BBC Payout Row: Someone Is Telling Porkies

It would be nigh on impossible to underplay the significance of Monday's session of the public accounts committee. Neither is it a case of former and current BBC men having differing recollections of events. Place to one side the issue of excessive severance pay, and this is a frankly astounding battle between the BBC executive and the Trust. - news.sky.com

news.sky.com

Freeview to remain at centre stage

Yet while DTT also has to embrace change, the 700MHz harmonization will require significant planning and will result in disruption. In the proposed changes, mobile broadband would take up the 694-790 MHz band and Ofcom is trying to replicate the existing multiplexes in the process. - broadbandtvnews.com

www.broadbandtvnews.com

War of words of BBC pay-off row - London Evening Standard

Mr Byford departed the BBC with a total payout of 949,000. In another development, under-fire HR boss Lucy Adams admitted making a mistake in her evidence to the committee. It also emerged the BBC has written to four former staff, whose pay-offs were investigated by the National Audit Office, to tell them they could be named to the committee. - standard.co.uk

www.standard.co.uk

NY Times head accuses BBC chief of misleading parliament - Reuters

The scale of the severance payments, many of them made as austerity cuts swept Britain, angered politicians and members of the public, who fund the broadcaster through a compulsory license fee. He stepped down to take responsibility for a BBC news report which falsely accused a former senior politician of child abuse and allegations the corporation covered up decades of sex abuse by one of its late stars, Jimmy Savile. A National Audit Office report found a string of huge payments were made to departing executives who were not always entitled to the money. - uk.reuters.com

uk.reuters.com

DTG :: News :: Comux selects Ericsson for delivery of local TV services in the UK

A further 30 licenses for local TV are under consideration for launch in 2014/15. After a thorough evaluation of a number of compression platforms, carried out jointly with our systems integrator Techex, the Ericsson AVP 4000 solution delivered the performance and support package that best meets our needs. - dtg.org.uk

dtg.org.uk

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/bbc-trusts-lord-patten-responds-to-mark-thompsons-accusations-that-he-m

Mr Byford departed with a total payout of 949,000 and Ms Baylay's settlement was worth 394,638. - independent.co.uk

www.independent.co.uk

Ariel - Daly is proudest of Rough Justice case

White was jailed in 2002 for the murder, while his friend Keith Hyatt was found guilty of perverting the course of justice. Their two-year inquiry resulted in a 2005 film that discredited the prosecution's claims - based on the views of a forensic expert - that it was likely that Manning's body had been transported in Hyatt's van. 'No greater honour' The pair were subsequently freed by the Court of Appeal in 2007. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

BBC payoffs: written evidence to MPs - full text - Media - theguardian.com

-

www.theguardian.com

BBC HR chief corrects evidence to MPs on executive's £1m payoff - Media - theguardian.com

In a letter made public on Friday, Adams said it was not clear which document the committee was referring to at the time. The BBC Trust has since claimed not to have been fully briefed on these redundancy deals. In one email exchange, Adams is asked to give advice on changes to the briefing note requested by the BBC Trust. - theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

BBC News - Ex-BBC chief Thompson accuses BBC Trust of misleading MPs

Mark Thompson says he has emails which show that trust members, including the chairman Lord Patten and a senior BBC boss, approved the payments. The BBC has been criticised for paying 2m more than contracts necessitated. The BBC Trust says the claims are bizarre and it denied MPs were misled. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

Lord Patten, Mark Thompson and BBC payoffs: what you need to know - Media - theguardian.com

Earlier this week, the National Audit Office revealed that the BBC paid out a total of 2.9m to former bosses that went beyond contractual entitlement between 2006 and 2012. Lord Patten has been chairman of the BBC Trust since 1 May 2011. Anthony Fry is a member of the BBC Trust. - theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

BBC Trust: Mark Thompson s claims are bizarre - ITV News

33 minutes ago 130 vehicles in 'biggest fog accident' in the UK The New Sheppey Crossing bridge has re-opened after the largest ever fog-related crash in Britain. - itv.com

www.itv.com

Chris Patten 'misled parliament over BBC payoffs' - Media - The Guardian

Thompson said that Patten knew in 2011 that both had received settlements of more than they were contractually entitled to, and their formal notice of departure was delayed. The public spending watchdog revealed this year that the BBC paid 25m to 150 departing bosses between 2009 and 2012. This week after further scrutiny of the BBC accounts, the NAO said the broadcaster paid out a total of 2.9m in payments that went beyond contractual entitlement between 2006 and 2012. - theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

