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Latest News
Sky Digital,
BBC Freesat & Terrestrial TV
Latest
News:
IPlayer on Freesat
The BBC and Freesat have
just announced a full BETA trial of the BBC iPlayer service
running on Freesat HD receivers.
This trial starts at the
end of the first week of December and will be working on both
the Humax Foxsat HD and the Foxsat HDR products. The iPlayer
software has already been downloaded during November to all
existing Humax Freesat products in the field, and will be
available on all Freesat products purchased from our stock
moving forward. As this trial is being conducted by Freesat and
the BBC themselves (not Humax) it will remain hidden from the
general public for the foreseeable future. When the BBC and
Freesat are comfortable that everything is correct with their
back end infrastructure and that the quality and stability of
the service is in line with expectations it will be announced
and launched via the red button interactive service on the box.
At this point it will be available to all Humax Freesat users
with the correct broadband infrastructure (another software
update is not required).
We are currently being
inundated in the customer service centre with requests to be
involved in this trial as we believe people think that this
trial is open to anyone. As mentioned above it is not, and the
people selected for the trial were informed months ago that they
had been included, and have been given specialist software and
feedback tools by the BBC and Freesat to report back on their
experiences with the service. If you should get such requests
from your customers we would very much appreciate you informing
customers of this fact so as to remove any confusion.
Freeview+ PVR automatic
updates
We are aware that a small
number of Freeview+ PVR users are experiencing issues with their
boxes occasionally locking up following the national re-tune day
and various Digital Switchovers that have already occurred. This
has been caused by minor changes (that we were not made aware
of) to the broadcast signal and is not
a hardware fault.
When these problems were
bought to our attention we arranged for our senior engineers to
visit from Korea and working along side the various broadcasters
we have developed over the air software updates that correct
these issues. We have already commenced broadcasting these
updates for PVR9150T and PVR9300T (series) products and hope to
be broadcasting the same for PVR9200T (series) products in the
coming weeks.
Although the number of
reported cases of this issue is small, if your customers do
experience this issue please advise them to leave their box in
standby mode at night (not on, or powered off) during the
transmission period for the updates and they will receive them
automatically. When turning the box back on from standby the
update will be installed by following the simple on screen
instructions.
If any consumers feel that
they may have missed one of the updates, fear not, as they will
be repeated regularly. For further assistance they may contact
the customer services team on 0844 669 8800 or email uksupport@humax-digital.co.uk
Courtesy of Humax
Sky confirms Freesat From Sky card plans
Sky has confirmed details about how Freesat
From Sky customers can secure replacement viewing cards
for the service.
In a message posted on Digital Spy's
Sky forum, the satellite firm reacted to recent
discussions about its plans to update Freesat From Sky
viewing cards.
The Sky team said that anyone is eligible
to get a new card without charge if they bought a Sky box
and Freesat viewing card after May 1, 2004 or purchased just
the viewing card after May 1, 2006. Anyone not covered by
these categories can purchase a replacement card for a
"small fee".
In both cases, customers need to register
their details on the Sky website to get the new card sent
out to them. Everyone using an expired subscription card to
watch free-to-view TV on Sky should also register for a
replacement card, but do not need to wait for an on-screen
reminder before doing so.
All people who signed up to Freesat From
Sky through the Pay Once Watch Forever offer from the
Digital Switchover Help Scheme will automatically receive a
new card in the post without the need to do anything.
Freesat: 'No date yet on BBC iPlayer
beta'
Freesat has said that it is "unable
to confirm" the timeframe for a beta of BBC iPlayer
on the digital satellite platform.
Speculation has recently mounted that the iPlayer on
Freesat beta would go ahead next month. However, it is
believed that a letter sent to members of the Freesat
customer panel informing them that they would be
contacted again in September has been wrongly
interpreted as confirmation that it would launch during
the month.
A Freesat spokesperson told Digital Spy:
"Freesat is unable to confirm a timeframe for the
iPlayer beta beginning on the platform, but we continue
to work closely with the BBC on its launch."
The delay is down to work on the technical
underpinnings for the service, which has to be resolved
before the beta can go ahead. However, the two
organisations are working hard to resolve this situation
as soon as possible.
British TV production
comes to an end
The final TV set will be produced at
Toshiba's Plymouth factory today, marking the end of TV
manufacturing in the UK, reports BBC News.
After John Logie Baird demonstrated his first ever
television model in 1926, the Baird Corporation went on to
become the world's only TV set manufacturer by the end of
the 1920s with its mass produced and commercially
available Televisor Model B.
Official broadcasts then began in 1929, leading to the
start of Britain's dominance of global TV sales. Following
the end of World War II, Bush made a significant step into
the market with its Bakelite set, known as the TV22, which
offered a more compact and workable model for consumers.
In the 1960s, the distinctive stlyle of Keracolor's
globe TVs became an image synonymous with the age.
However, it was around this time that new players from
overseas entered the market, including Sony with its
Trinitron screen, which signalled the start of Britain's
fall from its position as industry leader.
Gradually, Samsung, JVC, Philips and Panasonic also
further reduced UK producer's market share due to their
superior technology and cheaper prices.
The decline has continued into the current century,
prompting Toshiba to take the decision to close its
Plymouth factory. The move, which will see 270 people lose
their jobs, was primarily due to the cheaper costs
involved with shifting production to Poland.
John Logie Baird's grandson Iain Baird, television
curator at the National Media Museum in Bradford, said
that his grandfather would be saddened by the development.
"He worked his entire life to make sure it was a
British invention, a British technology," he
explained.
"In general he would have been very disappointed
that it had got to the extent that there is no one major
British manufacturer or television factory here."
Despite the end of TV set production in the UK, British
set-top-box manufacturer Pace recently tripled its
profits, with analysts predicting that it could reach £1.1bn
revenues by the close of the year as demand for digital TV
sky rockets
Digital switchover commences in Wales
Around 130,000 households in Wales will make
the permanent transition to digital television as the
switchover begins in the country.
At the Kilvey Hill transmitter group
covering Swansea and Neath Port Talbot will switch off analogue
BBC Two to be replaced with a multiplex of BBC digital channels.
The second phase of the process will go
ahead on September 9 when all analogue channels will be turned
off permanently to be replaced with high-power transmissions
of digital multiplexes.
In October, the process will begin at
the Llanddona and Moel y Parc transmitter groups covering the
north of Wales, with the remainder of the country to make the
transition to digital TV by March 2010.
According to Digital UK, 90% of households
in Wales already receive multichannel digital TV services, and
76% of people in the country are aware of what to do in the
switchover.
However, Consumer Focus recently warned
that some people in Wales could be ripped off during the
digital switchover due to confusion over what equipment they
need to purchase.
Consumer Focus Wales spokesman Gareth Price
said: "Most people won't need new equipment beyond a
digital Freeview box on top of their TV. But if you do, get
more than one quote, compare prices and use a reputable
trader."
Courtesy
of Digirepairs 2/9/2009
November 2008
FIVE
CONFIRMED ON FREESAT
I am very pleased to tell you there is now
an official date for Five to launch on Freesat. You may
already know how to add it manually since its appearance FTA
this week but by the 18th of this month, you won’t
need to do this. Also, all existing Freesat receivers will have
Five automatically added at the same time.
NB: The latest Humax twin Tuner Freesat HD PVR arriving later
this month.
Freesat, the free-to-air digital satellite TV service, today
announced the forthcoming addition of Five onto the platform on
Tuesday November 18.
Since launching in 1997, Five has developed a strong reputation
for a wide mix of entertainment, documentaries, features, news,
sport and children’s programmes.
The channel’s Autumn schedule includes: Paul Merton in India,
1968 Unseen, Dangerous Adventures for Boys, Unbreakable and Axe
Men.
Commenting on the addition of Five to the
service, Freesat MD Emma Scott said “We’ve been looking
forward to welcoming Five onto Freesat since we launched – and
we know viewers have too. Five is a fantastic addition and
we’re thrilled that the large number of homes that have
already chosen Freesat will now be able to enjoy Five alongside
around 140 other channels available without a subscription or
contract.”
Charles Constable, Director of Strategy at Five, said “I am
delighted that Five will be available to Freesat viewers. Our
launch will support three of Five’s objectives: to be
universally available throughout the UK, to let viewers watch
our programmes on the platform of their choice, and to enable as
many people as possible to watch Five free of charge.”
Five will automatically be added via viewers’ Freesat digital
boxes or integrated TVs to channel 105, so viewers will not need
to take any action to access the channel.
August 2008
5/8/08
New Radio Stations
This week’s new stations now up and running on their
platform are:
Xfm – The New Music Station http://www.xfm.co.uk/
Choice FM – RnB & Hip-Hop http://www.choice-fm.co.uk
Gold - the UK's newest and biggest classic hits radio network - http://www.mygoldmusic.co.uk/
Capital –London’s Music station http://www.capitalradio.co.uk/
Classic FM - bringing classical music to the widest possible
audience http://www.classicfm.co.uk
NME Radio - the best in new and alternative music http://www.nme.com/radio
Insight Radio – from the RNIB, Europe's First Radio Station
for Blind and Partially Sighted Listeners http://www.insightradio.co.uk/
BFBS Radio – entertaining and informing British Forces all
over the world http://www.ssvc.com/bfbs/radio/index.htm
There is no firm news on other services such as Five or new HD
channels and content, as soon as this is available we will let
you know.
July
16/7/08
Yesterday’s channel update
for BBC Freesat also included several ITV Regionals. These
don’t currently appear on the main guide/channel list (unlike
the BBC Regionals). But they do get selected when you enter the
correct postcode for that Regional TV channel. The channels are:
|
ITV1
West
|
|
ITV1
Central East
|
|
ITV1
West Country
|
|
ITV
1 Central South
|
|
ITV1
Border Scotland
|
|
ITV1
Meridian South
|
|
ITV1
Meridian East
|
|
ITV1
Yorkshire West
|
|
ITV1
Anglia South
|
|
ITV1
Tyne Tees North
|
|
ITV2
+ 1
|
May 2008
LATEST
FREESAT NEWS
Freesat confirms launch date as May 6
The launch date for subscription-free
satellite service Freesat has been confirmed as May 6.
The service, developed by the BBC and ITV, is designed to
encourage takeup of free to air satellite in a manner similar
to the success enjoyed by digital terrestrial's Freeview
brand. Freesat's electronic programme guide, programme
metadata and interactive services will operate entirely
independently of those provided to Sky digiboxes, and
pre-launch marketing materials from the service indicate that
approximately 80 television and radio channels have obtained a
Freesat EPG slot for launch.
Set-top receivers made to the Freesat spec, and to be marketed
using the Freesat brand, will include a high definition model
made by Humax; non-HD and HD models from Goodmans, Bush and
Grundig; and various products from Panasonic. Other
manufacturers will be licensed to make receiver products at a
later stage.
The launch retailers for the service are Comet, Argos, John
Lewis and DSG, whose outlets include Currys and PC World.
Prices are expected to range from around £55 for a standard
definition set-top box and £130 for an HD model. Launch
retailers will also arrange installation for an additional
charge.
None are sanctioned to sell the receivers until May 6, though
some people have managed to purchase product
ITV HD to be Freesat exclusive
Speculation is mounting today that ITV's
new high definition service will be exclusive to Freesat.
Test transmissions for ITV HD are now being broadcast on
Eurobird 1 at 11.428 GHz with horizontal polarisation, a
symbol rate of 27500, and a service ID of 10510.
However, the stream may not be viewed on Sky boxes, nor
traditional free to air receivers, as the video stream
is being broadcast as H.222 data rather than using the
H.264/MPEG-4 AVC codec supported by such receivers and
used by existing high definition services such as BBC
HD.
Digital Spy forum members who receive
digital satellite TV on their home computer have
been able to view the stream after installing
appropriate codecs. They report that the service
information table for the 11.428H transponder is
carrying, in addition to the ITV HD stream, data
services named "FreesatHome", "FreesatCommonC",
"FreesatSSU", and "FreesatOAD".
Freesat is making few public comments until the consumer
launch of the new service on May 6, and ITV HD's launch
date has yet to be officially confirmed. However,
service ID 10510 has been confirmed as
present in pre-launch Freesat EPG data, and ITV's online
marketing material only advertises it as being
"available on Freesat".
Sky edges closer to 9m subscribers
Sky has recorded 56,000 net customer additions in the three
months to March 31 - a 10% improvement on the same period
last year - bringing its total number of subscribers to
8.89m.
Of those, 3.39m are Sky+ users, with 262,000 customers
having signed up to the personal video recorder service in
the third quarter. Sky's high definition product gained
43,000 subscribers, taking it to a total 465,000.
Sky also recorded its lowest third quarter customer churn in
four years of 10%. The company has been aiming to reduce the
rate at which subscribers leave for several years. The
average revenue per user was £424, up from £421 in the
previous quarter.
Revenue for the year so far has increased by 10% to £3.71bn,
while operating profit is down 18% to £504m. The firm has
invested £127m in broadband and telephony and £20m in
purchasing Easynet during the period.
The overall loss for the nine months to March 31 was £118m,
down from a £388m profit for the same period in the
previous year largely because of Sky's stake in ITV. The
company has recorded a £474m impairment loss as ITV's share
price continues to decline.
Sky credited its gains to a stronger uptake of premium
products such as Sky+ and HD, and the introduction of a
cross-product installation charge.
"A reduction in short-term viewing package discounts
and the implementation of an installation charge across all
products are contributing to the long-term health of the
business," it said. "While these actions impact
gross additions, the benefits can be seen in customer
loyalty, with third quarter churn of 10.5% at its lowest
level for four years, and good growth in ARPU, which reached
£424."
Chief executive Jeremy Darroch said: "We are reporting
a strong set of results today. We are delivering for
customers through a combination of great quality, value and
service. As a result, more customers are choosing Sky, they
are more satisfied and they are taking more products than
ever before.
