Posts from
March 2004
Wednesday 31 March 2004
Name the analogue switch-off date, urges Carter Is there anyone... anyone... anyone out there involved with running broadcasting who doesn't want the analogue TV switch-off to be set? Apart from the government that is?...
Read all of 'Get That Date Set!'.
Now viewers can order The Bill online Freemantle's plan to launch downloadable episodes of The Bill - at a price naturally is notable that the pay-TV on demand concept hasn't come from a TV-based platform like, oooh, say digital cable...
Read all of 'Pay your Bill.'.
Monday 29 March 2004
TV racing channel reins in coverage Attheraces the TV channel set up to provide digital TV coverage of races not covered by the major TV networks, itself a consortium of broadcasters including BSkyB, Channel Four and track operator Arena Leisure,...
Read all of 'Ondigital style crisis unfolds as TV racecourse channel deal trips on the hurdles'.
Saturday 27 March 2004
Equity anger over BBC film plan Actors union Equity are up in arms over a BBC plan to make a film with 100 people who have never worked in the business before. The union is calling for the plan to...
Read all of 'Act The Closed Shop.'.
Well, Madame Arcati still has some work to do on her apparatus for receiving voice messages from The World Unseen, if last night's efforts are anything to go by. Attempting, as we are wont to do, to contact the departed...
Read all of 'Ariel's Organ'.
Friday 26 March 2004
Rooted Out Chucked Out Well the reign of Jane Root, controller of BBC2, seems to soon be over, at least if the above article is to be believed. Apparently she is off to Discovery in the US, to which you...
Read all of 'Rooted out, and chucked out'.
Thursday 25 March 2004
Media Guardian: BBC4 to explode myths of 60s TV Just how this will be handled should prove to be very interesting, since it is very difficult to subjectively and accurately compare the television output of the 1960s versus today; for...
Read all of 'Back to the sixties'.
Wednesday 24 March 2004
Freeview could outstrip Sky by 2007 So the free-to-air digital replacement for analogue that will soon be built into most new TV's, will, apparently become more popular than a subscription service? What were the chances of that happening? Perhaps the...
Read all of 'Freeview to be more popular than Sky?'.
Sunday 21 March 2004
Apparently Portsmouth TV, the local RSL TV station for the Portsmouth area has been off air for the last couple of weeks whilst it has gone into "administrative receivership", although it is currently in the process of changing owners and...
Read all of 'Commercial breakdown'.
Friday 19 March 2004
MediaGuardian: Top Up TV eyes launch date So after weeks of waiting, pay-TV will return to digital terrestrial television (DTT) on Wednesday 31 March. Yep just under a fortnight left before people with old OnDigital boxes can get the delights...
Read all of 'Top Up TV to launch at end of month.'.
Monday 15 March 2004
The Observer: Pitfalls of the television money-go-round As the dull-and-worthy sounding 'arts council of the air' concept gets muttered about it again (because all public service television is arts, isn't it?) it's the press who, as usual, are having a...
Read all of 'Arts Council Of the Press? No chance.'.
MediaGuardian: Four's war of independence There has been lots of talk recently about the future of Channel 4, with suggestions ranging from a merger/"reverse nationalisation" with Five to a more hostile takeover from ITV (possible if Channel 4 was cut...
Read all of 'Trust us on this one'.
Friday 12 March 2004
Well, in amongst the broadcasting community, this has been one of the least widely reported developments, but from Wednesday 17th March, aka St Patrick's Day, RTE Radio 1 will be broadcasting right across Ireland and most of the UK as...
Read all of 'RTE to officially launch Radio 1 on 252 LW'.
At long last, we are going to see some long awaited streamlining of the Entertainment section of the Sky Digital EPG. The huge gap between 152 and 181 was always a problem and now Digital Spy have confirmed the section...
Read all of 'Sky Entertainment Section Reshuffle'.
My nautical independent television pioneering, and, sadly, defunct correspondent Captain T.B. has chosen to indicate quite categorically to me, in the latest seance held in our front room yesterday evening with, as always, the invaluable intercedence of Madame Arcati, that...
Read all of 'Birt crony in line for the chair, says message from Beyond'.
