Monday 21 September 2009, AM
RTS Cambridge Convention: Trouble at the top |Media |The Guardian
Channel 4's chief executive, Andy Duncan, announced his departure on the eve of the conference while its chairman, Luke Johnson, will also be gone by the beginning of next year. His appointment is expected to hasten the departure of its chairman, Michael Grade. But, as its chairman, Michael Lyons, pointed out in response to Bradshaw's speech, the government could at least have given it until the next licence fee settlement in 2012 to call time. - guardian.co.uk
www.guardian.co.ukShould Ofcom regulate the BBC? : | OfcomWatch |
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www.ofcomwatch.co.ukFor the record: 21/09/2009 - Press, Media - The Independent
Perhaps Anne has some memory loss or dreamt it. Staff at BBC Radio Sheffield or indeed Vogue have no need to reach for the lippy, it's strictly about media agencies. The winner will get 1,000 to spend in Banana Republic. - independent.co.uk
www.independent.co.ukMobile broadband dongles up to speed? : | OfcomWatch |
-www.ofcomwatch.co.uk
Shiny Jeremy Hunt nearly stole the show |Media |The Guardian
Through a refining process of endless speeches, presentations, conferences, posturing, leaking and spinning, the British television industry is moving towards knowing its own mind in terms of what it would like. Now all it needs is an administration that can help this most heavily regulated of sectors achieve its nirvana. But, unusually, it was the shiny shadow culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, whose presence on stage wasmost eagerly awaited. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukSaturday 19 September 2009, AM
Hauppauge launches budget networkable HD media player
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Virgin Media and BT retaliate as pay-TV row with BSkyB escalates |Media |guardian.co.uk
In June Ofcom proposed regulated prices for Sky's wholesale of its sports and movie channels to competing pay-TV companies. A bundle of Sky Sports 1 and 2 and the movie channels which now costs Virgin 23.40 per subscriber to buy wholesale from Sky would cost between 16.98 and 20.43, a 27 discount on current prices and the same as Sky's cost-plus price. Virgin Media would be expected to pass at least some of this discount on to its cable TV subscribers. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukWhat we learned at the Oxford Social Media Convention |Media |guardian.co.uk
Watching the numbers of suits in the crowd, you could clearly see that social media is not only for nerds anymore, but taken seriously. The nerds engaging with social media are funny. Indeed the conference showed that social media is a rather vague term. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
TV news crisis needs a radical solution | Richard Tait |Media |guardian.co.uk
Broadcast news has not often been at the top of the agenda at the Royal Television Society's Cambridge Convention. What will be debated is whether the current problems are so severe that the whole structure that has, up to now, provided plurality and independence, needs fundamental change. It proposes a new relationship between the press and the state by suggesting that the new groups should be funded in part by public subsidy using a portion of the television licence fee. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukGoogle CEO questions Murdochs online pay plan - Online, Media - The Independent
Publishers of general news would find it hard to charge for their content online because too much free content is available, the chief executive of Google said yesterday. Speaking to a group of British broadcasting executives via video link, Eric Schmidt said he could, however, imagine niche providers of content such as business news succeeding in this area. The Wall Street Journal, bought by News Corp in 2007, is one of the few daily newspapers that makes people pay to read its news on the Web. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukBBC should justify money spent on digital channels, says Jeremy Hunt |Media |guardian.co.uk
Jeremy Hunt believed the scheduling of Strictly Come Dancing was 'extraordinary'. Hunt, speaking at the Royal Television Society's Cambridge Convention late yesterday, said the two channels had small audiences but cost a lot. He reiterated his opposition to sharing the licence fee with other broadcasters to protect regional news on ITV. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukHunt outlines Tory BBC proposals : | OfcomWatch |
-www.ofcomwatch.co.uk
ITV postpones ITV1+1 launch - Digital Spy
The announcement comes just one day after electronic programme guide data for the channel appeared on a transponder ahead of its proposed October 1 launch. - digitalspy.co.uk
www.digitalspy.co.ukTories would constrain BBC to core broadcasting - TV Radio, Media - The Independent
Jeremy Hunt said the 142.50 licence fee could be frozen and BBC executives' salaries capped at 192,250, less than a quarter of director-general Mark Thompson's current wage. The corporation's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, would be limited to promoting products overseas and Mr Hunt said parts of it might be sold off. It could be worth more than 1 billion, he said, adding that any revenue would be welcome when national debt was high and the government was facing severe public spending constraints. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.uk
BSkyB to attack Ofcom proposals |Media |guardian.co.uk
Darroch also claimed that the satellite company offered Ofcom a deal on sports and film channels in a bid to resolve questions about the pay-TV market. He said that in December 2007 Sky offered to wholesale its premium channels on all secure rival platforms. In return, the broadcaster asked Ofcom to give the go-ahead to Picnic, its now-rejected pay-TV service on digital terrestrial television. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukSky strikes back at Ofcom price-cuts proposal
-blog.wotsat.comFriday 18 September 2009, PM
Media Guardian International Television Festival - all sessions, all content.
