Wednesday 01 April 2015, PM
BBC WORLD NEWS NOW IN HD ACROSS EUROPE VIA ASTRA 19.2E
quotWe know from our viewers that they value HD services. BBC World News originates in pure HD, so it's fantastic to be able to bring this service to our European heartland,quot said Colin Lawrence, Director of Distribution for BBC Global News Ltd. quotFollowing the investments we made in our content and presentation on BBC World News, last year we saw an audience increase in daily reach. HD is undoubtedly becoming the default viewing preference, and this new partnership enables delivery of our world class service to European audiences. BBC World News and BBC.comThe BBC's commercially funded international 24-hour English news platforms, are owned and operated by BBC Global News Ltd. BBC World News television is available in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide, and over 385 million households and 1.8 million hotel rooms. - www.ses.comwww.ses.comMonday 30 March 2015, PM
New names for FM and Technology
30 March 2015 Last updated at 1614 Future Media is to be renamed BBC Digital, while BBC Technology will become BBC Engineering. 'Our digital offer will be central to Charter Review and the new name better reflects BBC Digital's role in delivering the best possible online experiences for our audiences, while helping us transition to an internet-first BBC.'. - www.bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukUnblocking digital services across Europe
The European Commission describes the internet as quota goldmine of digital opportunitiesquot but says that digital services are often confined to national borders. Rus Ansip, the vice-president for the digital single market, said quotLet us do away with all those fences and walls that block us online. People must be able to freely go across borders online just as they do offline. Innovative businesses must be helped to grow across the EU, not remain locked into their home market. This will be an uphill struggle all the way, but we need an ambitious start. Europe should benefit fully from the digital age better services, more participation and new jobsquot. - informitv.cominformitv.comRed button evolution
The BBC is pushing the red button on a range of connected televisions with an interactive experience it now calls Red Button. The history of the red button services on the BBC can be traced back to the BBC Text service introduced in late 1999 as an alternative to the BBC Ceefax teletext service, which was first broadcast in 1974. - informitv.cominformitv.com
'Death threats' made against BBC's Tony Hall investigated
Lord Hall is reported to have received a threatening email after dropping presenter Jeremy Clarkson from Top Gear because he had punched a producer. Lord Hall announced his decision not to renew Clarkson's contract on Wednesday - after an internal inquiry found the presenter had subjected producer Oisin Tymon to an quotUnprovoked physical and verbal attackquot at a North Yorkshire hotel. - www.bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukMonday 30 March 2015, AM
All 4
Requires a Now TV membership Requires a broadband internet connection to your Now TV Requires an HDMI-compatible TV Roku. Requires a Roku account Requires a broadband internet connection to your Roku box Requires an HDMI-compatible TV Sky. - apps.channel4.comapps.channel4.comSunday 29 March 2015, PM
Cutting the cord: a look at the pros and cons of quitting cable
In any event, I'm already paying nearly 25 a month on top of that cable bill for services that I use far more than I use the cable. Canadian regulators have ordered the country's cable providers to offer their customers quotSkinnyquot basic cable packages and to give them the ability to add the channels they want on an la carte basis after that. - www.theguardian.comwww.theguardian.comSaturday 28 March 2015, AM
Labour wants strong BBC
The Labour Party has vowed not to weaken the BBC if it wins the election, publishing a policy paper which backs the licence fee and the corporation’s plans to commercialise in-house production. Speaking at a Bectu-hosted event about the UK film industry earlier this week, shadow arts minister Chris Bryant said he wants a “strong BBC” and promised not to “undermine the licence fee”. The message of support came ahead of the publication of today’s Labour-commissioned report which set out policy options for the creative industries during the next parliament. Compiled by former UK Film Council chief executive John Woodward, the review said the licence fee should be extended to account for the growth of on-demand viewing on BBC iPlayer. The paper, titled Leading the Field: A Review of the Creative Industries, also argued that it has “much sympathy” with BBC concerns over top-slicing the licence fee to free up funding for projects unrelated to the corporation’s core purposes. Instead, it said there is “more". - www.broadcastnow.co.ukwww.broadcastnow.co.ukDTG underpins Freeview Play with D-Book 8, the DTT requirements for interoperability in the UK
