV service starts invite-only test for March launch |Media |guardian.co.uk

SeeSaw is hoping to build up the number of users for its trial over the course of about a month to 10,000, with the aim of offering about 3,500 hours of TV content at launch by March. SeeSaw is likely to look to build its profile as a provider of sport content, given that chief executive Pierre-Jean Sebert is a former managing director of British Eurosport. It is thought that SeeSaw also has deals in place with Channel 4 and Channel Five, which have not officially been announced. - guardian.co.uk

Monday 25 January 2010, AM

Murdochs heir will be just one case of generation change |Media |The Guardian

As a 7 shareholder in News Corp it is only natural that the prince would wish to visit one of his many global media holdings. On the same day that endorsement was reported, it emerged in London that James Murdoch's decision to buy a 17.9 stake in ITV in 2006 was in contravention of competition policy and the public interest. As the tightly run BSkyB has continued to manufacture potsof money through the media downturn, it will hardly notice the amount missing from its bottom line. - guardian.co.uk

Call for sale of BBC Worldwide -UK Politics, UK - The Independent

The committee's report, published today, adds that the British film industry also suffers from the absence of a successful worldwide company that can promote its work. That finding will please ministers and independent film producers, but is likely to irritate the BBC's management which does not want to sell the division. In 2007, Worldwide bought the Lonely Planet information travel group to build it up into a worldwide franchise. - independent.co.uk

Saturday 23 January 2010, PM

Freeview Viewers in Sheffield to Retune on 17 March 2010

The retune is required to prepare local transmitters for the future rollout of HD high definition channels on Freeview. Freeview will launch an information campaign in Sheffield ahead of the change, reminding viewers to get ready. The campaign will include newspaper and radio ads, and on-screen messages. - freeview.co.uk

www.freeview.co.uk

Friday 22 January 2010, PM

Displays Screens Part 2

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. - bbc.co.uk

Channel 4 appoints David Abraham as chief executive |Media |guardian.co.uk

The new chief executive's starting date at Channel 4 has yet to be finalised. Abraham's appointment leaves a question mark over the future of Kevin Lygo, Channel 4's director of television and content, who is understood to have been the only other candidate on the final shortlist for the job. The new chief executive is to be paid a basic salary of 490,000 a year. - guardian.co.uk

Guardian Media Talk: The New York Times and Sky's ITV stake

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Friday 22 January 2010, AM

Content management on the HD Freeview platform | Ofcom

www.ofcom.org.uk

Freeview HD content management

Ofcom has this week published its formal consultation considering the implications of the proposed new Freeview HD content management system. This will attract further dialogue from those who take the view that introducing any form of content management represents an unacceptable restriction on consumers' rights. The issues are really quite complex and the benefits not immediately obvious the primary benefit being that the use of such technologies gives access to a wider and more attractive range of HD content. - bbc.co.uk