Keep up with the daily developments that effect free TV in the UK. This list is updated often - you can follow
Briantist on Twitter for update Tweets, or use your RSS reader (such a Firefox or Google Reader) with this feed -
UK Free TV Zeitgeist RSS feed.
Podcasts
First, here are some podcasts to listen to - click the link for direct play.
Media Talk podcast: Nick Grimshaw and the missing million Media Talk podcast: Nick Grimshaw and the missing million Media Talk podcast: Radioplayer and Simon Cowell Recommended reading
And here are the daily recommendations for developments with Freeview, Freesat, Freesat from Sky, Digital radio, free HD and online viewing. Summaries are done by
Clipped-Your articles and documents summarizedSunday 19 May 2013, PM
Google TV: silent but not forgotten at I/O 2013 - The VergeIt's easy to miss the Google TV booth here at I/O 2013, hidden in the corner of the third floor. That may not be an accident there was apparently no room in the company's sprawling three-and-a-half-hour keynote to mention Google TV, either, just a short blog post hours later announcing that it now runs the latest version of Android. Google has killed plenty of products with many more fans than Google TV will it go the way of Reader - theverge.com
Saturday 18 May 2013, AM
BBC - Blogs - Internet blog - What's on BBC Red Button - May 18-25On Friday 24 May, press the red button between 8pm and 2am to watch bands from the Main Stage and 1Xtra Arena. The BBC reserves the right to select only some of the messages and pictures for publication. If you are under the age of 16, you must obtain your parent's permission before submitting your comment/photo. - bbc.co.uk
BBC News - Phone cost confusion putting off callers, Ofcom saysMarkham Sivak, who is leading the review, said research had found some phone users believed costs were higher and so decided not to make vital calls. The system of phone number prefixes has built up over the years as the technology has advanced. Ever since numbers moved from solely simple area codes, a whole host of new numbers and charging structures have evolved. - bbc.co.uk
Friday 17 May 2013, PM
Ofcom to crack down on sloppy subtitles - Media - guardian.co.ukOfcom highlighted poor subtitles with the example of a BBC weather forecast. Viewers are able to switch on a subtitles option for most TV programmes across 70 channels, with about 7.6 million UK adults saying they have used this service. Of these about 1.4 million people have hearing impairments and rely on the service. - guardian.co.uk
Friday 17 May 2013, AM
The quality of live subtitling Improving the viewer experienceSince 2005, there has been a welcome increase in the range and amount of subtitled television programming provided by broadcasters. As a result, viewers with hearing impairments now have (and expect) access to a far wider choice of programming.
Thursday 16 May 2013, PM
Half-way mark for digital radio listening : Radio TodayTwenty-six million people, half the population of the UK are now tuning in to digital radio each week, the latest figures show. The biggest commercial digital station this quarter is Absolute 80s with 984,000 listeners, putting Smash Hits in 2nd place with 942,000 and Planet Rock in 3rd place with 896,000. Away from digital, 47.3 million adults or 90 of the adult 15 UK population tuned in to their selected radio stations in the first Quarter of 2013. - radiotoday.co.uk
DTG :: News :: Talk Talk reports new 150,000 YouView customersTalkTalk announced today that it has added 150,000 new subscribers to its YouView based TV service in Q1 of 2013 bringing the base to 230,000 customers. Overall TalkTalk took total revenues of 1,670m compared to 1,687m in 2012. - dtg.org.uk
DTG :: News :: Ofcom's local TV multiplex operator to be based at Innovation Birmingham Ca…There will be 19 stations in the first phase, which are due to be live by end of 2013. For one, it is an urban location in the centre of the country with very good accessibility, but crucially it is one of the only places that is capable of providing the infrastructure we need to power a UK wide network of local TV stations. Alongside broadcasting on digital terrestrial TV, the local channels are expected to go live on satellite and cable TV, and online. - dtg.org.uk
Thursday 16 May 2013, AM
BBC iPlayer - Help - Frequent questions for BBC iPlayer on Windows Phone 8 devicesWill BBC iPlayer be available on Windows Phone 7.5 devices Subtitles are not available on BBC iPlayer for Windows Phone 8 devices. Downloading programmes to be watched later is not possible, although the technology we are using means that once you have selected to play a programme, a temporary copy of the programme will be stored on the device until you either close the application or select to play another programme. - iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk
Wednesday 15 May 2013, AM
ITV hit by ad slowdown - Media - guardian.co.ukThe year started well for ITV's TV ad sales across its portfolio of channels, with revenues up 6 in the first quarter to 382. Across the first half of the year ITV expects TV ad revenues to be down 3 year on year. ITV revealed that it could pay as much as an extra 80m to completely buy out the owners of High Noon and The Garden if they achieve performance targets over the next few years. - guardian.co.uk
BBC News - Fears of 4G TV interference in UK may have been overblownTests conducted by at800, the firm set up to troubleshoot the issue, have so far found very few problems. Tests of around 200,000 homes in the West Midlands and London have uncovered just 15 TV interference issues. Hilly terrain Funding for at800 comes from mobile firms to the tune of 180m. - bbc.co.uk
Tuesday 14 May 2013, PM
Aereo gets set for Atlanta debut - Internet Media - CNET NewsAereo's little antenna has led to a big brouhaha with television networks. Credit Aereo Aereo is on a roll, with plans now to bring its streaming TV service to Atlanta. The Atlanta launch is scheduled for June 17, the company announced Tuesday. - news.cnet.com
Channel 4 content boost results in £29m loss - Media - guardian.co.ukChannel 4 has reported a loss of 29m for 2012, as intended, as part of a strategy of extra investment in content including its acclaimed London 2012 Paralympics coverage and building its digital audience data operation. The broadcaster said its investment on original programming reached a record high last year of 434m, up 3 year on year but below the original target of 455m. Total content spend was 608m for the year. - guardian.co.uk
