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

Will commercial deals help open up BBC archive to the public by 2022? |Media |guardian.co.uk

The broadcaster has shaped the UK's cultural heritage for more than 80 years, so it contains important snapshots of the nation's history. The BBC then plans to gradually make this material available to the public, with a deadline for digitising as many shows as possible - rights and other issues permitting - by the BBC's 100th anniversary in 2022. The BBC's archives occupy 4.5 miles of shelves - as shown in this gallery, with 2.5m hours of film and video, 6m photographs, 4.5m pieces of sheet music, 5 miles of documents about programmes, staff, finance, correspondence and 200,000 word pronunciations. - guardian.co.uk

Thursday 29 October 2009, AM

Wednesday 28 October 2009, PM

Call to harmonise mobile airwaves

Digital switchover could pave the way for better mobile broadband The EU has urged its members to use the same part of the airwaves for mobile broadband to help achieve its target of 100 broadband coverage by 2013. A similar plan allowed the emergence of GSM mobile phones in the 1990s. The EU believes using the common frequency would be a particular boon for unconnected rural areas because it travels over long distances. - news.bbc.co.uk

news.bbc.co.uk

Wednesday 28 October 2009, AM

Dont let BSkyB avoid pay-TV regulations, urge rivals |Media |guardian.co.uk

The group also said that if Ofcom ever granted approval for Sky to launch Picnic, its mothballed pay TV service for Freeview, then this should also be factored into any new regulation. The group also reiterated that Sky Sports 3 and Sky Sports Xtra should be included in Ofcom's definition of the premium services that would come under the proposed system of regulation. To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editormediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. - guardian.co.uk

diamondgeezer.blogspot.com

The BBC's Red Button content slimmed down

Planning is well underway, but there are funding worries the whole project might cost - shock horror - nearly 110m. The workerfolk at Tyrone Ltd, in their big yellow shed up Marshgate Lane, are busy making luxury lace curtains. I'm just about to move into a flat in unfashionable Bow, less than a mile from a spot that'll be world-famous in eleven years time. - diamondgeezer.blogspot.com

Gaelic channel set to push BBC radio off Freeview -TV Radio, Media - The Independent

This would see radio stations 1, 2, 3 and 4, as well as 5Live, Radio Scotland and the World Service dropping off the digital channel during Alba's broadcast. Alba was something of a surprise package when it launched in Scotland in September last year to what 2001 census figures suggested was the lowest ever Gaelic-speaking audience of just 58,650. In its first week of broadcast the channel, which broadcasts between 5pm and 11pm on Sky and Freesat, pulled in 600,000 listeners. - independent.co.uk

www.independent.co.uk

Twitter for TV lovers: who to follow |Television radio |guardian.co.uk

Armando Iannucci among several The Thick of It Twitterers. TTOI fans will be glad to know that the cast and writers of the show are big Twitterers. You can also follow rebeccafront, who plays new minister Nicola Murray, and writers jessearmstrong1 and simonblackwell. - guardian.co.uk

Tuesday 27 October 2009, PM

BBC - Newsbeat - Sky Player launch on XBox delayed

By Dan Whitworth Newsbeat technology reporter It was supposed to run like clockwork. The launch of a new service that would give XBox Live users access to dozens of live Sky channels and on-demand TV shows. All some people logging on to the service could see was an error message. - news.bbc.co.uk

news.bbc.co.uk

Ruling bodies appeal to keep rugby and cricket off crown jewels TV list |Media |guardian.co.uk

The ECB has suggested the cost of adding the Ashes to the 'crown jewels' list will be about 140m. 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

BBC to sub-let spectrum capacity on Freeview multiplex B in parts of UK

The BBC remains committed to delivering the very best video content to Freeview viewers via its remaining interactive stream. The two streams will be available in approximately 80 of the country from the end of 2009, and coverage will reduce to zero when switchover is complete in 2012. The BBC has launched its competitive bid process which will provide third parties the opportunity to launch new services for audiences in the UK. - bbc.co.uk

www.whitehaven-news.co.uk

MP Jamie raises issue of Freeview

However, Mr Bradshaw did reveal that up to one million homes throughout the UK had been affected by the reduction in channels. The channels were lost to make way for high-definition TV in the near future. Meanwhile The Whitehaven News petition available in our office or at Brooks in Duke Street has collected more than 200 signatures complaining about the reduced service. - whitehaven-news.co.uk