Joan Marsland, one time "mother" floor manager at BBC Lime Grove has died The Guardian has today reported of the passing of 84 year old Joan Marsland, who until 1979 was the principal floor manager at BBC TV Lime...
Read all of 'The passing of the BBC's one time "mother" at Lime Grove reported'.
Thursday 11 March 2004
DCMS starts S4C Review Television is the plant forever being plucked out of the ground to examine its roots. But S4C, despite difficult birth pangs, has so far escaped the hell that is "independent" reviews commissioned by HM Government. Most...
Read all of 'The best defence is offence'.
Guardian Politics on BBC succession More likely to be true than if it had been in the Grauniad's Media pages, this is, finally, is a piece of good news for the BBC. But will the Ministry of Culcha be wise...
Read all of 'Dimbleby on shortlist for BBC chairman'.
Media Guardian: C4 swears by four-letter advert It's hard to imagine ABC, Rediffusion or even TWW broadcasting a certain word beginning with C, nine times in 30 seconds, which is yet another example of just how much TV has changed...
Read all of '<bleep!>'.
Wednesday 10 March 2004
Henry's approach was "too intellectual" retorts his ex-BBC boss An unhappy Henry Bonsu, a 32 year old radio presenter who until his sacking yesterday, has broadcast a Sunday night discussion show on BBC London, for whom he had worked for...
Read all of 'Bonsu Booted Out of BBC London'.
Tuesday 9 March 2004
MediaGuardian: ITN dumped by Channel Five So Five News will be leaving ITN and are heading off to the sunny 'delights' of Osterly, West London. And Sky have got their foothold into analogue news bulletin prevision. The deal is important...
Read all of 'Five News heads for the Sky'.
Axed DJ accuses BBC of failing black community There is a danger that this story will be seen by some people purely as a race issue, but here's a quote from David Robey, the station's managing editor that sums...
Read all of 'Style trial'.
Monday 8 March 2004
EMC MediaBlog on BBC email lists Having previously detailed my frustrations with the BBC email services (possibly the only weak point in the world's greatest content provider - Tessa Howler please take note), I'm pleased to provide a fabulous conclusion....
Read all of 'The joy of email... er... again'.
Majority 'want change to TV fee' says ICM/Panorama poll According to the BBC's own research, aired on Sunday in "What's the Point of the BBC?", 70% of people in the UK (not necessarily viewers, by the way) would like...
Read all of 'Would alternative funding pay for specialised programmes?'.
MediaGuardian gives an old story a new(ish) twist This story about the ICM/Panorama poll appeared on the BBC website last week but has predictably resurfaced, though comments from Sir David Attenborough along with some predictable BBC-bashing has given this old...
Read all of 'The licence fee. Again'.
Sunday 7 March 2004
Getting email from the BBC Google is the world's best website. Simple, easy to use and giving you what you want when you want it with no faff and no bias. Second best? BBCi, aka BBC Online. No commercial 'competitor'...
Read all of 'The joy of email... er...'.
Friday 5 March 2004
MacUser: BBC to give free access to archive footage Here's a piece of good news for a change, with further details of the BBC's earlier pledge to make clips of archive programming available online that contains some interesting additional information....
Read all of 'Open access television'.
Thursday 4 March 2004
MediaGuardian: Ofcom urged to crack down on 'glib' ITV The fact that ITV is going through so many changes at the moment has proved to be a testing time for the newly-formed Ofcom, and so far (and predictably) it has...
Read all of 'Define "light touch regulation"...'.
Wednesday 3 March 2004
MediaGuardian: ITV - we would bid for C4 too After the news that Five and Channel 4 had explored merging, the news that ITV would be interested in getting in on the act should not surprise anyone. And why shouldn't...
Read all of 'ITV ready to kill off another channel?'.
Monday 1 March 2004
All change in London today as ITN finally got their mits on London Tonight and London Today. Over at the Beeb, the "LDN" branding was abandoned for the BBC's London radio, TV and online services. Famously Greg Dyke told staff...
Read all of 'ONO-Day'.
I have to say I have very real doubts about the viability of Top Up TV They say they need 250,000 subscribers by year end. Well, according to the published facts and figures, by Top Up TV themselves, and those...
Read all of 'Top Up TV: The figures don't add up.'.
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