BBC - Blogs - Internet blog - BBC Now: New ways of viewing content on the BBC HomepageHello, I'm the product manager of the BBC Homepage. Im really excited that we have now been able to put the link to this pilot live on the Connected Studio website. In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash Installed. - bbc.co.uk
Made in Leeds: the next milestone for broadcasting from the North - UK news - guardian.co.…Made in Leeds transmissions will start in November, covering an area from Selby to Harrogate and Huddersfield. 3 May 1956 Granada Television launches transmissions from Quay Street, Manchester. Businesses and lobbyists called for a new commercial element in British broadcasting, while traditional voices at the BBC and in parliament warned of lower standards, vulgar Americanisation, and the danger of neglecting minority interests in the constant pursuit of ratings. - guardian.co.uk
Tuesday 14 May 2013, AM
BBC - Newsbeat - Warning to students over TV licences for smartphonesIt says people have been prosecuted for watching TV on devices, other than televisions, without a licence. If people only watch catch-up content, they do not need a licence. They do not have a TV but watch a lot of catch-up television. - bbc.co.uk
Your carrier doesnt offer 4G services? Dont worry, 5G is only seven years awayWith most of the mobile operators today relying on 3G underpinnings, and few actually using 4G backbones, the concept of yet another generation of cellular networks is unfathomable. After all, most of us still struggle to watch 1080p videos on YouTube without buffering and we know that developing, testing, approving and rolling out a new cellular technology doesn't happen overnight. If 4G is of any indication, it might not happen even years after vetting it. - betanews.com
BBC - Blogs - Internet blog - Raven: File based ingest for BBC NewsWe are one of the teams inside the BBC working on internal technology development. We try to use open source where possible as we subscribe to the opening and fair-sharing of software and are always keen to save the BBC money. The original specification for Raven was for a box that would replace a tape deck in news satellite vans allowing news crews to do file based ingest when they are out in the field. - bbc.co.uk
Is YouView really the Freeview upgrade the BBC wanted? - Media - The GuardianWhere Freeview had succeeded so spectacularly in the digital multichannel age as a cheap, universally available, free-at-the-point-of-use platform to showcase Britain's public service broadcasters so YouView was supposed to follow. It was that vision that led the BBC, flushed with the success of the iPlayer, to spend many tens of millions of pounds of licence fee payers' cash developing the YouView system. It had long been recognised that, for all its success, Freeview was technologically inferior to satellite and cable systems. - guardian.co.uk
Ways to watch BT Sport and the costInspired by the YouView thread I thought there might be some members that might appreciate a brief run down of what the options are to subscribe to the BT Sport channels. Whether or not you subscribe to Sky is irrelevant because BT are retailing this channel themselves on the platform in a similar way to other niche channels. If you have broadband from BT then you can get the standard definition channels for free and the high definition channels for 3 per month if you simply renew your BT broadband product for another 12 months, or take out a new broadband contract for 12 months. - mediauk.com
Saturday 11 May 2013, AM
BBC - Blogs - Internet blog - What's on BBC Red Button - May 11-17Doctor Who Clara and the Doctor discover how little they really know about each other As we hurtle towards the end of the series, watch an exclusive prequel to the final episode on the Red Button. Catch it straight after Saturdays episode finishes at 7.40pm or watch it again during the week. Enjoy the build-up to the gig throughout the day as Rod joins a host of Radio 2 programmes to sound check, answer your questions and preview the performance. - bbc.co.uk
Friday 10 May 2013, PM
BT Sport: what you will pay - Money - guardian.co.ukBT has the rights to show 38 Premier League football matches for the 2013/14 season and exclusive rights to show live games from rugbys Aviva Premiership. The broadcaster has the rights to show 38 Premier League football matches and exclusive rights to show live games from rugby's Aviva Premiership. There will also be some FA Cup games and Scottish Premier League games. - guardian.co.uk
BBC - Blogs - Internet blog - Links: iPlayer iOS app updateHi everyone time for another roundup of news about BBC Online. The biggest story of the last fortnight has been an update to the iPlayer app for iPhones, iPod touchs and iPads. Here, in 2013, only 41 still is, and it's only going in one direction. - bbc.co.uk
Ariel - Television comes top in Ofcom media tracker survey10 May 2013 Last updated at 1434 Despite the rise of the internet as a dominant player in the media landscape, a large majority of people in the UK still get their news from old-fashioned television. According to Ofcom's annual media tracker survey, published this week, 72 of respondents said TV was their main source of news. The internet trailed far behind at 10, with newspapers lagging even further behind at 7. - bbc.co.uk
Thursday 09 May 2013, PM
Amazing Radio returns to DAB in London : Radio TodayThe new music station is also taking space on DAB in Dublin as part of its international expansion plans which includes time-shifted streams for US time zones. We were sad to come off DAB, but we kept going online and on mobile Apps, increasing ouraudience and improving our output every month. Now were back, bigger and hopefully better, broadcasting in London and the south-east initially on the D2 DAB multiplex. - radiotoday.co.uk
BT Sport free for 5m BT homes - News - BroadcastBT Sport is to be offered free of charge to BT’s 5m broadband homes as the fledgling broadcaster attempts to topple Sky’s dominance and win customers from rival ISPs.