The D-Book 8 not only supports the Freeview and YouView platforms, it is also an essential reference for other UK platforms based on DVB-T and DVB-T2, such as EE TV, and is referenced by Freesat and the Freeview platforms in Australia and New Zealand. The tools for Freeview Play have been created alongside DTG Testing's development of test suites to ensure products for the new platform continue deliver the high standards of reliability for which Freeview is recognised. - dtg.org.ukdtg.org.ukSound Digital wins national DAB multiplex
Sound Digital has a board of three directors, consisting of a senior executive director from each of Sound Digital's shareholder companies. Sound Digital plans to co-site transmitters for D2 with Digital One and the BBC national networks to avoid adjacent channel interference to existing digital radio services, and use the same dual satellite distribution feeds that are used by the Digital One network. - radiotoday.co.ukradiotoday.co.ukReasons why Sound Digital won D2 licence
Ofcom considered Listen2Digital's technical coverage plan offered a slightly wider geographic scope of coverage of the UK than that offered by either of Sound Digital's technical plans, but that Sound Digital's technical plans overall offered more contiguous and reliable coverage in those areas where it was available. In reaction to the news, Ford Ennals, CEO of Digital Radio UK, said quotThe award of the second national commercial DAB network to Sound Digital is a defining moment for digital radio and an unprecedented expansion, which will more than double the number of national commercial stations on DAB. Nearly 50 of UK households already have a digital radio, and over 60 of new car registrations have digital radio as standard, so if you don't have digital radio at home or in your car, the time is now. - radiotoday.co.ukradiotoday.co.ukFriday 27 March 2015, PM
Thursday 26 March 2015, PM
Viacom to bring Breaking Bad to Freeview with Spike launch - Media news - Media Week
- www.mediaweek.co.ukwww.mediaweek.co.uk
Alexandra Palace secures £18.8m funding for theatre revamp
Chief executive of the Alexandra Palace and Park Charitable Palace Trust Duncan Wilson said he was quotThrilledquot with the announcement. Chief Executive of Heritage Lottery Fund Carole Souter said quotAlexandra Palace has played a pivotal role in the development of popular entertainment - culminating in the birth of British television. - www.bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukBBC3 has become 'the living dead', claims senior TV executive
Elstein, a former executive at BSkyB and Channel 5, said a unitary BBC board with a director general and non-executive chairman, the preferred option of the BBC Trust chair Rona Fairhead, would have studied the proposal - and approved or rejected it - much quicker. The first chair of the BBC Trust, Sir Michael Lyons, warned against viewing a unitary board as a quotPanaceaquot to the BBC's ills. - www.theguardian.comwww.theguardian.com#26 - What is Top Gear’s future? - The Media Podcast with Olly Mann
feedproxy.google.comVaizey kicks off local DAB expansion plan
Ed Vaizey said quotDigital radio is the future of radio in the UK and I am delighted that Government has been able to play its part in this major expansion which will help accelerate the transition to digital radio, in the car and at home. Ford Ennals, CEO of Digital Radio UK added quotWe welcome the UK expansion of digital radio - it's great news for listeners as it means that millions more listeners and thousands more miles of roads will be able to receive DAB loud and clear. - radiotoday.co.ukradiotoday.co.ukWednesday 25 March 2015, PM
Monday 23 March 2015, PM
BBC considers plan to stop in-house production being sold to private sector
BBC Studios will at first operate within the publicly-funded corporation but then be transferred out and become a separate subsidiary of the BBC group, operating at arm's length. General secretary Gerry Morrissey has written to Hall suggesting staff within BBC Studios be given a say in what happens to the new company by having two classes of shareholders. - www.theguardian.comwww.theguardian.comSaturday 21 March 2015, PM
Friday 20 March 2015, PM
Feedback: Reporting from Putin's Russia: 20 Mar 15
downloads.bbc.co.uk
Damazer to return to BBC as trustee
The chairman of BAE Systems is a former deputy chairman of the Bank of England, president of the CBI and chairman of Centrica plc. 'These are three really strong appointments to the trust and, with their top level experience built up across a range of backgrounds, they will be invaluable in helping ensure the licence fee payers' perspective is brought to bear as we enter Charter Review,' said chairman of the trust Rona Fairhead. 'I look forward to working with them. - www.bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukFriday 20 March 2015, AM
Service review of BBC music radio: Radio 1, 1Xtra, Radio 2, Radio 3, 6 Music and Asian Network