"In the third quarter, despite a difficult consumer
environment, customer growth increased by 10% on last year
and third-quarter churn was at a four-year low.
"The success of our strategy is reflected in our
financial performance. Revenue growth of 10%, increased
quarterly profitability and reducing broadband losses put us
on track to achieve our targets."
Sky mopped up Copeland analogue refugees
Sky targeted Copeland with marketing teams as it
became the first area in the UK where analogue terrestrial
signals were switched off, a report has revealed.
The satellite broadcaster picked up 38% of those who converted
to digital television around switchover last autumn, according
to research by Digital UK, which is overseeing the switch-off.
Sky increased its share of primary sets in the area, on
Cumbria's west coast, to 77%, up from 66%, during the period.
"Sky conducted significant marketing activity in the area
before the switchover, and panel interviews indicate that some
may have regarded Sky as a safe option in case anything 'went
wrong' with the terrestrial switchover," noted Digital UK
in its review of the process at Copeland.
Just 5% of the conversions to Sky were on its non-subscription
product, Freesat from Sky, while only 2% of existing Sky homes
in Copeland said they were now likely to replace it with
Freeview.
Before switchover, 30% of Copeland homes were analogue-only. The
62% of these households which did not join Sky bought Freeview
equipment. In future analogue DTT viewers will have the option
of taking up Freesat,
the non-subscription satellite service from ITV and the BBC.
June 2007
Sky to drop Sky+ subscription fee
Sky is to drop the £10 Sky+ subscription fee from July 1.
Announced by the Sky+ Team see below, the charge will still
apply to multiroom subscribers and for Sky+ users
who don't subscribe to Sky.
After July 1, new subscribers will be able to buy Sky+ for
£99 with a 12 month Sky subscription and an installation
charge of £30.
Sky+
Subscription

Many of you
have feverently been discussing rumours that Sky is
about to scrap the £10 monthly subscription charge for
Sky+. Many of you have also requested that we confirm the
rumours one way of the other, once and for all.
Well here goes. Its true!
We hope youll find answers to all your questions on this
below...
When does it happen?
As of 1st July 2007, the Sky+ subscription charge of £10
will be removed for all Sky Digital customers subscribed to
any Sky Digital package.
Does it depend on which package I subscribe to?
No, you will not have to pay a subscription charge for Sky+
after the 1st July, regardless of which Sky Digital package
you subscribe to or how long youve been a customer with us.
How do I apply for this?
You dont need to do anything. If you currently pay for the
Sky+ subscription you will receive notification by letter in
the next few days. And after the 1st of July youll see a £10
saving from your monthly Sky bill.
What if I stop subscribing to Sky Digital?
Should you decide to stop subscribing to Sky Digital but
still wish to use all the features of Sky+, you will need to
start paying the £10 per month Sky+ subscription again. A
Sky+ subscription is only free for Sky Digital package
subscribers.
How does this affect HD customers?
It doesnt. Sky HD customers already have the Sky+
subscription charge waived, and will continue to do so after
the 1st of July, as with all other Sky Digital subscribers.
Does this mean if I sign up to Sky now as a new customer I
will get a free Sky+ box?
No.
If I am a Sky customer but dont have Sky+, how can I take
advantage of this?
From 1st of July if you want Sky+, you can buy a Sky+ box
for a one off charge of £99 with a 12 month Sky+
subscription, and an installation charge of £30.
How does this affect multi-room?
The multiroom subscription is unaffected and remains at £10
per month.
Why is Sky doing this?
Many of you have said that you want Sky+, but to get it, it
needs to be more affordable. We believe that by removing the
Sky+ subscription cost for Sky Digital customers, it will
mean that more of you are able to enjoy the benefits of
Sky+.
How can I find out more?
If you have any more questions please call the customer
services team on 08702 43 24 80.
The Sky+ Team
£40m budget for Virgin 1 to take on Sky One
Virgin 1 will take on Sky One with a £40m programme
budget and comprehensive on-demand catch-up options.
The free-to-air channel will launch on Freeview
and cable this autumn, with extra on-demand for cable viewers
and an ad-funded online on-demand service.
The channel will have a strong sci-fi and supernatural
flavour with flagship series The
Sarah Connor Chronicles, a spin-off from the Terminator
film franchise.
Virgin 1 has also bought the entire Star
Trek franchise, comprising 624 hours from the original
series, Star Trek: The Next
Generation, Deep Space
Nine, Voyager
and Enterprise.
Virgin Media TV's managing director, Jonathan Webb, said:
"Nearly all the growth in multichannel is coming from Freeview
at the moment. Freeview
has to be the answer to move the
business on and will be a relentless marketing machine for
cable. All the glossy on-demand bits will be on cable and
Virgin 1 will be a showcase for cable.
"According to our research, men are underserved by Freeview,
so the channel will have a male inflection to it. That said,
it is not a new Bravo and all shows will have elements that
will attract women."
Exclusive new shows include The
Leo Houlding Project, which follows a British
rock-climbing prodigy as he takes five lazy Brits on an
adrenaline-fuelled trip, and The
Real Exorcist, a £4m documentary about an American
priest obsessed with ridding Americans of their demons.
Broadcast
reports that the shows will all be shown free-to-air on Freeview,
but Virgin cable viewers will be able to get them through
on-demand as previews, catch-ups and see exclusive DVD-style
extras. However, since Virgin 1 will replace FTN, it will only
be on Freeview
from 6am to 6pm, until Virgin can buy more capacity.
24 coming to Sky Anytime
Sky is to make all six series of 24 available on its
Sky Anytime on PC online download service.
Epsiodes will cost £1.50 to rent or £2.50 to own.
New episodes of future series will also be made available
the day after broadcast.
Sky has also announced it has secured on demand rights
for season 1 and 2 of recent acquisition Prison Break plus
Bones (Seasons 1 and 2), Standoff and 'catalogue titles'
including Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Seasons 1 and 2).
Virgin sports news channel coming soon
Virgin cable viewers should have their own sports news
channel to replace Sky Sports News by the end of this
year.
Independent producer TWI is tipped to supply the
channel, although Virgin is also working with Setanta
Sport over a potential role.
Virgin
Media boss Malcolm Wall said the channel will
launch regardless of negotiations with Sky: "We are
too far into the process not to go ahead with our own
sports news channel."
Sky Sports News was taken off the Virgin platform when
carriage negotiations for Sky's basic channels broke down
on March 1.
Dixons calls time on standby
Dixons has called on the electronics industry to phase
out standby and meet consumer demands for more efficient
devices.
Dixons Store Group is planning to phase out standby
modes on TVs, DVD players and other home entertainment
equipment in stores like Currys and PC World, as well as
its online outlets.
Chief executive John Clare yesterday called on
manufacturers to banish the standby function, which
accounts for around 10 per cent of the average household
electricity bill.
Mr Clare said: "We are seeing more and more
customers making buying decisions on the basis of energy
efficiency."
"We must work together to offer more
energy-efficient products, phase out, where possible, the
stand-by function on electrical products, provide energy
efficiency information to users, including energy
efficient labelling for brown goods.
"From a retail perspective, the shift in customer
behaviour is already beginning. The introduction of
energy-efficiency labelling in our white goods ranges
several years ago brought about a fundamental shift in
buyer behaviour. I believe that the same will happen in
the brown goods sector [TVs, DVD players, digital cameras,
etc]."
Dixons could be a powerful force for change: it has
1,250 shops across Europe and produces the Matsui and
Logic brands, as well as accounting for a major portion of
sales by most electronics manufacturers.
The
Independent reports that no date was set for
the phase-out of standby, which could face a significant
problem in the digital TV industry.
Most digital TV receivers, including TVs with built-in
tuners, need to be left in standby - usually overnight -
to receive vital software updates and channel list
changes. Recording devices need to be in standby so they
can turn themselves on to record. Standby power can
reduced to 1W or less, but zero power use is unlikely.
Ofcom stands firm against Freeview HD
A senior Ofcom figure has re-affirmed the media
regulator's intention to auction our analogue TV
frequencies to the highest bidder.
Speaking to Media
Guardian, Philip Rutnam said the plan to
auction the so-called Digital Dividend was about viewer
choice, not raising money for the Treasury.
Mr Rutnam, a former Treasury official who's now the
leading partner on the development of Ofcoms spectrum
policy, still disagrees with the findings of the DTG
and HDforAll
that there's no room for HD in the current Freeview
multiplexes.
"It is not our objective to maximise or raise
any particular amount of
proceeds," adds Mr Rutnam. "The motivation is
all about bringing more choice to viewers. The heart of
our job is to get to the nub of the arguments. That
means discounting a lot of purely self-interested
representation, and trying to understand what is really
going to serve consumers and citizens best. Everybody
sees this valuable resource coming up and they want a
piece of it."
"It's important to remember that of the spectrum
being released, 70% has already been awarded to the
public-service broadcasters. That could have had other
uses but for a generation it's reserved for them."
"We're not against intervention per se. But what
we are saying is that any case for intervention has to
be clear, compelling, tough-minded and transparent. The
days when spectrum could be doled out by governments or
regulators in a system of barter are gone. There are
more and more ways of delivering public value."
"One of our priorities has been trying to change
the way spectrum is
managed - much more flexible, much more responsive and
much less
Soviet-style command and control, which is the historic
way spectrum
has been managed."
"The driving force for this is to ensure the
British consumer is not left behind the rest of
Europe."
And he blithely dismissed the claims of Michael
Grade, the BBC, the Digital Television Group, and TV
manufacturers including Sony, that Ofcom's proposals for
hi-def on Freeview are unworkable.
"Grade said the problems were
insurmountable," he said. "In my experience
things are rarely insurmountable, if there is sufficient
will to make them surmountable."
Digital dividend plan gets Ofcom's biggest response
Media regulator Ofcom has received around 600
responses to its plan to auction off TV spectrum
released by the switch to digital broadcasting.
That's around 20 times the number of responses to
the previous biggest consultations - the future of
public service broadcasting and TV food advertising to
children.
From a brief check, most of them seem to be about
putting hi-def channels on Freeview, and most of those
are in favour of a free HD service.
Ofcom said other subjects included local TV
channels, wireless microphones for live entertainment,
the timing of releasing channel 36, and holding back
spectrum for possible future innovations or low-power
applications.
TV and radio broadcasters have also weighed in,
with Capital Radio's owner, GCap Media, rejecting the
auction process. It said: "We recommend Ofcom
allocates a proportion of the spectrum under market
forces with the balance under an applications process,
whereby more
worthy and valuable to society options are
enabled."
Broadcastnow
reports that Five also criticised Ofcom's plan and
asked for some spectrum to be resereved for hi-def:
"To decide now to auction the available spectrum
at the very time HD is
taking off as a consumer proposition means taking a
once and for ever
irreversible decision that will prevent any spectrum
being made
available for HD and depriving digital viewers of HD
services for
evermore."
BBC will run Freeview HD test channel
The BBC wants to run a permanent Freeview hi-def
pilot channel using existing capacity before
analogue switch-off.
The BBC HD offering would run from 2am to 6am
while other channels such as BBC Four and BBC
Parliament are off-air.
The corporation hopes the hi-def teaser will
generate enough pressure on Ofcom to give it space
for a prime-time channel after analogue switch-off
in 2012 - just in time for the Olympics.
The new Freeview scheme was revealed as the BBC
Trust published full details of the BBC's HD channel
proposal for its Public Value Test.
Satellite, cable and possibly internet viewers
will be able to watch a daily hi-def channel from
3pm to midnight, as part of the main proposal.
It would be a mixed channel, drawing about half
of its schedule from BBC One, 30 per cent from BBC
Two, and the rest from BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC and
CBeebies. The nine-hour day would be flexible for
coverage of live sports or other major events.
BBC HD will launch on Sky and Virgin as soon as
it wins approval, and would be part of Freesat from
its launch in 2008. The Freeview teaser would launch
in mid-2008, and an internet stream would be added
to iPlayer when it is technically possible.
It will run for around four hours daily at
launch, building to nine hours by 2009. MPEG-4 would
be used for the satellite and Freeview services, but
MPEG-2 would be used for cable.
The service is expected to cost around £21.4million
per year in 2012, if it's running on Freeview as
well as satellite. But that assumes Ofcom will give
it low-cost access to extra Freeview cpaacity - the
BBC says it can't afford to bid at a commercial
level.
The BBC's full HD proposal is available at the BBC
Trust website. The first four-week
consultation runs until June 19, with provisional
conclusions in September and a final decision
planned for November.
Ofcom is also running a Market
Impact Assessment into the BBC HD
service, which will be used for the Trust's final
decision.
DAB reaches five million in UK
More than five million DAB radios have been
sold inthe UK according to the Digital Radio
Development Bureau.
Electronics research group GfK has found that
almost 10 million people are tuning into digital
radio via DAB in the UK - or 18 per cent of the
population.
The DAB figures contract with those for Freeview,
which has achieved around 70 per cent market
penetration. No date has been set for the
switch-off of analogue radio services, and
significant technical problems remain to achieving
DAB coverage comparable to Freeview
April 2007
Digital switch gives boosts to DAB
More than 60,000 listeners in the Scottish Borders and
Cumbria will be able to get BBC DAB radio stations as part of
the switch to digital TV.
The BBC is commissioning new DAB transmitters as part of
transmitter upgrades being made for the first two digital
switch regions.
BBC chief operating officer, Caroline Thomson, said:
"For many years, our digital radio coverage in Scotland
and England has been separated. It's good news that we're now
able to join up the two nations."
The towns of Whitehaven and Workington in Cumbria will get
access to the BBC's DAB stations at the same time as
Whitehaven residents are switched over to digital TV in
Ocotber and November this year.
For the first time, they will be able to hear digital-only
stations 1Extra, Five Live Sports Extra, 6 Music, BBC7 and BBC
Asian Network, and well as the BBC's five national stations
and BBC World Service.
