Blog

Political persuasion

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…

‘Axed by mistake’

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…

Fraud without end, Amen.

30 September 2010

The phone quiz scandal will run and run

They want your money

30 September 2010

Does C4 deserve some of the licence fee?

A little local difficulty

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…

Manchester loses its Granada TV sign

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.

Is Chris Blumer the hardest working presenter in radio? Well maybe not…

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…

Is Chris Blumer the hardest working presenter in radio?

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.

The road to ITV’s recovery

18 September 2010

Russ J Graham on what lessons can be learned from ITV making great drama for the BBC

Frozen in time

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…

No longer a Channel One – it’s all nothing from now on

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…

Happy (belated) birthday to the Broom Cupboard

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.

Extreme Channel Makeover

11 September 2010

Chase McPherson on the dizzying parade of changing brands in the US cable TV market

The S4/C problem

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…

The end of the Border line

9 September 2010

Colm O’Rourke reflects on the life and death of Border Television

A Tribute to Owen Edwards

9 September 2010

Nigel Stapley remembers the man who founded S4C

Thompson’s revenge

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…

The slow death of S4C?

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?

No longer a Virgin – it’s Channel One from now on…

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…

Spurned advances

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…

Express takeover

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…

Difficult to defend

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…

Freedom versus regulation

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…

Removing target dates for digital radio switchover can only be a sensible move

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?

Keeping the distinction

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…

6music saved

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.

Reversing strategy

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’…

Ofcom consults on product placement

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.

Breaking the spell

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…

Not-so-Freeview

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…

Copy protected

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…

NME Radio RIP

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.

Virgin’s territory

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…

Are we getting too obsessed with the box?

28 May 2010

Is the world just getting too obsessed about always being able to watch TV?

Five’s loss, One’s gain

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…

Canvas clearance

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…

The 6 Music effect

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…

Not over the moon

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…

Daily Express foaming at the mouth (although what’s new about that?)

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…

Lego Bowie doesn’t like the 6music changes

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.

Dalek marketing

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…

Party politics

16 April 2010

What do the mainstream parties have to say about the future of broadcasting?

Saving local radio?

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.

Extra marketing

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…

Over there, not here

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…

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