BT could lawyer up after Sky's sport channels obligation removed The Register

BT has attacked Ofcom's decision to lift a five-year-long obligation on Sky to offer its sports channels to competitors in the market. Sky queues up Sky Q. On Wednesday, Sky unveiled a fancy new set top box, dubbed Sky Q, which will launch in early 2016. - www.theregister.co.uk

www.theregister.co.uk

BBC Four and News Channel facing axe as BBC eyes cuts of £550m

The director-general is understood to be considering merging BBC Four, the upmarket arts channel, with BBC Two, and moving the News Channel online. Alongside cuts to sport, the corporation will axe 12 million from its television budget, with reductions in factual, comedy and entertainment programming. - www.telegraph.co.uk

www.telegraph.co.uk

Live TV runs through our blood

TV is instant and alive. Live viewing runs through our blood. Rather than adding the odd movie or TV show to our service every few weeks, we broadcast up to nine hours of new content every day. Live TV still creates a shared experience and enables us to deliver advertisers simultaneous mass reach. When pay-TV and the internet threatened ‘the end of TV’ 20 years ago, we found a way to co-exist. New players present ITV with exciting opportunities to innovate in the space in the UK and internationally. But the point at which those services start to move further towards a linear TV model is precisely the point at which we need to make sure we use our digital services – and back ourselves – to offer our audiences what we are already brilliant at. After all, we’ve been doing it for 60 years. www.broadcastnow.co.uk

www.broadcastnow.co.uk

Media coverage of events in Paris, Tory MP Jesse Norman on BBC Studio concerns

open.live.bbc.co.uk

Freeview Text services come off the air

A number of long-running text services have closed on Freeview, including holiday teletext service Holidays TV. Licences for Holidays TV, Rabbit, Gay Rabbit and 1-2-1 Dating were removed from Ofcom's licence database this week signalling their demise. Holidays TV was a holiday sales service from the Daily Mail group and appeared on Freeview in 2012 replacing the famous Teletext Holidays service, which began in 1993 on Teletext page 200 and subsequently became an online-only service. - www.a516digital.com

www.a516digital.com

New Sky Q service to offer mix of live and on-demand TV

Sky has launched a new service called Sky Q that blends live and on-demand TV as it tries to compete with the likes of Netflix. Sky Q will allow viewers to watch programmes on up to five screens and record four other channels. - www.bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

BBC sets out plans to deliver £150 million savings

In July we committed to doing everything possible to protect programmes and services by making further savings from back office functions, cutting management and management layers and reducing historic levels of BBC bureaucracy. The 150 million set out today is part of the 700 million overall savings the BBC must find due to the flat licence fee agreed in the summer and the need to fund the transformation the BBC must undertake for the future. - www.bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

BBC sport and online news to be cut as Red Button services face axe

The BBC is already facing costs of 700m after agreeing a deal with the government in July to finance licence fees for over-75s. The BBC is expected to set out its final budget proposals - with savings predicted to amount to 550m - in spring 2016. Drama is the only part of the BBC's television output likely to be protected but the rest of TV content is expected to face cuts of more than 10m. After the 2010 licence fee settlement, which forced the BBC to take over the cost of funding the World Service from the government while freezing the licence fee for six years, the BBC cut its sports rights budget by 15. Since then, it has lost out on several live sports deals or worked together with other free-to-air broadcasters such as ITV to guarantee the continuation of live rights. - gu.com

gu.com

BBC 'lost its marbles' by deciding to move to Manchester, says John Sessions

BBC estimates put the lifetime cost of the move at just under 1bn. However, the corporation was criticised by the national audit office for paying out 24m in relocation costs, and senior executives' expenses increased following the move. Sessions, who is famous for regular appearances on shows such as Whose Line is it Anyway and QI as well as numerous film roles, was speaking at a launch event for BBC comedy drama We're Doomed The one-off production about the making of Dad's Army stars Sessions as Arthur Lowe, who famously played Captain Mainwaring in the long-running TV series. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

Channel 4 sale would jeopardise news output, says chief executive

The chief executive of Channel 4 has warned that if the broadcaster is sold off, it is likely to be snapped up by an asset-stripping owner who would drastically minimise news and current affairs output such as Dispatches, and put dramas such as Humans and Indian Summers on the chopping block. He said a Channel 4 senior team has had its first meeting with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and Treasury officials over the review of the broadcaster's status as a state-owned, commercially-funded broadcaster. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

BBC Studios plan sparks concern from culture committee chair

Issues of particular concern include how BBC Studios will be governed, possible conflicts of interest between BBC commissioners and BBC Studios, and whether the new organisation could fall foul of state aid rules. Norman's committee has been taking evidence on the renewal of the BBC charter from a range of sources, include past and present BBC executives, commercial rivals, and organisations representing the independent production sector. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