- broadcastnow.co.uk
Thursday 09 May 2013, AM
Online TV is growing up fast - Comment - BroadcastEven MPs can see the industry has changed forever, says Kate Bulkley.
When you’re discussing the new kinds of TV emerging from the digital space, it’s comforting that at least one man in a traditional seat of power has a handle on what’s coming up. - broadcastnow.co.uk
BT Sport aims to tackle Sky head on - Media - The GuardianThe broadcaster is expected finally to unveil details of its pricing plan and consumer proposition at an event at its Olympic Park studios , but it is understood that existing BT Broadband customers will be offered a substantial discount as it attempts to use its two new sport channels to woo new customers. People need to be able to get it as good as free. A war has already erupted between BT and Sky over the latter's refusal to take advertising for the new BT channels. - guardian.co.uk
Wednesday 08 May 2013, PM
DCMS delays Communications Act white paper - News - BroadcastThe Department for Culture Media & Sport has delayed the publication of a white paper on the long-awaited Communications Act until the summer - broadcastnow.co.uk
Ariel - Hadlow takes temporary charge of BBC FourA former head of specialist factual at Channel 4, Hadlow started her career as a BBC production trainee in 1986. - bbc.co.uk
The stakes are high in the 'TV everywhere' land grab - Media Network - Guardian Profession…There are now more internet-connected TVs in UK homes than ever before and the numbers continue to rise. Indeed, internet-connected TVs are expected to become mainstream, expanding from 10 in 2012 to 50 of all households in 2020, according to Enders Analysis. Enders also forecasts that internet-connected viewing on smart TVs, PCs, smartphones and tablets will rise from 1.5 of total viewing today to 5 by 2020. - guardian.co.uk
Wednesday 08 May 2013, AM
Kiss removed from local DAB multiplexes : Radio TodayBauer has removed the stereo hi-quality version of Kiss from 25 more local multiplexes, leaving a single national mono version in its place. The station had been available on DAB twice in a number of locations since December. Now listeners in the areas below have been advised to re-tune to a mono signal available everywhere rather than a stereo signal available locally. - radiotoday.co.uk
Tuesday 07 May 2013, PM
BBC warned of 'summer of strikes' as union rejects pay offer - Media - guardian.co.ukThe BBC could face strikes this summer over a pay dispute. BBC employees earning less than 60,000 will receive a flat-rate increase of 600 under the proposals outlined on Tuesday meaning more than a third of staff get a below-inflation rise of 2. The offer would see all BBC staff receive a minimum pay increase of 1 in the year from 1 August, including its best-paid employees earning more than 60,000. - guardian.co.uk
An Analysis of the Audience Impact of
Page One EPG Prominence A Report for Ofcom - stakeho…An Analysis of the Audience Impact of
Page One EPG Prominence A Report for Ofcom - stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk
UK Audience attitudes to the Broadcast Media 2012 [May 2013] - stakeholders.ofcom.org.ukUK Audience attitudes to the Broadcast Media 2012 [May 2013] - stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk
BT Sport channel gears up late-summer launch - City Business - Finance - Daily ExpressThis Thursday BT is expected to reveal more details on the price of the service as well as the platforms it will use such as YouView. BT Sport will show 38 exclusively live Barclays Premier League games. BT Sport will also show exclusive live coverage of all 69 rugby union games from the Aviva Premiership. - express.co.uk
DG to consider halting DQF job cuts - News - BroadcastBBC director general Tony Hall is expected to make a decision on whether to halt Delivering Quality First job cuts as the corporation bids to ward off further strike action. - broadcastnow.co.uk
YouView - radio's great opportunityHe looked surprised he didn't know this happened. The interface tells me the date, but not the year. So, I thought I'd do a few more searches on YouView to see what happens. If you think people don't listen to radio over the TV - they do. - mediauk.com
Saturday 04 May 2013, AM
80,000 homes in Brighton and Hove face 4G TV misery From The Argus)Some 80,000 homes in the city are being warned that tests of 4G the new generation of mobile phone technology could disrupt Freeview, leading to no sound, blocky images or even the loss of some or all channels. at800, the organisation tasked with ensuring viewers continue to receive Freeview when 4G mobile services are launched, said the masts would be turned on from mid May, but refused to give the exact date. The new technology is expected to bring innovations in business, entertainment, education and public services. - theargus.co.uk
BBC - Blogs - Internet blog - What's On BBC Red Button - May 4 - 11Weve got a jam-packed week full of drama, music, comedy and sport to suit all tastes on BBC Red Button. This months show features Rudimental, Ben Howard and The 1975. The 1975 are a Manchester alternative rock band who recently made the charts with their single Chocolate. - bbc.co.uk
Friday 03 May 2013, PM
Declare DRM freedom!Oct. 10, 2007 is the day I threw off the chains locking my music. I purged the last DRM-protected file from my personal catalog -- and not by stealing. The problem Songs purchased from iTunes, starting in April 2003. - betanews.com