You probably found this page because one of our subscribers used MailChimp to send you an email campaign, and you traced a link in the email back here to investigate. MailChimp is an email-marketing service that serves more than 2.5 million companies of all shapes and sizes, from all over the world. We send more than 90 million emails every day, and we help our customers comply with spam laws and best practices so they can get their campaigns into their subscribers' inboxes. - us1.campaign-archive.comus1.campaign-archive.comMedia Talk: Ben Bradshaw socks it to the Beeb
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download.guardian.co.ukFriday 18 September 2009, AM
Top-slicing is not the only solution | Jeremy Dear |Comment is free |guardian.co.uk
Ofcom estimates we face a funding gap of between 145m and 235m a year, just to maintain the current levels of service on channels like ITV, Channel 4 and Five. Meanwhile, the free marketeers follow in James Murdoch's wake in the hope that this particular market failure will offer a new opportunity to bash the BBC. The kind of public interest programming produced by these channels matters in its own right, but so many other things also depend on a strong public service sector. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukYesterday guilty of noise pollution under new ad rules
-blog.wotsat.comBBC Trust - Trust announces changes to BBC Worldwide governance
Please visit the BBC Trust 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 and search box on this page. - bbc.co.uk
www.bbc.co.ukRadio Today with RCS: RadioDNS makes Pure Sensia
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radiotoday.co.uk
STV to opt out of 6.30pm ITV network news | 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
ITV1+1 data appears on Skys EPG - Digital Spy
EPG information for ITV11 has appeared on Sky's programming guide, despite no official launch date for the one-hour timeshift channel yet being confirmed. - digitalspy.co.ukwww.digitalspy.co.ukDont let BBC shrink, says former culture secretary James Purnell |Media |guardian.co.uk
Any licence fee money should not be spent on privately owned commercial broadcasters such as ITV or Channel Five, Purnell added. The government is proposing to top-slice the licence fee and use the money to fund independent consortiums, made up of media companies, to take over provision of ITV's regional news service. Purnell added that the bigger threat to the BBC was the possibility of it growing too dominant, especially as Channel 4 came under increasing financial pressure. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
The governments BBC top-slicing poll barely gave respondents a choice |Media |guardian.co.uk
They had then answered a number of questions about their own news consumption, particularly local news. They had next been asked their views about the importance of alternative sources of local and regional news and they had finally been informed that ITV can no longer afford it. By that point, it is frankly astonishing that 24 still believed that the licence fee should be confined exclusively to the BBC. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukBBC chief hits out at political interference - TV Radio, Media - The Independent
- independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukBBC Freeview HD anti-piracy plans cause backlash | Electricpig
Want to know what the hubbub is about and how it affects you This could potentially stop cheap boxes now now and in the future from working with Freeview HD, since some rely on open source licenses incompatible with the regulations. Ofcom is now considering its response, so well keep you updated. - electricpig.co.uk
www.electricpig.co.ukAnger at UK digital copy protection plans
Printed from http//www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e65cfcb8-a31f-11de-ba74-00144feabdc0.html Print a single copy of this article for personal use. - ft.comwww.ft.comThursday 17 September 2009, PM
BBC Media Show: 16/09/2009
downloads.bbc.co.ukPicture Quality on BBC HD: a response
There was an extensive process of assessment in advance of the selection of new encoders for the BBC HD service, using both objective and subjective criteria. The encoders which were chosen then went through further testing in advance of operational use, not only for picture quality but for compatibility with the Sky and Freesat platforms and their ability to deliver other services such as subtitling and surround sound successfully. The new encoders were intended to help us in handling the wide range of material which the BBC broadcasts in HD, and to help to improve the picture quality of some of our most challenging programmes. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukThursday 17 September 2009, AM
Ads too loud on UKTVs Yesterday channel, finds ASA |Media |guardian.co.uk
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. 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.ukThe questions that Andy Duncan never answered and Channel 4 must | Steve Busfield |Media |guardian.co
He had his ups and downs Andy Duncan in the lifts at Channel 4's London HQ. Slumdog Millionaire aside, there are other figures which are probably more key to Channel 4's future. More worryingly, the Channel 4 surplus was 44.6m in 2004, but just 1.8m in 2008. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukWhat to look out for at this years RTS Cambridge Convention |Media |guardian.co.uk
Mark Thompson, who will be chairing the RTS Cambridge convention 2009. So these executives gather rather like thirsty cattle in a water meadow for the first time after the summer holidays, soaking up gossip and industry politics over dinner in the Great Hall of Kings College. The unofficial agenda must surely include will the gravy train keep rolling for overpaid TV executives - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukEnding TV ban on product placement is sensible move | Business
