| Media News Archives 2003 |
| May 2003 |
| Bring back BBC Radio in Europe 27-05-03 |
Please consider writing to some of the addresses below in order to:
(1) To have the BBC radio channels made available to all in Europe.
(2) Ask them to consider how the BBC can exploit the massive demand for quality English language TV and radio. This must be one of the most extraordinary cases of a massive market begging to buy a product that is easily technically available – and yet no-one will exploit it.
(3) Failing success with (1) and (2) beg for a better, less soggy service from BBC Prime – which desperately needs some life-saving attention. It appears to be run by sleep-walkers.
I'm sending one email a day at the moment in the desperate hope that some common sense could still prevail. UK BBC TV seems a lost cause – but maybe it's possible to save the radio. The more messages ... maybe someone will take notice. "Reception" has hinted that they are getting some idea of the size of the backlash. |
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| June 2003 |
| BBC Radios 2 & 4 coming back! 06-06-03 |
| BBC Radio 2 and 4 will be back on air "sometime during the summer" broadcasting form Astra 2B on transponder 38 (south beam). The dates apparently will be published on www.bbc.co.uk/reception in due course. |
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| BBC and BSkyB announce agreement! 13-06-03 |
BSkyB and the BBC today (Friday 13 June 2003) announced a five year agreement which includes the continued allocation to BBC ONE and BBC TWO of channel numbers 101 and 102 on BSkyB's Electronic Programme Guide (EPG). Therefore the BBC will withdraw its complaint, made in April 2003, to the Independent Television Commission. From 10 July, the BBC will broadcast all eight television channels in the clear.
By Autumn 2003, all 22 national and regional variations of BBC ONE and BBC TWO will be available and listed on the EPG.
As part of the agreement, the BBC is buying a regionalisation service from BSkyB to ensure that viewers within the UK with Sky viewing cards will continue to automatically receive the right national and regional versions of BBC ONE and BBC TWO at 101 and 102 respectively.
The agreement will end the payment by the BBC to BSkyB for the provision of "Solus" viewing cards to digital satellite viewers who do not have a subscription to a pay-TV service.
In future, viewers will continue to be able to view all unencrypted channels and will receive versions of BBC ONE London and BBC TWO England in the 101 and 102 positions. They will also be able to manually select the rest of the BBC's national and regional variations listed on the EPG. |
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| BBC channels shuffled in Sky line-up 20-06-03 |
| Several BBC radio and TV channels have been shuffled around in the Sky Digital Electronic Programme Guide (EPG). BBC Three can now be found on channel 115, while BBC Four is on channel 116. Meanwhile, BBC Radio 4 Long Wave has moved to channel 911 and BBC 6 Music is on channel 870. |
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| BBC Regions now available 28-06-03 |
| All BBC regional channels now available on the Astra 2D satellite on the following frequencies; 10817 V / and 10778 V 22.0 / 5/6. |
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| July 2003 |
| Solus Cards to be switched off 16-07-03 |
| What will this meen for you, if you do not have a Sky subscription? You will loose ITV, Channel 4 and Five. It's time for people to protest about the impending switch off of the Solus cards. BSkyB are rubbing their hands, at the thought of all those new subscriptions of £150 per year minimum. Which gives you (Along with all the channels which are, or should be, Free to View) Sky One, Discovery Home and Leisure, QVC and Bloomberg Financial channel. -Big Deal. The Governement Department of Culture and Media is not happy with the situation and has made it's views known to those with the power to switch off the cards. They rightly, point out that it will turn back the clock on the move towards full digital TV by the year 2010. At the moment, there is no real power over Sky's decision to switch off and profit.. But, if Sky doesn't become more customer friendly, that could change. It also calls for letters to MPs and threats to cancel current Sky subscriptions. |
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| ITV & DSat - the choices 20-07-03 |
There is growing confusion about the future of some 600,000 homes that receive ITV, C4 and Five via digital satellite through Sky's 'free' service. The issue arises as a result of the BBC's move to a free and unencrypted service on satellite. The remaining Solus cards are due to expire in the 'the next few weeks'. There are reports on the Internet that some cards have already expired.
The simplest solution would be for the three broadcasters to pick up the £14 million tab for renewing the solus cards. However, there are no signs of this happening although the benefits of the Government's digital dividend would dramatically reduce the cost of the operation for ITV. C4 say that they cannot afford to pick up the bill themselves. Without ITV's intervention, these homes will stop receiving the three channels digitally during August. They will have three choices:
1) To revert to terrestrial analogue TV.
2) To adopt DTT through Freeview.
3) To subscribe to the lowest Sky premium of £12.50 month.
