Thursday 24 March 2011, PM
Media: 24 Mar 11: BBC cuts
downloads.bbc.co.ukSky 'changes its mind on YouView' - Telegraph
Lord Sugar has only been in the job of non-executive chairman for two weeks, but has already created a stir with his hands-on approach at the 150-strong company based in the BBCs offices. Lord Sugar will either cure or kill off YouView. He has been brought on board by Richard Desmond the owner of Channel Five to cut through all the nonsense which has been continually delaying the launch and actually get the thing to work and be on sale as soon as possible, said on senior TV executive. - telegraph.co.ukwww.telegraph.co.ukBSkyB makes U-turn over YouView - Media - guardian.co.uk
Later this year, the broadcaster is launching Sky Anywhere, combining access to its Sky Player and Sky Mobile services and allowing subscribers to watch its video content on a variety of smartphone, tablet and other mobile devices. 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.ukwww.guardian.co.ukSky listed among YouView content providers - News - TechRadar UK
- techradar.comwww.techradar.comThursday 24 March 2011, AM
The number is up for the BBC's National Lottery draw - Business News, Business - The Independent
The BBC is almost certain not to bid for a renewal of the right to screen live National Lottery draws when the contract comes up next year. The corporation is searching for more ways to slash its costs and its six-year contract with the lottery operator, Camelot, expires at the end of December 2012. A spokeswoman for the BBC said it was committed to live draws until the end of 2012. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukWednesday 23 March 2011, PM
BSkyB sets its lawyers on Virgin Media - Telegraph
In the letter Sky gave Virgin eight hours to take down the campaign before contacting the ASA. A Virgin spokesman said the campaign was designed to highlight consumer dissatisfaction with broadband speeds that appeared to be much slower than those advertised. Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, recently found that average broadband speeds are less than half the average advertised speed. - telegraph.co.ukwww.telegraph.co.ukBBC cuts could hit drama
C21Media.net is Everything about content in the 21st Century, from television to web, mobile, tablet and beyond. - c21media.netwww.c21media.netOfcom relishing Google vs Sky vs YouView - News - TechRadar UK
- techradar.comwww.techradar.comAdam Crozier: ITV embracing digital but traditional TV still vital - Media - guardian.co.uk
Crozier said almost half of those watching the show on TV are also using Facebook or Twitter at the same time. However, Crozier used the show as an example of how some programmes perform better than others online in what was otherwise a defence of traditional TV viewing. ITV's long-awaited micropayments platform will be unveiled later this year, he added. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukBBC - Research and Development: Building applications on large datasets
Recently there's been a lot of discussion in the technology scene about open-data and ways of working with large datasets. A recent high profile story was the UK government's data.gov.uk project, which aims to make reams of public data accessible on-line in electronic form. The opening up of this data suggests many possible use-cases. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukBBC - About the BBC: BBC milestone moments
- www.bbc.co.ukOTTTV viewers to outnumber IPTV viewers in 2013
Informa forecasts that by 2015, 380 million people globally will view online video via connected devices such as TVs, games consoles or set-top boxes from the likes of Apple and Google. According to Informa, this growth will be driven by the popularity of services such as BBC iPlayer and Netflix. Its abundantly clear that viewing online video via connected devices will be both a long-term and mass-market activity. - dtg.org.ukwww.dtg.org.ukLord Sugar strives to sweeten YouView - News - THE DRUM - Advertising, Design, Media, Marketing, Digital, PR - News, Inf
Read more Press Gazette, the print trade title for UK journalists, has announced it is axing its quarterly print edition in favor of focusing its resources on a weekly digital edition, iPhone app and website. Read more International - 05/01/2013 Metro has revealed the figures from its activity during the Christmas period, seeing a notable rise in traffic to Metro.co.uk via mobile devices.... Read more Online voucher and daily deal specialist DiscountVouchers.co.uk has found that the people of Birmingham are the most committed to self-improvement. - thedrum.co.ukwww.thedrum.co.ukDigital TV switchover answers - Gloucestershire news
Switchover is the process of converting the UK's terrestrial television system to digital. Between now and 2012, analogue channels broadcast from more than 1,000 transmitter sites are being switched off region by region and replaced with Freeview digital TV and radio services. Switching off the existing analogue broadcasting system will create the capacity necessary to extend coverage to the whole country. - thisisgloucestershire.co.ukwww.thisisgloucestershire.co.ukWednesday 23 March 2011, AM