Changes to BBC Sport on the red button

Next week the BBC will be making some changes to the Freeview service which will have an impact on our sports coverage. We know from the feedback we get that HD is increasingly popular with sports fans and this development will mean that even more viewers get to watch BBC Sport's big events in the best possible quality. What the arrival of HD does mean, though, is that there will be a reduction in the amount of capacity available on Freeview for our interactive services. - bbc.co.uk

Digital TV - News - Arqiva offers new Freeview channels - Digital Spy

According to the transmission firm, the two new channel slots will be able to broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Arqiva is the licence holder for multiplexes C and D, which principally make up the Freeview platform. However, the company stressed that the available slots will be used for TV channels only, and not radio, data or any other related service. - digitalspy.co.uk

www.digitalspy.co.uk

BBC to release Freeview capacity | 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

VIVA TV CHANNEL LAUNCH (Viva Freeview on channel 21 Up Your VIVA)

www.prfire.co.uk

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Highlands and Islands | Gaelic TV channel being reviewed

Firstly, whether the channel is achieving wide appeal to viewers beyond existing Gaelic speakers and helping to educate people in the language. Secondly, whether to make BBC Alba available through Freeview. Programmes are currently available on Sky, Freesat and live on the BBC iPlayer. - news.bbc.co.uk

news.bbc.co.uk

Switching to Digital Television: UK Public Policy and the Market

Presented as a 'case history' for academics, this impressive book nevertheless is a highly readable piece of journalism, with a strong and compelling narrative line. - amazon.co.uk

www.amazon.co.uk

The Dream That Died: The Rise and Fall of ITV

It is a book based on more than 90 exclusive interviews with key players who had their hands on the money, and the power, behind commercial television, but who saw politicians, businessmen and broadcasters convert high quality public service broadcasting into a ratings driven commercial wasteland, undermining the BBC and Channel 4. The book goes a long way to explain the complete sorry, downmarket mess that ITV has become. That is my problem with the book it's terribly one-sided, making little reference to the context of technological change which has had an impact on the TV industry. - amazon.co.uk

www.amazon.co.uk

Reviews of the financial terms for the Channel 3 and Channel 5 licences | Ofcom

You might like to try one of the following to help find what you were looking for Make sure the address of the page you are looking for is spelled correctly. Try submitting a question to our FAQ system Go to the Ofcom homepage and navigate to the information you want. Click the 'back' button to try another link. - ofcom.org.uk

www.ofcom.org.uk

Software update causes problems for Bush, Goodmans, Grundig Freesat boxes

blog.wotsat.com

EXCLUSIVE! London to switch on Freeview HD on December 2

blog.wotsat.com

Greg Dyke and Richard Eyre among frontrunners to be Channel 4 chairman |Media |guardian.co.uk

Interestingly, those being tipped for the job all have heavyweight broadcasting experience. Sir Richard Attenborough was the last Channel 4 chairman to have worked in the industry. According to reports, others being considered for the position include Chorion chairman Waheed Alli. - guardian.co.uk

Open Rights Group - survey on file sharing attitudes : | OfcomWatch |

www.ofcomwatch.co.uk

Pace introduces new multiroom DVR

Pace has unveiled its new Home Content Sharing According to Pace, HCS can distribute nine simultaneous HD streams throughout the home. HCS also offers advanced DVR features including a folder system, a bulk delete tool, and the ability to bookmark playback to resume in another room say Pace. - dtg.org.uk

MPs call for local TV channel on Freeview

We think it is vital that the government and Ofcom now take action to ensure that there is a guaranteed space for the community on our television screens. It seems extraordinary to reserve six whole multiplexes for Freeview but not a single channel for local news and community programming. We believe that existing services such as NvTv can help Ofcom and government to review the policy options and hope they will engage constructively with us and our colleagues in United for Local Television to seek to route a path forward. - dtg.org.uk

North west Wales begins switch to digital

The first stage of switchover in north west Wales has been completed. Digital UK are now advising all Freeview viewers in the region to retune their equipment in order to receive the range of digital channels currently available. All TV services were temporarily switched off at the Llanddona transmitter group at midnight on 21 October. - dtg.org.uk

