Friday 18 July 2014, PM
Feedback: Biased coverage? 18 Jul 14
downloads.bbc.co.ukBSkyB prepares to roll the dice again with European expansion | Reuters
Analysts have put the likely price at between 7 billion and 10 billion euros. Sources familiar with the deal have told Reuters the talks are progressing well but that there are still many areas they need to find agreement on. BSkyB, which declined to comment, has history in making expensive but ultimately winning gambles. - reuters.com
www.reuters.comDTG :: News :: Ed Vaizey MP promoted to newly created Digital Industries Minister role
Ed Vaizey has been promoted to a new role covering digital industries, as part of David Cameron's reshuffle. It's so far unclear what aspects of Vaizey's former role will fall under his new remit, nor whether his old position will remain open. DTG Staff 18.07.2014 Links open in a new window. - dtg.org.ukdtg.org.uk
City awaits ITV takeover bid as Liberty Global takes ?481m stake - Business News - Business - The Independent
Under City takeover rules, Liberty cannot make an offer for six months, unless another bidder emerges. However, ITV shares raced up 6 per cent to 195.1p, with analysts reckoning a take-over move is on the agenda. Fox has also made an audacious 80bn 47bn bid for Americas Time Warner amid a frenzy of TV industry consolidation. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.uk
BBC under fire after sharp decline in audience reach of young and ethnic minority viewers - News - TV Radio - The Inde
The Trust reported that a proportion of viewers do not find BBC1 sufficiently distinctive and it called on the flagship channel to take more creative risks. The review found that 63 per cent of BBC1s peak time 7pm-9pm schedule was taken up by just ten shows, all but one of which is at least seven years old. Some BBC1 viewers find the channel over-reliant on familiar programmes and believe that it has a tendency to play safe in programming and scheduling, the report said. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukThursday 17 July 2014, PM
Ariel - BBC One should be riskier, says trust
The trust's conclusions are detailed in a 37-page report about the health of the television channels and how they perform against their service licence. The 87,000 review - which happens every five years - included a public consultation with 5000 responses, extensive research, data from audience councils, and feedback from industry figures and BBC executives. Chief among them is the need for BBC One to 'take more creative risks while serving loyal audiences'. - bbc.co.uk
www.bbc.co.uk
What Do Consumers Hate More Than TV Ads? Online Video Commercials - CMO Today - WSJ
A recent survey of about 700 consumers found that about 36 of those polled said they find online video ads more irritating than TV ads. Nearly half found both TV and online video ads equally annoying while only about 12 thought TV ads were more annoying. The online survey, conducted last month by ad buying software company Strata, found that younger viewers find targeted online video ads more invasive and annoying than older viewers. - blogs.wsj.com
blogs.wsj.com
BBC News - BBC News to cut a further 415 jobs
The move is part of 800m efficiency savings required after the licence fee was frozen in 2010. The latest cuts are expected to save 48m by 2017. BBC News currently employs around 8,400 people, including around 5,000 journalists, based in London, around the UK and overseas. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.uk
Ariel - News cuts 415 posts to help save ?48m
The 'heavy impact' of the cuts on staff - jobs account for roughly half the total savings - was acknowledged by director of news James Harding, who said he shared their 'distress, concern and anxiety'. Speaking to staff at Broadcasting House's Radio Theatre, he said that the job losses were likely to affect around 500 people, taking part-time workers into account. 'Strenuous effort' would be made to fill these new posts through redeployment,' insisted Harding, who said requests for voluntary redundancy from across the News Group would also be granted wherever possible. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukBBC - BBC News announces plans to save ?48m and invest in digital transformation - Media centre
The proposals are expected to lead to 415 post closures which will be offset by an estimated 195 new roles being created through reinvestment, meaning a net reduction of around 220 posts. The BBC will now begin consultation with staff and the joint unions over these proposals, where appropriate. The challenge is how to make BBC News even better, despite having less money. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.uk
BBC News to cut 415 posts as it restructures for digital | Media | The Guardian
BBC News is to cut a further 415 posts and restructure to increase focus on digital journalism. James Harding, the BBCs director of news and current affairs, told staff on Thursday that there will be 48m in annual savings and a total of 500 workers will be affected by the cuts. However, Harding said that 195 new positions will be created in the restructure, meaning a net reduction of 220 full-time posts across news and current affairs. - gu.com
gu.comThursday 17 July 2014, AM
BSkyB sells ITV shares to Virgin Media owner Liberty Global | Media | theguardian.com