A new transmitter is also being built at Selkirk in the
Scottish Borders, where engineers have already completed a new
transmitter for digital TV switchover in 2008.
However, the new digital radio transmitter should come
online in winter 2007, offering the same new selection of BBC
stations to residents of Melrose, Galashiels and Hawick.
Digital dividend plan gets Ofcom's biggest response
Media regulator Ofcom has received around 600 responses
to its plan to auction off TV spectrum released by the
switch to digital broadcasting.
That's around 20 times the number of responses to the
previous biggest consultations - the future of public
service broadcasting and TV food advertising to children.
From a brief check, most of them seem to be about putting
hi-def channels on Freeview, and most of those are in favour
of a free HD service.
Ofcom said other subjects included local TV
channels, wireless microphones for live entertainment, the
timing of releasing channel 36, and holding back spectrum
for possible future innovations or low-power applications.
TV and radio broadcasters have also weighed in, with
Capital Radio's owner, GCap Media, rejecting the auction
process. It said: "We recommend Ofcom allocates a
proportion of the spectrum under market
forces with the balance under an applications process,
whereby more
worthy and valuable to society options are enabled."
Broadcast
now reports that Five also
criticised Ofcom's plan and asked for some spectrum to be
resereved for hi-def: "To decide now to auction the
available spectrum at the very time HD is
taking off as a consumer proposition means taking a once and
for ever
irreversible decision that will prevent any spectrum being
made
available for HD and depriving digital viewers of HD
services for
evermore."
BBC: No Freeview HD could cost consumers £15.6billion
Britain could lose out to the tune of £15billion if
Ofcom doesn't set aside spectrum for high definition TV on
Freeview.
The stark warning comes in the BBC's official response
to the Digital Dividend Review, in which Ofcom proposed
auctioning off the former analogue TV frequencies when
Digital Switch is complete in 2012.
The BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, TV manufacturers and
many thousands of viewers would prefer a portion of the
analogue spectrum to be reserved for a new Freeview
multiplex, broadcasting free hi-def TV channels.
Mark Thompson, the BBC's director general, said:
"High Definition is already a consumer reality, and
it's one that really adds value for audiences.
"It's a technological advance that we think can
and should be available as far as possible to all viewers
of digital television whether they watch through cable,
satellite or an aerial, and whether they choose pay or
free-to-air services.
"If pure market mechanisms are applied to the
whole Digital Dividend, our fear is that it will
jeopardise the success of universal access to high quality
public service broadcasting, free-to-air on all main
platforms and also lead to an erosion of the digital
terrestrial platform and its ability to compete."
The £15billion figure was calculated up by independent
consultants Independen, to compare to Ofcom's estimate
that an open auction could net £5-10billion for the
Treasury.
It includes the cost of upgrading to another platform
such as Sky or cable to get HD for around 6million
Freeview homes, and the loss in audiences, advertising
revenue, quality and social value to the Freeview platform
if it doesn't have HD.
Independen estimated the loss to consumers and society
could range from £4.1-£15.6billion.
The BBC's response also critiques Ofcom's research into
viewers' desire for HD, the technical assumptions
underlying the DDR, and estimates of Freeview channels'
ability to compete in an open auction.
It also suggests that Ofcom should use the DDR as an
opportunity to draw up a long term plan for Freeview
beyond 2012, including a long-term migration to MPEG-4 for
a greater range of SD channels as well as HD.
Freeview prepares to oust Sky
Britain's public service broadcasters are preparing
to kick Sky out of the Freeview alliance.
The BBC, ITV and Channel 4 are angry about Sky's
plans to replace its three Freeview channels with a
four-channel subscription service.
Sky News, Sky Sports News and Sky Three would
probably be replaced by Sky One, Sky Sports, Sky Movies
and another channel, using a different broadcast system
and requiring new set-top boxes. Sky was one of
Freeview's founding shareholders.
New
Media Age reports that
the public service channels will tell media regulator
Ofcom that Sky should forfeit its stake in Freeview if it
proceeeds with the plan.
Standby for action from Sky
In a measure designed to cut household energy bills
and help protect the environment, Sky is to introduce an
Automatic Standby feature for Sky+ and Sky+ HD boxes.
Boxes will automatically go into standby when
not in use for a two hour period between 11pm and
4am and an Auto Standby warning message will be
displayed beforehand for three minutes. The
feature can be disabled in the Settings Menu.
Automatic Standby will be introduced via a software
update to all Sky+ HD receivers from tomorrow (March
20). It will then be rolled out to owners of
Sky+ boxes manufactured after August 2005 in mid
April and to the remainder throughout the summer.
The standard Sky+ uses 25W of power when on or
in standby and recording and 28W when on and recording
but only 14W when in standby alone. Sky+ HD uses
37W when on or in standby and recording
and 36W when on and recording but 19W when in
standby.
Sky claims that the new feature could save enough
energy to light all the homes in Wolverhampton or
power all the washing machines in Liverpool for a year.
It could also slash £7.5 million from customers'
electricity bills and reduce the UK's carbon dioxide
emissions by 32,000 tonnes a year.
Sky suffers without Virgin Media
customers
Satellite broadcaster Sky has seen the
audience share on its basic channels drop by a
combined 24.5% since they came off the Virgin Media
platform last month.
Since March 1, Sky One, Two and Sky News' weekly
all-hours shares have reduced with Sky One no longer
in the top five non-terrestrial channels.
Home to Lost and 24, the channel has
also seen a year-on-year decline of 38% in March, and
got just 1% of the weekly all-hours multichannel
viewing share - its lowest since 2001 - in the two
weeks following its removal from cable.
The dispute between the two companies has since
continued, with Virgin Media ready to take legal
action in the High Court to challenge what it calls
Sky's "abuse of dominance."
16th
February 2007
Branson wants a Virgin in every home
Today was the day that Virgin Media entered the packed arena
of television service providers… is one way of looking at it.
A load of fuss about the rebranding of NTL/Telewest is
another. Either way, theres something about the presence of
Sir Richard Branson (alongside Chairman Jim Mooney and CEO
Stuart Burch) that instils hope in any enterprise he's
involved with.
Considering his victories over adversity in other sectors
(Virgin Atlantic vs British Airways and his battles in
launching a half-decent rail service both spring to mind)
theres more than a smidgeon of hope that Virgin Media can,
indeed, emerge as a serious rival to the amorphous beast that
is BSkyB. Being able to offer a four pronged attack in TV,
broadband, landline and mobile is certainly its major selling
point, but it should'nt be discounted that it also owns
television broadcaster and production company Flextech (rebranded,
ahem, relaunched as Virgin Media Television), and is therefore
able to provide unique and compelling content too (Challenge
TV anyone?).
But a new lick of paint notwithstanding, the major and
immediate benefit for existing NTL/Telewest subscribers is an
overhauled Customer Services department. The one thing that
Virgin companies pride themselves on more than any other is
providing the best response when things go wrong, and Sir
Branson himself guarantees that NTL/Telewests poor reputation
in this area is a thing of the past.
The launch also sees Telewests TVDrive box (PVR and HD
receiver) become available to all Virgin Media subscribers up
and down the country. Of course, its rebranded too, to V+, but
its still a welcome move. As is the fact that, unlike the
previous service, its now available in my area. And that, to
be honest, is most important.
You can find out more about Virgin Media at
www.virginmedia.com.
It is expected to roll out nationwide as of 14th February
2007, and its got Uma Thurman in its television advertising.
Yum.
Sky
to launch on digital terrestrial
Sky plans to launch a four-channel
subscription TV service on digital terrestrial TV this summer.
Announced - coincidentally? - on the same day as Virgin
Media's big launch, the service will provide some of Sky's
most popular sports, entertainment and movies through your
aerial.
Sky said the line-up will include live Barclays Premiership
matches and other sporting events, with the full channel
roster and pricing to be revealed in the Spring.
It will use the Freeview capacity currently occupied by Sky
Three, Sky News and Sky Sports News, which will cease to be
available free-to-air ahead of the pay-TV launch.
Sky will use the latest MPEG-4 compression technology to
broadcast four 24-hour channels, with more expected to arrive
as the technology improves. Subcribers will require new
set-top boxes.
Ofcom will have to approve the licenses for new service, since
it changes Freeview channels into pay-channels.
New advice for dish and aerial planning permission
It's been more than a year since they were published, but
the government has finally got around to publishing a
guidebook on the new satellite dish planning rules.
Sky News now available in train stations
Sky News
is now providing its schedule of news, weather and sport to
two thirds of the UKs regular rail commuters.
The deal with Titan, which provides giant digital screens, was
struck last October and means Sky News has replaced BBC News
24 on the big screens.
John Ryley, Head of Sky News, said: "Sky News is
continually looking for ways to innovate in delivering its
news coverage to audiences. This partnership with Titan on
their market-leading Transvision network of screens delivers
news to commuters with an unmatched level of tailoring and
sophistication. Through TV, online, mobile and now outdoor,
Sky News is committed to a strategy of bringing breaking news
to audiences, no matter where they might find
themselves."
Sky's Oscars coverage set to air in hi-def
Sky's
coverage of the 2007 Oscars and red-carpet ceremony is to
be screened in high definition for the first time. Sky
One and Sky One HD's 90-minute preview coverage, starting at
11pm on Sunday February 25, will capture the magic of the
famous red carpet arrivals.Then over Sky Movies and Sky Movies
HD the live coverage of the awards will get underway at
12.30am with the ceremony itself kicking off at 1.30am.If the
matchsticks don't succeed in keeping you awake, Sky One and
Sky One HD will broadcast a two-hour highlights show from 10pm
on Monday February 26.
Baby TV bounces onto Sky...
A brand new
digital TV channel aimed at kids under the age of three is
scheduled to launch on Sky viewers from Monday. Baby TV will
be part of the Kids package on channel 626.
Liran
Talit, Baby TVs MD said: "The launch on Sky is another
major achievement for Baby TV, which has launched on over 50
platforms worldwide in the past 15 months."
"We
look forward to continuing our growth in 2007 and to building
the Baby TV brand with licensing activities. We have also
launched our interactive website today to serve our global
community of parents."
Baby TV
claims to be the first 24 hour, commercial-free channel for
children under three and their parents. The channel launched
in October 2005 across Europe and is already broadcast on
major platforms in over 25 countries worldwide.
Setanta scores with Six Nations highlights
Irish
sports broadcaster Setanta has secured exclusive rights to
show highlights of the RBS Six Nations Championships, which get
underway this weekend.
The highlights programme will air on the network on Sunday
evenings between 6pm and 8pm with studio guests analysing the
action with presenter Rhodri Williams.
Bob Geldof to launch TV channel dedicated to world peace!
Bob
Geldofs company, Ten Alps, is to launch a unique new TV
channel devoted to world peace. The station will available via
broadband but also on traditional television networks,
according to media reports on Friday (February 2nd).
Funded
in part by the Norwegian government, the project came about
through Ten Alps co-founder Geldofs links with Norwegian
organisation Peace Point. The digital managing director of Ten
Alps, Nigel Dacre, told The Guardian that the channel which
has yet to be named will be truly international.
"Our
view is that it should be online as far around the world as
possible," he said. "But were doing work on
broadband penetration and have found that in Asia its high but
in parts of Africa its very low. So in Africa we will offer
the programmes via terrestrial broadcasters on existing
networks."
The
station will feature programmes made by Ten Alps and other
independent companies around the world. But Mr Dacre said the
channel will also feature footage from members of the public
in conflict areas around the world.
Hi-def breaks all records for Sky
High definition TV has outstripped Sky+ as the
fastest-selling extra product in the satellite broadcasters
history.
The number of SkyHD customers almost doubled to 184,000 in
the last three months of 2006, up from 96,000 in the first
three months.
And Sky+ was set to break the two million homes barrier at
the end of January, having finished the year by gaining
310,000 users in three months.
In total, Sky sold more than a million extra boxes,
accessories or upgrades in the last quarter of 2006, and there
are now 1.23 million homes with a multi-room system and
subscription.
The total subscriber base for Sky now stands at 8.4million
homes in the UK and Ireland, although its not growing as fast
as it did at the end of 2005.
BBC green-lights catch-up TV
The BBCs pioneering iPlayer online catch-up service will
relaunch permanently this year after winning approval from
the corporations trustees.
But the service will see significant changes after Ofcom
warned it would be damaging to commercial services, CD and
DVD sales.
The iPlayer officially known as the BBCs on-demand
proposals is a new way to access TV and radio online and via
cable TV, from anywhere in the UK.
But both Ofcom and the BBC Trust said the BBCs proposals
must be changed so they dont interfere with commercial
services and the BBCs own ability to sell shows on DVD.
The biggest change is that if you download a show on the
seven-day TV catch-up service, youll only be able to keep
shows on your hard disc for 30 days, instead of the 13 weeks
proposed at first.
iPlayers currently based on Microsofts Windows Media
Player, so the BBC has also been told to make it available
through iTunes, Google, YouTube and other services, so
no-one is excluded and no single operator has an unfair
benefit.
The iPlayer service will pull together all of the audio
and video services currently available on bbc.co.uk, and
should launch later this year, following a short
consultation on the Trusts recommendations.
Sky's new satellite based download
service, Sky Anytime TV, arrives in March.
The question that has been asked for the last year or
so by many Sky+ and Sky HD users is, "when will the
reserved space on my hard disk be used?" The answer is
sometime in March, when users of Skys PVR3 and Sky HD boxes
will get access to Sky Anytime TV. This will be about 1
million of the 2.1 million Sky+ subscribers.
Once the new software is released there will be a new layout
to the EPG. As some users have already seen the "HD
Channels" group will move to option 2 on the EPG and
the red button will become "Anytime TV".