Round up: Tuesday 27 October 2009

The Internet blog got a look in with a post on the future of the iPlayer regarding syndication. Speaking of syndication see what I did there Paidcontent revealed the BBC's plans to syndicate unsigned bands to online services like Spotify. Across the spectrum of BBC blogs there's been a high level of dissatisfaction about the closure of Red Button interactive streams. - bbc.co.uk

Media Talk: Nick Griffin on Question Time

download.guardian.co.uk

Media: Ben Bradshaw; strong opinions; BBC Trust - 21/10/09

downloads.bbc.co.uk

Tuesday 27 October 2009, AM

Steve Green / digitalradiotech - blog - James Cridland

Steve Green / digitalradiotech Posted on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 1212 pm. Steve has been harrassing me since around 2000, on internet newsgroups, via my previous employers blogs, and his own site, as well as lodging complaints with former employers, and a large number of FOI requests every mention of my name in the full list is from Steve Green. I am taking advantage of not having a current employer to set the record straight about Steves appalling behaviour. - james.cridland.net

james.cridland.net

BBC - About the BBC - Syndication Guidelines

Please visit the Inside the BBC homepage to find the information you want. you may have typed the web address incorrectly - please check the spelling, or that there are no spaces or capital letters. Alternatively, please try the other links below or the search box on this page. - bbc.co.uk

BBC - About the BBC

Unless youre launching a brand new radio station then the show youre joining will have pre-existed. So much fun in fact, we wanted to put all the links in one place. Window 4 on our Advent Calendar opens up a whole new advent calendar via cbeebiesfun plus dress your own snowman - bbc.co.uk

BBC - BBC Internet Blog: BBC Trusts good news for CBBC

This comes as a fantastic endorsement of the important role the BBC has to play in empowering children as they become more experienced online and supporting them to develop the skills required to operate safely in the digital world. Take a quick glance at Ofcom's 'interim' research on children's use of internet in the UK published a couple of weeks ago and you realise how timely this is. Children are spending more and more of their allotted screen-time online, both supervised and unsupervised. - bbc.co.uk

Microsoft wows Windows 7 crowd with Internet TV | Tech Gear News - Betanews

Actually, Internet TV has been under development at Microsoft since way back in September of 2007. In May, Internet TV for Media Center officially entered beta 2. With today's release of Windows 7, though, the feature finally leaves beta testing behind. - betanews.com

www.betanews.com

Closing the News Multiscreen

For BBC News, this means that we're no longer going to be able to provide one of our services. The News Multiscreen, which we've been broadcasting on Freeview for a number of years now, will close on Tuesday 27 October 2009. Obviously News content will still be available for viewers of Freeview. - bbc.co.uk

BBC Red Button Changes on Freeview

This sometimes means I have to make hard decisions about what we do and what we can offer to our audience. In order to make space for HD broadcasts in the future we need to now switch off two of the three interactive streams we use to deliver BBC content on Freeview. So what does that mean for you watching on Freeview - bbc.co.uk

Monday 19 October 2009, AM

BBC and Arqiva announce agreement to roll-out of terrestrial HD network

From then on, the new technology will roll-out with digital switchover at each transmitter, with most areas which have switched over already being upgraded before the end of 2010. In addition, the BBC has made arrangements with Arqiva to build a small network of five additional transmitters which will bring HD services to certain key metropolitan areas ahead of their planned switchover dates. London will benefit from the end of 2009, with transmitters for Glasgow, Newcastle, Birmingham and Leeds/Bradford due to be on-air during spring 2010. - bbc.co.uk

BBC and Arqiva announce agreement to enable roll-out of terrestrial HD network

ITVs share rally shows its fortunes are due to turn around |Business |guardian.co.uk

Perhaps Ant and Dec could jump ship to the BBC, depriving the broadcaster of its most popular double act There is a leadership vacuum at ITV, where executive chairman Michael Grade is on the way out and a less powerful, non-executive chairman is being sought, along with a chief executive. The search for a fresh management team has become farcical, with candidates for both posts rejecting the jobs, turning Britain's biggest commercial broadcaster into an object of derision. - guardian.co.uk

STV and UTV aim to keep local news |Media |guardian.co.uk

ITV plc may have decided to stop producing regional news but outside England and Wales it's a different story. Northern Ireland's minister of culture, arts and leisure, Nelson McCausland, supports a pilot taking place in the province and has suggested it could bring in 3m a year. Ten Alps is also interested in playing a part in Scottish local news. - guardian.co.uk