Analysis of the music played on each of the six BBC music radio stations found that they play a wider range of tracks and genres than is available elsewhere on radio. Service licence changes - In order to enable savings, the number of live sessions on Radio 1 is being reduced, Radio 1 and 1Xtra will increase the number of documentaries shared between the stations, and the number of dramas on Radio 3 will reduce. - www.bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukThursday 19 March 2015, PM
Radio 1 to cut back on live music
The latest music radio service review, published on Thursday, confirmed that BBC Radio had made almost half of its requisite Delivering Quality First savings, although this had curtailed the scope of and spending on music radio. The BBC's six music radio stations are doing well and are seen as go-to services for millions of UK listeners on a quest to discover and be entertained by music. - www.bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukSky raises sports and entertainment package prices
Sky, which normally increases its prices in September, said the price of a sports TV package - covering seven channels - would rise by pound1 to pound47 a month from June. Sky feared subscribers' defections to BT, which won the right to show 42 games a season and has also beaten Sky to show Uefa Champions League matches later this year. - www.theguardian.comwww.theguardian.comWednesday 18 March 2015, PM
Media: The Clarkson row and how best to handle "difficult" stars; the future for Netflix; and the Green Party media po
downloads.bbc.co.ukWednesday 18 March 2015, AM
BBC national DAB radio reaches 95% population
In total, the new transmitters bring 138,000 households into the BBC's national coverage area and improves digital radio reception for a further two million households. Helen Boaden, Director of Radio, says quotIt is fantastic that more listeners will be able to enjoy the full range of BBC services. Extending national DAB coverage is an important part of building a digital future for radio. - radiotoday.co.ukradiotoday.co.uk
Unbundling Pay-TV Brings New Questions
quotIf you buy retail and you have six or seven of these things, that might cost you as much as a bundle that gives you 400 different networks,quot said Philippe Dauman, CEO of Viacom, which earns money from bundled channels but also recently launched a subscription streaming service aimed at preschool children that it imagines will be complementary to the bundle. Comcast offers an quotInternet Plusquot package of HBO, fast broadband and local channels for 40 a month, and ATT has been peddling a similar 49-a-month bundle that also includes Amazon.com Inc.'s Prime free-shipping and streaming-video service for a year. - www.wsj.comwww.wsj.comTuesday 17 March 2015, PM
BBC3 being 'dismantled' before its TV closure, claim producers
The BBC has been accused of asset-stripping BBC3 before it has been given permission by the BBC Trust to close the TV channel. The pair said the corporation had already quotEmbraced commercialityquot with the sale of assets such as Top Gear magazine - still branded BBC Top Gear - and half of its BBC America operation to Mad Men producer AMC. - www.theguardian.comwww.theguardian.comTuesday 17 March 2015, AM
Scripps steps up pressure on BBC over UKTV bid
A BBC Worldwide spokesman said quotWe have no plans to sell our stake in UKTV - a successful business that provides ongoing strategic and financial benefits to BBC Worldwide, and indirectly to licence fee payers. A spokesman for the BBC Trust said quotSince taking up her role, the chairman has regular meetings with a range of media industry representatives and similarly she has an introductory meeting scheduled with Scripps. It is not the trust's role to consider interest in BBC assets from third parties. Any such proposals would have to be put to the trust by BBC management for approval. - www.theguardian.comwww.theguardian.comMonday 16 March 2015, PM
Local TV station debuts with a C-bomb in 'how to pull' show | Media | The Guardian
- www.theguardian.comwww.theguardian.comSaturday 14 March 2015, AM
Jeremy Clarkson: TV producer reveals what it s like having to endure presenters tantrums - Features - TV Radio - The
- www.independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukFriday 13 March 2015, PM
Feedback: The Archers: 13 Mar 15
downloads.bbc.co.uk#25 - Clarkson’s third strike, British Press Awards - The Media Podcast with Olly Mann
feedproxy.google.com#25 - Clarkson’s third strike, British Press Awards - The Media Podcast with Olly Mann
feedproxy.google.comFriday 13 March 2015, AM
Ariel - Just stop the rot at Ally Pally
- www.bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.uk
Offshore workers Sky TV switched off in latest North Sea cut-backs | Herald Scotland
- www.heraldscotland.comwww.heraldscotland.comThursday 12 March 2015, AM
Ofcom invites applications for Suffolk DAB
Ofcom has advertised a new local radio multiplex to provide DAB digital radio stations in Suffolk. As ever, 128kbits/sec is reserved to the BBC for the broadcasting in digital form of its local radio service, BBC Radio Suffolk. - radiotoday.co.ukradiotoday.co.uk
Top Gear: How a monster was born