On pushing the red button the user will be presented with a
list of programmes that have been downloaded via the
satellite overnight there will be about 5 hours of
programming a night downloaded for a total of 35 hours total
on the box (HD users might have a slightly different set of
numbers depending on the quantity of HD material). Content
on the service will include Sky Movies (from the movie
channels not, at launch, from the Box Office service),
programmes from Sky One, Artsworld, Disney, Turner Classic
Movies, Cartoon Network, The History Channel (and its
siblings Biography, Crime and Investigation) and National
Geographic (and its siblings).
The programmes that are downloaded will be a "best
of" they have employed an editor to choose what the
programmes will be, and the content will be editorialised so
the information about the show will be more than in the
current "info" offering.
For example, they might download the first episodes of a new
show on Sky One so that if you miss it (or forget to record
it) you can catch up with it at your leisure. In the case of
hit series like 24 or Lost Sky can even
download it to your box prior to transmission time and hide
it until it is transmitted at which time it would become
available.
Similarly the plan is to download the latest premiere movies
and some other things you might not have otherwise watched.
Part of the remit of the editor is to try to surprise and
find interesting programming across the channels that are
part of the service to attract new viewers to those
programmes and linear channels. For channels lower down the
EPG it provides an interesting advertising window for their
programming.
At launch, there will be no adverts within the downloaded
programmes.
Once on your disk you will see a preview window in the top
right hand side and a description on the top left hand side
changing as you cursor down the programmes that are on the
hard disk. The layout also has a date at which the programme
will be deleted but just hit the record button and the
programme will be saved to your planner to keep for the
future. Beware: if you then delete it from the planner it
will be gone from the Anytime TV list as well.
Overall this seems like it is a potentially excellent
addition to Skys offerings. The overnight download will
happen automatically and if you have recordings running
yours will take preference. To deal with the issue of missed
recordings Sky will be retransmitting programmes a number of
times to ensure that when your box is inactive it will get
all the programming.
So roll on March, if you dont have a PVR3 or Sky HD box then
come March there is a plan to send customers what Skys
marketing people described as an attractive offer (I assume
to upgrade).
The unused 80Gb of space had been a bit of a thorn in the
side since the PVR3 was launched but this seems to be a good
offering which I welcome
Future radio heaven for Devon
BBC Radio is to run a trial of Digital Radio Modiale
in the Plymouth area for 12 months, and they're looking
for listeners to take part.
The original press release explains more, here
and here:
BBC
Radio and National Grid Wireless
have announced a trial of a new transmission technology
which will
allow the two organisations to assess the practicality of
digital radio
services in the medium-wave bands.
The trial, which
will last for a year, will be centred on Plymouth.
From the end of
April, the BBC and National Grid Wireless will re-use a
current medium-wave frequency in the Plymouth area to
broadcast a trial
digital service using the digital radio mondiale
(DRM) standard.
DRM is an emerging technology which has
been designed to facilitate digital radio at frequencies
below 30 MHz.
The BBC, which has been involved in the
engineering research and
development of the standard over the last few years,
already makes the BBC World
Service available on short-wave using the
technology to some parts of western Europe and north
Africa.
The trial will broadcast BBC
Radio Devon using the technology from the
existing medium-wave transmitter in the city.
An audience panel will be recruited from
listeners to Radio Devon and users of bbc.co.uk/devon.
Members of the panel will be given radios which are
capable of
receiving DRM as well as the existing FM and DAB
transmissions.
The BBC intends to conduct research with
the panel over the following year
to explore their experience of DRM and help inform its
future digital
radio strategy.
The trial will be the first of its kind
in the UK using medium-wave to provide DRM to UK
listeners.
National Grid Wireless will supply,
commission and operate the transmission
equipment needed for the trial, as well as being involved
in the
engineering measurement of the transmissions and
validation of the
results. The two companies intend to publish the results
of the trial
by mid-2008.
John Allen,
Head of New Services for BBC English Regions, said:
"The trial will
help us understand whether DRM has a role to play in the
all-digital
future for BBC Local Radio in the UK.
"We're really excited that BBC
Radio Devon is going to be involved in this
trial, as it confirms that BBC Local Radio is no stranger
to
technological innovation."
John Ward,
Director of Network Operations and Engineering at National
Grid
Wireless, said: "We have a track record of being at
the forefront of
new developments in broadcast technology and this trial
maintains our
commitment to innovation.
"Importantly this trial will enable
us to explore the practicalities of establishing
domestic DRM broadcasting that could, in the future,
complement
existing radio services."
BBC plans digital radio boost
The BBC is to expand its digital radio coverage by
building 10 new transmitters and is to trial a new
digital transmission technology, digital radio mondiale.
The plans will take the BBC closer to its target of
making its digital radio broadcasts available to 90% of
the population, up from its current level of 85%,
according to the corporation.
DRM is a new digital service that can be broadcast
from existing medium wave transmitters and will be
trialled in the Plymouth area, broadcasting BBC Radio
Devon.
The BBC director of radio, Jenny Abramsky, said the new
transmitters "represent a real and worthwhile
improvement to the coverage of our DAB digital radio
network. It shows the BBC's continuing commitment to
making our services available on DAB digital
radio."
Two of the new transmitters, which are being built by
Arqiva, are already broadcasting to Newport and Gwent
and south-west Glasgow and Dunbarton.
Seven transmitters will broadcast to Bury St Edmunds,
Norwich and parts of east Norfolk, Arundel and the south
downs, Alnwick and east Northumberland, Newhaven,
Mansfield and York and East Riding of Yorkshire.
Most of the new transmitters will be broadcasting by
the end of April. A further transmitter is planned for
the Isle of Man.
The DRM trial will begin in April and will last a
year.
Auntie Beebs online future divined
The BBC has outlined ambitious online plans for
2007, including a relaunch of BBC.co.uk, the iPlayer,
a BBC archive trial and a massive internal archiving
update.
Ashley Highfield, director of Future Media and
Technology at the BBC, told Wotsat: It would be a good
year if we succeeded to reinvent BBC.co.uk, get the
iPlayer launched, get an archive trial launched and
start the Digital Media Initiative.
He also unveiled a major new interactive online
broadcasting experiment called Signs of Life,
described tongue-in-cheek as sort of Buffy meets
horoscopes.
The first major task will be launching the iPlayer,
the BBCs online live broadcast and seven-day catch-up
service, which has received a provisional go-ahead by
the BBC Trust.
The full launch is expected in May, but there are
plenty of technical hurdles to overcome both before
the launch and to meet some of the Trusts
recommendations. More details here.
In April, the BBCs online archive trial will move
from a limited selection of clips to a selection of
complete programmes, revealing what people want and
how they might use it.
Speaking to the Broadcasting Press Guild, Ashley
said: We believe that the internet is more than just a
distribution platform for our programmes. This is
about whole programmes from our archive, with about
1,000 hours of content, in a mix of genres.
The results of this trial will be used to inform
the Public Value Test application we make next year
for a full version of the trial.
Ultimately, the archive service could extend to
encompass the entire 1.2 million hours of video in the
BBC archives, but Ashley said theres no timescale for
when this would be achieved, not least because it
would cost a lot of money.
The next stage is taking the BBCs websites to a new
level of audience interaction. Web 2.0 is an overused
term, so we are going to be talking about Web 3.0,
Ashley joked.
Right now our website looks broadly similar to
everyone who goes to it. Its very Web 1.0. We want to
move to a world where the website is highly tailored
to you. Where its more tailored to the flavour of each
of the 16 million people going through every month. We
already have a taste of this in places like our Radio
1 website where weve worked with partners like Flickr
and Second Life. We want to go much more in that
direction.
Behind all of this is the epic-sounding Digital
Media Initiative: The BBC is set up as a bunch of
discrete linear services. You could call them feuadal
fiefdoms if you wish! It makes it hard to do, for
instance, a search across all of the BBCs output for
Stephen Fry, because all of the episodes of Black
Adder or radio appearances are held in different
places and there is no way to find them.
We are having to work out how all the BBCs output
can go into a single digital repository, with all the
metadata that will allow you to find actors and dates
and anything else that would appear on all platforms.
If we cannot do that then all the iPlayers and archive
will not happen. Its not a direct customer facing
service but it is vital.
BBC planning iPlayer set-top box
The BBC is developing a hybrid
set-top box to bring its iPlayer catch-up TV service to
TV screens without a PC.
The experimental box is one of
many routes the BBC is exploring to open the new service
to the widest possible audience when it launches this
summer.
Ashley Highfield, director of
Future Media and Technology at the BBC, told Wotsat the
corporation expects to get approval for iPlayer service
on May 2.
iPlayer will provide both a
seven-day catch-up service for every BBC TV channel,
plus a live feed of every TV and radio channel, and an
open archive of BBC radio and podcasts.
Users will be able to store TV
catch-up episodes for up to 30 days, and there will be
no limit to how long you can keep audio downloads.
The team are already gearing up
for the launch, even though they have yet to formally
respond to the Trusts recommendations on what the final
service should be like.
The current software is based on
Microsofts copy protection system and Windows Media
Player, but the Trust wants it to be available to as
many people, on as many different platforms as possible.
Speaking to the Broadcasting
Press Guild, Ashley said iPlayer wont be married to
Microsoft for the long term, but not everyone is
compatible.
We agree that we should try to
be as universal as possible and get onto all possible
platforms. There are certain platforms I would like to
get on to, like iTunes, but their DRM does not support
the way iPlayer works, such as making a programme
available for seven days and then deleting it.
We have been running for the
last couple of months a test within the BBC to try out
the infrastructure required, not just for iPlayer but
for programmes on the BBC3 website, which we are allowed
to provide under the BBC3 agreement. We will soon roll
that out to a closed group of around 20,000, so that
when the permission from the Trust is finally granted
around May 2, we will be able to push the button and go
live straight away."
Ashley also revealed a bit of
the technical background to iPlayer, which could also
make it challenging to carry onto other systems.
First, the catch-up service is
peer-to-peer, based on the same Kontiki software used
online for Sky Anytime. But the live TV feeds use
multicast, a fairly new technology for which much of BTs
broadband network is not ready. Yet both these
innovations are important for reducing the demands of
bandwidth on both the BBC and the users.
We use P2P so our distribution
costs and those of the user are minimal, and the quality
of the programmes is very high. It also allows us to
provide HD.
We will also be streaming all
our channels using multicast. That depends on the BT
network, which is being upgraded to allow multicast
streaming, but at the time of launch not many people
will be able to get channels through multicast. We are
also streaming other programmes from our websites in the
traditional one-to-one fashion.
Mac users are scheduled to get
something later this year, and beyond that, Ashley is
already talking to companies like Slingmedia makers of
the wonderful Slingbox Sony, and Joost about other ways
to get the iPlayer to as many people as possible.
And you might even see it on
your PC: beyond the likes of BT and Virgin Media, Ashley
revealed his boffins are working on a hybrid Freeview
set-top box which would be able to access iPlayer over
broadband so you can catch-up on your old-fashioned TV.
Sky Movies overhauled
Sky Movies is
relaunching on 4 April,
with
all Sky Movies channels being renamed by genre. The new
channel names are
Sky
Movies Premiere, Premiere+1, Comedy, Action/Thriller,
Family, Drama,
Sci-Fi/Horror,
Classics, Modern Greats, Indie, HD1 and HD2. Programming
on the
channels is fairly self-explanatory Premiere will show
five new premieres a
week,
with films entering a month-long black period at the end
of their window
on
the channel, before moving to the appropriate genre
channels. The two HD
channels
will no longer be simulcast, apart from films showing on
Sky Premiere on Saturdays;
instead they will show a selection of films available on
the
other
channels.
The Irish are coming...
The Irish
Post has revealed that plans are
afoot to launch a channel featuring
programming from Irish state broadcaster RTÉ in
Britain
.
The broadcaster is waiting on permission from the Dáil
to use its present
license fee funding to pay for the move a provision
not allowed for under
present legislation. If the Dáil gives the go-ahead,
RTÉ will explore options
for how the station will be broadcast in
Britain
;
either on Freeview, through subscription or on some
other platform. The channel
will include a mix of programming from
Ireland
s
public service channels, RTÉ One,
RTÉ Two and Irish-language
station TG4 but it will not be able to broadcast live
sports owing to rights
issues.
Sky Poker launches on Sky channel 846
Skys latest
interactive game, Sky Poker,
has launched at www.skypoker.com
and on
Sky channel 846. Would-be card sharks can play live,
televised Texas Hold Em from
9pm
every night and take on celebs,
sports stars and poker
professionals, with £5000 up for grabs every day.
Sky disputes Virgin sports claim
In the tit-for-tat digital battle Sky
is considering a formal complaint against Virgin
Media's latest ad campaign.
Virgin Media's full-page ads in newspaper sports
sections have the headline "The cheapest place
to get Sky Sports isn't Sky". The ads claim to
save consumers £70 each year compared with Sky.
Virgin Media said the new Sky Sports package
would offer four Sky Sports channels with a range of
digital TV channels and a TV on-demand library for
£26 per month. However, the package is only
available to Virgin Media phone customers, who pay
an additional £11 for that service.
Sky claim that the minimum price for a package of
its four major sports channels would be £34, which
would be £3 cheaper than Virgin Media.
A spokesman for Sky said the company is
considering a formal complaint, but as a first step
has written to Virgin Media today asking them to
withdraw or amend their adverts.
"For all their talk about honesty and
transparency, NTL-Virgin are making misleading
comparisons that ignore fundamental differences
between our products," the spokesman said.
"The inconvenient truth for NTL-Virgin is that
their customers can save hundreds of pounds a year
by switching to Sky."
A spokeswoman for Virgin Media said the company
did not want to comment in details, but said that
Virgin had been quite clear about the service on
offer.