NASA launches UHD service

ISS Life, documenting life on the space station from the perspective of the astronauts Earth View, the astronauts' unique perception of our planet Solar System, showing vibrant imagery of the earth's neighboring planets and the sun Deep Space, animated UHD still imagery captured from the Hubble telescope and other telescopic platforms NASA Classics, important highlights from NASA's history, such as the Apollo program Mars, an entire program dedicated to the intriguing red planet Liftoff, featuring rocket tests and spacecraft launches Development, detailing the training and RD efforts that take place before each NASA mission. NASA TV UHD uses an end-to-end solution based on Harmonic technology. - informitv.com

informitv.com

Why BBC Worldwide must open its books to licence fee payers

If the BBC has a commercial subsidiary to conduct this business on its behalf, then for reasons of strategic coherence and to protect the BBC's global reputation, it needs to be closely aligned with the BBC's principal public service UK core operations. So what are the other 30 global channels delivering It appears that the one UKTV deal accounts for the lion's share of all the profit declared by BBC Worldwide for the UK, which in turn is around 40 of all BBC Worldwide's global profits. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

#39 - The Voice leaves the Beeb - The Media Podcast with Olly Mann

feedproxy.google.com

Local Radio Special

open.live.bbc.co.uk

A new deal for the nations

In November 1998, John Birt believed that events in Scotland threatened the very existence of the BBC. The then director general later recalled that he had been fighting “a bitter battle to prevent the BBC being split apart by the fissiparous forces of devolution”. His immediate worry was the idea of a so-called ‘Scottish Six’ – a separate 6pm news bulletin on BBC1 in Scotland, produced and anchored north of the border. This single Trojan horse could, Birt believed, eventually lead to the complete dismantling of the BBC. - www.broadcastnow.co.uk

www.broadcastnow.co.uk

UK viewers slam potential retrans plans

A survey by the UK's incumbent cable provider Virgin Media has shown marked resistance among viewers for US-style retransmission charges levied by UK commercial public service broadcasters. Two-thirds of people said that commercial PSBs should focus on getting more viewers so they can make more money from advertisements rather than introducing new charges. - www.rapidtvnews.com

www.rapidtvnews.com

BBC Scotland bosses lobby for 'Scottish Six' news programme

The proposal, which is backed by BBC Scotland controller Ken MacQuarrie, who led the formal investigation into Jeremy Clarkson's assault of a Top Gear producer, would involve mixing increased and improved Scottish news with the BBC's UK news and global coverage in an hour-long programme. BBC officials have confirmed that several proposals for a Scottish Six type programme are being debated and are likely to be finalised in early 2016 after Gary Smith, BBC Scotland's new head of news and current affairs, takes up his post in January. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

Why the BBC is worth saving

Is the BBC worth saving I am not and never have been a BBC executive. The newspaper proprietors lobbied the government and the early BBC was forbidden to broadcast news at any time during the day before 8pm. In the 1950s, traditionalists at Broadcasting House tried to put a stop to television on the grounds that it would destroy radio and lead to the terrible dumbing down of news. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

Ofcom to investigate Celador's DAB decision

Radio regulator Ofcom is to officially investigate Celador's decision to remove Fire Radio from DAB in Bournemouth. The licence for Fire was renewed in 2010 for 12 years, on the condition that a DAB service is provided on the Bournemouth multiplex throughout the relevant licence term. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

S4C 'cycle of decline' funding fear

The think tank has also called for the Welsh language TV channel's independence to be safeguarded and for BBC Wales' budget to rise by 30m. The IWA's Audit of Welsh Media has been published ahead of a sell-out summit in Cardiff on Wednesday. The audit found that spending on TV programming for Wales has been in decline since before the 2008 banking crisis, while BBC Wales' English language television service has seen a 27 reduction in hours of programmes since 2006/07. - www.bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

Sony says goodbye to Betamax tapes

The firm launched the format in 1975, a year before JVC's rival the VHS cassette - which eventually became the market leader after a long battle between the two brands and their fans. Although many felt Betamax was the superior format, most cite the longer recording length of VHS tapes - three hours versus one - and the cheaper manufacturing costs for VHS machines as the main factors as to why VHS eventually won out. - www.bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

Virgin Media losing television subscribers

Virgin Media has hovered around 3.7 million television customers for the last five years and has lost customers throughout 2015. Liberty Global reported 'record Q3 customer growth' for the combined Virgin Media operation, on the basis of a net gain of 40,000 'customer relationships' -driven mainly by 60,000 broadband additions. - informitv.com

informitv.com

Lord Burns: 'They seem to believe you can keep Channel 4's remit while privatising it'