Telegraph columnist Alex Proud told BBC News that despite Mr Clarkson being a quotMassive earner for the BBCquot, the broadcaster could also attract new talent. quotThe BBC has a dilemma. Nobody in the end can ignore the BBC guidelines. That said this is a very popular programme - BBC Two's most popular factual entertainment programme. The BBC would be loath to lose it. - www.bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.uk
Nielsen Charts Reach of Video Streaming
Homes with subscription streaming services spend 66 minutes a day watching time-shifted television, while households without subscriptions spend 56 minutes a day with it. Television executives are voicing concerns that streaming services like Netflix are cutting into the amount of time that people spend watching traditional television analysts estimate that total television viewing declined by almost 10 percent during the third and fourth quarters of 2014. - www.nytimes.comwww.nytimes.comWednesday 11 March 2015, PM
Tuesday 10 March 2015, PM
Reducing costs through Delivering Quality First Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General presented to the BBC Trus
We assessed the BBC's work in developing such a culture as part of the Programme through document review of BBC savings plans and progress reports review of documents covering BBC continuous improvement initiatives analysis of BBC savings data and annual accounts interviews with BBC staff involved with these initiatives and interviews with BBC staff and Our conclusions We assessed the BBC's progress and its management through review of BBC's management and reporting processes including case review of a sample of savings initiatives to underlying plans. The documents included BBC Executive proposals and BBC Trust reviews during 2011 and 2012 internal and external reviews of the Programme such as those by Ernst Young, KPMG and BBC Internal Audit BBC progress reports across the whole of the BBC and at divisional level BBC guidance on process and monitoring and BBC documents on its work on developing continuous improvement. - downloads.bbc.co.ukdownloads.bbc.co.ukBBC risks having to cut more services after it misses long-term targets
The NAO said the programme of savings, a response to the 2010 licence fee settlement in which the BBC's funding was frozen but given extra responsibilities, including the World Service, rural broadband and local TV, would get even tougher in the years ahead. quotThe BBC's plans for future productivity savings involve more significant and potentially riskier changes to organisational structures and ways of working,quot it said. quotIf the BBC is not able to make planned productivity savings, it risks having to make further reductions to scope. - www.theguardian.comwww.theguardian.comTuesday 10 March 2015, AM
Margaret Hodge: BBC Trust chair Rona Fairhead 'should quit'
The current chair of the BBC Trust should consider resigning or be sacked by the government, chair of the Public Accounts Committee Margaret Hodge has said. Rona Fairhead took over as chair of the BBC Trust last year, but before that she was chair of HSBC's audit committee until 2010 and subsequently led the bank's risk committee,. - m.bbc.co.ukm.bbc.co.uk
Labour and Lib Dems commit to keeping C4 in public hands
Business secretary Vince Cable and shadow minister for the arts Chris Bryant have committed to keeping Channel 4 under public ownership if Labour or the Liberal Democrats win the general election. Speaking at a House of Commons event to celebrate the growth of the creative industries in the UK, Cable said his party was “committed to making absolutely sure that C4 isn’t offloaded into the private sector”. C4 chief executive David Abraham was in the audience to hear Cable’s speech, after which Bryant gave his party’s commitment to “keep C4 in public hands and not sell it off”.- www.broadcastnow.co.ukwww.broadcastnow.co.ukWhere can you watch classic Doctor Who episodes? The Horror Channel!
- www.radiotimes.comwww.radiotimes.comMonday 09 March 2015, PM
Horror Channel to rise on Freeview
- www.broadbandtvnews.comwww.broadbandtvnews.comBBC in the internet era | informitv
- informitv.cominformitv.comMonday 09 March 2015, AM
BBC questions 25% indie quota | News | Broadcast
The BBC has raised concerns about its ability to continue commissioning 25% of its content from qualifying indies amid seismic market consolidation. The corporation has argued that if “vertical integration” in the production sector continues at its current pace, the legal guarantee “may prove unrealistic and unachievable” for PSBs to maintain. “There is a risk that the level of the quota could distort commissioning decisions and the diversity of programming reaching audiences could suffer,” the BBC added in its submission to Ofcom’s PSB review. It said the media regulator should be given the power to “amend the level” of the quota. - www.broadcastnow.co.ukwww.broadcastnow.co.ukEd Vaizey overplays the local TV factor | Media | The Guardian
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