UK Internet TV service YouView could be killed off before launch
The service was originally due to launch last year, wasrescheduled for 2011 and is nowdelayed until next year. Creating a working and affordable YouView box for retail is reportedly proving a challenge to the team behind the YouView. - thenextweb.comthenextweb.comLeading article: BBC savings have to come from somewhere - Leading Articles, Opinion - The Independ
When, a year ago, the BBC announced it would cut the digital radio station 6 Music, a public campaign succeeded in saving it from the guillotine. BBC Asian Network, which was threatened with closure at the same time, received its reprieve this month. He may be happy that audiences will rally around their favourite services to save them from the knife, generating publicity and an outpouring of public support for BBC content. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukThe big turn-off: BBC set to cut chat and property shows as budget cuts bite - TV Radio, Media -
With inflation expected to eat into the BBC licence fee, frozen at 145.50 until the end of 2016, the corporation has promised to deliver efficiency savings of 20 per cent. Mark Thompson, the BBC Director General, outlined a series of possible reductions to services, designed to protect the prime-time programming that he believes is most valued by viewers. Screens could go blank or once again be filled with pages from a revived Ceefax. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukTuesday 22 March 2011, PM
Lord Sugar to 'cure or kill' YouView - Telegraph
Meek, who has held several other senior broadcast and telecoms roles, including a stint on the board of directors at the controversial online advertising company Phorm, explained his unexpected departure It has been apparent for some time that the YouView board would benefit from additional expertise in consumer marketing and technology delivery. As the venture progresses towards launch, the change in Chairman makes sense. - telegraph.co.ukwww.telegraph.co.ukFetchTV delivers HD UI - Broadband TV News
IP Vision has unveiled a new high definition user interface for its FetchTV over-the-top platform. David Bloom, IP Visions commercial director, said The user interface is critical to an operators ability to communicate with audiences. - broadbandtvnews.comwww.broadbandtvnews.comTELEVISIONS across Derbyshire will need to be re-tuned next week, while some analogue sets will lose BBC2 for good.
Almost one million homes that receive their signal through the Waltham and Nottingham transmitters, including those in Derby, Ashbourne, Belper and as far north as Matlock, will need to adjust their equipment. The analogue signal in the East Midlands will be turned off for good later this year. Those who have digital TVs will simply have to re-tune to make sure they get all channels. - thisisderbyshire.co.ukwww.thisisderbyshire.co.ukBlackGold BGT3620 review - TV tuners - Reviews - PC Pro
Considering that it arrives in such a tiny black box, barely any bigger than that of a pair of sunglasses, BlackGold's BGT3620 is absolutely feature-packed. The provision of a video input is something of a rarity, the supplied adapter cable adding composite, component and S-Video inputs for hooking up external set-top boxes or older video devices. Theres no bundled software, though we had to download drivers from BlackGolds site, and theres no documentation at all. - pcpro.co.ukwww.pcpro.co.ukHumax Licenses Intertrust Marlin Technology for YouView Set Top Boxes - Business Wire
About Humax Humax is one of the worlds largest manufacturers of digital set-top boxes, exporting its products to over 90 countries across the globe. The company has built a solid reputation as a leading supplier of high quality, feature-rich digital TV products, including digital TV recorders and high definition HD set-top boxes. The company holds over 150 patents and has over 300 patent applications pending worldwide. - businesswire.comwww.businesswire.comStudent questions on the DAB switchover - James Cridland
An email arrives, asking for help with a student project on the DAB switchover. Im a radio guy having worked in radio since 1989. Ive been a radio presenter, and worked in the commercial department of radio writing radio ads and helping sell them. - james.cridland.netjames.cridland.netBBC spent £700,000 on EastEnders episode - TV Radio, Media - The Independent
The BBC spent almost 700,000 on its anniversary half-hour live episode of EastEnders last year, a new report has revealed. Corporation bosses earmarked an extra half a million pounds - over and above normal costs - to fund the 25th anniversary programme. It found the cost of six key dramas, including EastEnders and Casualty, has reduced by a fifth in real terms over the past eight years. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukBBC - Press Office - Tim Davie announces plan for BBC Radio independent commissioning process
