Thursday 29 January 2009, AM
BBC Worldwide facing stricter control
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.ukDigital Britain report set to be unveiled
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.ukWednesday 28 January 2009, PM
Tanya Byrons role in Digital Britain |Media |guardian.co.uk
Tanya Byron part of communications minister Stephen Carter's review team. The specific challenge, as far as children are concerned, is to give fresh impetus to tackling peer to peer file sharing of child pornography, and the use of social networking sites by paedophiles. For instance, the Internet Watch Foundation, established 12 years ago, has won the respect of ISPs, which take down sites identified as hosting illegal content on its recommendation. - guardian.co.uk
www.guardian.co.ukOfcom: ITVs Home Office deal broke rules
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
Emily Bell on the historic plan to preserve C4 from topslicing |Media |The Guardian
For those of us clustered in and around the tightknit, intense community of media policy wonks, last Thursday's Oxford Media Convention bordered on the historic. For those in the room with their Moleskine notebooks and MacBooks it was like seeing the Sex Pistols at the 100 Club - only with more specs and lanyards. It has taken an almost ridiculous number of reports, civil servants, thinktanks and ink to reach the unusual conclusion that what public service content provision really needs is for C4 to be topsliced in order to augment the BBC. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukDTG News: TV Retune required for DTT viewers in South Coast
Digital UK announced that the changes are part of a re-organisation of the airwaves which will protect existing digital services from interference from neighbouring areas in the UK and France where switchover is starting in mid-2009. Analogue viewers who make the switch to digital now will be able not only to continue enjoying Five but also many extra TV channels, radio and text services. For digital viewers, retuning their equipment should only take a few moments and we are here to offer advice to anyone who needs it. - dtg.org.uk
www.dtg.org.ukBBC Media Show: 28 January 2009
downloads.bbc.co.uk
The DTV Delay Act might not delay DTV for some | Betanews
328 released this morning to the Library of Congress. Should broadcasters within a given region vacate the analog spectrum prior to June 12, the FCC may determine whether public safety officials may be granted access to the vacated frequencies...evidently in separate determinations per region. Should an individual have been given a government coupon toward the purchase of a digital converter box, the Act states, and that coupon has not yet been redeemed, the government may issue a replacement coupon. - betanews.com
www.betanews.com
House Republicans invoke bin Laden to expedite DTV transition | Betanews
That should be reason enough to go full speed ahead with the DTV transition. Rep. Waxman apparently worked with Speaker Pelosi to suspend the usual rules in which the bill would have debated in committee during a markup session this week. That suspension fast-tracked the bill, so it could be debated on the House floor without alteration. - betanews.comwww.betanews.comGovernment delays UK net report | BBC NEWS | Technology
The full report and action plan will be unveiled in late spring 2009. The report is examining a number of different areas, including broadband development, public service broadcasting and digital radio. It is thought the report may set minimum broadband speeds and impose obligations on telecom suppliers to provide universal coverage. - news.bbc.co.uk
news.bbc.co.ukMonday 26 January 2009, AM
Greg Dyke on how Ofcoms big idea is too little too late for ITV |Media |The Guardian
ITV was created as a regional system to counter the blatant London metropolitan bias of the BBC during the 1950s. We ended up with 15 ITV companies each running at least one regional news service - some ran two or three which the individual ITV companies were proud to broadcast. In fact, for the smaller ITV companies regional news was their raison d'etre. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
What will Ofcoms second BBC mean for Channel 4 and other broadcasters? |Media |The Guardian
And, if they come to pass, they are likely to affect all the major players in public service broadcasting in one fell swoop. Ofcom's proposals could see Channel 4 as we know it subsumed into a wider entity with a completely new corporate structure. This idea of creating a second major public broadcaster is new and, according to government insiders, has come straight from the good Lord himself. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukSunday 25 January 2009, PM
Broadband for all plan under threat |Business |The Observer
Last week's dire profit warning from BT has put the company's plans to build a new super-fast broadband network for 10 million British homes in jeopardy. The warning also appears to have made it critical that the rest of the telecoms industry now help meet the estimated 3.5bn cost of realising the government's ambition to bring some form of broadband to every home by 2012. It emerged on Thursday that BT's corporate IT business had wildly over-estimated the potential profits it could make from a handful of large contracts. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukITV to become "limited" PSB
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.ukOfcom risks making a pigs ear of C4 if we lose gourmet selection of quality TV | Business
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www.thisislondon.co.ukRadio Today with United Radio: Instore DAB loud and clear
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radiotoday.co.ukDTG News: New ASTRA 1M satellite ready for operation