14th
November 2006
Almost
100,000 viewers have upgraded to HD
Sky HD's customer base has risen by 38,000 viewers since June to
reach 96,000. The news came as Sky announced a revenue increase
of 11% to £1.07 billion. Sky also said it's pleased with the
uptake of its broadband service, launched in July, which has
113,000 subscribers - 74,000 of whom are already connected. [Nov
10]
Wedding
TV to launch on Sky in December
The worlds first wedding TV channel - to be called Wedding TV -
is set to launch on Sky Digital in December. Launching on Monday
4th December, Wedding TV will consist of shows dedicated to the
emotion and drama of relationships and weddings. It will be
aimed mainly at women aged 18-34, but will also appeal to anyone
interested in the real-life drama surrounding relationships.
[Nov 10]
Fame
TV launches on Sky Digital
Fame TV, a new user-generated channel, has launched on Sky
channel 217. The interactive station relies entirely on members
of the public for its programming content. John Hayes, head of
development at the channel, said: "We are moving into a new
era of TV where user-generated content and viewer interaction
are key to the programming." [Nov 11]
Sky
Mobile TV extends to 3 and Orange
Sky has extended the reach of Sky Mobile TV with a new deal to
bring the service to Orange 3G and 3UK customers. All Orange 3G
customers can now receive up to 23 Sky Mobile TV channels
including live news, sport, music, entertainment and
documentaries. Sky Mobile TV includes a mix of dedicated made
for mobile channels and others that are streamed as live
including Sky News and Sky Sports News. [Nov 5]
Pace
'back on track' after poor annual results
Pace Micro has issued a reassuring statement that it is on track
to meet its expectations for the 2006/7 financial year, having
made solid progress driven by demand in all regions. The group
posted an annual pretax loss of £15.6 million pounds in
September, due to delays in developing products for the US, but
said it was starting to recover. [Nov 7]
Broadcast
over broadband set to launch in UK
Freewire TV is set to deliver broadcast quality TV channels over
multicast broadband networks, offering multi-channel
entertainment to the digitally disenfranchised who are currently
unable to receive digital TV services by other means. Freewire
TV will initially be available to up to half a million students
who will be able to access the service through their campus
networks. [Nov 6]
Channel
4 signs new horse racing rights deal
Channel 4 has signed a new three-year deal for UK horseracing
broadcast rights. Under the deal, C4 will show 80 days of racing
and will develop broadband, mobile and pay-TV coverage in
association with subscription broadcaster Racing UK. [Nov 7]
More
digital TV news in brief...
Fox News is to launch a new business TV channel in the US... Sky
will beam coverage of The Ashes series via mobile and broadband
internet for the first time this winter... City analysts have
responded cautiously to NTL's plans for a possible takeover of
ITV, warning that the cable giant could overstretch itself and
also pinpointing a lack of synergies between the two
companies.... Al-Jazeera has fixed a date of November 15 for the
launch of its new international English-language news network...
Viacom reported a lower quarterly profit from continuing
operations as disappointing box-office results offset higher
advertising sales at its MTV Networks cable service... Eutelsat
reported revenues for the first quarter 2006-2007 were up 6 per
cent year-on-year.
Google
set to beat TV on advertising revenue
Google is poised to overtake Britains main TV channels in the
race for advertising revenue. The internet companys ad revenue
in the UK is expected this year to surpass Channel 4s
anticipated 2006 take of £800m. Within 18 months, it is
forecast to overtake ITV1 according to Mindshare and Initiative,
two media buying groups. ITV1 accounted for 90 per cent of the
ITV groups £1.63bn total advertising revenues last year. [Nov
4]
Top
Up TV launches new digital TV recorder
Top Up TV is to launch its Top Up TV Anytime Service and Digital
TV Recorder (DTR). The device will allow viewers to watch and
record content from 19 channels including Disney, MTV, Paramount
Comedy, Living TV and, for an additional cost, Setanta Sports
and PictureBox. The DTR provides access to all of the Top Up TV
Anytime programming as well as all Freeview channels. It comes
with digital features allowing users to pause, rewind and fast
forward live TV as well as record two channels at the same time.
[Nov 8]
Sky
resumes sports and film downloads service
Sky's movie and sports download service has resumed normal
operations after being suspended in August due to a security
breach. Sky took action to restrict access on 31st August after
being alerted to the security problems by Microsoft. [Nov 6]
Sales
of digital TVs top analogue for first time
Sales of digital TV equipment have overtaken analogue sets for
the first time, according to market researcher GfK. In the three
months to September, digital televisions, set-top boxes and
recorders accounted for 51 per cent of all television equipment
sold. Data gathered from 20,000 stores showed an increase in
demand for flat-screen televisions and a sharp decline in sales
of conventional sets. [Nov 8]
Freeview
to push 'Free TV Land' PR concept
Freeview is launching a new brand look and feel with creative
based on the concept of Free TV Land. Freeview says it has
worked with a branding agency to identify the Freeview values
that consumers love the most and created a more defined brand
identity designed to engage with consumers and develop a
stronger, ongoing relationship between Freeview and its viewers.
[Nov 7]
Freeview
to push 'Free TV Land' PR concept
Two new time-shifted ITV channels have launched on Sky Digital.
They are ITV2 +1 and ITV3 +1, on Sky numbers 211 and 213. The
new channels will offer viewers a second chance to view daily
schedules of ITV2 and ITV3.
25th
August 2006
Real
Madrid football club channel starts in UK
Spanish football club Real Madrid is set to launch its own
channel on Sky Digital at the end of August. Real Madrid TV is
already testing at 11.681GHz/V (under the ident '51147') and can
be manually added via the 'Add channels' feature on Sky. It is
expected to officially launch on Sky Digital on August 29th.
[Aug 24]
UKTV G2
scores basketball TV rights win
UKTV has won exclusive rights to basketball coverage from the
FIBA World Championship 2006 for its UKTV G2 channel. The
broadcasts will also be supported by red button applications to
drive take-up of uktvslam.tv,
where highlights of every game will be broadcast free on a trial
basis along with one full game every day of the tournament, with
a view to a full subscription service being launched later this
year. [Aug 24]
Channel
Five unveils boss for its digital channels
Channel Five has hired Nick Thorogood, the former head of ITV
daytime, as controller of its soon-to-launch Five US and Five
Life digital channels, which are set to debut this autumn.
Initially available on Freeview, followed by satellite and
cable, Five Life and Five US are the first extensions to the
terrestrial channel, which will celebrate its 10th birthday next
March. Five US will extend the US programming familiar to Five
viewers from shows such as 'CSI'. It has acquired dramas
'Shark', 'Vanished' and 'The Nine'. Five Life is skewed towards
a female audience and will offer drama, films, soaps and the
pre-school strand Milkshake!. [Aug 23]
ITV2
and ITV4 to show new US comedies
ITV has bought the rights to two US comedy series from the LA
Screenings earlier this year. Sony's Big Day, which is to
debut on ABC next year, is a comedy about the preparations for a
wedding, while Fox's The Winner centres on a 32-year-old
who has yet to leave home. ITV said it had not yet decided which
channels the comedies would air on, although the broadcaster is
likely to show them initially on ITV2 and ITV4 and transfer them
to ITV1 if they become hits. [Aug 23]
London
Tonight presenter joins Al-Jazeera
Former London Tonight presenter Nick Clark is to join Al-Jazeera
International, the Arabic network's 24-hour English-language
satellite channel that is expected to launch in September. He
will present weekend news from the network's London broadcast
centre alongside Barbara Serra, who has also joined from Channel
Five. Sir David Frost will also present a one hour show on the
channel. The channel will be the first completely HD news and
current affairs channel. [Aug 24]
New
music channel starts on Sky
A brand new music channel has started on Sky Digital channel
374. Called Bubble Hits, the free-to-air station is unique
because it broadcasts non-stop music without adverts. [Aug 20]
Living
TV buys rights to new Danson comedy
Living TV has acquired the rights to Help Me Help You, a
comedy from 20th Century Fox Television Distribution starring
Ted Danson. Living gets first-run rights to the show in the UK
for terrestrial and cable and satellite. Danson stars as
self-obsessed and dysfunctional therapist Dr Bill, who hides
behind his celebrity image as a bestselling author of successful
self-help books. The 13-part series explores the comical side of
group therapy. [Aug 23]
Three
Sky Digital channels get the chop
Several TV channels have been removed from the Sky line-up. They
are Sport Nation on 440, treasures.tv on 674, We Deliver TV on
665 and One TV on 667. Meanwhile, the audio channel crossrhythm
on channel 0126 has also been removed. There's a new name for
another station - on channel 886 Majestic TV is now called
Psychic TV. [Aug 23]
More of
this week's digital TV news in brief...
Cartoon Network is destined for Orange mobile TV in six more
European countries after parent Turner Broadcasting agreed a
distribution deal with owner France Telecom... Channel 4's chief
executive Andy Duncan has ruled himself out of the running to
replace outgoing ITV chief executive Charles Allen... The
National Geographic Channel has commissioned a third season of Seconds
From Disaster, a high-definition series... German studio
EM.Entertainment has signed a deal for its sci-fi series Farscape
to be aired on NBC Universal's Sci-Fi Channel in Germany... A
lack of decent and available US comedies has forced the UK's
Channel 4 to overhaul its Friday nights, which will feature
"no Americana after 9pm" this autumn, said director of
TV Kevin Lygo... ITV has made an off! icial request to Ofcom to
reduce its commitment to children's programming on ITV1... Sky
announced that Extreme Sports joined its Sky Mobile TV
service... Overseas Property TV has launched on Sky channel 287.
Shopping
channel had licence removed
Sky Digital shopping channel One TV has had its licence removed
and is no longer able to broadcast the service 'One TV'. Ofcom
has revoked the broadcast licence of the station after it failed
to pay its £2,000 licence fee. After many reminders, on July
7th One TV was given a final opportunity to pay the outstanding
fees which it did not, according to media reports. [Aug 22]
Sky
unveils new easy-to-handle remote control
Sky has launched a remote control handset to help people with
visual impairments and limited dexterity. The Sky+ Remote
Control Easy Grip offers larger, bolder graphics for easier
button identification; raised contoured buttons with more
reference points for easier button identification; and increased
colour contrast between buttons and remote body. It costs £19.99
(+ £3.50 P&P). Existing customers can call Sky on 08705 66
33 33 for more details. [Aug 15
25th
July 2006
Sky
lifts lid on free broadband service
Sky has
unveiled plans to offer a new broadband service to its customers
- at no extra cost.
The 'Sky Broadband' service, launching early next month, will be
available to all Sky TV customers covered by the network's
footprint. At present this amounts to around 28% of households -
including those in
London
,
Birmingham
,
Manchester
,
Edinburgh
and
Glasgow
- but will rise to 70% by the end of 2007.
Customers will be able to choose from three different packages -
Sky Broadband Base, Mid and Max - depending on their
requirements. The free service, 'Base', will offer download
speeds of up to 2Mb and a download cap of 2Gb a month. 'Mid'
will cost £5, offering 8Mb speed and 40Gb usage, while 'Max'
boasts a 16Mb connection and unlimited downloads for just £10 a
month.
Sky is also tempting customers with a free wireless router, 12
months' free McAfee Security and a home installation.
Additionally, those taking the broadband service will be able to
join the 'Sky Talk' service, which offers unlimited
UK
landline calls through the standard BT line for £5 a month.
The company is investing £400 million in the service over the
next three years, including a significant marketing push and the
hiring of an additional 1,500 call centre staff.
Describing Sky Broadband as a "compelling product" for
customers, Sky chief exec James Murdoch said that the company
was "ideally equipped" to enter the broadband market
following its purchase of telecoms company Easynet last year.
"We will help our customers realise the full potential from
technological convergence," he added. "This is a
transformational new initiative for Sky."
MTV set to start new
video sharing TV channel
MTV is poised to cash in on the Internet craze for video
swapping by launching a 'community channel' on Sky Digital this
week where viewers will contribute the content. MTV, which
celebrates its 25 anniversary next month, says the new TV
channel will concentrate on footage supplied by viewers and they
will dictate much of what appears on it. Matthew Kershaw, head
of interactive at MTV, said: "We are like the Madonna of
TV, always re-inventing ourselves. We have got a long history of
using users in programmes and we are trying to inject as much
user-generated stuff as we can." [July 23]
ITV Play launches on Sky
Digital this week
ITV Play is set to launch on Sky Digital channel 856 this week.
The new gaming channel launched on other TV platforms in April
and is now ready for its satellite launch. Charles Allen, Chief
Executive of ITV said: "We believe that ITV Play has
enormous potential to lead the market for participation TV with
higher production values, better programmes and bigger
prizes." [July 21]
PIN-protected films hours
set to be extended
ASky has announced that the broadcast hours of its PIN-protected
film channels will be extended from this autumn. The new hours,
which will be introduced on September 1st, will be 11am until
3am covering Sky Movies 9 and Sky Movies 10, Sky Movies 9 HD and
Sky Movies 10 HD. Currently, the protected hours are daily
between 5pm and 3am. [July 20]
Castaway set
to return to BBC screens
Castaway, the reality series that made it on to BBC
screens before the phenomenon of Channel 4's Big Brother, is set
to return five years after its first broadcast. The new series
will follow a group of people as they establish a new community
in a remote location but with added twists this time. Each
episode will be broadcast live from an undisclosed exotic
location. The new series will be screened on BBC1 and BBC3 plus
on interactive services. [July 23]
More of this week's
digital TV news in brief...
Film4 Weekly has been removed from Sky Digital channel 317... On
Sky channel 844, the Poker Channel is now called All in Sport...
Five has acquired both digital and free TV rights to Warner Bros
hostage thriller The Nine.
TV regulator publishes
probe into Sky One ad
TV regulators at Ofcom have just published the findings of their
investigation into four complaints from viewers who felt the
trails for Sky One's Project Catwalk series, which showed
a pair of scissors flying through the air towards a tailor’s
dummy and becoming lodged in it, were inappropriate. Some felt
children could be encouraged to imitate the scenario, said the
viewers. Sky said that it did not believe the trail amounted to
dangerous behaviour which could be easily imitable by children.