The criteria will be based on four areas of expertise Editorial Capability, Technical, Editorial Standards, and Business. The requirements for meeting the criteria include programme making experience knowledge of BBC Guidelines and compliance procedure talent management budgetary expertise and compliance with network specific requirements. The criteria will ensure consistency and transparency across the production and commissioning process for in-house and external BBC productions. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukBBC 'could axe overnight programming' - Media - guardian.co.uk
Thompson suggested that slots used by overnight programming could be taken up by HD shows. 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.ukwww.guardian.co.ukUTV upbeat after 2010 profit rise - Media - guardian.co.uk
UTV's television revenue is expected to be up 8 year on year in the same period, broadly in line with the market, while Irish radio turnover is forecast to be at the same level as the previous year, compared with the overall market being down at least 5. The company reported adjusted pre-tax profits of 21.1m for 2010, up 17 year-on-year, on total revenue up 7 to 120.2m. Profit from continuing operations after tax was 16.4m, up 16 year-on-year. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukBBC Trust - BBC Trust publishes NAO report on the BBC's management of the costs of producing continuing drama
Please visit the BBC Trust homepage to find the information you want. you may have typed the web address incorrectly - please check the spelling, or that there are no spaces or capital letters. Alternatively, please try the other links and search box on this page. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukDTG :: News :: Ofcom to hold 4G mobile auction
Ofcom is to hold the largest ever single auction of additional spectrum for mobile services in the UK, equivalent to three quarters of the mobile spectrum in use today. The new spectrum will provide capacity for the fourth generation 4G of mobile technology, set to deliver significantly faster mobile broadband services approaching todays ADSL home broadband speeds, according to Ofcom. The auction will be for two spectrum bands800 MHz and 2.6 GHz. - dtg.org.ukwww.dtg.org.ukMark Thompson's BBC cuts splurge - Media - guardian.co.uk
There wasn't one of course just a splurge of ideas as Thompson tries to regain something resembling initiative by confirming most of what has leaked into the papers over the past fortnight. Stop overnight programming possibly from as soon as 10.30pm. Add it up and there's more than enough for reporters to cook up a story, but in the easily soiled currency of Fleet Street, this is largely old news. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukC21Media:
C21Media.net is Everything about content in the 21st Century, from television to web, mobile, tablet and beyond. - c21media.netwww.c21media.netBBC - About the BBC: The real value of Continuing Drama
- www.bbc.co.ukWhat is missing from Ofcom's 4G plans - Comment - Broadcast
22 March, 2011 As Ofcom announces that it plans to auction off 4G licences in 2012, Tony Ballard addresses what the proposals fail to consider. 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.ukwww.broadcastnow.co.ukBBC spends 20% less on soaps - Media - guardian.co.uk
In the end the episode cost 696,000, with the difference being made up by economies on subsequent episodes of EastEnders. However, it found that the average audience appreciation scores for the soaps rose, despite the economies, by 6.5. The NAO is concerned the BBC does not have a method of systematic cost benchmarking, to measure the comparative effectiveness of its soap and drama spending. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukBBC may cut overnight programming - TV Radio, Media - The Independent
The BBC could cut back on its overnight programming in a bid to save money. The move, which would affect the schedule between 10.35pm and 6am, is one of the ideas suggested by the corporation's staff in an internal review. The BBC currently spends 150 million a year on overnight programming. - independent.co.ukwww.independent.co.ukMark Thompson's 21 cuts that could be made - Media - guardian.co.uk
Photograph Richard Saker Mark Thompson's presentation to the media featured 21 areas for possible cutbacks. They are listed below Delivering quality first common emerging themes Investing in peak time TV overnight output could we reduce the spend on our overnight programming Daytime on BBC2 could we focus on a richer originated daytime schedule on BBC1 - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukTuesday 22 March 2011, AM
Ofcom - Assessment of future mobile competition and proposals for the award of 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum and related
- stakeholders.ofcom.org.ukOfcom - Ofcom prepares for 4G mobile auction
