BBC chief forced to defend himself against racist policy - TV Radio - Media - The Independent

You are so obsessed with equal opportunities, yet you are sat next to a man who you just appointed without even opening up the process to anyone else, said Mr Davies. We want to deliver on all of them. But the MP who has a reputation for asking contentious questions - said he would be more convinced of the motives of senior BBC figures if they were prepared to give up their own positions in the name of equal opportunities. Im wondering which of you four would be prepared to fall on your swords to let a black person have your job, he said. - independent.co.uk

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BBC’s ‘racist approach’ to diversity ignores white working class - Tory MP | Media | theguardian.com

The BBC has been accused of taking a racist approach to diversity by a Conservative MP, for taking action to improve representation of ethnic minorities while allegedly ignoring the white working class. Hall dismissed the accusation, saying the diversity proposals were equality of opportunity, not racism. Surely what we should be aiming to be is colour blind. Davies argued that Hall was attempting to tick the politically correct box, pointing out that he had white, working class constituents who were under-represented at the corporation and missing opportunities. - theguardian.com

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Ariel - MPs quiz Hall on Production plans

'I couldn't envisage it being privatised,' he insisted. 'The current ways in which things operate, based on the current consolidation in the industry, are not fair for everyone,' Cohen said. 'We now want to have a very detailed conversation with small and medium-sized indies.' 'Racist' diversity plans The director general's diversity plans were also called into question by the MPs, with one calling them 'racist'. - bbc.co.uk

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BBC - Blogs - About the BBC - Why subscription isn't the best way to fund the BBC

In my last post, I argued that the value the BBC gives the British public and the creative sector is because of the licence fee and not despite it. Subscription is not a new idea for funding the BBC. Nearly 30 years ago, the Peacock report favoured it as the best way to give effect to consumers preferences. - bbc.co.uk

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LIVE: BBC culture committee hearing | News | Broadcast

Click to catch-up with the live blog from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee’s (CMSC) inquiry into the future of the BBC - which heard evidence from four of the corporation’s most senior executives. Director general Tony Hall, director of strategy and digital James Purnell and Danny Cohen, the BBC’s director of television, appeared at the session, which was chaired by Conservative MP John Whittingdale. Senior BBC independent director Dame Fiona Reynolds was also on the panel. - broadcastnow.co.uk

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Bauer and UTV join forces in national digital radio multiplex application | Media | theguardian.com

The radio groups have teamed up with transmission business Arqiva for their application for the licence to run the second nationwide digital audio broadcasting DAB platform, which will be home to around 10 new national radio services. The second wave of national DAB stations has been a long time coming after Channel 4, which led a consortium that won the right to launch a string of new digital stations, pulled the plug on its radio ambitions in 2008. The licence, which was advertised by media regulator Ofcom earlier this month, is expected to be awarded next year. - theguardian.com

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RadioToday | Arqiva, Bauer and UTV team up for DAB bid

The first bidder for the second national commercial digital radio multiplex has announced its intensions. D2 will further accelerate digital growth in the UK. D1 the first national commercial multiplex is now full and a second platform is a welcome addition by the radio industry, following the false start by Channel 4 in 2007/8. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

Ofcom sensibly resolves complaints about Tory MP's undeleted expletive | Media | theguardian.com

Ofcom's finding here in pdf format is a model response. - theguardian.com

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The Media Podcast | PPM Production

Big changes, but what will it mean for staff at BBC Productions Its all change at Radio 5 Live as the station shakes up its daytime schedule. As some brand the station Radio Bloke, where does this leave the BBCs attempt to boost the number of women on air - ppmtelevision.com

ppmtelevision.com

RadioToday | The Media Podcast secures Crowd Funding

The cancelled Guardian podcast MediaTalk will continue for another year thanks to a KickStarter campaign to raise 9k to keep it going independently. The project attracted 244 backers who took the total to 9,093 over the weekend meaning producer Matt Hill and his team can continue to make the audio. So, from next week, were on for a year, tweeted themediapodcast. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