At that time, the then secretary for culture, media and sport, Andy Burnham, was moved to explain that placement would blur the boundaries between advertising and content. We may learn a little more about that when he speaks at the Royal Television Society convention later today but, thus far, he has offered only one simple, and somewhat simplistic, answer the climate has changed. It is true that ITV reported a loss of 105 million last month. - thisislondon.co.uk
www.thisislondon.co.uk
Merge Channel 4 and BBC to save kids TV, says Phil Redmond | RTS Cambridge Convention |Media |guardian.c
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
Culture Secretary calls for BBC Trust to be dismantled - TV Radio, Media - The Independent
The Corporation's senior management is concerned that a future Conservative government would try to reduce the BBC licence fee. The Department of Culture, Media and Sport has since published a different survey showing that two-thirds of respondents would support the fee being shared. In the meantime, we have been set up to be, as the then Secretary of State put it in 2006, 'the voice, eyes and ears of licence fee payers'. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukWednesday 16 September 2009, PM
UK Broadcasters Want Freeview HD DRM d To Tackle PVR Piracy| paidContent
Ofcom launched a consultation pdf on 3 September and says it is minded to amend the Freeview multiplex licence allowing for the protection of intellectual property rights in HDTV services. - paidcontent.orgpaidcontent.orgBBC Freeview DRM: The slightly less inflammatory truth - Crave at CNET UK
The move would prevent equipment from being able to record high-definition TV content unless the set-top box manufacturer has signed a contract with the BBC and is subsequently given access to the encryption keys. This is not the case -- current PVRs wouldn't be affected, only those built and designed to handle Freeview HD would need to respect this broadcast flag. Indeed, this proposal is only going to affect HD broadcasts via Freeview. - crave.cnet.co.ukcrave.cnet.co.uk
Preseli mast goes digital From Western Telegraph)
All terrestrial TV signals were turned off at the Preseli transmitter shortly after midnight. The analogue services will remain switched off permanently allowing new freeview channels to be broadcast from 26 local relay transmitters including, for the first time, in areas such as St Davids. The switchover has made it possible to extend the level of freeview coverage to reach 98 of homes in the country. - westerntelegraph.co.uk
www.westerntelegraph.co.ukBBC looks to copy protect content
Under plans submitted to regulator Ofcom, the broadcaster has requested that it be allowed to encrypt certain information on set top boxes. Only trusted manufacturers would be offered the decryption keys. Opponents, including Labour MP Tom Watson, say that, if the move is agreed, it will limit consumer choice. - news.bbc.co.uknews.bbc.co.ukWednesday 16 September 2009, AM
License to Kill Innovation: the Broadcast Flag for UK Digital TV? | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Consumers won't reliably choose to have their TV reception limited by the demands of rightsholders - with restricted controls over recording, ad-skipping, and format-shifting. To trump consumers' wishes, rightsholders need to devise a way to make demands mandatory on consumers' technology. The parameters to this algorithm would be kept secret by the BBC it would ask manufacturers to sign a private agreement in order to receive a copy. - eff.org
www.eff.orgUnthinkable - Devices you wouldnt think of (as as Wednesday, 16th September 2009)
-www.unthinkable.bizpicoStick: world s smallest Freeview tuner - mirror.co.uk
- mirror.co.uk
www.mirror.co.ukQ
By Stuart Turton Posted on 15 Sep 2009 at 1332 Project Kangaroo promised to bring together the video-on-demand efforts of all the major terrestrial broadcasters under one umbrella. Unsurprisingly, the idea quickly drew the ire of the Competition Commission, which rejected the plan claiming it would significantly reduce competition in the market. However, Project Canvas has now taken up the mantle and aims to deliver the same basic service as Project Kangaroo, but in a radically different form. - pcpro.co.ukwww.pcpro.co.uk
Project Canvas to be sold round the globe | News | TechRadar UK
So the BBC may need to re-think its strategy if it wants to truly dominate the world's online video content. - techradar.com
www.techradar.comProject Canvas promises help for niche and web services | News | Broadcast
15 September, 2009 By Robin Parker The Project Canvas team aims to launch a kit for niche and web-based third parties to develop services for the platform by next summer. 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.uk
Free Windows 7 Upgrades for Windows Media Center TV Ambassadors - In the UK - Softpedia
- news.softpedia.comITV and Channel 4 head for crisis of leadership |Business |The Guardian
Andy Duncan's tenure as chief executive has coincided with the decision to drop Big Brother. The developments could leave ITV and Channel 4 rudderless at a critical time for both broadcasters, which are pursuing a series of commercial tie-ups and regulatory changes amid the most severe advertising downturn for a generation. Duncan, who is currently negotiating the terms of his departure from Channel 4, could resign as early as tomorrow. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
A sneak peek at the Canvas interface
BSkyB said all BT or Virgin Media customers could potentially be affected by their fair use or traffic management policies. The ASA found that the two companies did have practices in place which resulted in slower speeds for those using popular applications with very large bandwidths during peak hours. To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editormediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukpick a page