Simple.TV partners with SiliconDust: new hardware, 2.0 software update on the way - IFA - CNET Reviews

The new box ditches the curvy, white look of the original Simple.TV, opting for a somewhat smaller footprint and more conventional, black set-top box design. The big hardware upgrade is dual-tuner support, which opens up a lot of convenient functionality, such as the ability to record two shows at once or watch one live show while another is recording. A significant software update is also on the way, dubbed Version 2.0, which will be available on the new box and the existing Simple.TV hardware. - reviews.cnet.com

reviews.cnet.com

BBC was in 'total chaos' over payoffs, says leading MP - Media - theguardian.com

Margaret Hodge the public accounts committee chair will question current and former BBC executives about payoffs on Monday. The former deputy director general received just over 1m when he left in 2011, although Thompson at the time feared it could be as much as 2.5m. To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. - theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

BBC - Blogs - Internet blog - BBC iPlayer Video Downloads for Android

One of these was to deliver mobile video downloads to these devices. This is because these devices are able to provide the appropriate level of protection for our programmes. Our figures show this will mean 70 of Android app users with compatible devices will be able to use this functionality from today and over the coming months we will be extending this to include new Android devices as well as some older ones. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

Media Talk podcast: Spotify, the Sun, ITV News, MediaGuardian 100

download.guardian.co.uk

Sony betting big on 4K, launches Video Unlimited 4K download service Tech News and Analysis

Technology is a fickle mistress and no-company knows it better than Sony. There was a time when its television sets were a fixture in every upwardly mobile household. Sony game consoles were on every teenage boys Christmas wish-list and many of us grew up plugging into the Sony Walkman. - gigaom.com

gigaom.com

Media: BBC severance pay; reporting the Scottish referendum; political interviewing

downloads.bbc.co.uk

BBC agreed to fund £687k payoff after executive's move to commercial arm - Media - theguardian.com

Jana Bennett 687,333 redundancy payment was funded by the BBC, but later repaid by its Worldwide arm. BBC Worldwide later repaid the 687,333 redundancy money to the corporation's licence fee-funded public service arm. Jana Bennett, the executive in question, was unaware her redundancy payoff was initially funded by the licence fee. - theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

Local TV steps up activity ahead of launch - Media - theguardian.com

This was far in excess of the tiny budgets most of the smaller operators were planning, and other local TV pioneers in the room looked shocked. Local TV might be a way to try out new acts. Estuary TV has grown out of a community TV station that has been operated since 2001 by the Grimsby Institute, which uses it to train its media students. - theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

DTG :: News :: HDMI Forum releases Version 2.0 of HDMI Specification

The HDMI Forum currently has a membership of 88 companies. DTG Staff 04.09.2013 Links open in a new window. - dtg.org.uk

dtg.org.uk

Ofcom - Radio Broadcast Update August 2013

Yorkshire Addition of Reading 107 a locally-oriented, broad music and information station for 25-54 year olds in the Reading area. a service devoted to playing rock music with attitude designed to appeal to 15-34 year olds. Birmingham Addition of Heart - a melodic adult contemporary music-led service for 25-44 year old West Midlanders, supplemented with news, information and entertainment. - licensing.ofcom.org.uk

licensing.ofcom.org.uk

Ofcom - Television Broadcast Licensing Update August 2013

Television services that have ceased to be licensed handed back or revoked in this period The following services are no longer licensed. The relevant licence is either no longer required by the licensee so has been handed back, or the service has been removed from a licence covering multiple services, or revoked as a matter of routine usually for non-payment of the annual licence fee. Licence transfers The following licences have been transferred to a new company who is now the legal licensee. - licensing.ofcom.org.uk

licensing.ofcom.org.uk

Television woes for thousands of people - News - North Devon Gazette

Bideford television repairman Andrew Harding, who owns FixIt in Bideford, said he had received more than 400 calls about the problem from disgruntled Freeview viewers in the last month. Television repairman Andrew Harding, who owns FixIt in Bideford, said he has been losing sleep over the amount of calls he has received. He said I must have had in excess of around 400 calls about the problem from disgruntled television viewers in the last month. - northdevongazette.co.uk