BBC News - Planning changes to boost mobile broadband3 May 2013 Last updated at 1300 ET Mobile firms could find it easier to put up masts and antennas under suggested changes to planning rules. Operators would also be encouraged to share masts to limit the need for new base station sites. The UK government has proposed the changes to help accelerate the roll-out of high-speed mobile networks. - bbc.co.uk
4oD coming to Free Time from Freesat this month - Recombu4oD should be live and kicking on Free Time from Freesat this month. The next-gen subscription free digital satellite service from Freesat impressed us greatly on launch. Despite being told that theyd arrive soon after launch, they havent and its only now weve got our first glimpse of 4oD seeing the light of day. - recombu.com
Ariel - BBC wins a Focal international award for restorationThe project, for BBC Worldwide, entailed meticulously cleaning 22 hours of footage, across 25 episodes and working with 104 original rolls of film. 'The footage is spectacular,' he adds, 'and when working on it you really get a feel for the scientific importance of what was being documented.' The digital media services team also remade the credit sequences for one of the films using new, high-resolution captions. Life on Earth, from 1979, was the first of David Attenborough's great surveys of life on the planet. - bbc.co.uk
Friday 03 May 2013, AM
BBC's faulty £133m digital video archive leads to delays to programmes - Media - guardian…New Broadcasting House blues the BBC's digital video archive doesn't work properly. It has a budget equivalent to around 914,000 BBC licence fees. However, the BBC declined to reveal how much of the 133m which is supposed to last to run the service until 2017 has actually been spent or how much of the 95m of benefits DMI was supposed to deliver back to the corporation have been achieved. - guardian.co.uk
BBC News - 180 degree television for the home?Immersive video is a concept that technology companies have experimented with, finding varying levels of success. Philips pushed the idea in 2004 with its Ambilight television sets, which projected light around the television, to suit the mood of the content being played. Microsoft has confirmed it is working on a form of immersive video for gaming, which it calls IllumiRoom - it uses the Kinect camera and a projector to extend graphics beyond the television screen - but there yet is no clear indication of when it might go on sale. - bbc.co.uk
Howling: 10 more HD channels next year, Freeview must not be pushed out of spectrum Digita…Speaking on a panel at the event, Howling said Freeview could launch up to 10 additional HD channels next year and was in discussion with Ofcom over how this could be achieved. Howling said that for Freeview, innovation is about taking a product and making it mass market, mainstream and free for everyone. She said that free TV was part of the countrys DNA. - digitaltveurope.net
Thursday 02 May 2013, PM
BBC bullying exposes broader cultural ills and poor management - Media - guardian.co.ukThe BBC report into bullying reflects management and HR failings as well as broader human frailties. Further, the majority of toilers, 60,000, who are on short-term or casual contracts, and therefore vulnerable, are excluded from the BBC's bullying, harassment and grievance policy, despite the fact it was last updated recently, in 2011, and the use of freelancers has been endemic for two decades. Running through the research interviews reveals constant criticism of the corporation's HR department that seems to have been asleep on the job and could have acted sooner. - guardian.co.uk
Ed Vaizey spells out plans for Freeview's 5G future - RecombuAs with the 4G Freeview Fail, it's likely the mobile operators will have to pay the bill, not the taxpayer or TV Licence. A third option would be that Freeview would continue to exist in its current form with minimal change in other words, a standard definition service would be retained to deliver a 'minimal PSB service' retained for those with old SD equipment. Vaizey is not in support of the first option, which he believes will harm competition. - recombu.com
BBC bullying is systemic and institutionalised, claim unions - Media - guardian.co.ukBBC fails to screen for trouble The NUJ claims bullying has been going on under the noses of management. On Thursday the BBC published a report resulting from an internal inquiry into bullying and harrassment commissioned in the wake of the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal, which uncovered widespread allegations of bullying and an inadequate complaints procedure which meant whistleblowers' concerns often went unheeded. The NUJ's evidence to the inquiry is understood to have contained multiple accusations of bullying against a single senior executive, who was named in a collective complaint by more than 20 people. - guardian.co.uk
YouTube Says The Battle With TV Is Already Over - Business InsiderYouTube says the battle if there ever was one is over. A year ago, YouTube seemed to have its sights set on reinventing television by funding the launch of more than 100 channels from well-known media brands and Hollywood personalities. Though the model for the evening was TV, YouTube used it to distinguish itself as something entirely different. - businessinsider.com
BBC Respect at Work Review Report 02/05/2013People expect more from the BBC. Our audiences and licence fee payers expect high standards of