Ofcom has today announced plans for the largest ever single auction of additional spectrum for mobile services in the UK, equivalent to three quarters of the mobile spectrum in use today and 80 more than the 3G auction which took place in 2000. This spectrum is essential to meet the UKs rapid increase in mobile traffic, fuelled by the growth of smartphones and mobile broadband data services such as video streaming, email, messenger services, mapping services and social networking sites. All of these services depend on spectrum the airwaves that carry information between customers mobile handsets and the internet. - media.ofcom.org.ukmedia.ofcom.org.ukSpin-off of Sky News 'bolsters News Corp' - Telegraph
Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, added that News Corp should fund Sky News under a 10-year carriage agreement. The alliance said the government's proposed merger remedy has done nothing to tackle issues of media plurality in the UK. The opponents believe that Sky News' financial dependence on News Corp will not enable the news broadcaster to have an independent editorial voice. - telegraph.co.ukwww.telegraph.co.ukBBC News - Ofcom to launch next-generation 4G consultations
22 March 2011 Last updated at 1151 ET The telecoms regulator has launched a consultation on how best to sell off the rights to the next generation of mobile wireless networks. The auction of the fourth generation, or 4G, spectrum will be the largest ever, equivalent to three quarters of the mobile spectrum in use today. The last time an auction was held, for 3G in 2000, it raised a record 22.5bn for the Treasury. - bbc.co.ukwww.bbc.co.ukSpun-off Sky News would not be independent, say rivals - Media - The Guardian
Sky News would rely on Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp for 85 of its revenues, the papers say. NewsCorp's holding in Sky News would be capped at 39.1 equivalent to its current ownership of BSkyB for at least 10 years. The newspaper owners and BT had long been unhappy about the bid which, they argue, would lead to the creation of a powerful integrated media group combining more than one in three of every newspapers sold in the UK with the largest broadcaster as measured by turnover. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukMonday 21 March 2011, PM
FT.com / UK / Business - Hunt hints rules could curb media owners
Printed from http//www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7f28bd66-53a9-11e0-a01c-00144feab49a.html Print a single copy of this article for personal use. - ft.comwww.ft.comMajority 'opposed to Murdoch takeover' - 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.ukwww.broadcastnow.co.ukMonday 21 March 2011, AM
Who will be the next director general of the BBC? - Media - The Guardian
It has also alerted the BBC Trust, which appoints the director general, and is considering who might succeed Thompson whenever the time comes. The headhunters in charge of the Vision appointment, insiders say, have been tasked with two objectives to find someone who can follow in Jana Bennett's footsteps and be a credible internal future candidate for director general. Political jousting His reign began in May 2004 after his predecessor Greg Dyke left following the Hutton report. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukJeremy Hunt: Why I did not block News Corporation buyout of BSkyB - Media - The Guardian
The secretary of state for culture, media and sport has just started to train to be a football referee. Immediately his press adviser says she won't be telling newspapers which games he'll be doing this spring later on I'm told that the cabinet minister isn't exactly the sporty type. Hunt is here, giving his first print interview after his preliminary ruling on the News Corp/Sky bid. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukRadio Today.. with RCS: New shows planned for 4 Extra
- radiotoday.co.ukRadio Today.. with RCS: Jazz FM goes national on DAB
- radiotoday.co.ukBBC World Service to sign funding deal with US state department - Media - The Guardian
The US government's investment is intended to help people circumnavigate state censorship. The funding is also expected to be used to educate people in countries with state censorship in how to circumnavigate the blocking of internet and TV services. It is understood the US government has decided the reach of the World Service is such that it makes investment worthwhile. - guardian.co.ukwww.guardian.co.ukSunday 20 March 2011, PM
In-car DAB works. (Shock!) - James Cridland
Shock Posted on Sunday, March 20th, 2011 at 1133 am. In it, they claim high satisfaction levels with in-car DAB radio, following some research. Naturally, Digital Radio UK will cherry-pick the best bits out of the research, so Ive asked them for the complete research to look at it. - james.cridland.netjames.cridland.netSaturday 19 March 2011, PM
Interest grows in Blighty's new local TV network - Entertainment News, TV News, Media - Variety
To reduce risks for the startup, in October, Hunt forced the BBC to subsidize the plan to the tune of 25 million 40.2 million a year, plus provide coin to help build infrastructure. Adding the BBC subsidy to the plan, optimists calculate that Channel 6 could become financially solvent. Channel 5 has struggled to survive and become profitable, with RTL selling the loss-making station to newspaper and magazine magnate Richard Desmond last year. - variety.comwww.variety.compick a page