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Committee to hold BBC Charter Review inquiry

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the UK’s House of Commons is holding an inquiry into the BBC Charter Review. This intends to cover all major aspects. Where possible, it will build upon and extend the work of the February report on the Future of the BBC. In particular, the Committee will examine the […]

July 23, 2015By Colin Mann

BBC Trust suggests 11-year Charter

The BBC Trust has published its initial response to the Government’s Green Paper on the BBC’s Charter Review, and launched the first phase of its own consultation on the future of the BBC with audiences across the UK. The Trust is calling for the BBC to remain a universal and independent broadcaster, which aims to […]

July 22, 2015

Special Olympics free on ESPN Player

ESPN Player will deliver the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games – starting on July 25th in Los Angeles, California – as a free channel available to all in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The 2015 Games will feature competitions in aquatics, gymnastics, track and field, basketball, football and many other summer sports involving […]

July 22, 2015

The inevitable BBC?

Everyone admires many things about the BBC, some go so far as to love everything about it, and some of those people don’t even work for it. Often, it seems, those that love it most are foreigners who compare its output with the fare provided by their national broadcasters. But even they are puzzled when, […]

July 20, 2015

Advocacy group: Copyright decision could benefit consumers and competition

The preliminary decision from District Court Judge George Wu issued finding that online video service FilmOn is entitled to a compulsory copyright licence has been applauded by US public interest group Public Knowledge, which has long advocated for regulatory parity for online video services. John Bergmayer, Senior Staff Attorney at Public Knowledge said that if […]

July 20, 2015By Colin Mann

Court victory for FilmOn in copyright licensing fight

Internet television streaming company FilmOn has won a surprise ruling that it is potentially entitled to a compulsory licence to retransmit broadcasters’ copyrighted programming. US District Judge George Wu ruled in Los Angeles that FilmOn should be treated like a traditional cable system in order to transmit broadcast network programmes over the Internet. Broadcasters contend […]

July 17, 2015By Colin Mann

Government begins debate on the future of BBC

The UK Government has issued a Consultation ‘Green Paper’ in which it has set out the topics for debate as part of the process to review the BBC’s Royal Charter to make sure it remains a valued public broadcaster. The BBC’s initial response was that that the Green Paper would appear to herald a much […]

July 16, 2015

Review body recommends continued licence fee criminal enforcement

An independent review looking at the current sanctions in place for failure to hold a TV licence in the UK has found that the current system of criminal enforcement should be maintained, at least under the present system of licence fee collection. It concludes that the current system is appropriate and fair, and represents value […]

July 16, 2015

60% of Brits want BBC licence fee scrapped

TubeMogul, an enterprise software company for digital branding, today revealed that almost 60 per cent of Brits believe that the BBC should be privatised and the licence fee should be scrapped. And over 60 per cent of respondents believe that the best way of funding the BBC in the future is via private advertising. The […]

July 16, 2015

Shadow Culture Secretary: ‘BBC Trust is bust’

Chris Bryant MP, the Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in the Labour opposition, has suggested that recent events indicate that the current BBC Trust model of governance is “bust”, and questioned the continuing role of Trust Chair Rona Fairhead. Speaking to the Broadcasting Press Guild, Bryant, a former Head of European […]

July 15, 2015By Colin Mann