BBC News - UK broadband not fit for purpose, says business group

It is calling on the government to commit to delivering a minimum of 10Mbps megabits per second for all homes and businesses by 2017. It would like to see this rise to 1Gbps gigabit per second by 2030. The report found that 94 of small business owners consider a reliable internet connection to be critical to the success of their business 45,000 UK small businesses are still on dial-up speeds Only 15 of firms say they are very satisfied with their broadband provision. - bbc.co.uk

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Media Monkey’s Diary: Robert Peston, Angelina Jolie and Lucy Adams | Media | The Guardian

Thats because a decree came into force this month requiring them to name the sources they entertain and recent experience of things they thought were confidential ending up in the public domain has made them understandably reluctant to risk getting contacts into trouble by committing their names to paper or screen. Could Robert Peston be a shoo-in for a different job The video, meanwhile, didnt disappear but was sheepishly re-headlined as Jolie during her dark days in the 1990s. - theguardian.com

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Tony Hall goes back to Birt for his big BBC idea | Media | The Guardian

Each time it approaches charter renewal, the BBC needs a narrative as a way of taking some control of the agenda. With politicians and much of the press choosing to see it as wasteful, profligate and badly governed, people were beginning to wonder where the BBCs big idea was going to come from. So it was that last week director general Tony Hall produced one compete or compare. - theguardian.com

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What will the BBC TV production shake-up mean for the industry? | Media | The Guardian

The BBC is known for high quality content thats widely enjoyed and I dont think thats going to change. Most people will still get their sense of that from the BBCs own channels, radio stations and online. Theres a lot of upside to it. - theguardian.com

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What Canada's national public broadcaster could learn from the BBC | Technology | theguardian.com

And, like the BBC, the CBC is in a permanent funding crisis, as successive waves of cuts take the public broadcaster into previously unthinkable territory. The CBC will no longer produce documentaries, it will cut local newscasts, close half its offices, and make 25 of its workforce redundant by 2020. Between 1,000-1,500 jobs will be cut in the next five years alone. - theguardian.com

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Ariel - 'BBC Production is not leaving the family'

One producer said it 'sounds like an outsourcing' of BBC Production, and foresaw more short-term contracts and eroded terms and conditions ahead. 'Working arrangements are not going to change overnight.' New homes But he stressed that change was 'inevitable', with the quota system 'no longer fit for our purposes' in the age of massive global production consolidation. He was adamant, though, that any new approach would have BBC Production at its heart. - bbc.co.uk

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Feedback: Nigel Havers on WATO: 11 Jul 14

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BBC radio must follow TV lead | News | Broadcast

The BBC has been urged by senior industry execs to extend its plans to scrap television quotas to the radio sector. The BBCs wide-ranging changes to its television production division should also be adopted by its radio arm, according to execs, sweeping away radios Window of Creative Competition (WoCC) restrictions and allowing in-house producers to make shows for third parties. Director general Tony Hall unveiled the plans at City University in London and said that competition should go beyond TV production. He asked whether extending competitive access for indie radio producers would offer broader choice and better ideas. The chair of the Radio Independents Group Phil Critchlow, who also heads up indie TBI Media, said that this would certainly be the case. Indie radio producers based across the UK have a proven track record creatively, and are more than ready to contribute world class ideas, with the competitively priced resources needed to deliver them, said Critchlow. He added that more external competition, coupled with a healthy in-house division, would result in a more creative and cost effective corporation. Somethin Else founder Jez Nels - broadcastnow.co.uk

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BBC production plans a historic moment

Plans to break open the BBCs television supply model have been hailed as an historic moment for the UK television industry but some have warned that the changes will be fraught with difficulty. BBC director general Tony Hall today announced plans to sweep away all the corporations commissioning quotas and liberate in-house teams to pitch to other broadcasters. He argued it will be the biggest change to the corporation since its inception in 1922. Hall detailed the vision in a music performance room at City University, which was crammed full of producers, television industry grandees and press. Many in the audience welcomed the BBCs plans, but there was also recognition that it marks the start of a long debate about the future of television production at the corporation.