creativity, impartiality and distinctiveness. They expect us to behave with the utmost integrity and
decency. They expect us to live up to our stated Values. They are right to do so. - downloads.bbc.co.uk
Ofcom begins investigation into BT's superfast broadband
- ReutersOfcom said it was in the early stages of an investigation into BT. BT, the biggest fixed-line operator in the country, allows rival operators to take its superfast fiber product on a wholesale basis at the same fee at which it sells it to its own retail arm, BT Retail. TalkTalk has complained that there is not a large enough gap between the wholesale price and the rate at which BT sells the product to retail customers, squeezing margins for competitors. - reuters.com
Thursday 02 May 2013, AM
Halls red flag system for BBC - News - BroadcastTony Hall has overhauled the BBC’s top-level conversations about high-risk programmes in a bid to prevent a repeat of the Jimmy Savile scandal - broadcastnow.co.uk
No, The UK Did Not Just Abolish Copyright, Despite What Photographers Seem To Think - Tech…Under its provisions it will be legal to exploit a copyright work - photograph, film, text, song, whatever -- without the knowledge, permission, or payment to its owner. As with the 2010 Digital Economy Act, the bone of contention for photographers is how orphan works will be treated under UK law. The searches would have to be verified as diligent by independent authorising bodies. - techdirt.com
Bauer gives Kisstory its own radio station : Radio TodayThe Kiss brand is expanding with the imminent launch of new radio stations Kisstory and KissFresh, whilst Q Radio is closed down. Kisstory has been a feature on Kiss playing old skool and anthems and Bauer says it gets its own 24 hour channel in response to positive audience feedback from research into Kisstory listeners. Meanwhile, Q Radio, which has been operational for a decade, will be closed and replaced on Freeview with Kisstory. - radiotoday.co.uk
BSkyB's Now TV helps offset sluggish Sky satellite growth - Media - guardian.co.ukA growing number of analysts have predicted that BSkyB is close to recording its first decline in traditional TV subscriber numbers in more than a decade. BSkyB chose to report combined satellite and internet TV growth for the first quarter, although it is understood that traditional TV sign-ups continued to grow. Now TV, which until recently has only offered Sky Movies content, added 25,000 customers in its debut reporting period of the quarter to the end of December. - guardian.co.uk
Analysing the evolving connected TV landscape - Media Network - guardian.co.ukConnected TV's on display at the IBC exhibition. Photograph travelstock44/Alamy While online video consumption via personal computers and portable 'smart' devices has become an increasingly mainstream activity, the use of connected TV sets for accessing web-delivered TV services and other applications is taking longer to catch on. However it is clear that the internet is rapidly becoming a viable means of delivering video content to the large screen. - guardian.co.uk
Wednesday 01 May 2013, PM
How should Welsh broadcasting reflect its diverse audience? - Media - guardian.co.ukDavies pointed out in a keynote speech at the Celtic Media Festival in Swansea last week that the most recent census, published four months ago, showed that 19 of the population, or 450,000 people, spoke Welsh down from 19 a decade ago. Davies noted that 10 years ago 40 of school age children could speak Welsh, but now only 24 of that age group can do so. Satellite television was most eagerly embraced in Wales in the 90s, as an escape. - guardian.co.uk
In the air: Kiss uses apps and Freeview, not DAB - Media - Business - London Evening Stand… - standard.co.uk
Tuesday 30 April 2013, PM
BBC - Blogs - About the BBC - W1 Project comes to a closeThe mammoth task of reinventing Broadcasting House for 21st century broadcasting has come to a successful end after ten years. You can book a tour of the new BBC Broadcasting House building here. Share this page More Posts Previous Not so grim up north Tuesday 30 April 2013, 1236 - bbc.co.uk
Tuesday 30 April 2013, AM
BBC - Blogs - Internet blog - DNA Refactor ProjectThis blog post explains how DNA became what it is today and the plans for refactoring the code base into a modern architecture making the platform easier to maintain, faster to extend and portable to other platforms. Evolution of the DNA Code Base Coding began with the creation of the h2g2.com website back in 1999. Shortly after its inception the platform was acquired by the BBC and developed over the years using many technologies by approximately 24 different developers. - bbc.co.uk
Nielsen to Track Online TV Viewers - WSJ.comThe TV networks will use the program primarily to track viewership of programs on their own websites. NBC, for example, will allow Nielsen to gather usage data for some shows that it streams on NBC.com. The networks can then compare their internal viewership data with Nielsen's to gain comfort with the new ratings system before it is established more broadly. - online.wsj.com
Monday 29 April 2013, PM
DTG :: News :: BT to support O2in delivering 4G servicesBT has signed a ten year deal with O2 to support the introduction of 4G services for O2 customers. The deal states that BT will build a new high capacity transmission network to help O2 deal with the increase in mobile data traffic, a result of the increasing number of consumers accessing mobile internet applications via their smart phone or tablet according to BT. - dtg.org.uk
