Hello, and welcome to the latest updates to Electromusications.

As you may know, if you subscribe to some of the mailing lists about broadcasting history, television presentation and related topics, a couple of months ago Russ J Graham - overall Editor-In-Chief since the inception of this version of Transdiffusion who has given the entire complex of 'metasites' their unique, distinctive and extremely impressive graphic identities - handed over the reins of EMC to me. So I'd like to start by giving him a particularly well-deserved vote of thanks for all his hard work over the years. His name is still on the masthead as co-Editor with me, and I am very pleased to be working with him and Transdiffusion founder Kif as a part of the triumvirate that is responsible for keeping EMC supplied with eloquent, well-written and informative articles.

Since the changeover, I have been going through the sites and getting to know how they're put together, and as a result of this and the summer holiday period, it has taken a while to get back on track with new articles.

This time, however, we have an update consisting of five new features. The articles lead off with the inside story of the ITV3 launch on November 1, and continue with a discussion of why it's important that analogue TV in the UK is replaced by DTT as soon as possible, plus a thought-provoking piece on how the digital multichannel world might impact ITV. Then there's some personal recollections of the days of television rental, now passed, and a look at why, in the modern television environment, ratings are no longer enough of a basis on which to judge a broadcaster.

I do hope you enjoy the new articles – and don’t forget, we are always interested in new material: if you’d like to write something, please let us know.