It was clearly a promotion for a programme and was filmed
against a stark white background, it said. There was no
suggestion that the scissors had been thrown by anyone and the
scissors were much larger than normal and this, together with
the stylised nature of the sequence, would have made it evident
that this was a fantastical scenario. Ofcom said: "We noted
and accepted Sky's contentions that the scissors are not seen
being thrown, and that their flight is not always consistent
with having been thrown. They may also at times seem to be
unrealistically large (though they are seen to be normal size by
the time they pierce the tailor's dummy). As with stylisation,
these points are relevant to how the trailer will have been
interpreted by adults and older children. However, we did not
think that younger children, in the 4-9 year range, will have
made these kinds of relatively sophisticated judgement, and
concluded that the portrayal was of a potentially dangerous act,
with this age group. Transmission at times when they will have
been viewing in large numbers - as between Malcolm in the
Middle and The Simpsons - therefore contravened the
Code." [July 17]
28th
April 2006
New Cartoon Network
channel launches on Sky
Cartoon Network's brand new second channel has launched this
week on Sky channel 622. With a brand-new look and totally
original schedule, Cartoon Network Too claims to be the
destination for anyone in search of a good giggle. The channel
is aimed at "kids of all ages" and is available on Sky
channel 622. [April 24]
Brand new film channel
TCM2 to launch in May
Brand new film channel TCM2 is to launch on May 2nd. A spokesman
at Turner Broadcasting said: "Having TCM2 will allow scope
to explore further sponsorship opportunities for its bespoke
themed seasons and offer the many advertisers on TCM (EPG 319) a
far greater variety of options as well as attracting new brands
to both of the channels." [April 22]
UKTV People timeshift
channel shuts down
The UKTV People one-hour timeshift channel has ceased
broadcasting and been removed from the Sky line-up. The main
UKTV People is unaffacted but it is believed poor audience
figures meant the timeshift channel was not viable. It ban on
air for just over one year. [April 21]
Sky takes TV to the
masses with city festival
Sky is taking TV to the people with the launch of its first Sky
Festival. Sky Networks head Dawn Airey has announced that the
event will run from August 11-13 in
Manchester
. The three-day festival will promote 25 of Sky's most popular
pay TV channels including LivingTV, MTV, Sky News and Paramount
Comedy. Residents will be able to strut the catwalk in a bid to
be the city's "Next Top Model," learn to read an
autocue with a team from Sky News, have their vehicle
transformed in MTV "Pimp my Ride" style, try their
luck as stand-up comics with the Paramount Comedy channel and
test their cricket bowling with a team from Sky Sports. [April
23]
New gambling channel from
Sky launches
A new second casino-style gambling channel from Sky Vegas has
launched on the Sky EPG. Called Sky Vegas 846, it broadcasts on
Sky Digital channel 846 and shows interactive poker and roulette
games. At the same time, sister channel Sky Vegas 1 has been
renamed Sky Vegas 845. [April 22]
ITV Play channel comes to
Freeview
ITV has launched its ITV Play channel on Freeview, with
programming including the first show spawned from the
broadcaster's purchase of the Friends Reunited website.
Friends Reunited – The School Run builds on the interest
in nostalgia that is at the heart of the Friends Reunited
website, which ITV bought last December. Based on a huge
interactive board game, the show brings classmates together to
test their knowledge of facts and trivia from a particular year.
[April 22]
New film channel coming
to
UK
later this year?
The TV company which bought the international business of the
Hallmark Channel in February last year is planning to launch a
second channel in the
UK
. Sparrowhawk reportedly wants its new channel to be dedicated
to "made-for TV movies." No date is yet available for
the launch. [April 20]
BBC Three commissions new
drama series
BBC Three has commissioned a new six-part drama series called Sinchronicity
about the sexual misadventures of a group of 20-somethings.
Written by Julian Jones, the show will be directed by Brian
Grant, Executive Producers for BBC Three are Julie Gardner and
Bethan Jones (BBC Wales). Sinchronicity was commissioned by
Julian Bellamy, Controller of BBC Three. Filming begins next
month. [April 22]
Treasury to investigate
digital TV quiz channels
Concerns expressed by a number of organisations including the
Gambling Commission has prompted the Treasury to examine the
regulation of TV quiz channels. ITV has launched its first such
service on Freeview, ITV Play, where viewers dial a premium-rate
number to play for big cash prizes. A Treasury spokesman said it
would consider if such shows should adopt the same rules as
other types of gambling. There are approximately 15 dedicated
quiz channels on digital TV, including Channel 4-owned Quiz
Call. [April 22]
Sci-Fi unleashes
marketing blitz for 'Medium'
The Sci-Fi Channel has begun a six-figure marketing campaign to
promote its forthcoming primetime TV series, Medium. The
month-long activity has just gone live and revolves primarily
around multi-channel TV advertising with extensive online
activity. Sky One, Hallmark, Living and ITV2 and will carry the
campaign in three bursts until early May. The online activity
includes expandable banners with the capability to stream the TV
ad on Yahoo!, wanadoo/icircle, ITV.com, radiotimes.com and
Livingtv.co.uk, and moving picture units on MSN.co.uk. [April
21]
Ofcom plans to limit
Sky's charges
Media regulator Ofcom has said it plans to cap the charges that
Sky imposes on companies using its satellite service. Ofcom said
its decision was based on Sky's dominant position in
Britain
's pay TV sector. "With 8 million households now signed up
to Sky's retail platform service, Sky is now in a much stronger
negotiating position vis-a-vis TPS (technical platform
services)," Ofcom said in a statement. [April 21]
ITV keeps hold of Bond
terrestrial TV rights
ITV has snapped up exclusive terrestrial TV rights to the
upcoming James Bond movie Casino Royale as well as new
runs of the complete 22-title archive in a deal with Sony
Pictures and MGM. ITV head of acquisitions Jay Kandola secured
the deal in what is reported to have been a tough bidding
contest with Channel 4, ensuring ITV continues its legacy as the
traditional home of Bond in the U.K. "ITV is delighted to
have secured the rights to this hotly contested catalog of
movies," ITV director of television Simon Shaps said.
"Films form a key part of the ITV schedules in both peak
and off-peak hours, and we are looking forward to building upon
the hugely successful relationship we have with Sony Pictures
Television International and MGM." [April 21]
Ofcom clears the way for
pay TV on Freeview
Media regulator Ofcom has cleared the way for pay TV channels to
be carried on the digital terrestrial TV service, Freeview,
overturning access restrictions that until now have allowed only
subscription-free channels to be carried on the platform. The
move means that subscription-based channels such as Sky One,
MTV, Cartoon Network and Disney Channel can now bid for carriage
on the 30-channel platform, which is now in almost six million
homes. Ofcom said the decision to lift the restriction was
influenced by the rapid development of digital terrestrial TV,
which is now in more than one in three digital homes. [April 20]
CITV boosts schedule
ahead of Sky launch
ITV's new childrens channel, CITV, is to launch on Sky Digital
on May 8th and to mark its launch the broadcaster has announced
new programming will be screened from that date. The line-up
will include new episodes of Bratz, as well as the return
of vintage classics like Rupert and Sooty and Sweep.
[April 10]
More digital TV news in
brief...
On Sky channel 656, Myphone.tv is now called Shop Vector+... On
Sky channel 671 Star Bazaar TV has been removed from the
line-up... Sky Vegas Live is now called Sky Vegas 845 on channel
845... All eight Vectone channels which briefly ceased
broadcasting last week have now re-joined the Sky line-up...
Majestic TV has moved from Slky channel 275 to 886... On channel
541, UKTV People +1 has been removed... Sky One has confirmed it
is to axe its drama series Dream Team after over 400
episodes next year... Nick Junior 2 has begun test transmissions
and is expected to launch fully very shortly
7th
April 2006
Sky
HD to go on general sale April 12
Sky HD will
go on sale to the general public next Wednesday, April 12, it
has been announced.
Installations of the HD service will begin next month in advance
of the World Cup in June. Pre-registration has been open to
interested customers for the past fortnight.
Customers will be able to book a Sky HD installation for May via
Sky or
certain retail stores. A monthly subscription will cost
£10 and the set-top box £299, while installation is free until
the end of May or while stocks last.
Meanwhile, Sky has also confirmed that the HD box will be
equipped with a 160Gb hard drive, allowing for 80 hours of
standard definition recording or 30 hours of HD recording.
European deal is reached
on soccer TV rights
The Premier League has welcomed the end of its legal battle with
the European Commission over the sale of broadcasting rights.
Months of talks between
Brussels
and the Premier League have ended in a deal which breaks Sky's
monopoly on screening the 130 live games. The EC formally agreed
to allow the League to continue to sell the rights for all 20
clubs together, after the Premier League committed to ensuring
no single broadcaster would be allowed to buy all of the live
packages from 2007. Under the agreed arrangements, more football
coverage rights, including TV, mobile phone and internet rights,
will be made available for sale in open bidding scrutinised by
an independent trustee. Rights for live coverage of Premier
League games will be sold in six "packages" and no one
buyer will be allowed to buy more than five. [March 23]
ITV kids channel sets
date for Sky launch
After launching on Freeview, Telewest and Homechoice earlier
this month, ITV's kids channel CiTV has announced the date when
it will become available on Sky Digital. Sky viewers will be
able to watch the station from May 8. [March 21]
'Inspirational' music
channel announces launch
A brand new music TV station called 'R Music TV' is set to debut
on Sky Digital on April 3. Being launched by the makers of
Revelation TV, the channel will broadcast "inspirational
and positive music." It will reportedly put an emphasis on
"not airing any negative music with swearing, nudity, drugs
or violence." [March 21]
Sci-Fi to start new
timeshifted channel on Sky
The Sci-Fi channel is to start a new time-shifted version of its
popular channel on Sky Digital, it has confirmed. The new Sci Fi
+1 station will broadcast from channel 130 from April 3. In a
statement, Nick Betts, the channel's MD, said: "The launch
of the +1 is a hugely significant endorsement of our brand and
the universal interest in the sci-fi genre. It also marks an
important step in NBC Universal Global Networks'
UK
expansion plans." [March 20]
Oscar winning actor to
host new BBC4 show
Oscar-winning
screenwriter, novelist and actor Julian Fellowes is to host a
new BBC4 TV show about the English language titled Never Mind
the Full Stops, the BBC announced Monday. The show will
feature Fellowes, who won the Academy Award for his original
script for "
Gosford
Park
" in 2002, as chairman with four guests having fun with
questions involving grammar, spelling and general use and misuse
of the language. [March 20]
New Cyprus-themed travel
channel to debut
A new travel channel targeted at viewers wanting to buy travel
packages to
Cyprus
is to launch on Sky. Called Cyprus Direct TV, the channel
intends to launch on March 27 and offer "a mix of
introductory lifestyle documentaries and properties for
sale." The free-to-air, 24-hour channel will also provide
background information about living in
Cyprus
. [March 18]
More of this week's
digital TV news in brief...
On Sky Digital, channel 277 London TV has been removed... A new
Sky Digital shopping channel has started on channel 676 called
Celebrity Shop... On Sky Digital, Broadband UK2 has moved from
851 to 675... Look4Love TV has moved from 872 to 916... True
Movies 2 has started on Sky channel 324... Vectone 2U has
launched on channel 821.... ITV has rejected an approach from
Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Blackstone and Apax Partners,
which is advised by Greg Dyke, to buy a controlling stake in the
broadcaster... Sky is set to introduce a new customer-loyalty
scheme to reduce churn among its Sky Movies subscribers... At
The Races (ATR) is to be paid £1m from the Racecourse
Association (RCA) and the 30 defendant courses after an out of
court agreement was reached.
Fox renews Simpsons for
two more series
US network Fox has commissioned two more series of The
Simpsons. The announcement means that the popular animated
sitcom will reach its 400th episode in the next two years. The
show is now in its 17th season. [March 21]
Disney Channels switch
around on Sky Digital
Disney's channels have been switched around in the line-up on
Sky Digital following the debut of a new station. Disney
Cinemagic is on channel 611 while on 612 is Disney Cinemagic +1.
Menwhile, the Disney Channel has moved from 611 to 613. [Mar 20]
Sky is
UK
's most popular TV platform
Sky remains the
UK
’s most popular TV platform according to new research from
media regulator Ofcom. For the first time, there are now more
digital satellite subscribers in the
UK
than there are homes watching analogue terrestrial-only TV.
Ofcom also added at the end of 2005, more households were
watching Sky subscription services on their principal TV set
than were watching any other form of television service. [March
18]
BBC Japan set to close
after funding problem
BBC Worldwide has confirmed that BBC Japan will be unavailable
to viewers as of April 30 after distributor JMC said that it
cannot afford to honour its contractual commitments. In a
statement, BBC Worldwide said that JMC had sent notification
that its shareholders will no longer provide financial support,
which means that it will be unable to continue distributing BBC
Japan. "This decision has been taken without any
consultation with BBC Worldwide and is beyond the corporation's
control," the statement said. "BBC Worldwide is
actively seeking alternative ways to continue to provide the
service in
Japan
." [March 20]
Pace
achieves 100% RoHS compliant bill of materials
Saltaire, West
Yorkshire, 29 March 2006: Pace Micro Technology plc
the leading dedicated innovator of technology solutions for the
payTV industry, has today announced that is has successfully
achieved a
100% RoHS* compliant bill of materials for its set-top box
design - 3
months ahead of the 1st July deadline.
The RoHS Directive bans the placing on the EU market of new
electrical and
electronic equipment containing more than agreed levels of lead,
cadmium,
mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and
polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants from 1
July 2006
Richard Eltherington, Hardware Quality Assurance Manager for
Pace
commented:
"As a global set-top box developer, with manufacturing
centres around the
world, we welcome directives, such as RoHS, which provide
environmental
regulation for the industry.
