Great things to read about British TV from March 2008 to today

Tuesday 30 August 2011, AM

The original Media UK

What did the first version of Media UK look like Starting in 1994, Media UK was hosted on a CompuServe forum. It's available from him via e-mail, via anonymous ftp at ftp.std.com as /customers/periodicals/Middlesex-News/medialist, or via the WWW at http//cwis.usc.edu/dept/etc/media/. - mediauk.com

www.mediauk.com

How Google plans to change the way you watch TV Online Video News

Reading the transcript or watching a video of the lecture Schmidts speech starts about 36 minutes in, you get the feeling that this is no less than a manifesto, not just on the way things will be but also on the way they should be. The message to broadcasters, in light of this, seems to be that they can either get on board with technological change or risk being left behind. And, given the on-demand way that viewers are increasingly viewing content through prerecorded shows on their DVRs, video-on-demand selections through their cable provider or streaming on the Internet there needs to be a way to sort through those content choices. - gigaom.com

gigaom.com

Sunday 28 August 2011, PM

TV advertisers tighten their belts again - Media - The Guardian

However, the bad news for commercial broadcasters is that after a slow summer for TV advertising, there are signs of further belt-tightening by advertisers against a backdrop of turmoil in financial markets, faltering economic recovery in Europe and the US, and even the negative sentiment resulting from the recent riots across England. Nevertheless, ad space during The X Factor is selling for at least 5 less than last year at about 150,000 for a 30-second spot which could cost the show as much as 12m in ad spend. Last weekend's launch show was 15 minutes shorter than last year meaning it ran with one less ad break of 3.5 minutes which cost ITV at least an additional 500,000 in ad spend. - guardian.co.uk

Labour seeks law change to stop News Corp renewing BSkyB bid - Media - The Guardian

Labour's proposals would prevent Rupert Murdoch renewing his BSkyB bid until the outcome of the Leveson inquiry. In a move designed to capitalise on the embarrassment the phone-hacking scandal has heaped on the government, Labour said there was still a possibility that Rupert Murdoch could reopen his bid and the law should be changed to allow ministers to block it. He has written to the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, and the Lib Dem culture spokesman, Don Foster, with his proposals. - guardian.co.uk

Media Monkey's Edinburgh diary - Media - The Guardian

Alas Google's in-house airliner was unavailable to bring chairman Eric Schmidt to Edinburgh. He had to resort to a British Airways flight to bring him to London before catching the train to Edinburgh presumably not in standard class. The Channel 4 chief executive, David Abraham, was rather more settled in his role with the broadcaster at this year's Edinburgh than he was last year, when he had been in the job for just a matter of months. - guardian.co.uk

Google crashes TV's Edinburgh party - Media - The Guardian

There are three things the TV executive audience have come to expect from the annual MacTaggart lecture the pantomime of an inter-industry dispute, an intellectual appreciation of the past year's achievements and a warm glow of self-congratulation derived from being an industry that still matters, despite everything. Even before Google's executive chairman had taken to the stage, there were mutteringsfrom festival veterans that his would be the most anodyne MacTaggart ever, that he was miscast as keynote speaker, that this was tech tokenism taken a step too far. What Schmidt did deliver was a carefully crafted lecture designed to boost Google's intellectual credibility, and give much-needed depth to the debate around the role of technology firms in the media industry's future. - guardian.co.uk

Half of BBC cuts will come from programme and content budgets - Media - guardian.co.uk

For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook. - guardian.co.uk

www.advanced-television.com

Talk Talk chief executive Dido Harding says group is ready to listen to its customers - Telegraph

The award citation claimed that Talk Talk operatives were rude and aggressive, charged for services that hadn't been supplied and didn't return customers' calls. No wonder Harding, 42, is making her presence known, taking over customer calls in Talk Talk's Nottingham contact centre last week. That's fine too because then I will do a better job of fixing such problems for other customers. - telegraph.co.uk

www.telegraph.co.uk

Schmidt hints at reboot for Google TV - FT.com

Google TV, the search companys troubled internet-television service, will soon be getting a reboot, its executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, hinted on Saturday. Mr Schmidt admitted that the first version of Google TV, which was released last autumn, has not been a huge success, something he blamed on long TV product replacement cycles and the fact that it was a beta or test version. Google typically brings out beta versions, and theyre not for the faint of heart, and I think thats what you saw. - ft.com

www.ft.com

Google TV 'is nothing new' - Advanced Television

He confirmed that Google TV would launch in Europe early next year with the UK among the top priorities. His comments apply especially to European viewers who have some sort of catch-up TV/broadband service. So, really it is just designed as an add-on rich-media environment for anyone using a basic Freeview or Freesat box one of the ones that doesnt have Internet connectivity. - advanced-television.com