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Everything you know about 4K is wrong thanks to HDCP 2.2 | News | TechRadar

I really don't think Freeview is about being cutting edge what we tend to do is look at innovation and then follow it. Without a device-to-device handshake, HDCP 2.2 delivered content isn't going to make it onto any screen. Unfortunately HDCP 2.2 chip availability is trailing behind 4K product roll-outs. - techradar.com

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BBC producers may make TV shows for rival broadcasters | Media | The Guardian

However, it remains to be seen how the idea will be greeted by politicians and the TV industry. The decision would require sweeping regulatory changes to be incorporated into the BBC charter from 2017. We should have regulation in the TV supply market only where it's needed so that we can let creativity flourish ... - theguardian.com

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BBC could start making shows for foreign and UK broadcast rivals as part of Director-General's 'competitive revolution'

If independent producers can take their ideas to any broadcaster around the world, I would want the same for BBC Production. Were up for a discussion as to whether they should offer ideas to other UK broadcasters, he will say. The plan is said to represent the single biggest breaking open of the BBC since it was first conceived in 1922, said one source. - independent.co.uk

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RadioToday | Radio Indies respond to Tony Hall speech

Indie radio producers based across the UK have a proven track record creatively, and are more than ready to contribute world class ideas, with the competitively priced resources needed to deliver them. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

A seismic change for British TV | News | Broadcast

For the indie sector, it means that 400m worth of programming could be up for grabs, but also that a powerful new competitor is likely to emerge. The indie sector has been knocking on the WoCC door for some time, but dont expect it to walk all over an archaic in-house division. Which broadcaster wouldnt want Miranda or Strictly - broadcastnow.co.uk

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Lord Burns sounds note of caution over BBC plans | News | Broadcast

Channel 4 chairman Lord Burns has voiced concerns about the future of the indie sector and the licence fee following Tony Hall’s plans to scrap BBC quotas. Speaking after the director general earlier today at City University, London, Burns sounded a note of caution about the potential knock-on effects for production companies. Burns said that he had a “very deep interest in maintaining a vibrant indie sector”, and would be “nervous” if the corporation’s plans to scrap quotas and liberate its production arm “would squeeze that”. - broadcastnow.co.uk

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Hall: BBC must compete or compare to survive

Tony Hall has unveiled plans to introduce a “compete or compare” culture at the BBC to ensure the corporation is on the strongest footing possible going into charter renewal negotiations next year. Delivering a potentially legacy-defining speech at City University on Thursday, the director general argued that the BBC must open itself up to competition and benchmark its performance wherever possible. Sccording to Hall, only this will enable the corporation to make a coherent case on the level at which the licence fee should be set when it sits down with the government to thrash out its future after the 2015 general election. - broadcastnow.co.uk

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The industry reacts: TV execs on BBC quota plans | News | Broadcast

10 July, 2014 Tony Halls plans to tear up quotas at the BBC and liberate in-house production has been largely welcomed by the indie sector and rival broadcasters. If you subscribe today you can take advantage of our 20 discount on Broadcast. Subscribing takes just 2 minutes and offers full, instant access to the website along with a copy of the weekly magazine. - broadcastnow.co.uk

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Tony Hall: speech in full | News | Broadcast

The director general outlined his plans for major changes to BBC Productions at City University in London earlier today. In his inspiring book, An Empire Of Their Own, the cultural historian Neal Gabler tells the story of the creation of Hollywood. He records the extraordinary lives of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe who came to America, to work as retailers, as small time entrepreneurs, as grafters in the garment industry. And Gabler tells the tale of their rise to greatness as legendary movie moguls. The great impresarios of one of the most spectacular cultural industries of the last century began in the most modest way and made a success as pioneers because they had liberty and a fierce desire to succeed. - broadcastnow.co.uk

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BBC TV production plans welcomed by indie trade body as ‘historic’ | Media | theguardian.com

The chief executive of Pact, the independent producers trade body, described the opening up of the BBCs TV production operation as a historic moment. He said every programme commissioner in the BBC should pop a cork because they would now be able to choose whatever programmes they want, regardless of whether they were made in-house at the BBC or elsewhere. McVay said Halls plan reflected calls that Pact had been making for many years to open up the BBC to more competition from independent producers. - theguardian.com

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Channel 4 chair fears for indies over BBC production plans | Media | theguardian.com