"Pace engineers have been designing set-top boxes with RoHS
compliance in
mind for the last two years, and the result is that we have been
able to
meet the RoHS requirements well ahead of time."
APR 2006 -
Pace brings HD and next generation products to ANGA Cable
2006
Saltaire, West Yorkshire, 7 April 2006: High definition
television and
next generation technology for digital TV distribution will be
demonstrated by Pace Micro Technology (pic.l) at the ANGA Cable
Show from
30 May to 1 June 2006 in
Cologne
,
Germany
.
Speaking on delivering HD around the home, Paul Entwistle, Chief
Technologist at Pace, will also be participating at the ANGA
Convention on
31 May.
High definition (HD)
Pace will be showing its family of HD set-top boxes,
including a new
free-to-air HD set-top box which will be available in retail
across
UK
and
Europe
from May this year. This set-top box is based on the DS810
platform - which was the first DVB-S2 H.264 HD set-top box in
the World
and launched the Premiere HD service in
Germany
in December 2005.
Next generation digital TV distribution
Developed to solve the problems operators have in reaching
customers in
multi-dwelling units (MDUs), the Pace Multi-Dweller is a new
technology
that will be showing at ANGA Cable.
Pace Multi-Dweller enables cable, satellite and IPTV operators
to deliver
a full triple play service (digital TV, high speed internet and
VoIP, as
well as interactive services such as VOD and PPV) to MDUs
without having
to install new wiring or alter the current infrastructure in a
building.
With one in two people in
Europe
and Asia Pacific living in an MDU, this
'no-new-wires' approach promises to be an important technology
for
operators looking to increase their revenues at lower cost.
Networking HD around the home
Paul Entwistle, Chief Technologist at Pace, will be discussing
how high
definition TV can be broadcast around the home, and the
technologies that
are required for this to become a reality.
His speech "Serving-up HDTV around the whole home"
will take place during
the "HDTV: Cable is Simply the Best" session on 31 May
between 09:30am and
10:45am at the ANGA Convention.
29th
March 2006
|
Sky
HD on track for May launch
|
|
Sky
today moved closer to the launch of its high definition
television service with the announcement of pricing
details and confirmation that the first installations of
Sky HD are scheduled to begin in May 2006.
Customers
will pay £299 for the Sky HD box and a Sky HD
subscription of £10 a month in addition to their Sky
digital subscription*. As an introductory offer,
standard installation of Sky HD is free for all new or
existing Sky digital subscribers taking a Sky HD
subscription**.
Brian
Sullivan, Sky's Director of Product Strategy and
Management, said:
"Sky
is just weeks away from an exciting new era that will
transform the television viewing experience. Sky HD
customers will be able to enjoy stunning picture and
sound quality from the widest range of HD channels in
the
UK
and
Ireland
. We're delighted that the BBC has said that its HD
coverage of the World Cup will be available to all
customers with a Sky HD box as a non-subscription
channel."
Sales
will open to the general public in April.
*Sky
digital subscription is currently £15-£42.50 per
month. Sky One HD, Artsworld HD, National Geographic HD,
Discovery HD and Sky Box Office HD (pay-per-view charges
apply) will be available to all Sky HD subscribers. To
get Sky Sports HD you will need Sky Sports 1 & 2 in
your Sky digital package. To get Sky Movies 9 HD you
will also need Sky Movies 1 in your package and for Sky
Movies 10 HD you will need Sky Movies 2. The Sky+
capability of the Sky HD box requires a Sky+
subscription (free when you subscribe to two or more Sky
Premium Channels, otherwise £10 a month).
**Until
31 May or while initial stocks last (if earlier).
About
Sky HD
High Definition TV will be the biggest revolution in TV
picture quality in decades, offering TV picture and
sound that is much closer to a cinematic experience. Sky
HD will deliver, sharper, brighter more vibrant
pictures, enabling viewers to become immersed in the
programme as if they are part of the action or seeing
nature in its true colour and detail for the first time.
In order to enjoy Sky HD consumers will need to have a
compatible HD TV, a Sky HD box and the relevant Sky HD
and Sky digital subscriptions. Sky estimates that 2.1
million HD TVs will have been sold in the
UK
by the end of the 2006, compared with 700,000 at the end
of 2005.
The
initial Sky HD channel line up will consist of:
Sky
Sports HD
Live Barclays Premiership football and Guinness
Premiership Rugby union are already being produced in
High-Definition by Sky Sports in preparation for Sky's
HD launch. From the start of the domestic cricket
season,
England
's home Tests and one-Day internationals and country
matches will also be produced in HD. From the 2006-07
season, Sky HD will offer live matches in the Coca Cola
League in high definition, together with live coverage
from the Carling Cup.
Sky
Movies HD and Sky Box Office HD
Viewers will be able to choose from two Sky Movies HD
screens dedicated to films broadcast in HD, and up to
ten extra movies in HD each week on Sky Box Office. Sky
Movies HD titles will include Kill Bill: Vol 1,
Spider-Man 2 and Big Fish.
Sky
One
will be simulcast in HD offering a selection of high
quality entertainment with a range of Sky One shows and
cutting edge series from the US in HD. Sky One series
confirmed for HD include 24, Rescue Me, Bones, Over
There, Stargate and Stargate Atlantis.
Artsworld
will be simulcast in HD showing a selection of arts
programming including opera, dance and classical music.
Artsworld HD performances confirmed for 2006 include The
Marriage of Figaro, Othello, The Who Live at the
Isle of Wight
, Jimi Hendrix Live at the Isle of Wight Festival (fully
remastered in HD) and Anthony Minghella Directs Madam
Butterfly.
Discovery
HD
Delivering the ideal viewing experience, Discovery HD
will bring audiences even closer to their world with
breathtaking imagery and expansive detail, featuring a
selection of programming from Discovery's extensive
library of more than 1,000 hours of high-definition
content ranging from culture, engineering, science,
technology and nature to travel and lifestyle themes.
National
Geographic HD
An HD National Geographic channel will be available at
launch offering a range of HD content including
innovative factual programming, produced in the UK and
around the world, covering natural history, wildlife,
science and world exploration with the added benefit of
Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound
|
15th
March 2006
New Childrens ITV channel
starts on Freeview
ITV has launched its brand new children's channel, CiTV, on
Freeview. The channel will not be carried on Sky Digital until
May - but currently sits exclusively on Freeview channel 75. It
is timeshared with ITV4 and Setanta Sports, and broadcasts from
6am to 6pm, except when Setanta Sports has a pay-per-view
programme. CiTV is targeting two distinct groups pre-school
two-to-five-year-olds and six-to-nine-year-old schoolchildren.
Programmes include Pocoyo, SpongeBob SquarePants and
My Parents are Aliens. ITV has high hopes for the new
channel and reckons it will the
UK
's most-watched commercial kids channel in the next 18 months.
[March 12]
Commonwealth Games goes
interactive!
Digital
satellite viewers will have a choice of up to four extra screens
when the BBC's coverage of the Commonwealth Games starts this
week. The Opening Ceremony of the XVIII Commonwealth Games will
be held on March 15, heralding 11 days of intense sporting
competition in
Melbourne
,
Australia
. BBC TV will be broadcasting 188 hours of TV coverage - 153
hours on BBC One and 35 hours on BBC Two between March 15 and
26. The interactive TV service will be complemented with a news
and results section, medals tables and a viewing planner.
Freeview viewers will be able to choose from an extra two
streams of live coverage. For the first time, all of the
Commonwealth Games action available on interactive tv will also
be accessible via the BBC Sport dedicated games website, for
UK
broadband users, at bbc.co.uk/commonwealthgames. [March 12]
April launch for ITV's
new gaming channel
ITV has confirmed it is to launch a new participation TV
channel, called ITV Play, on Freeview. ITV Play will launch on
April 19 and ITV Play-branded programming will also feature on
ITV1 and ITV2 overnight from the end of March. The channel is
expected to launch on other platforms later this year. It
features a range of studio games, call games, puzzles, stunts
and events. It will broadcast on ITV1 from 1am-4am seven nights
a week. [March 11]
C4 scoops huge film
rights deal with Fox
Channel 4 has signed a deal with 20th Century Fox Television for
free TV and digital rights to a wide range of hit Fox feature
films, movies for television and library titles for its
channels. The agreement includes titles The Day After
Tomorrow, I Robot, Dodgeball, Garfield, Garfield 2, Alien v
Predator, Sideways, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,
Master and Commander, Fantastic Four, Robots, Kingdom of Heaven,
Cheaper by the Dozen 2, Ice Age 2, X-Men 3, Eragon, The Omen 666,
and others through until the end of 2008. C4's Jeff Ford said:
"We're obviously delighted to have acquired such an
important slate of feature films in advance of our relaunch of
FilmFour as a free-to-air channel in July. This deal will give
viewers across Channel 4's family of channels the first free
access to 20th Century Fox's new releases as well as a fantastic
library of recent titles." [March 12]
New racing channel is
under starters orders
Racing World has launched on Sky Digital channel 433. It is the
sister channel of Racing
UK
, available on channel 432, and shows mainly international
racing events. [March 10]
New Boomerang channel
glides onto Sky
Cartoon Network sister station Boomerang has started a one-hour
time-shifted channel on Sky Digital. It's launched on channel
621 and fills the slot previously occupied by Toonami, which has
moved to channel 602. [March 10]
Edwards to go
head-to-head against Thompson
BBC News presenter Huw Edwards has signed a new five-year
contract with the BBC and from April 10 will present the 5-6pm
slot on BBC News 24, going head-to-head with Sky News' Jeremy
Thompson. In the ratings for this hour, the BBC already has a
big lead over Sky News but it wants to extend it further. News
24 attracts an average 86,000 viewers over the hour compared to
Sky News' 64,000. Huw Edwards will also continue to anchor the
BBC's flagship Ten 0'Clock News. [March 10]
More of this week's
digital TV news in brief...
Canada
's CHUM International is bringing its Citytv channel format to
the
UK
after clinching a deal to reformat the six-year-old
Manchester
citywide station Channel M... The Hallmark Channel has jumped on
the interactive gaming TV bandwagon, introducing a two hour
block of programming in the middle of the day... Quiz Call has
moved from Sky channel 853 to 855... On Sky channel 362 The Amp
is now called Bliss.
Cartoon Network launches
cinema ad campaign
From April, Cartoon Network
UK
is to launch a seven-figure advertising campaign to promote its
TV brand to children who visit Odeon and Vue cinemas. Three
individual 6-minute animation shorts have been created and will
be released throughout the year. The shorts will begin at the
advertised film starting time, and will be accompanied by
in-cinema posters, inclusion in listings in the foyer, and
presence in the cinemas' magazines and on their web sites.
[March 11]
New reality TV channel
debuts on Sky
Reality TV has added a brand new third channel to its stable of
stations on Sky Digital. Called Reality Extra, it is available
free-to-air on Sky channel 152 and shows programmes featuring
real footage plus enactments inspired by actual events. [March
6]
BBC4 unveils details of
new drama season
Rome
star
James Purefoy and Notting Hill actor Hugh Bonneville have
been signed to star in BBC4's upcoming period drama Beau
Brummell. The programme is a new drama at the centre of the
channel's The Century That Made Us season focussing on
the 18th century which will be screened later this year. BBC4
Controller Janice Hadlow said: "Beau Brummell is yet
another original BBC4 drama to attract a stellar cast. It tells
the intriguing story of the
UK
's first 'celebrity' superstar and it, and the season as a
whole, show just how similar 18th century people were in their
aspirations and pleasures to our 21st century selves."
[March 11]
'Set Reminder' facility
added to Sky Digiboxes
Sky has launched a new feature which lets viewers set reminders
while watching trailers for upcoming programmes. A new 'set
reminder' icon appears in the top right of the screen on
selected trailers and by pressing the green button on their
remotes, viewers can ensure the programme is automatically added
to their Personal Planner. [March 8]
BBC and ITV begin new
multi-casting trials
The BBC and ITV are simulcasting their channels on the Web for
the first time to test 'multicasting'. The trial involves eight
Internet Service Providers and 200,000 triallists who are able
to watch the BBC's four main channels as well as BBC News 24,
plus ITV's four main channels as well as ITV Local, its
broadband trial in Brighton and
Hastings
. Simon Fell, ITV controller of emerging technologies, said:
"It is clear that the general public is becoming more
comfortable with accessing content online. This unique
opportunity to trial multicast technology with ISPs and users
will give us valuable insight into usage patterns and help test
this solution." [March 10]
BBCi Olympics service
accessed 3.9 million times
The BBC said its Winter Olympics interactive service was the
fourth most-used iTV application ever from BBC Sport. According
to the corporation, 3.9m digital satellite viewers accessed the
service, putting it just behind the 4m that accessed the 2002
World Cup service. The most popular BBC Sport iTV service was
the 2004 summer Olympics, which clocked up 9m viewers. Last
year's
Wimbledon
iTV service attracted 4.4m.
