BBC staff accept new pay deal after two years of negotiations

As a result BBC will staff benefit from a backdated pay deal under which wages rise by 2 in 2017/18, 2 in 2018/19 and at least 2.5 in 2019/20. Union leaders say the deal includes an increase in the BBC minimum salary from 15,687 to 20,000 as of August, increased sick pay and wellbeing arrangements, and a simpler, more transparent pay structure. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

Broadcasters agree £125m Freeview deal to combat Netflix threat

The BBC, ITV and Channel 4 have agreed a new deal to invest in Freeview, the free digital television service, in response to sweeping changes in audience behaviour and competition from streaming operators such as Netflix and Amazon. The three broadcasters, together with Arqiva, which owns and operates the national transmitter network, have sealed a £125m, five-year deal to develop new services for Freeview, including an app that will allow viewers to watch programming from the broadcasters live and on demand. Proponents of public service broadcasting hope the investment will lead to more collaboration between channels, including a Netflix-style service that aggregates all available content from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. Pressure is building on the three organisations to work more closely together in the face of competition from Netflix and Amazon, which have vastly greater spending power. Sharon White, chief executive of Ofcom, the UK’s media regulator, recently called on them to “collaborate to compete”. When competitors like Netflix are spending $8bn a year on content and $1bn a year on engineering, we need to think about what is good for the consumer and the creative industries Carolyn McCall and Alex Mahon, the new chief executives of ITV and Channel 4, have also talked of the need to join forces in an increasingly competitive marketplace. “When competitors like Netflix are spending $8bn a year on content and $1bn a year on engineering, we need to think about what is good for the consumer and the creative industries, and where we should work together to make sure those values of public service broadcasting are best served in the UK,” said Ms Mahon recently. Channel 4 also is working with the BBC to lobby for the prominence of public service broadcasting content in the user interfaces and programme guides of new streaming services. “This new commitment from our shareholders is a major boost for UK viewers,” said Jonathan Thompson, chief executive of Digital UK, which runs the Freeview platform. Further collaboration between the broadcasters would “safeguard free-to-view TV” and “reinvent it for a new age of viewing”. As viewers “cut the cord” and cancel pricey pay-TV subscriptions, free-to-air terrestrial television has become increasingly important, with viewers taking Freeview alongside a subscription to Amazon or Netflix. Today, more than 11m homes use free-to-air terrestrial services — 1m more than in early 2016, according to BARB, the standard for TV measurement in the UK. - www.ft.com

www.ft.com

Journalism fights back!

www.bbc.co.uk

DTG Summit 2018

Now new distribution networks, devices and viewing experiences are further transforming television. The DTG Summit explores the impact of this transformative change and considers TV's evolution over the next 20 years. - www.youtube.com

www.youtube.com

BBC, ITV and Channel 4 in talks to create UK streaming service

The BBC, Channel 4 and ITV have held discussions about joining forces to create a British streaming service to combat the increasing power of Netflix and Amazon in the UK. The early-stage talks, which are also understood to involve NBC Universal, the US TV and film group that owns the maker of Downton Abbey, are focusing on how the UK's main broadcasters and makers of top shows can work together to create a streaming rival to the popular and deep-pocketed newcomers that have transformed broadcasting. The established British broadcasters held similar talks two years ago but in the end only the BBC and ITV managed to hook up to launch a Netflix-style service in the US called BritBox. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

BBC to 'reinvent the iPlayer' in a bid to remain relevant to 16-34 year-olds – Digital TV Europe

The BBC will focus on reinventing the iPlayer this year and making it more of a destination for young people, according to BBC chairman David Clementi. Outlining how the BBC will face challenges like changing viewing habits and competition from global giants like Netflix and Amazon, Clementi said that the BBC's focus on modernising its services will allow it to alter how it delivers content to audiences and how they respond. - www.digitaltveurope.com

www.digitaltveurope.com

Ofcom seeks to scrap local TV roll-out

Since the first service launched in 2013.several stations - including the capital's service London Live - have asked Ofcom to reduce their local news obligations. Ofcom had identified 13 further locations as local TV candidates, but said it was now minded to end the roll-out. - www.bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

20/04/2018

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#93 - Daily Mail’s Accidental Profanity, Radio 4’s Rivers Of Blood, Test Match Special’s Early Tea -The Media Podcast wi

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BT set to ditch traditional phone lines, go VoIP-only by 2025

BT will be left with one less network to maintain, allowing it to concentrate its spending on improving broadband rather than needing to spend thousands on a legacy technology that's being used by less and less people annually. The BBC's iPlayer has even started to outpace traditional TV as next generation technologies like HDR are tested over the streaming service while being more or less absent from traditional TV. But other transmission technologies are proving much more resilient. - www.trustedreviews.com

www.trustedreviews.com

Mysterious Google-branded 4K Android TV dongle shows up at the FCC

With the existing device lineup, there is no way to buy an Android TV device that will get Android P in a timely manner. Google's TV strategy had long been split between bigger, more functional Android TV set-top boxes and smaller, easier-to-use Chromecast devices. - arstechnica.com

arstechnica.com

BBC Radio 4 broke impartiality rules in Nigel Lawson climate change interview

BBC Radio 4 broke impartiality rules by failing to sufficiently challenge climate change denier Nigel Lawson's controversial claims in an interview, the broadcasting watchdog has ruled. Co/HtqJf9sBFW. The Today programme featured five interviews on climate change prompted by the release of former US vice-president Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Sequel, the follow-up to 2006's An Inconvenient Truth, each conducted by presenter Justin Webb. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

#92 - The Gender Pay Gap, Interns and a lifeline for Sky - The Media Podcast with Olly Mann

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Do you really need a 4K TV? – Which? News

4K TVs can display HD content better than HD TVs. It's fair to say the vast majority of what people watch on 4K TVs will be HD channels from Freeview or a pay TV services, which is why we continue to see how good these TVs are at displaying HD and SD video. While the results are close, so too are the cost of many 4K and HD TVs. By choosing a 4K TV, you'll get better HD picture quality and you're ready when the 4K channels do launch. - www.which.co.uk

www.which.co.uk

How porno conquered podcasts

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Local DAB radio coverage expansion complete – RadioToday

The launch of the two new transmitters completes the transformative initiative to expand the UK's local DAB transmission network towards FM equivalence, which was announced by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in 2015 and jointly funded by the DCMS, BBC and local DAB multiplex operators. The programme of work, which was delivered by Arqiva, has doubled the local DAB network, with new transmitters or modifications to 221 local DAB sites, boosting local DAB coverage from 72 to more than 90 of UK households. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

Is the BBC abdicating its responsibilities over Brexit?

When the BBC is accused of bias, its reaction is always the same - executives and journalists protest that if all sides attack the BBC with equal force all the time then they must be doing something right. Last weekend, thousands of EU supporters marched in towns and cities across the country, but little appeared on the BBC. Yet Nigel Farage has only to tip a crate of fish into the Thames and the BBC dutifully turns up to film the stunt. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

Isle of Man

Jason Moorhouse wanted to know what plans there were to bring the digital TV and radio coverage in the Isle of Man up to an equivalent level with the UK. Currently, fewer Freeview television services are available from Manx relay transmitters than from the main masts in the UK. The island's three radio stations - EnergyFM, 3FM and government-subsidised Manx Radio - all broadcast on analogue frequencies and online. With regard to the BBC, he said he could raise the issue of allowing other stations to use the DAB transmitter as part of wider negotiations over the TV licence fee and the corporation's Isle of Man coverage. - www.iomtoday.co.im

www.iomtoday.co.im