DTG Staff 20.01.2009 Links open in a new window. - dtg.org.ukwww.dtg.org.uk
Teletexts public service remit at risk |Media |guardian.co.uk
The growth in internet usage and the arrival of nationwide digital television in 2012 means there may no longer be any reason for Teletext to have any public service remit, according to Ofcom. Losing its public service protection would mean Teletext would have to pay for the television signal which carries its text-based news service. It wants to merge some of its regions and reduce national news to 20 pages. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
UKTV: its origins and its destiny |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. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.uk
The DTV delay -- would this be the last? | Betanews
The Act would push mandatory rollover back to June 12. The coupon program will be extended to July 31, and customers whose coupons expired before they could be used will be allowed to get fresh coupons. Rockefeller has been an outspoken critic of the timing and details of the changeover for years now as the current chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, he's gone from being one of three lonely votes against changeover-related issues to leading the pack on how to make it right. - betanews.comwww.betanews.comFriday 23 January 2009, PM
Premier League braced for ruling on pubs showing live football |Football |The Guardian
Legal experts said yesterday that the case, the latest round of a long-running battle with publicans over showing overseas broadcasts on a Saturday afternoon, could overturn the basis on which the Premier League sells its TV rights. Lawyers at Denton Wilde Sapte, which has acted for a range of sporting bodies including the Premier League, said the threat was significant. If it were to lose the case, then not only would pubs be able to avoid paying an average of 9,000 a season to show Sky and Setanta matches, with a knock-on effect on the amount broadcasters were prepared to pay, but it could impact on Saturday match attendances. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukPay-TV grey market could be fully legalised in Sky pubs challenge - What Satellite Digital TV
-blog.wotsat.comEXCLUSIVE: New Freesat HD box on its way
-blog.wotsat.comTV regulator says C4 should merge in order to survive - Business News, Business - The Independ
The possibility of diverting some of the licence fee to C4 also remains on the table. Among the proposals were those relating to C4, and Ofcom called for an overhaul of the broadcaster to create a rival to the BBC. It proposed a remit of public service broadcasting content including news, current affairs, older children's programmes, shows made outside London and a range of digital media content. - independent.co.uk
www.independent.co.uk
In Febrooary 2009, Ur Lolcats n Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger?
-icanhascheezburger.comWednesday 21 January 2009, PM
Tuesday 20 January 2009, PM
DTG News: Switchover Help Scheme to launch in Wales
The Digital Switchover Help Scheme will soon be offered to older and disabled people living in Wales. The Switchover Help Scheme has been set up to help eligible older and disabled people to switch to digital on one of their TV sets. People are eligible if they are aged 75 or over, are receiving or could receive attendance allowance, mobility supplement or disability living allowance, have lived in a care home for six months or more, or if they are registered blind or partially sighted. - dtg.org.ukwww.dtg.org.ukDTG News: Switchover messages to appear in Devon and Cornwall
From today, analogue viewers will see a series of intermittent messages such as This TV gets its signal from the Huntshaw Cross transmitter group, and needs to be ready for digital switchover on 12th August 2009. Viewers in the West Country who see the messages know they have to get ready. There are a number of ways to go digital depending on where you live. - dtg.org.ukwww.dtg.org.ukDTG News: Isle of Man to switch in 6 months
The Isle of Man is less than six months away from starting the switch to digital TV on 18 June 2009. Digital UK has published a message to all the island's residents don't leave it too late to get advice or buy equipment. If you are unsure about the different ways to get digital television, speak to your local retailer, call Digital UK on 08456 50 50 50, or visit digitaluk.co.uk. - dtg.org.ukwww.dtg.org.ukRadio Today with United Radio: Digital One plans DAB expansion
-radiotoday.co.ukTuesday 20 January 2009, AM
Is Radio 4 too posh? Mark Damazer serves up his recipe for change - TV Radio, Media - The Ind
5 Live, with its cab drivers calling in to debate their favourite topics traffic wardens, roadworks and UK immigration policy Late last year, I suggested to Damazer that I should spend a week of continuous listening to his station, after which he'd talk to me in his office at Broadcasting House. From October 2009, Stourton 51 will be replaced by Justin Webb, currently North American editor. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukMonday 19 January 2009, PM
Senate considers delaying DTV transition until June | Betanews
If approved, Sen. Rockefeller's bill would extend the transition date by 90 days to June 12. This despite the fact that broadcasters say they are already ready, and most US stations are already broadcasting in DTV -- the real switch being thrown would be the one that turns off the analog signal. Already, broadcasters are being permitted to leave those signals running after February 17, if only to show images informing viewers that regular analog broadcasts have ceased. - betanews.comwww.betanews.comFriday 16 January 2009, PM
Media Talk: Putting the 'Da' into the Evening Standard
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Rochdale Online -Are you ready to go Digital?