Sunday 28 April 2013, AM
Savile to cost BBC insurers millionsThe FTSE 100 insurers have emerged as underwriters of policies taken out by the broadcaster to protect itagainst legal claims between 1971 and 2006, when Savile carried out a series of sex attacks. Information obtained by insurance trade magazine Post reveals that the group of insurers could face sexual abuse claims of up to 30m. The police Operation Yewtree, which is looking into allegations of sex crimes against the former DJ and a host of other celebrities, has so far recorded 450 complaints against the late Savile. - independent.co.uk
Saturday 27 April 2013, PM
BBC - Blogs - Internet blog - What's on BBC Red Button 27 April - 4 MayThis means we cannot show more than one match at a time on the Red Button. You can read why these changes were made in this blog post. Antiques Roadshow play along The popular Antiques Roadshow play along is on a break until next week - but you can still join inon Sunday 28 Apriland guess the valuations using the freemobile phone app. - bbc.co.uk
Friday 26 April 2013, AM
BT’s TV offering in line for massive transformation Digital TV EuropeIn terms of BTs sports channels, which are due to launch this summer, BT has already taken rights to a host of sports content including 38 Premier League football games, 18 of which will be first-pick matches. Throwing his support behind YouView, he commented this would be our strategic platform for the future, adding that it makes our customers stickier, it makes them more engaged with us and our content services and our sales people love to sell it as well. BTs been in TV for about six or seven years. On-demand only is a difficult thing for a lot of consumers to understand, but I think that is changing more quickly now, with Netflix, LoveFilm and other services. - digitaltveurope.net
DTG :: News :: Report: DVB-T2 set-tops predicted to reach 18m homes - dtg.org.uk
BBC - Blogs - Internet blog - BBC iPlayer Radio app on Android devicesThis app has all the features of the iOS app as well as some improvements that, as an Android user myself, I think make it even better. For the very first time this app is now also available on tablets including the very popular Amazon Kindle Fire HD. You can download the app from the Google Play store now and it will be available shortly in the Amazon app store. - bbc.co.uk
Tuesday 23 April 2013, PM
BBC appoints Danny Cohen as new director of television - Media - guardian.co.ukThe BBC has confirmed the appointment of Danny Cohen as its new director of television. He will receive a total pay package of 327,800. He will be paid 57,800 more than the last full-time person in the job, George Entwistle when it was still called director of vision who received 270,000. - guardian.co.uk
Tuesday 23 April 2013, AM
BBC1's Danny Cohen tipped to be new director of television - Media - guardian.co.ukBBC1 controller Danny Cohen is expected to become the corporation's new director of television. Cohen oversaw a triumphant 2012 for BBC1, capped by its coverage of the London Olympic Games. He previously worked at Channel 4, where he was head of factual entertainment and in charge of E4, commissioning Skins, The Inbetweeners and Supernanny. - guardian.co.uk
Animal rights group defeated in move that would have opened up paid UK political advertisi…The blanket ban in the UK is designed to prevent a political advertising free-for-all in which the richest have most access to promote their views - US-style aggressive political advertising. Today's verdict rejected a complaint by the animal rights non-government organisation that denying it the possibility to advertise on TV or radio breached the European Human Rights Convention, which guarantees free speech. That ban has wide support and has helped sustain the balance of views which is at the heart of British broadcasting - and ensures the political views broadcast into our homes are not determined by those with the deepest pockets. - independent.co.uk
Monday 22 April 2013, PM
DTG :: News :: David Scott to leave Digital UKDigital UK has begun the recruitment process for a new CEO and is expecting to appoint a replacement in summer 2013. DTG Staff 22.04.2013 Links open in a new window. - dtg.org.uk
Sunday 21 April 2013, PM
BT wants a broadband bounce from sport, but may have scored an own goal - Media - The Guar…Spurred on BT wants to score more broadband customers through its premier league football rights deal. What lies behind it, however, really couldn't be more serious and the key questions are all for BT. BT has spent upwards of 1bn on sports rights mainly 38 Premier League games a year, top-flight rugby and WTA tennis. - guardian.co.uk
Saturday 20 April 2013, AM
BBC - Blogs - Internet blog - What's on BBC Red Button 20-27 AprilPlease note there's no Antiques Roadshow play along this week, but you can still join in via the free mobile app. That's not all formotorsport lovers - we've also got MotoGP on the Red Button. Moto2 and Moto3 is live from Austin, Texas for the first time as two Spaniards, Espargaro and Salom, look to defend their leads from the opening races. - bbc.co.uk
Friday 19 April 2013, PM
