Advanced Television

FTA

Digital production initiatives from UK broadcasters

The Digital Production Partnership (DPP) – a partnership between ITV, Channel 4 and the BBC, with active participation from Channel Five, Sky, UKTV and the Independent Production sector – has revealed two major initiatives in digital production in Television. The first is the release of a report – The Reluctant Revolution – Breaking Down Barriers […]

September 27, 2011

Freesat adds Massive R

Freesat has announced that it is adding Massive R to its range of existing music channels: NME TV, Bliss, Chart Show TV, Flava and the Vault. Massive R is the home of R&B and Hip Hop videos, interviews, countdowns and exclusives – and is available on Freesat Channel 518

September 21, 2011

BBC sues Mediaset over ‘Dancing Stars’ copy

BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of Britain’s public broadcaster, has issued legal proceedings in Italy alleging that Silvio Berlusconi-backed broadcaster Mediaset has illegally copied its Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars format. The Italian writ argues that Baila!, a new Italian show that’s due to air on September 27th, is an illegal copycat of the […]

September 20, 2011By Chris Forrester

Permira dumps All3Media sale plan

Private equity fund Permira has cancelled its plans to sell All3Media. UBS had been appointed last March to find a buyer. All3Media is best known for producing hit shows such as Shameless and Skins. Permira had reportedly been looking for about £750 million to £800 million for All3Media, and while plenty of would-be buyers conducted […]

September 19, 2011By Chris Forrester

Pakistan: $4bn broadcasting market

The electronic media has emerged as one of the fastest-growing and most competitive sectors in Pakistan, according to the Chairman of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory (PEMRA). Presenting the watchdog’s report for the year 2010-11 to President Asif Ali Zardari, Dr Abdul Jabbar advised that PEMRA, by the end of the 2010-11 financial year, had […]

August 22, 2011By Colin Mann

Vibrant TV, a new network for USA

Vibrant TV is claimed to be a new type of channel. Backed in part by Chicago-based media buying agency Zephyr Media, the FTA channel says it will showcase internationally produced lifestyle, series, sports and kids programming. The channel will be available on satellite and terrestrially. Dan Zifkin, CEO of Zephyr, says the network will launch […]

August 18, 2011By Chris Forrester

Bad news is good news

The recent slew of bad financial news on TV has seen a major surge in television ratings, especially in the US.  All three US financial networks (Bloomberg, Fox Business and CNBC) have gained significant numbers of viewers during the working day, always a sure sign that Wall Street’s financial types – and those at home […]

August 16, 2011By Chris Forrester

Scripps scoops Virgin Media’s UKTV stake

As widely expected, Scripps Networks is to acquire Virgin Media’s stake in UKTV, the joint-venture multi-platform channel operator with BBC Worldwide. Scripps Networks Interactive will pay approximately £239 million to purchase Virgin Media’s 50 per cent common equity interest in the UKTV partnership and also will pay about £100 million to acquire the outstanding preferred […]

August 15, 2011By Colin Mann

BBC, Sky to share live F1 rights

BBC TV and Sky Sports have been awarded the live rights to Formula 1 between 2012 and 2018. The BBC currently screens the sport on an exclusive basis in the UK. The broadcasting partnership will include: – All races, qualifying and practice sessions live on Sky Sports across TV, Online and Mobile and Tablet devices. […]

July 29, 2011By Colin Mann

Team chief: F1 needs to monetise new media

Martin Whitmarsh, team principal at McLaren, has suggested that although Formula One has benefited from its exposure on television under the sport’s commercial chief Bernie Ecclestone, the changes in technology and media consumption mean that it now needs to reassess how to monetise the new opportunities. Whitmarsh told the sport’s official website, formula1.com, that there […]

July 18, 2011By Colin Mann