Most media analysts including Claire Enders credit Burns and the management team led by David Abraham with bringing the channel into the black, when the last management team had to ask for state money to survive. Career 1980 chief economic adviser, Treasury, head of government economic service 1991-98 permanent secretary, Treasury 1998 made Lord Burns 1999 chairs financial services and markets joint commission 2002 chairman, Abbey National 2003-05 leads government's BBC charter review 2004-05 chairs review of FA 2010 chairman, Channel 4. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

Free speech and Guantanamo reporting

open.live.bbc.co.uk

BBC TV braced for 30m cuts

The BBCs television division has been tasked with making cuts of up to £30m in 2017/18 as the corporation bids to close the £150m funding gap created by the iPlayer loophole. Broadcast can reveal that director general Tony Hall and Anne Bulford, managing director of finance and operations, have set a stretching savings target with proposals for where the axe will fall currently being discussed. The figure is yet to be finalised, but sources have suggested it could be in the region of £30m.. - www.broadcastnow.co.uk

www.broadcastnow.co.uk

BBC shelves plans to shut news channel

The BBC is understood to have shelved plans to potentially shut its 24-hour news channel. The corporation has been exploring plans to make the BBC News TV channel online-only and replacing it with a mobile streaming service if further cuts need to be made. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

DAB Updates: November and December 2015

The station's DAB label will change week commencing 9th Nov. SMALL SCALE DAB TRIALSAll but the Glasgow Small Scale DAB multiplexes are now on-air. DAB listeners in Sussex look set to have to retune their radios next month as part of a programme to expand local DAB coverage. - www.a516digital.com

www.a516digital.com

Let the spectrum games begin

The EBU firmly believes that future mobile data traffic growth can be addressed without compromising the future of DTT, which remains a popular medium, particularly as recent data shows that the majority of mobile content is consumed using fixed networks and WiFi. The report suggests that the use of C-band spectrum for mobile broadband can be achieved through the development of sharing techniques to allow mobile services to co-exist with other users of the band, such as satellite and fixed link services. - www.csimagazine.com

www.csimagazine.com

Investors circle around Channel 4 as privatisation draws interest

Ownership of free terrestrial channels has formed a key part of Discovery's expansion strategy in European markets and it recently acquired pan-European rights to the Olympics, which come with obligations to show the games on free-to-air TV. Discovery is also a joint owner of one of Channel 4's biggest programme suppliers, the production company All3Media, which makes hits including Gogglebox, so could further benefit from sway over the broadcaster's commissioning. David Abraham, Channel 4's chief executive and a former senior Discovery executive, has voiced industry fears over American takeovers of British television assets. - www.telegraph.co.uk

www.telegraph.co.uk

Sony Bravia YouView update: Everything you need to know

YouView already exists on a number of set-top boxes - from TalkTalk, BT and Humax for example - but its integration into Sony's televisions in the UK is a big deal, both for Sony and YouView, but more importantly for you, the owner of one of these sets. When you open the new YouView EPG on your Sony TV, it looks practically identical to that of a YouView set-top box. - www.pocket-lint.com

www.pocket-lint.com

Private investment among options for Channel 4, David Cameron confirms

David Cameron has confirmed he is looking at ways to get private investment into Channel 4, after months of speculation that the government is looking at selling off all or part of the broadcaster. Burns, a former Treasury economist and chair of Santander UK, is believed to be preparing various proposals that would allow Channel 4 to maintain its remit to provide distinctive public service programming in the event of a sale. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

Vaizey working with Germany for DAB future

Speaking to an international audience of over 200 radio experts at the WorldDAB General Assembly in London, the two Ministers emphasised their commitment to digital radio and the importance of working together to accelerate the growth of DAB in Europe. Patrick outlined WorldDAB's priorities for the coming 12 months - with a particular focus on extending the international footprint of digital terrestrial radio and ensuring that DAB secures its position in cars and mobile handsets. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

Project Uno: how collaboration is reshaping the TV industry

To help assist the bridge between content provision and device conformance required by operations such as Freeview Play, Access, Pixsan and ST joined forces and develop Project Uno, a shared source code base for DVB and OTT hybrid TV platforms. Built to provide a 'close to turnkey' solution for DVB and HbbTV, that acts as a device reference platform, Project Uno works X86, meaning that Project Uno collaborators can work from their PC workstations, laptops or Next Units of Computing with a Freeview USB dongle, right up to sophisticated multi tuner test environments to test more complex use cases. - www.tvbeurope.com

www.tvbeurope.com

Chromecast Can Now Stream Live Television With Added Sling TV Support

While Chromecast today supports dozen of apps, including Netflix, Hulu, Google Play Movies, HBO NOW, Pandora, Spotify, YouTube, and many more, Sling TV provides a way to watch live and on-demand television for the reduced price of 20 per month. To promote the launch, Sling TV is giving new customers who pre-pay for three months of Sling TV's service a free Chromecast device. - techcrunch.com