ITVs share price rose 7 to 196p in early trading as investors enthusiastically greeted the move as a signal that the UKs largest free-to-air commercial broadcaster is likely to be snapped up. Now John Malones cable giant Liberty Global, which snapped up Virgin Media last year for 15bn, has renewed the prospect of a takeover. Liberty Global chief executive Mike Fries said This is an opportunistic and attractive investment for us in our largest cable market. - theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com
Freesat - Android Apps on Google Play
Hello. We are Freesat. And this is our clever little telly app. It gives you the power to plan and manage how and what to watch on TV, as well as control your TV sets using your phone or tablet. And best of all, it is free. With the Freesat App you can See 7 days of TV LISTINGS for over 200 free TV and radio channels; Find great shows to watch On TV and On Demand with SHOWCASE RECOMMENDATIONS; SEARCH by programme to easily find the show you want to watch. And when you link it to a Freetime box you can also: RECORD ON THE GO so you never miss a show; TURN YOUR PHONE OR TABLET INTO A REMOTE CONTROL so you can pause, play, fast forward, rewind and change channel; LAUNCH ON DEMAND PROGRAMMING STRAIGHT TO YOUR TV. - play.google.com
play.google.com
Ariel - Return to TVC delayed by two years
BBC Studios and Post Production is delaying the start of its 15-year lease of the revamped Studios 1, 2 and 3, which had been due to re-open next year. Although studio refurbishment work is on track, the developer's broader plans for the Wood Lane site have evolved and its construction programme has been extended as a result. SPP will remain at Elstree - its temporary home since moving out of TVC in 2013 - until major construction work to the 'doughnut' is completed. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukWednesday 16 July 2014, PM
Media: BBC commissions up for grabs; IMPRESS regulation plans; 'Immigration Street'
downloads.bbc.co.uk
BBC director general argues against license fee reform | The Drum
BBC director general Lord Hall has defended the contentious license fee by declaring it aint broke in an argument against reform of the revenue model. The intervention effectively sets out the corporations stall on reform of the system, ahead of formal negotiations with the government next year on how the broadcaster should be funded from 2017. Defending the 145.50 fee to a House of Lords committee Hall said We believe its a system that aint broke. - thedrum.com
www.thedrum.comWednesday 16 July 2014, AM
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.ukwww.independent.co.ukBBC’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.comwww.theguardian.com
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.ukwww.bbc.co.ukTuesday 15 July 2014, PM
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.ukwww.bbc.co.uk
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
www.broadcastnow.co.ukTuesday 15 July 2014, AM
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.comwww.theguardian.com
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.ukMonday 14 July 2014, PM
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.comwww.theguardian.com
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.ukradiotoday.co.ukMonday 14 July 2014, AM
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.ukwww.bbc.co.ukMedia 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.comwww.theguardian.comTony 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.comwww.theguardian.comWhat 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.comwww.theguardian.comFriday 11 July 2014, PM
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.comwww.theguardian.com
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.ukwww.bbc.co.ukFeedback: Nigel Havers on WATO: 11 Jul 14
downloads.bbc.co.ukFriday 11 July 2014, AM
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.ukwww.broadcastnow.co.uk
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.www.broadcastnow.co.ukThursday 10 July 2014, PM
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
www.techradar.comBBC 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.comwww.theguardian.com
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.ukwww.independent.co.uk
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.ukradiotoday.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.ukwww.broadcastnow.co.uk
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.ukwww.broadcastnow.co.uk
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.ukwww.broadcastnow.co.uk
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.ukwww.broadcastnow.co.uk
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.ukwww.broadcastnow.co.ukBBC 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.comwww.theguardian.comChannel 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.comwww.theguardian.comBBC’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.comwww.theguardian.comTony 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.comwww.theguardian.com
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.ukwww.bbc.co.uk
Ofcom | Speaking TV programme guides - Would they help people with visual impairments, and are they feasible?
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