Friday 26 August 2011, PM

Government calls for Virgin Media to support local TV

The government is calling for Virgin Media to use its internet-enabled television platforms to give greater exposure to local TV services. Earlier this month, Ofcom identified 65 towns and cities across the UK to lead the national rollout of local digital TV broadcasting. - cable.co.uk

www.cable.co.uk

Broadcaster buy-in is vital to Google TVâ€™s success, say experts - News - New Media Age

new media age gives you practical, expert knowledge on how to demystify the latest digital trends and make them work for your business. Sorry, were not currently accepting new online subscriptions to nma.co.uk. - nma.co.uk

www.nma.co.uk

Google: regulation is crippling British TV - News - Broadcast

Includes full speech It takes just 2 minutes and offers full, instant access to the Broadcast website along with a copy of the magazine delivered every week. - broadcastnow.co.uk

BBC News - Googles Eric Schmidt criticises education in the UK

Dr Schmidt said the UK needed to reignite children's passion for science, engineering and maths. Dr Schmidt told the audience of broadcasters and producers that Britain had invented many items but were no longer the world's leading exponents in these fields. Dr Schmidt said the internet was transforming television, even though people still spent much more time with TV than the web. - bbc.co.uk

Eric Schmidt's MacTaggart lecture - full text - Media - guardian.co.uk

Eric Schmidt, chairman of Google, condemns British education system - Technology - The Guardian

Link to this video The chairman of Google has delivered a devastating critique of the UK's education system and said the country had failed to capitalise on its record of innovation in science and engineering. However, he said the UK had failed to build industry-leading positions or successfully transfer ideas from the drawing board to the boardroom. He defended the company's contribution to the TV industry, pointing out that it had invested billions of dollars in IT infrastructure that media companies use. - guardian.co.uk

Eric Schmidt's MacTaggart lecture - live video - Media - guardian.co.uk

Watch the Google chief executive deliver the keynote speech from the 2011 Edinburgh TV festival live from 6.45pm on 26 August. - guardian.co.uk

Channel 4 and ITV challenge Sky over data it gleans about their shows - Media - guardian.co.uk

Abraham said that, as public service broadcasters, Channel 4 and the BBC had a responsibility to lead the way in being clear with how their data is used. Our duty as a commercial broadcaster is to see what consumers will pay for and that comes down to data. Vaizey said he wanted to see transparency in how data is used. - guardian.co.uk

Can Android apps save Google TV?

Google TV, an ambitious project to bring Google's powerful search tools and targeted advertisement to the television screens of America and eventually the UK, has been something of a commercial dud. Logitech's Revue set-top box, the first Google TV device to hit the market just short of one year ago has dropped in price by a whopping 60 to try to spur consumer adoption. Part of the optimism for the platform comes from its nascent ability to run Android apps, and consumer tech companies have been jockeying to get a strong TV-based app ecosystem in place for years. - betanews.com

betanews.com

BBC - BBC Internet Blog: Changes to BBC services on satellite and cable this autumn

Satellite dishes in Tower Hamlets, London We're planning to make some changes to our satellite transponder line-up in about a months time. For the vast majority of viewers, these changes should occur seamlessly and require no intervention. However, a few of you may need to switch your receiver off and on again or retune it in order to continue to receive all of the BBC services available to you. - bbc.co.uk

