13 October 2010
Whilst the media world awaits Vince Cable’s crucial decision on whether News Corp. should be permitted to further extend its influence with a full takeover of BSkyB, there’s a political…
12 October 2010
Here’s a story and a half. Back in 2006 Mark Damazer, then controller of BBC Radio 4, axed the piece of music that had heralded the start of the broadcasting…
28 September 2010
After the Tories’ manifesto pledge that Labour’s ITV regional news provider proposal will be swiftly replaced with something that’s city-centric (despite the alarmingly high failure rate for local television), it…
27 September 2010
Anyone who ever visited Manchester city centre will know there’s plenty of great delights to admire. And I’m not talking about the Arndale Centre here.
22 September 2010
Following on from my blog post Is Chris Blumer the Hardest Working Presenter in Radio, Bridge FM have been in touch and it turns out Chris Blumer isn’t actually as…
20 September 2010
From Wales Town and Country Broadcasting operates eight radio stations, mostly clustered along the south of the country, Many of its stations share presenters. Notably they’re generally not networking, but several of its presenters do shows on different stations, sometimes at the same time.
18 September 2010
Russ J Graham on what lessons can be learned from ITV making great drama for the BBC
16 September 2010
Perhaps a very predictable thing to happen to the TV licence fee given recent events, but the decision to freeze the fee until at least 2013 further highlights ongoing weaknesses…
15 September 2010
Well here’s something we didn’t expect to be saying. Just over a month after it was announced that Virgin One would becoming Channel One after Sky bought it and other channels from Virgin Media, and just a few weeks after the station rebrand went ahead and… err… well… Sky decide to close it down completely…
13 September 2010
For those children of the 80s the sight of Phillip Schofield in a cupboard will always be one that will hold a special place in our hearts. CBBC launched at 3:55 on 9 September 1985 and has been hanging around ever since.
11 September 2010
Chase McPherson on the dizzying parade of changing brands in the US cable TV market
10 September 2010
Now is not a good time for Welsh television broadcaster S4/C, which has just been given an ultimatum by Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt to draw up a financial plan for…
9 September 2010
Colm O’Rourke reflects on the life and death of Border Television
28 August 2010
It has taken a year after the infamous (and highly predictable, especially in retrospect) James Murdoch speech at the Edinburgh International Television Festival for the official “right to reply” from…
19 August 2010
S4C appears to be in trouble. What has happened in Cardiff – and Wales – to scupper the broadcasting success story of the 1980s?
5 August 2010
The question of what Virgin One was going to be rebranded as after BSkyB bought Virgin Media’s TV stations is one which I’m sure has barely been off the lips of the average Transdiffusion reader, just as it has been for many sat around pub tables, pints in hand, fists waving whilst the landlord tries to keep control of the situation…
3 August 2010
If you were wondering what Virgin Media’s stance on Project Canvas development was going to be, then wonder no more, but Virgin Media’s objections are in the final analysis both…
23 July 2010
Another chapter in Five’s turbulent history begins with Richard Desmond’s acquisition of Channel Five from RTL for £103.5m being finally confirmed today after months of negotiation (and speculation from the…
17 July 2010
This was perhaps inevitable given the scale and nature of recent economic and political events; namely Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt publicly declaring that “he could “absolutely” see viewers paying less…
13 July 2010
Some people still seem to think that the Jon Gaunt versus Ofcom case was all about freedom of speech, but the reality is that it basically related to the ability…
8 July 2010
What can really be said about the decision to abandon the 2015 date for digital radio switchover, other than, it’s rather sensible?
5 July 2010
The announcement that BBC Radio 6 Music has been saved from closure may have dominated today’s media news, but that’s not the only thing that the BBC Trust has been…
5 July 2010
Sssh! Don’t tell anyone but I’ve always had this secret fantasy life. It was that one day I’d end up working behind the scenes at BBC Radio 6 music.
4 July 2010
Since the recently proposed BBC cutbacks (6 Music/Asian Network closures and website downscaling) were originally leaked to The Times newspaper ahead of publication, it’s unsurprising to learn of another ‘leak’…
28 June 2010
Sneaking out into the ether today (WHY NOT HAVE A PINT OF FOSTERS?) is the news that Ofcom (MY MATE, MARMITE) has launched a consultation on Product (TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO – FOR THE HOLIDAY OF A LIFE TIME) Placement in TV programmes and whether commercial messages can be (I JUST CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF THAT WONDERFUL DUFF!) integrated into radio programmes.
24 June 2010
Whilst waiting to discover its eventual fate, the BBC Trust has to at least appear ‘useful’ as a regulator of the BBC, therefore it’s no surprise to learn that the…
18 June 2010
The announcement that BSkyB is withdrawing its Sky Sports News channel from Freeview may not be that unexpected but it does raise some interesting unanswered questions in relation to Sky’s…
14 June 2010
With the (perhaps unsurprising) announcement that Ofcom has now given the go-ahead for the BBC’s so-called Freeview anti-piracy technology, there’s a real danger that recording TV programmes for posterity could…
12 June 2010
One of the few stations which would have benefited from the possible demise of BBC Radio 6music, has put up the shutters.
4 June 2010
Virgin Media has finally completed a long-expected deal to sell its TV channels (Bravo, Bravo 2, Challenge, Challenge Jackpot, Living, Livingit, Virgin 1) to BSkyB for £160m, and in exchange…
28 May 2010
Is the world just getting too obsessed about always being able to watch TV?
28 May 2010
Given the recent growth in HDTV broadcasting, it was perhaps inevitable that the BBC would plan to have more than one high definition TV channel in order to avoid an…
19 May 2010
Yes it’s true: Project Canvas has just been given the go-ahead by the Office of Fair Trading, so in theory this long-awaited means of providing a quick and convenient means…
13 May 2010
It seems that the widely-publicised campaign to save BBC Radio 6 Music from threatened closure has not only significantly increased the station’s weekly reach – having now passed the magic…
30 April 2010
Last Saturday, viewers of Doctor Who on BBC One in England were abruptly treated to a caption promoting “Over the Rainbow” which appeared shortly before the end credits during the…
28 April 2010
I feel I must confess that I’m not a regular reader of the Daily Express. Well, who would be? However when my attention was drawn to this particular article, I just had to read. And so you don’t have to feel as dirty as I did, I’ll pull out the relevant quote…
19 April 2010
If you’ve ever wondered what a Lego version of Bowie would look like (and lets be honest here, who hasn’t?) this is the video to watch.
18 April 2010
Following on from yesterday’s Doctor Who episode “Victory of the Daleks” is this Private Eye article that supposedly shines some light on certain marketing decisions that have allegedly affected this…
16 April 2010
What do the mainstream parties have to say about the future of broadcasting?
15 April 2010
On 5 April 2010 Pennine FM became the latest in a list of smaller commercial radio stations to shut down and hand back its licence to Ofcom.
12 April 2010
If BBC management weren’t planning to close any radio stations, the repositioning of 1Xtra as a closer relation to Radio 1 would make sense from a marketing perspective because at…
6 April 2010
Whilst the BBC Trust is trying to appear useful by blocking the UK launch of dedicated iPhone (and iPad) applications for various BBC services, BBC Worldwide has gone ahead and…