www.northdevongazette.co.uk

Ariel - BBC brings in redundancy cap for all

3 September 2013 Last updated at 1404 Redundancy payments for all staff will be capped at 150,000 from next month. Employees will be entitled to redundancy of one month's pay for each year of service up to a maximum of 24 months' salary or 12 for those who joined after January 1 2013 or 150,000 - whichever is lower. The BBC had previously proposed to limit accrual to 12 years' service and to freeze it for those who had been at the BBC longer than 12 years. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

Geoff Hill appointed editor of ITV News - Media - theguardian.com

Hill returns to the network news bulletin he left in 2007 and takes to the editor's chair in place of Deborah Turness, the former boss who took over NBC News last month. He went on to launch and run the 24-hour sports news channel Setanta Sports News as editor-in-chief. He is an inspiring, creative leader who news teams love working for. - theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

The Deal That Makes No Sense - stratēchery by Ben Thompson

Early this morning Microsoft acquired Nokia for 3.79 billion plus 1.65 billion for patents. It is far better to form an alliance or partnership most of the benefits, none of the costs. A partnership similar, in fact, to the one formed just two years ago between Microsoft and Nokia. - stratechery.com

stratechery.com

Microsoft to buy Nokias devices, services unit for $7.2B - ZDNet

The deal is set to go ahead for about 5 billion 3.79bn, with an additional 2.17 billion 1.65bn to be spent on licensing Nokia's patents. The boards of both companies agreed to the transaction, which will see the Redmond, Washington-based software giant purchase the Espoo, Finland-based company's phone making unit and patents, and license and use its mapping services. The news comes a few weeks after a Wall Street Journal report claimed that Microsoft was looking to buy Nokia, but discussions broke down. - zdnet.com

www.zdnet.com

CBS and Time Warner Cable reach deal, finally end month-long blackout - The Verge

-

www.theverge.com

BBC Newsnight should brace for change as Ian Katz takes over - Media - theguardian.com

Ian Katz, the new editor of Newsnight, takes over a show still recovering from the Jimmy Savile scandal. Which probably tells you more about the Guardian and the BBC than it does about Katz. He edited the Guardian's G2 features supplement with its uniquely angled approach to big issues and stories during what many colleagues regard as a golden period. - theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

DTG :: News :: Sky conducts ultra-HD test broadcast

The broadcast also demonstrated the capability of our satellite platform, which is ideally placed to continue supporting high-bandwidth video. That said, we've still much more to learn, particularly about how to make full use of UHD from a live production perspective. - dtg.org.uk

dtg.org.uk

Radio Today - Feature: Radio news comparison 1998-2013

In 1998, as part of his A-level English coursework, then-budding broadcast journalist Stuart Clarkson recorded and analysed news bulletins from 8 different radio stations. As the 15th anniversary of his recordings approached, he dug them out for Radio Today and has recorded the same stations again, 15 years to the minute later. Its approaching 5pm on Friday 28th August 1998 and in every room of the house where I grew up theres a radio-cassette machine on record-pause, ready to spring into life. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

Ariel - Britton to be Somerset breakfast host

The current mid-morning presenter, who joined the station in 2003, will move to the earlier slot from September 9. Her appointment comes a week after Tony Hall's announcement that he wants 50 of local stations to have female breakfast show presenters - either solo or as part of a team - by the end of next year. Seven other women are part of double-headed teams. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

BBC - Blogs - Internet blog - What’s on BBC Red Button 31 August – 7 September

Get your dancing shoes on for a busy week on Red Button Theres something for everyone as we take you behind the scenes at the launch of Strictly Come Dancing 2013 as Lisa Riley interviews this years participating celebrities. Well have the latest news on an exciting football transfer deadline day and relive a summer of live music with BBC Asian Network. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

Ariel - Trust suggests rethink on Twitter

Later, it became apparent that the statement - which Davies said was based on information from Gaza health officials - was not true, prompting a complaint first to the BBC and then to the trust. Better to attribute source The trustees judged that while the health officials were an 'appropriate' source for journalists, the tweet had gone beyond their assessment that 'more than half' of the Palestinians who had been killed were civilians. They also believed it would have been 'good practice' to attribute the claim, although they accepted that this could be difficult within Twitter's 140 character constraint. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