Google TV Coming to the UK Finally! AndroidGuys

Ok so even though our reader base is predominately US based, Im from the UK so feel obliged to be the one getting excited over this Even though Google TV hasnt been the raging success that Google would have liked, its update to Honeycomb bringing apps along for the ride make it a much better prospect. Although 6 months is quite a long time at least we know it is coming, and it stops me doing something stupid like buying an Apple TV. - androidguys.com

www.androidguys.com

BBC4 chief: we are not going to be axed - Media - guardian.co.uk

Will BBC4 face some consequences of the BBC-wide reduction in our funding of 20 An online Save BBC4 petition, launched earlier this month after MediaGuardian.co.uk reported that the channel was facing cuts, has attracted more than 18,000 signatures in 10 days. The Spies of Warsaw spans the decade from 1933, against a backdrop of Nazi Germany expanded its power and influence across Europe and eventually provoking the outbreak of the second world war with its invasion of Poland. - guardian.co.uk

MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival - News

Dr. Schmidt comments Its a great honour to be invited to give the MacTaggart lecture the previous speakers are all incredibly impressive. Under his leadership, Google dramatically scaled its infrastructure and diversified its product offerings while maintaining a strong culture of innovation. The MacTaggart Lecture will take place on Friday 26th August 2011 at 6.45pm. - mgeitf.co.uk

www.mgeitf.co.uk

Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival

live.mgeitf.co.uk

BBC - About the BBC: The Edinburgh TV Festival - a word from the Chair

Channel 4 revamps 4oD on Channel4.com

Channel 4's catch-up TV service, 4oD on Channel4.com, has been rebuilt to include a host of new features to enhance the user experience. New features include predictive search and viewer driven recommendations. The new 4oD will also include My 4oD', where registered users can create playlists of episodes, keep track of episodes they've watched or started watching and get in-page reminders from Channel 4 whenever a new 4oD episode is available for them to watch. - dtg.org.uk

www.dtg.org.uk

BBC R

www.dtg.org.uk

Google TV gets set for UK launch?

C21Media.net is Everything about content in the 21st Century, from television to web, mobile, tablet and beyond. - c21media.net

www.c21media.net

Friday 26 August 2011, AM

Hunt urges Virgin and YouView to support local TV - News - Broadcast

It takes just 2 minutes and offers full, instant access to the Broadcast website along with a copy of the magazine delivered every week. - broadcastnow.co.uk

The Expendables Makers Dismiss Massive BitTorrent Lawsuit - TorrentFreak

The makers of The Expendables have voluntarily dismissed their case against 23,322 alleged BitTorrent users who they accused of illegally downloading and sharing their film. This means that the once-largest BitTorrent lawsuit ever is finally over, and it could signal the beginning of the end for the entire scheme. Their example was soon followed by other law firms, representing dozens of copyright holders, who saw an opportunity to convert instances of piracy into a healthy revenue stream. - torrentfreak.com

torrentfreak.com

Thursday 25 August 2011, PM

Eric Schmidt's MacTaggart lecture to be streamed live on YouTube - Media - guardian.co.uk

Schmidt, who stepped down as chief executive of the internet giant in January, is expected to tell delegates that Google needs the content industry in order to thrive. To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editormediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. - guardian.co.uk

Ariel - Technology experts to demonstrate latest specification

25 August 2011 Last updated at 1305 BBC Research Development is to conduct its first public demonstration of a new technology standard that promises to transform the experience of watching programmes on the move. The new profile can be mixed with conventional T2 signals in a single multiplex, providing a T2-Lite component that could give audiences a reliable 'TV or radio experience' on their handheld devices such as the one pictured. This is the leading global trade show and conference for people involved in the delivery of broadcasting media and entertainment and an event at which the BBC has always had a strong presence. - bbc.co.uk

iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk

Cambridge internet TV stationâ€™s bid for Government cash - News - Cambridge First

www.cambridgefirst.co.uk

BBC iPlayer - Help - What do I need to know about HD on BBC iPlayer?