The chair of Channel 4 says the broadcaster would buy programmes from the BBC, but expressed concerns about the impact director general Tony Halls plans may have on the independent sector. Lord Burns said Halls proposals to open up the BBC to more competition could go further and criticised the corporation for not looking ahead to a post-licence fee world. Can you really imagine in 30 years time there will be a licence fee said Burns. - theguardian.com

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BBC’s TV production shakeup could extend to news, radio and online | Media | theguardian.com

Hall, the BBC director general, said on Thursday morning that the plan, which will see in-house TV production spun off as a standalone subsidiary and allowed to make shows for rivals for the first time, marked a stripping-away of regulation that would enable an era of unprecedented competition. I want a less regulated system that ensures that both our own BBC producers and those of the independent sector have creative freedom. I want a level playing-field between BBC producers and independent ones. Hall said that the new Compete or Compare strategy could be extended to radio, news and current affairs programming and its digital and technology operations. - theguardian.com

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Tony Hall’s BBC ‘compete or compare’ speech - full text | Media | theguardian.com

The great impresarios of one of the most spectacular cultural industries of the last century began in the most modest way and made a success as pioneers because they had liberty and a fierce desire to succeed. I believe strongly in the freedom and entrepreneurial spirit that made this possible. I have been fortunate to work for some of the greatest cultural bodies of this country. - theguardian.com

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BBC News - Why Coe is set to win BBC race

10 July 2014 Last updated at 1138 Here are a couple of mildly interesting tidbits about my own shop, the BBC. Of course his appointment is not 100, because there is a formal and slightly cumbersome appointments process. Well they know him well George Osborne and Coe once shared an office, I think, and they regard him as an impressive leader, with a remarkable record of success off the track leading London's Olympics bid, chairing the organising committee for the games, and so on. - bbc.co.uk

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Ofcom | Speaking TV programme guides - Would they help people with visual impairments, and are they feasible?

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BBC News - What emergency data law means for you

A European Court of Justice ECJ ruling earlier this year meant the powers to retain this data were under threat. However, privacy campaigners said it was another encroachment on the rights of people not to have their communications monitored. Here is an explanation of the new law, and what it means to people who live in the UK. - bbc.co.uk

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DTG :: News :: Ofcom requests views on speaking EPGs

Following a round-table discussion on the use of EPGs by visually-impaired viewers that was held earlier this year, regulatory body Ofcom have published a call for input from users. This is an invitation for views from all those interested, in particular -People with visual impairments would be able to make more use of EPGs if they could read out information on request. The input given will then be used when Ofcom decide whether or not they are to change their guidance to EPG providers on the features they should make available for people with visual impairments who use their programme guides. - dtg.org.uk

dtg.org.uk

BBC News - Giant rollable TVs on the horizon, says LG

10 July 2014 Last updated at 1321 LG has announced the release of two new paper-thin TV panels, with one that is so flexible it can be rolled into a 3cm diameter tube. The company stated it is confident it will produce a 60in 152cm Ultra HD rollable TV by 2017. LG unveiled one of its first flexible TVs at CES - a global consumer electronics and technology trade show - earlier this year. - bbc.co.uk

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BBC signals end of quotas | News | Broadcast

The BBC plans to tear up production quotas and liberate in-house teams to pitch to other broadcasters in the biggest breaking open of the corporation in its 92-year history. The proposals, outlined in a speech by director general Tony Hall on 10 July, mean that all existing BBC quotas would be scrapped, opening up 400m worth of commissioning opportunities to the independent production sector.

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Ariel - Derbyshire gets News Channel show

The move follows the announcement last week that she had decided to leave Radio 5 live after 16 years. Her news and current affairs tv programme will include interviews, discussion and debate, with social media employed in new ways to involve the audience. 'It will include the kind of broadcasting I love doing - original journalism, stories that affect the lives of our audience, exclusive interviews, viewer debates and big breaking news. - bbc.co.uk

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Why British TV rules the world - Features - TV Radio - The Independent

Making quality TV is becoming recognised internationally as a great British trait, matching our long-held reputation in popular music. In the past three years, the UK has exported more than 600 TV shows, around six times as many as Germany. Although its story has been overshadowed by the novelty of the internet, British television has been through a revolution in the past two decades. - independent.co.uk