DTG :: News :: VuTV pay streaming service coming to Freeview HD

VuTV, a new subscription service, will launch this autumn giving internet-connected Freeview HD viewers access to a range of premium channels. Unlike traditional pay-TV providers, VuTV aims to offer premium channels for a low, monthly subscription, with no long-term contract. - dtg.org.uk

dtg.org.uk

Radio Today - Double-blow for Kerrang! Radio listeners

Listeners in parts of the West Midlands are expressing their anger at Kerrang Radio being removed from their radios for a second time. However, with the removal of the regional MXR, Kerrang moved to the local Birmingham multiplex, which doesnt cover the entire region. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

Sky+ HD Boxes With WiFi and 2TB of Storage Now Available

Existing customers that havent previously used the On Demand service can get a free connector sent out allowing them to set it up for the first time. Sky says that customers with an HD subscription package or an Entertainment Extra package can get a new box for free. A Sky spokeswoman told The Next Web that all new Sky customers will receive the new boxes and that existing customers could get the new boxes from 49. - thenextweb.com

thenextweb.com

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/radio-research/Software-DAB-Research.pdf

- stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk

stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk

Media Talk podcast: can Lord Hall nudge the BBC to gender equality?

download.guardian.co.uk

Hall promises end of BBC finger pointing - News - Broadcast

Tony Hall is bidding to end the BBC’s internal blame game and boost the confidence of programme- makers to give it back its “creative bounce”. The director general used his surprise appearance at the Edinburgh International Television Festival to preface his plans for improving the BBC’s culture following a series of scandals. - broadcastnow.co.uk

www.broadcastnow.co.uk

I was, uh, wrong: Chromecast does what Google claims

Now that I have my own Chromecast and have been playing with it for a few days I have to admit I was wrong. Chromecast appears to be every bit as good as Google claims. Thats not to say its perfect more below but pretty darned good. - betanews.com

betanews.com

Media: Women on Breakfast

downloads.bbc.co.uk

David Blunkett accuses broadcasters of failing deaf and blind people - Politics - The Guardian

Labour's former home secretary David Blunkett, who has criticised broadcasters. Photograph Ian West/PA David Blunkett believes broadcasters are failing deaf and blind people by using garbled subtitles and by being reluctant to dub foreign programmes. He also complained that blind people were left frustrated when foreign dramas and documentaries were not dubbed. - theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

BBC expenses fall, but key members of top brass still get plenty of free rides - Media - theguardian.com

No free lunches external hospitality at the BBC was down 47 quarter on quarter. There was bad news for those looking for a free lunch from the Beeb, with external hospitality down 47 quarter on quarter to 13,396. However, staff looking for a free beer from their boss did a little better, with internal hospitality spend up 10 to 7,764. - theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

BBC News - BBC director general Tony Hall to cut bureaucracy

Lord Hall also said he wanted to see more women on screen and in senior roles. He also pledged to recruit more people from black and ethnic minority backgrounds. - bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

Radio Today - Regional DAB turned off in West Midlands

The MXR regional digital radio multiplex for the West Midlands is being turned off today, after 12 years on-air. The Bromsgrove transmitter frequency block will transfer over to MuxCo Herefordshire and Worcestershire from September 2013. Listener choice will be significantly reduced once again, following recent switch-offs in South Wales and the North East. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

How the Time Warner Cable, CBS Standoff Could Set the TV Standard - The Hollywood Reporter

As the fall season approaches, CBS leverage grows. When cable and satellite distributors start losing customers, they have a history of caving in. In its view, CBS already has a financial buffer because it can use the free government-provided spectrum to reach audiences who dont subscribe to cable. - hollywoodreporter.com

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Broadcasters Up Their Attack on Aereo-Like FilmOnX - TheWrap TV

In the D.C. suit, set for a hearing Sept. 20, both FilmOnX and the broadcasters have cited favorable court rulings. FilmOnX engages in copyright infringement, said the filing. Neither system pays the retransmission fees that cable systems pay to offer broadcast channels on their systems. - thewrap.com

www.thewrap.com