Many observers now say that senior figures in ITV believe that the network's position in multichannel homes was permanently damaged by its absence from Sky Digital in the early days of ONDigital and that there is great pressure to find a solution. The majority of D-Sat viewers will continue to receive ITV1 (and ITV2) as well as C4 and Five as part of their pay subscription. However, some MPs lead by Chris Bryant, member for the Rhondda, want the Government to step in, in order to maintain the momentum towards analogue switch-over. |
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| BBC radio stations swap channels on Sky July 21-07-03 |
| Several further changes have been made to the lineup of the BBC's channels on Sky Digital. BBC7 is now on channel 881, formerly occupied by The Storm, 1Xtra is on 887, formerly The Mix, while 5 Live Sports Extra has moved to 894. It is expected that the BBC One TV regions will move to the Sky Digital channels 941 - 962 from July 29th. |
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| August 2003 |
| Sky to launch its own 'Freeview-style' package 30-08-03 |
Sky's chief executive, Tony Ball, has revealed that the broadcaster is to compete against the Freeview digital terrestrial service by launching its own "Freeview-plus" package of channels on digital satellite.
The comments came after Sky upgraded its subscriber target to eight
million by 2005 and admitted that the next stage in the broadcaster's future - extending its subscriber numbers from eight to 12 million - would require a new approach. Ball said: "We can get to eight million or so but will the next four million all be high revenue? Probably not. We will come up with a Freeview-plus type of package with one or two [extra]
channels." The package is likely to include free channels already available on digital satellite, plus a small number of add-on basic TV channels.
In litght of this announcment,it does not make sence to switch off the million or so, Freeview viewews. What would be the point in losing a million or so viewers now, only to try and get them back at some future date? |
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| September 2003 |
| Solus Cards Saved? 24-09-03 |
MPs are pressing Tessa Jowell to intervene to prevent customers losing commercial terrestrial channels when BSkyB upgrades its encryption system. Broadcasters are close to a breakthrough in talks to ensure that ITV, Channel 4 and Channel Five will continue to be received by hundreds of thousands of satellite viewers after the BBC withdrew funding for the viewing cards required. MPs are pressing the culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, to intervene to ensure an estimated 660,000 viewers do not lose commercial terrestrial channels overnight when BSkyB upgrades its encryption system later this year.
Conservative MP Peter Atkinson and Labour MP David Drew have tabled written questions to Ms Jowell asking whether viewers could expect to see their screens go blank overnight and querying the progress of talks.
The issue is particularly pressing for those who live in rural areas and do not get satisfactory analogue reception, relying instead on free to air digital satellite dishes. Arts minister Estelle Morris said Ms Jowell had received letters from all three broadcasters indicating they were making progress in their discussions to resolve the row. The government was keeping a "close eye" on their progress, she added.
The BBC has already stopped paying for the so-called "solus" card that allows digital satellite viewers who do not subscribe to Skydigital to watch the terrestrial channels. It no longer pays the £12 annual charge for the cards because it decided to opt out of BSkyB's encryption system in a move that the BBC director general, Greg Dyke, said would save the corporation £85m over five years. TV, Channel 4 and Five initially refused to pay for the cards but it is understood they are close to coming an arrangement that would see them promoting a joint solution, although the money would not come out their programming budgets. In order to keep costs down, viewers may be asked for a one-off fee towards the cost of the cards.
Ms Jowell wrote to the chief executives of the commercial terrestrial broadcasters back in July in an effort to defuse the row, which also threatens to scupper the BBC's plans to launch a de-facto satellite equivalent to Freeview. While BBC has opted to broadcast its signals "in the clear", the other terrestrial broadcasters remain contracted to Sky and continue to have their broadcasts encrypted. ITV said it was keeping a "watching brief" and would monitor the effects of the BBC's move, but remains concerned about possible rights issues and regional variations.