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BBCs Nicky Campbell launches scathing attack on Lord Patten over female broadcasters debate - News - The Independe

Campbell launched a blistering attack on the BBC Trust Chairman, who has stepped down following major heart surgery. Hes just so ignorant, Campbell told Radio Times. However Derbyshire and Fogarty both defended the new 5 Live line-up, which they said included many prominent female voices. - independent.co.uk

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BBC News - Smart LED light bulbs leak wi-fi passwords

Context Security released details about how it was able to hack into the wi-fi network of one brand of network-enabled bulb, and control the lights remotely. The LIFX light bulb, which is available to buy in the UK, has network connectivity to let people turn it on and off with their smartphones. The firm behind the bulbs has since fixed the vulnerability. - bbc.co.uk

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Guardian appoints Jane Martinson as head of media - Media - theguardian.com

Jane Martinson has been appointed the Guardians new head of media, overseeing all of Guardian News and Medias coverage of the media industry in print and online. Martinson, who is currently the womens editor of the Guardian, will take up the new role on 8 September. She was previously the Guardians media editor responsible for the papers print section until 2010, when she moved to take up the womens editor post, setting up the Guardians womens blog. - theguardian.com

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QVC Extra launches on local TV multiplex Digital TV Europe

Comuxs sale of capacity for two national channels not ringfenced for local TV part of its original licence agreement with regulator Ofcom is designed to create an additional revenue stream for its local TV services. This shows the Comux business model delivering exactly what it said it would, with public seed funding and private management enabling a long-term future for this new local TV initiative. - digitaltveurope.net

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Samsung bows out of plasma TV production

It will end allplasma display operations by the 30th of November. Samsung didn't release any new plasma models in 2014, making last year'sF8500 the last chance customers will have to get their hands on a Samsung plasma TV. Panasonic was widely seen as the market leader in plasma TV technology before the announcement, a title it won from Pioneer and its legendary Kuro range when the latter company decided to ditch the TV market altogether. - expertreviews.co.uk

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DVB sets new standards - informitv

The Digital Video Broadcasting Project has ratified specifications for the delivery of ultra-high-definition television services. Its Phase 1 specification sets a base level for UHDTV but does not address more demanding requirements that are already on the horizon. It allows for the possibility that Phase 2, which has yet to be considered, will use higher frames rates. - informitv.com

informitv.com

RadioToday - De-regulate with caution, says UKRD boss

There is no question that there is an increasing detachment taking place between local stations and their local communities and we are not in favour of a further substantial erosion of this relationship. It is not. Local commercial radio licences are granted to businesses by Ofcom so that they can serve specific local communities and if there is a further move which allows too much erosion of this relationship, there will be little point in having local commercial radio licences of this nature at all. We represent a particular strand of local commercial radio which seems to be unfashionable in certain quarters. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

UBS: Sky could sell ITV stake - News - Broadcast

ky could sell its 7.5% stake in ITV ahead of the creation of Sky Europe, according to analysts. The move may help to pave the way for the creation of a pan-regional pay-TV business, first floated in May, which would bring together Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland with the UK service. Sky could be keen to resolve its plans for its interest in the free-to-air broadcaster ahead of tackling the ambitious consolidation strategy. “?We argue that there is potential for BSkyB to sell this stake as part of the plan to create Sky Europe,” Tamsin Garrity, an analyst at investment bank UBS, noted in a report. Sky bought a 17.9% stake in the commercial broadcaster in 2006 to block cable operator NTL, now Virgin Media, from taking over the broadcaster. It subsequently sold a 10.4% stake in February 2010, leaving it with the 7.5% holding. - broadcastnow.co.uk

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BBC News - Teletext festival breathes life into old tech

Teletext, a British invention from the 1970s phased out in the UK in 2012, is a television information retrieval service. Despite teletext's limitations, artists from across the world have pushed the ageing tech to its limit to create an impressive collection of retro illustrations. The festival, in its third year, will be run by Finnish art collective FixC, from 14 August to 14 September 2014. - bbc.co.uk

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