techcrunch.com

Brits reluctant to change TV provider

The average Brit is more likely to switch partners than bank, energy or TV provider, according to research by TNS for TV service Freeview. Freeview conducted the research to promote the recent launch of the Freeview Play connected TV service. - www.telecompaper.com

www.telecompaper.com

The countdown is on for DAB radio events

The conference entitled Radio's Digital Countdown marks the start of the countdown to major landmarks for digital radio in content, coverage and cars in the next year with the launch of the second national commercial digital radio multiplex, Sound Digital, in the next 6 months the completion of the planned expansion of national and local DAB coverage in the next 12 months and the expected completion of the provision of digital radio in over 90 of new cars, also within 12 months. The Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy will highlight the launch of Sound Digital in early 2016, the second national commercial digital radio multiplex, which he will describe as game-changing. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

Pure to launch accessible DAB car radio adapter

Pure is partnering with Sound Digital for a major on-air campaign to promote its new in-car digital radio adapter. An information campaign aimed at encouraging new listeners to retune their radios to receive the new stations will also be a key part of the promotional activities. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

Freeview vs YouView vs Freest vs Freeview Play

At present, we have Freeview and Freesat providing basic TV, and YouView, Freeview Play and Freetime providing regular TV with on-demand services. If you want HD channels you need an HD TV that has a Freeview HD or Freesat HD receiver, or a set-top box with a Freeview HD or Freesat HD receiver. - www.expertreviews.co.uk

www.expertreviews.co.uk

BBC World Service goes DAB+ in Brussels

The BBC World Service is launching on DAB radio in Brussels this month, as the station launches a new series called World Questions. World Questions gives people across Europe the chance to question key players and discuss issues impacting Europe and the EU. The first debate will take place in Brussels on 17 November, to air on 21 November. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

Rajar Q3 2015: How commercial radio has closed digital gap with BBC

Existing stations will invest into programming to retain their listeners, and new stations will invest in marketing, which will increase their awareness and listenership. Existing stations will invest into programming to retain their listeners New stations will invest in marketing, which will increase their awareness and listenership There will be more digital choice, which will lead to more listening hours There will be a natural increase in digital, pushed up by car listening as new cars have DAB fitted as standard. - www.mediaweek.co.uk

www.mediaweek.co.uk

30/10/2015 Radio 4 Feedback

open.live.bbc.co.uk

Memo to John Whittingdale: make peace between publishers and the BBC

Culture secretary John Whittingdale has declared himself in favour of curtailing the BBC's online news service in order to avoid it intruding on turf traditionally trodden by local and regional newspapers. Publishers need to acknowledge that in countries where there is no equivalent to the BBC newspapers are suffering, often a great deal worse than in the UK. So the BBC should not be cast as the villain of the piece. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

Lord Puttnam: Chariots of Fire producer to launch own inquiry into the future of public service broadcasting

The film producer Lord Puttnam, who opposes government proposals to reduce the size and scope of the BBC, is to chair his own alternative inquiry into the future of public service television. The Puttnam inquiry is likely to be seen as a rival body to an eight-person advisory committee - including Dawn Airey, former boss of Channel 5, and Dame Colette Bowe, former chairwoman of Ofcom - appointed by Mr Whittingdale to guide his conclusions on the renewal of the BBC's Royal Charter. - www.independent.co.uk

www.independent.co.uk

Ofcom announces details of 2016 spectrum auction

An auction is planned to take place in early 2016 for the spectrum, which has been made available by the Ministry of Defence as part of a wider Government initiative to free up public sector spectrum for civil uses. Ofcom proposes to auction the spectrum in lots of 10 MHz for the 2.3 GHz band and 5 MHz for the 3.4 GHz band. - media.ofcom.org.uk

media.ofcom.org.uk

Progress on DVB UHDTV specs

David Wood confirmed draft commercial requirements will go through the formal DVB approval process in the next few weeks. DVB UHD-1 Phase 1 set out the means a 2160p image at up to 60 FPS. DVB UHD-1 Phase 2 will add additional features including High Dynamic Range and High Frame Rate. - www.broadbandtvnews.com

www.broadbandtvnews.com

BBC Trust on the brink of BBC3 decision

BBC3’s fate is set to be decided in under a fortnight, as the BBC Trust finalises 11 months of work assessing if the channel should move online. Broadcast understands that the governing body will announce its formal decision on BBC3’s future during the week commencing 9 November, drawing a line under a process that it originally hoped to complete in around six months. - www.broadcastnow.co.uk

www.broadcastnow.co.uk