Press regulation: minor bloggers excluded from exemplary damages - Media - guardian.co.ukBloggers with fewer than 10 employees will have some exemption. Photograph Magdalena Rehova/Alamy Bloggers with a turnover of less than 2m annually and fewer than 10 employees will be excluded from certain punitive elements of the proposed new press regulation regime, under a legislative amendment agreeed by the three main political parties. Under the amendment to the crime and courts bill, which will be debated in the Commons on Monday, bloggers and small web businesses that cover news and choose to join the regulator will also gain significant cost-protection benefits. - guardian.co.uk
BBC News - Digital radio: More stations for north east Wales listeners19 April 2013 Last updated at 0823 ET Digital radio listeners in north east Wales will be able to pick up local stations for the first time as new transmitters are switched on. The industry marketing group says 36 of homes in Wales have a DAB radio. Listeners will need a digital radio - sometimes called a DAB radio - to receive the signal. - bbc.co.uk
BBC iPlayer watched on tablets more than smartphones for first time - Media - guardian.co.…BBC iPlayer was watched on tablet devices more than smartphones for the first time in March. Figures released by the corporation on Friday show that BBC iPlayer viewing on tablet devices surpassed smartphones by 200,000 viewers last month. Daily views of the TV catch-up service remained high with an average of 8.1m. - guardian.co.uk
BBC News - BBC World Service budget uncertainty unacceptableForeign Office funding for the service will stop in April 2014 when it will be paid for out of the licence fee. The BBC Trust said it had shared a draft licence with the service. In October, the World Service announced it was to lose a further 73 jobs as part of the latest round of cutbacks to save 42m, with 25 jobs going in the English-language service. - bbc.co.uk
News - SES.comThe signal was broadcast in DVB-S2 using a data rate of 20 Mbit/s. The company provides satellite communications services to broadcasters, content and internet service providers, mobile and fixed network operators and business and governmental organisations worldwide. The culturally diverse regional teams of SES are located around the globe and work closely with customers to meet their specific satellite bandwidth and service requirements. - ses.com
New DAB transmitters turned on in Wales : Radio TodayResearch has shown how much people value their local radio stations, so we hope this will make a big difference to the digital radio listening experience in the area. Weve also got exciting plans for further new radio stations over the coming months. Tags dab, dee 106.2, featured, juice Category Industry News - radiotoday.co.uk
Thursday 18 April 2013, PM
BBC media player Torin Douglas throws in his cards - Media Monkey - Media - guardian.co.uk…Thank you and goodnight the BBC's media correspondent Torin Douglas. BBC media correspondent Torin Douglas is hanging up his mic and cans after nearly 24 count 'em years in the job. Douglas told Monkey there's no prospect of him going over to the dark side. - guardian.co.uk
Directors UK calls on BBC to relax high-definition guidelines - News - BroadcastIt 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
Thursday 18 April 2013, AM
Ariel - BBC to train broadcast engineers to meet critical shortfallIt's a stark assessment by John Linwood, chief technology officer, who this week announces an apprenticeship scheme that will train up a new generation of engineers for the UK media industry's future. Some of the apprentices will be offered BBC jobs after they graduate. Ageing workforce Linwood tells Ariel that the BBC has a long tradition of training up broadcast engineers - but it has recently identified a gap that could affect programme making and outside broadcasts in the years to come. - bbc.co.uk
The Only Thing the Broadcasting Treaty Is Good For Is Crushing Innovation - Electronic Fro…For those of us following the continuing saga of the unnecessary and harmful WIPO Broadcasting Treaty, its latest manifestation is starting to have the feel of a tired movie franchise. Every few years, as soon as Hollywood thinks it can squeeze a few more dollars out of a new installment, the same bad idea gets rehashed with the same cast of characters, and still no substance. In short, the idea is to create a new bundle of copyright-like veto points for broadcasters. - eff.org
Broadcasters file Aereo appeal, warn of havoc and massive disruption to TV industry Fox and other broadcasters are asking a New York appeals court to reconsider its decision to give a green light to Aereo, a controversial start-up that uses tiny antennas to retransmit over-the-air TV to mobile devices for 8 a month. In a new court filing embedded below, the broadcasters claim the decision threatens to cause massive disruption to the television industry and will wreak commercial havoc, and request a full panel of the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals to revisit the ruling. Aereo is backed by a 58 million investment from media mogul Barry Diller and others, and lets customers watch and record TV without a subscription for 1 a day or 8 a month. - paidcontent.org
Wednesday 17 April 2013, PM
5G UK: Ofcom plans 2018 auction for 700MHz - RecombuThe 4G auction has barely begun but Ofcom is already laying out its plans for 5G. The next-next-generation of mobile services is expected to arrive in the UK in 2018 and will occupy some of the 700MHz slice of the broadcast spectrum - yet another patch thats currently occupied by Freeview. Ofcom says that theres a coming capacity crunch - currently 20 million Gigabytes GB are consumed a month by gadget-hungry Brits and this only looks set to increase. - recombu.com