We recommendyou watch HD content in Full Screen for the best possible experience. We use h.264 with a bitrate of 3.2Mbps and 192kbps audio, which means that streaming and downloading will put demands on your network connection and computer's graphics processing. We recommend then that you have a A modern computer with a graphics card and processor than can handle the graphics, otherwise playback will be choppy An internet connection fast enough to allow 3.2Mbps playback. - iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk

Cable Forum: Virgin Media and BT named and shamed over sub-standard road repairs

The Roads Authorities and Utilities Committee, which examines the standard of roadworks undertaken by utility companies and local councils across Scotland, found that 26 of all road repairs failed the grade. Virgin Media and BT were jointly named and shamed for having the worst performance of all 37 of road repairs undertaken by them were judged substandard. The state of the roads has been a hot topic in Scotland for nine years, since a nationwide survey found 56 of all road repairs to be below acceptable standards. - cableforum.co.uk

www.cableforum.co.uk

STV to launch Scottish Newsnight - News - Broadcast

It takes just 2 minutes and offers full, instant access to the Broadcast website along with a copy of the magazine delivered every week. - broadcastnow.co.uk

Ariel - DG points to irony of Sky chairmans Edinburgh speech

We do however sometimes break the rules in what we take to be the public interest the Bristol care home investigation for example.' If regulation could be simplified, then it should be, Thompson believes. Further, the BBC's new licence fee settlement means that there will be significant outright reductions to its scope. David Cameron's claim 'The case against the BBC for narrowing news plurality is, if anything, even less promising. - bbc.co.uk

BBC - Press Office - BBC Research Development demonstrates DVB-T2-Lite

The profile can be mixed with conventional T2 signals in a single multiplex, to allow separate optimisation of the individual components and also to reuse the existing broadcast transmitter infrastructure. Using this new profile live broadcasts can be delivered to multiple audience members without major investment in the already existing infrastructure. For these transmissions BBC RD have developed their own T2-lite modulator and demodulator. - bbc.co.uk

STV to reinstate dividend payments after solid results - Media - guardian.co.uk

Taggart STV expects Scottish TV revenues to be down 18 year on year in the third quarter. STV has reported an underlying pre-tax profit up 8 year on year to 6.5m in the first half of the year. Total revenues dipped slightly to 47.2m, in part due to tough comparisons with the World Cup advertising bonanza last year. - guardian.co.uk

YouView broadband TV service 'expected to fail' - uSwitch.com

The YouView IPTV service may struggle to attract customers when it finally launches, a new study has suggested. Simon Murray, the report's author, noted that digital TV penetration has almost reached saturation point as it exceeds 95 per cent. Services are scheduled to launch during the first half of next year, but according to Digital TV Research, this could prove to be too little, too late. - uswitch.com

www.uswitch.com

UK evolves into HD hothouse - News - Rapid TV News

The outcome should be that nearly a quarter 23 of the world's primary TV sets will be HD-ready by the end of 2011. Thomas attributes the UK lag to the popularity of Freeview which is forecast to have only around half of its users watching HD programming by 2016. According to the data, by the end of 2016 TV services in several countries will be approaching the point where most, if not all, of their users are watching HD content. - rapidtvnews.com

www.rapidtvnews.com

Thursday 25 August 2011, AM

Hunt could drop N+R quotas - News - Broadcast

It takes just 2 minutes and offers full, instant access to the Broadcast website along with a copy of the magazine delivered every week. - broadcastnow.co.uk

www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk

Time to retune for TV switchover - Community - Derbyshire Times

ALL analogue TV channels in Chesterfield were switched off for good today, signalling the dawn of an all-digital era for more than 153,000 households. The services have moved to new frequencies and can be restored by retuning Freeview TVs and boxes.1 Viewers in some areas may also find their digital TVs or boxes load more than one regional service. Homes watching the main Sheffield transmitter will need to retune again on 27 September to continue receiving all available channels. - derbyshiretimes.co.uk

Wednesday 24 August 2011, PM

Why James Murdoch is wrong about the BBC - Mark Thompson - Comment is free - The Guardian

This is the week of the MacTaggart lecture that ancient religious ritual which each August summons British television's scattered faithful to Edinburgh to talk shop, drink responsibly, and hear an assortment of fatwahs, imprecations and misty-eyed visions from that year's chosen prophet. It's a phrase which sums up his entire case that all forms of public intervention in and regulation of media are both morally reprehensible and practically useless, and that it is the market alone which can deliver brave, worthwhile, independent journalism. There is no good reason why privately owned and run papers should be held to the same content requirements or accountability as broadcasters who reach very large proportions of the public and who, in the case of the BBC, are paid for by everyone. - guardian.co.uk