With less than 12 months to go before Rochdale makes the digital television switch over, Digital UK is urging viewers to make sure they are ready. Almost nine out of ten households in the town now has a digital television set ahead of the 4 November switch over. Television in Rochdale is powered by the Winter Hill transmitter, which lies between Manchester and Preston. - rochdaleonline.co.uk
www.rochdaleonline.co.ukTelegent chip to bring Freeview to netbooks? | News | TechRadar UK
Telegent has developed a new single-chip TV receiver that will allow laptop manufacturers to bring Freeview enabled computers out of the box. The TLG2300 offers both digital and analogue television integration on a chip, opening up the possibility that your netbook or laptop will come fully equipped to act as a digital television. We've contacted Telegent Systems to find out just how effective the chip is without an external aerial, but the early suggestions are that it should work fine. - techradar.com
www.techradar.comBBC HD: "Creeping" DOGs Update - BBC Internet Blog
I had hoped that I could come back and tell you that the creeping DOGs which I also noticed watching the channel at home over the holidays were just a temporary seasonal aberration, caused as a result of staff less familiar with the channel or more stretched because of the holidays, making mistakes. The system for taking the DOG off certain content is not effectively automated, and therefore changes like adjustments to junctions between programmes can cause it to reappear. However, while that may have been a factor it does not explain - as a number of you have noted - why it was on Anne Frank or Larkrise which like you I don't expect to see it on. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukFriday 16 January 2009, AM
Lord Carter could propose Channel 4 merger into wider entity, claims report |Media |guardian.co.uk
Lord Carter will publish the Digital Britain report in the next few weeks. Carter's report will conclude that Channel 4 is no longer unique in a multichannel TV and digital media age and is struggling to balance its public service broadcasting remit with its need for commercial funding, according to the FT. The report is understood to say that the BBC will remain the cornerstone of public service broadcasting, suggesting that the government will reject calls to top-slice the licence fee. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukThursday 15 January 2009, PM
Andy Duncan dismisses merger of Channel 4 with Five |Media |guardian.co.uk
Andy Duncan said a merger 'made no sense whatsoever'. Duncan also made a thinly-veiled attack on US web search giant Google's lack of investment in the UK creative industries. However, other broadcasters have questioned whether these initiatives would provide this level of financial benefit. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukThursday 15 January 2009, AM
The Office of Fair Trading: Review of the Contract Rights Renewal Undertakings
We have recently updated our website and the page you have requested may have been moved or archived. Please return to our home page to find the information you are looking for or press the 'back' button on your browser to return to the previously viewed page. - oft.gov.ukwww.oft.gov.uk
York council homes to get digital TV aerials (From York Press)
The new systems have recently been introduced in the Nunnery Lane area of York. The work is being carried out to prepare tenants for Yorks switch-over to digital TV in 2011. The work is being funded by charging tenants 50p per week for maintenance of their community aerial, rather than 17p. - thepress.co.uk
www.thepress.co.ukDigital set-up hits residents pockets - Scarborough Evening News
Kevin Drinkall, 53, of Woodland Walk, is frustrated that Yorkshire Coast Homes is insisting on charging its 1,200 tenants who live in sheltered accommodation an additional 26 a year. The money will fund the new service, which will give residents access to Freeview, using a digital TV or set top box, plus access to Sky Plus by subscription without an additional aerial or dish. He said They now want to charge me 26 a year for something I dont need. - scarborougheveningnews.co.ukwww.scarborougheveningnews.co.uk
Dave brings +1 to Freeview | Broadband TV News
Dave, the self-styled home of witty banter, is adding its 1 hour channel to the UKs DTT platform Freeview. The channel, already available on Sky and Virgin Media, will go live on January 22 and continue between 08.00 and 04.00 daily. Its mix of popular comedy, panel games, and light hearted documentary features has helped define the channel while providing Freeview households with a glimpse of multichannel television outside of the public broadcasters. - broadbandtvnews.com
www.broadbandtvnews.comWednesday 14 January 2009, PM
Timeshifted Dave to launch on Freeview.
-blog.wotsat.comBBC Media Show: 14/01/2009
downloads.bbc.co.ukWednesday 14 January 2009, AM
BBC sorry for misquoting experts views |Media |The Observer
Dorothy Rowe complained to the corporation that her interview on the Radio 2 programme What Do You Believe had been so heavily edited that the final version misrepresented her views. What was not broadcast was what I had said about how such structures can be damaging to people. An Australian who spends much of her time in the UK, she has become one of the most respected modern-day thinkers, named as one of the six wisest people in the UK by a magazine and voted one of the world's 100 living geniuses in a global poll. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukTuesday 13 January 2009, PM
BBC deal could secure ITV local news until 2016 |Media |guardian.co.uk
ITV executives believe a deal to share resources with the BBC would guarantee the commercial broadcaster's regional news services until at least 2016. The proposed deal would see ITV and BBC regional news services produce separate programmes but share buildings and even news footage. Grade is heavily lobbying for the removal of a swathe of regulations - including abolishing programming production quotas and abolishing public service broadcasting licence payments - which ITV says costs it hundreds of millions of pounds. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukSky introduces low-power LNB
-blog.wotsat.comTuesday 13 January 2009, AM
Terrestrial - News - No SuperCasino for Northern Ireland - Digital Spy
The service will be available 24 hours a day on channel 48 in England, Scotland and Wales. However, gambling regulations in Northern Ireland mean that it is not carried on the Belfast transmitter. - digitalspy.co.uk
www.digitalspy.co.ukStephen Brook on Channel 4s funding gap |Media |guardian.co.uk
-www.guardian.co.ukCNN International joins Freeview |Media |guardian.co.uk
The channel will air on Freeview 84 seven days a week between the hours of 9pm and 1am. 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.ukpick a page