Big trend: Watching TV when you please - Media Life MagazineRight now the broadcast networks are carefully preparing their fall schedules, mulling over which show will perform best in what timeslot. An increasing number are setting their own TV schedules, according to a new study from the Harris Poll, conducted by Harris Interactive. Young viewers are most likely to watch shows on their own schedule, including 89 percent of adults 18-29 and 90 percent of 30-39s. - medialifemagazine.com
Honoured' to join the BBC: James Harding - the man who tore it to bitsThe Times, during Hardings five years of editorship, was among the most strident. What the BBC is not, and has never been, is an organisation devoted to investigative journalism. This is neither its forte, nor its primary mtier, opined a leading article in Hardings paper last November, as the news division which he will lead found itself reeling over the Savile and McAlpine scandals. - independent.co.uk
Is Lord Sugar promoting an illegal streaming site? - RecombuLord Sugar, the former chairman of YouView, appears to be promoting use of a TV streaming service that could be illegal. The European Court of Justice ECJ recently ruled that streaming sites and services require explicit permission from content owners to re-broadcast programmes. If your box is experiencing freezing, then there is a 0.05 per cent chance that it is a problem with our system. - recombu.com
Tuesday 16 April 2013, PM
TV chooser - TV DVD - Which? Technology -
Sunday 14 April 2013, PM
TalkSport owner UTV Media looks to recovery after riding out ad slump - Media - The Guardi…Last week, TalkSport retained the rights to broadcast 64 live top-flight games for another three years. The BBC, which has seen its sports rights budgets cut, held onto the lion's share 128, with Absolute Radio bagging a further 32. A decade ago, 84 of its operating profit came from TV. - guardian.co.uk
Once again, TV executives are eager to stifle tech innovations like Aereo - Dan Gillmor - …Photograph Alamy I can use an antenna to watch local TV shows via their broadcast towers. I can save some of those programs to a hard disk or a dedicated external device for later viewing at home. Or, as would often be preferable, I can connect remotely to my home machine when I'm traveling in order watch live programming or pre-recorded shows from a distant hotel room. - guardian.co.uk
Fitch Upgrades ITV to 'BBB-'; Outlook Stable
- ReutersThe Outlook on the Long-term IDR is Stable. A full list of rating actions is at the end of this release. The upgrade is based on Fitch's opinion that ITV is now more able to weather the structural changes facing the media industry. - reuters.com
Saturday 13 April 2013, AM
BBC - Blogs - Internet blog - What's on BBC Red Button 14 - 21 AprilSit back and enjoy the dulcet tones of jazz singer Caro Emerald who was live in concert for Radio 2 and test your antiques expertise with our popular Antiques Roadshow play along. Shes visiting Radio 2 ahead of a UK tour later this year so we are lucky to have this early look. Featured family treasures include a valuable silver fruit bowl damaged when thrownduring a domestic tiff,artefacts fromCaptain Scott's last expedition to the South Pole and a humble house brick with an important story. - bbc.co.uk
BBC One HD - not in HD -
Friday 12 April 2013, PM
Photography discs, importing televisions and all-in-one PC TVs - Technology - guardian.co.…I have a box of vintage round discs, each in its own jacket. They are labelled and are photos of family subjects. I would love to have the pictures put on a DVD, but I don't know what these discs are called, and I don't know what type of camera they came from. - guardian.co.uk
Wednesday 10 April 2013, PM
Freeview and 4G at 800 MHz coexistence test in south east London - at800Approximately 170,000 household and business addresses in parts of Greenwich, Lewisham, Southwark and Tower Hamlets are being contacted directly to alert them to the test. This larger-scale testing follows an initial small-scale test in the West Midlands. at800 has a team of professional aerial installers and testing units in the area that will respond to calls from viewers, visit addresses reporting problems and restore Freeview. - at800.tv
Tuesday 09 April 2013, PM
BBC - Blogs - Internet blog - New Research and Development WebsiteThat includes making sure we use the web efficiently to communicate our department's research and so, this week, we are releasing a beta version of the new BBC RD website. For many decades BBC RD has been driving innovation in the capture of audio and video, the production tools and processes and the delivery of content through cables and airwaves, from the early designs of radio microphones to digital and high definition television. We also look at new and better ways to help our audiences discover and experience our programmes. - bbc.co.uk
Digital One to extend to Northern Ireland : Radio TodayIt comes after a consultation on the matter which 18 people replied, all of which apart from one were supportive of Digital Ones request. The one respondent who was opposed to the proposal was not content because Digital Ones proposed coverage in certain parts of Northern Ireland outside of the Belfast area would not be as extensive as that in Belfast itself. The network will provide robust indoor coverage to 74 of households, and 70 of the main road network, in Northern Ireland. - radiotoday.co.uk