13th Feb 2006
New TV channel aims to
lure people to cinemas
The
UK
film industry is launching a channel on Sky this month with the
aim of luring TV viewers to the cinema. The channel, Eat Cinema,
will broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and will
feature listings, previews, behind-the-scenes footage, and
promotions and special offers, such as competitions to win
tickets to premieres and private screenings. Launching on
February 28, viewers will also be able to find up-to-date
information about current and forthcoming cinema releases
through the channel's interactive service. [Feb 12]
New Disney channel to
launch in March
A brand new premium channel from Disney called Disney Cinemagic
is scheduled to launch on Sky Digital in mid-March. The new
station will reportedly broadcast blockbuster movies featuring
well-known Disney characters such as Toy Story. [Feb 12]
New legal advice channel
starts on Sky Digital
New legal advice channel Legal TV has begun testing on Sky
Digital ahead of its official launch. It is available free to
air on 11.224GHz/V using the identity '50830' and is set to
officiallly go on air next week on Monday 20th February. [Feb
12]
BBC Three celebrates its
third birthday
To celebrate its third birthday today, BBC Three has launched a
major online campaign to find the next generation of comedy
writers and creators from amongst its audience. The campaign is
to be overseen by BBC Comedy North (led by Kenton Allen, the
BBC's Creative Head of Comedy Talent and Comedy North),
supported by BBC New Talent and bbc.co.uk/soup. It will invite
users to submit their comedy sketches via www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree,
where comedy masterclasses from some of the biggest names in
comedy will be available to view and the best submissions will
be showcased. [Feb 11]
FilmFour confirms it will
go free-to-air in July
Channel 4 confirmed it will relaunch its movie channel FilmFour
in July as a free-to-air service which will be available on
Freeview for the first time. The switch will make the channel
available in 18 million homes with digital TV, as opposed to the
300,000 who currently pay up to £7 a month for the service.
[Feb 10]
Murdoch planning new
business channel
News Corporation Chairman Rupert Murdoch has said he intends to
launch a new TV channel to compete with business news channel
CNBC by the end of 2006. “We're in pretty intense discussions
with the biggest cable companies, and making quite considerable
progress," he said. "You can expect something fairly
soon." It comes just months after CNN closed down CNNfn,
its business news channel, leaving CNBC in a strong position.
The new channel is certain to be launched across the world and
be available on Sky Digital in the
UK
. [Feb 10]
CNN launches new-look
onscreen graphics
CNN International has, as expected, introduced a new onscreen
look, its biggest redesign in five years with a new logo,
graphics, tunes and less 'clutter'. The re-branding moves away
from traditional heavy news graphics that tend to clutter the
screen. Instead, the block of the news font is easier to read
and covers less of the screen, while a rotating news bar
replaces the scrolling ticker to allow the viewer to concentrate
on the main news stories. [Feb 10]
Sky reshuffles top bosses
and unveils new roles
Sky is has moved three senior executives into new roles and is
embarking on a major overhaul of its organisational structure to
support its target of reaching 10 million direct-to-home
customers by 2010. The new roles and structure are closely
aligned with its targets of increased customer focus,
multi-platform content delivery, and the agility to exploit new
business opportunities. Jon Florsheim, who joined Sky in 1994,
becomes Managing Director, Customer Group in addition to his
existing title of Chief Marketing Officer. Dawn Airey, who has
been Managing Director of Sky Networks since 2003, becomes
Managing Director, Channels and Services with overall
responsibility for Sky’s multi-platform content strategy. And
Mike Darcey, who joined Sky in 1998 and is currently Group
Strategy Director, becomes Group Commercial and Strategy
Director with extended responsibility for a new group that
combines Sky’s Strategy, Future Technology, R&D and
Business Development teams. [Feb 10]
Sky One commissions new
hi-def CGI series
Sky One and RHI Entertainment have jointly commissioned a
high-definition live-action/CGI adaptation of author Terry
Pratchett's fantasy fiction Hogfather. The drama will air
on Sky One over the Christmas 2006 period and is the channel's
biggest ever drama commission. The ballpark budget, shared
between Sky and RHI (previously called Hallmark Entertainment),
is reported to be £6m.
UK
actor David Jason (Only Fools and Horses) has been
confirmed for the key role of Albert, and casting is continuing.
Producer Rod Brown also said it was "fair to say" the
film will feature recognisable faces "from both sides of
the
Atlantic
." Hogfather will be set in the 'semi-medieval but
strangely familiar' Discworld, and will revolve around the fact
that the Hogfather, who delivers presents to children at
Christmas, has gone missing. [Feb 10]
Nat Geo launches its new
hi-def channel
National Geographic Channel has launched its HD TV station on
channel 593 of the Sky Guide on digiboxes that have received the
new EPG v4 software. It transmits from 8am - 2am daily, carrying
HD versions of half a dozen shows available on the regular
channel. Turning to the channel generates the onscreen message
"Call customer services to receive this channel." [Feb
8]
More of this week's
digital TV news in brief...
Gary Honeyford has left his position as Sky News Ireland
Correspondent and now works at Sky's Millbank offices...
UK
research group Rajar has revealed that half of adults now listen
to digital radio, with 500,000 sets being sold in December
alone. Twenty per cent listen via a digital TV set... Leading
Spanish pay-TV group Sogecable has become the 100 per cent owner
of digital
DTH
platform
Canal
Satellite Digital, now called Digital Plus, following its
acquisition of the remaining 14.5 per cent from Warner...
Germany
's ProSiebenSat.1 will be available on cable in the
US
via a representation and marketing partnership with
International Networks... Sky's former head of new media John
Swingewood is to take up a new post as executive chairman of a
company aiming to cash in on an anticipated boom in the mobile
equivalent of instant messaging... ITN has partnered with online
search company Blinkx.tv to launch a new Internet video player,
just weeks after becoming the first
UK
news organisation to join the Google Video Store...
UK
animation studio Aardman Animations has produced a series of
one-minute promos for Nickelodeon
UK
... Filming has begun on Teenage Supermodel (working
title), a brand new comedy drama for BBC Three.
New guidelines unveiled
for quiz TV channels
ICSTIS, the premium rate telephone watchdog, has published A
Statement of Expectations on Call TV Quiz Services,
following its recent consultation concerning premium rate TV
quiz channels and TV
programmes whose dedicated purpose is to run premium rate
competitions. The statement can be found at: http://www.icstis.org.uk/pdfs_consult/QuizTvConResponse06.pdf
Paramount sorry for
Baddiel and Skinner episode
The Paramount Comedy Channel apologised to viewers after showing
an epsiode of Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned which had
received complaints when it was originally shown by ITV. In the
show, Baddiel and Skinner discuss a range of subjects and add
their own perspective. One issue they discussed was the risk of
being mugged late at night. Frank Skinner demonstrated how he
felt trouble could be averted by walking in a manner similar to
someone with, it would appear, cerebral palsy. A viewer
complained about the sequence, prompting
Paramount
to apologise for any distress and said that it accepted that a
greater
degree of sensitivity should have been shown in this area and
that the item should have been removed prior to transmission.
[Feb 10]
24th
January 2006
New SMS recording
facility for Sky+ boxes
Owners of the Sky+ personal video recorder will soon be able to
record programmes by simply sending a text message to Sky. The
new 'SMS record' facility is scheduled to be launched this
Spring. No pricing details have yet been released. Meanwhile,
Sky has also said that Sky+ customers will be able to add
programmes to their personal planners by pressing the 'green'
button on their remotes during trailers.
New Aussie TV channel is
coming this summer
A brand new TV
channel dedicated to Australian TV shows is on track to be
launched this summer. Called 'Down Under TV', the channel from
Thomas Cook TV and Enteraction is making preparations for its
debut on Sky Digital. It is in talks with several TV producers
and distributors about airing Aussie shows including Home and
Away, Neighbours and Cell Block H. [Jan 22]
Trouble wants to move
from kids section of EPG
Trouble,
the teen channel, wants to move from the 'kids' category of the
Sky EPG after revealing its intentions to target an older
audience. Director of programmes Jonathan Webb says that being
in the kids section limits the channel's programme schedule and
means older teenagers are less likely to tune in. He added:
"We're positioning ourselves somewhere between MTV and E4.
We're still targeting the same group of people, but in a much
cleverer, more sassy way." [Jan 21]
HBO considering launch of
new UK channel
Popular US film and drama channel Home Box Office (HBO) is once
again considering the launch of a spin-off channel for the UK.
Simon Sutton, HBO International's president, told an audience at
the Oxford Media Convention that the broadcaster is mulling a
move into the
UK
,
France
,
Germany
,
Spain
,
Italy
or
Japan
. "We are investigating a presence in those six
markets," he said. No firm decision has been made about a
launch and issues about programme rights would have to be
resolved since Channel 4 owns HBO's The Sopranos and Six
Feet Under, and Sky One owns Deadwood, while the
Ricky Gervais show Extras and the historical drama series
Rome
were among co-produced between the BBC and HBO. It is not the
first time HBO has considered starting a UK TV channel. Three
years ago, chairman Chris Albrecht said that a
UK
channel was something he would "love to see", but no
finance partners could be found and the plans were shelved. [Jan
21]
Teachers' TV escalates
EPG complaint
Teachers' TV
has complained to media regulator Ofcom over its new EPG
location, which will see it move from the documentaries section
to the specialist section - from channel 592 to 880. The
channel's owner, Education Digital Management Ltd, says the move
breaches a satellite platform obligation, but Sky maintains
"we have fulfilled all regulatory obligations in respect of
Teachers' TV and we look forward to demonstrating this to Ofcom".
[Jan 21]
Channel 4 calls for more
space on Freeview
Channel 4 chief executive Andy Duncan has asked the government
to give the broadcaster free space on Freeview to allow it to
launch more channels, rather than a lump cash sum. The Times
reports that Channel 4 is concerned that it will struggle to
make a profit in the digital age unless the government steps in
to help with the cost of migrating to digital. At current rates,
a channel slot on Freeview is worth up to £5m.
Duncan
suggested that Channel 4 should have part of a seventh multiplex
on Freeview, which it can use to launch new channels, instead of
a cash lump sum that would be reinvested into public service
programming. If the government agrees to
Duncan
's demands it will not be able to give the channel additional
spectrum on Freeview until after digital switchover, which is
earmarked to be completed by 2012. Last year, when the BBC model
of funding was called into question,
Duncan
touched on the £100m-a-year shortfall in the lead-up to digital
switchover and requested the BBC licence fee be top-sliced so
Channel 4 could carve out its future. [Jan 22]
Channel 4 axes red button
interactive services
In a surprise move, Channel 4 has removed all its red button
interactive services. It comes after Chief Executive Andy Duncan
described the services as "clunky and inefficient." He
added that the broadcaster is spending several million pounds a
year on the services and that the money could be put to better
use providing Web and broadband content.
Duncan
said: "The red button service does not help Channel 4
fulfil its public service remit and it doesn't offer a way to
make money." [Jan 20]
Discovery confirms it
will be in Sky HD line-up
Discovery has confirmed that its high-definition channel
Discovery HD will launch early this year as part of Sky's
inaugural HDTV service. Discovery HD was rolled out in
South Korea
,
Japan
and
Canada
in 2005 and is in the process of launching in
Germany
and
Austria
. The channel offers more than 1,000 hours from Discovery's
library as well as original programming commissioned
specifically for Discovery HD. [Jan 21]
Two Sky film channels
renamed ahead of HD launch
Sky has announced that two of its film channels are to be
renamed in readiness for the launch of its new HD service. On
January 30th, Sky Movies 9 and Sky Movies 10 will be renamed in
the Sky Guide as Sky Movies 9 HD and Sky Movies 10 HD. Also, Sky
Movies 10 will be launching on Sky Digital on the same day on
channel 310. [Jan 21]
Culture Secretary takes
EU regulators to task
Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has taken European regulators to
task, telling the Oxford Media Convention that ongoing plans to
overhaul European broadcasting rules could do "lasting
damage" to
Europe
's creative businesses. Citing the Television Without Frontiers
directive, which governs broadcasting rules across the EU,
Jowell said that plans to introduce regulation of the Internet
for the first time would damage business prospects. In
particular, the draft directive could stifle the development of
new media such as TV via mobile phone and the Web, she said.
"If the directive turns its back on wealth creation by
imposing a highly bureaucratic regulatory framework, then it
will do immense and lasting damage to
Europe
's creative economy."
Sky News begins review of
its new schedule
Sky bosses are casting a critical eye over Sky News just three
months after a multi-million pound revamp saw the arrival at the
station of Eamonn Holmes, former Bill Clinton aide James Rubin
and a new era of 'appointment to view' programming. Sky Networks
managing director, Dawn Airey, and news chief Nick Pollard are
reported to be reviewing the new-look schedule and how specific
shows are performing. Holmes has failed to significantly boost
breakfast audiences and Kay Burley's lunchtime show is felt to
be one of the few major successes of the relaunch. [Jan 21]
More digital TV news in
brief...
On Sky Digital channel 647, Tel Sell is now known as Pitch TV
Plus... Abu Dhabi TV has been removed from Sky Digital channel
824... Channel Five will be launching new on-air idents based on
emotions over the next few days... Media regulator Ofcom is to
be given a role in assessing the market impact of proposed new
BBC services, helping determine whether they should be given the
go-ahead... ITV is poised to double its existing 45% holding in
Irish commercial broadcaster TV3 after joint shareholder CanWest
Global put its own 45% stake up for sale... The Football League
has signed a three-year deal with Octagon CSI to distribute the
international TV rights to the Coca-Cola Football League and the
Carling Cup. Football League matches are currently shown in more
than 90 countries worldwide with a combined reach of 165million
homes... In the
US
, American Idol's fifth season debut attracted the
largest entertainment audience to date for the Fox Network, with
a total of 55million viewers tuning in to watch.
Amazon.com to new TV
shopping channel?
Internet retailer Amazon.com has prompted speculation that it
may launch its own TV shopping channel after starting a weekly
TV talk show, presented over the Internet with the comedian Bill
Maher as host. The half-hour show, called Amazon Fishbowl,
has a format familiar to US late-night talk shows, with a
monologue by Maher, followed by an interview with an author, a
conversation with a filmmaker and a performance by a musician or
musical group. The common theme among the guests is that they
will have products for sale through its online site. There is
speculation among media watchers that the programme could be
spun off into a dedicated TV channel. [Jan 22]
New Sky digibox software
being released
Sky has begun uploading a brand new version of its Electronic
Programme Guide (EPG) software to Digiboxes. The broadcaster is
currently deploying version 4 of the EPG using over-the-air
software upgrades. The software also includes fixes for several
Live Pause and Rewind bugs affecting Sky+ boxes. [Jan 20]
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