BSkyB has said it is happy to continue to provide the solus cards to non-Sky subscribers but would only do so if the money was forthcoming. "BSkyB remains willing to offer conditional access services and negotiate provision of solus cards on fair and non discriminatory terms," said a BSkyB spokesman. The pay-TV operator has already started upgrading its encryption system and, when complete, will send out new cards to its subscribers, rendering any set-top box using a current solus card unable to receive ITV, Channel 4 or Five. |
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| October 2003 |
| News Corp. threatens to sue the BBC 14-10-03 |
| News Corporation is considering taking legal action against the BBC to stop it showing programmes like The Simpsons and Buffy the Vampire Slayer following the public broadcaster’s change of satellite distribution. Peter Chernin, chief operating officer News Corp, has condemned the BBC's decision to unencrypt its channels as "wrong" and said he is considering all potential options. "We don't believe the BBC has the right to provide an unencrypted signal with our programming," he said. |
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| Last-minute deal on free-to-air satellite 22-10-03 |
| This week, confirmation supplied by Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Öpik, a cross party meeting took place resulting in an adjournment debate on TV reception in rural areas. The outcome was that a Solus style card will become available for £23.50 which should last for at least two years, although maybe longer. The cards will be supplied via Sky and within the next 7 to 14 days existing Solus card holders will see a number flash on screen which will need to be called to obtain a new card. Read the full story HERE at the Media Guardian. To apply for a new card call 08702430604. |
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| November 2003 |
| New 'solus' viewing cards go on sale 02-11-03 |
| Satellite viewers who do not subscribe to Sky but want to carry on watching terrestrial channels ITV, Channel 4 and Five on Sky Digital can now order a new viewing card. The new 'solus' cards cost £23.50 for residential viewers or £105.75 for commercial use (clubs and pubs) and can be bought by telephoning 08700 541800, or by visiting the free2view website. |
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| BBC Radios 1 - 4 on Eutelsat W2 16 East 11-11-03 |
| Confirmed by onefm, he writes: |
"I can confirm that BBC R1-4FM are at 16E on 11634V and 11659V. I have Humax 5400Z, after Channel search with parameters given on lyngsat.com receivers started to search channels. I looked at 11634V - after a very very very long process (never saw such a long search - and I have had a Humi for about 1 and half years), finally the search came to end. Provider: Unknown, 13 TV services labeled "unknown" (11659V - 14 services). In settings section - no name for services and all PIDs were 8192 which means in Humax language "nothing there man!".
I entered AudioPIDs from lyngsat and..........and there it was 192 kbs quality sound of R1, R2, R3 and R4FM respectively with black screen in the TV mode on my Humi! Conclusions: (from your page's message board and my experience): - there is "something" on 11634V and 11659V, it seems that it is a feed for DTT services in the UK (maybe uplinked by NTL), in a very unusual format (see Bobbens reply in "BBC Radios on Eutelsat W2" and seems to have nothing to do with the BBC direct.
So after weeks (last time was on May 25th before the switch off) I had the possibility to listen to the shitty Wes and his The Official Chart Show. And I hope it will last forever and will also hear Zane Lowe and John Peel." |
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| Five only on Astra 2B North Beam 17-11-03 |
| Viewers in the south of Europe are reporting the loss or beakup of five. It appears that the channel has ceased broadcasting on 12110H (Astra 2A south beam) and is only available on 12304H, 2B North beam. |
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| BBC News 24 gets a new look 28-11-03 |
| BBC News 24 is to be given a new look from December 1 in an affort to boost its ratings. A new team will front the channel including Jon Sopel and Peter Sissons. Mark Popescu, a former ITN editor who is currently in charge of the Ten O'Clock News on BBC1, has reportedly been handed the task of revitalising the BBC channel. |
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| December 2003 |
| Power Cut delays BBC News 24 relaunch 01-12-03 |
| BBC News 24's new look is to be unveiled on December 8 instead of this week following a huge power cut on Friday which stretched its resources. The channel broadcast from its Westminster studio instead of the BBC Television Centre for much of the day. Its relaunch will see a new team of heavyweight presenter front the channel, including Jon Sopel and Peter Sissons. Mark Popescu, a former ITN editor who is currently in charge of the Ten O'Clock News on BBC1, has reportedly been handed the task of revitalising BBC News 24 and competing against its main rival, Sky News |
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| BBC loses '24' amid encryption row 06-12-03 |
| The BBC has admitted that its decision to broadcast its channels 'in the clear' on Sky Digital is partly to blame for the collapse of its deal with Fox to broadcast the third season of hit spy thriller, 24. Admitting that issues of BBC 'signal leakage' were the initial cause of delays in talks over the UK rights, a spokeswoman added that as the negotiations dragged on for several months, timing and budgetary constraints also came into play. Other broadcasters, including Sky One and Channel 4, could now pick up the rights. The news comes after the boss of Fox's parent company News Corp, Peter Chernin, reportedly threatened to sue the BBC over signal leakage. "We don't believe the BBC has the right to provide an unencrypted signal with our programming," Chernin said in October. "The BBC is not some renegade company but we think that what they are doing is wrong." |
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| BBC News 24 revamped with new look 13-12-03 |
| BBC News 24 has been relaunched with a new studio and new onscreen graphics to try to make it appear more dynamic to viewers and compete more effectively against Sky News. A greater emphasis is also being placed on the BBC's regional newsrooms, and presenters now stand up to present some reports during bulletins. The changes follow a government review which called for the channel, which is funded from TV licence fees, to become more distinct from its rivals. |
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| ITV3 to replace Granada Plus in 2004 14-12-03 |
| UK digital cable and satellite channel Granada Plus - part of Granada Sky Broadcasting (GSB), a joint-venture between Granada and BSkyB - is expected to be replaced by a service dubbed ITV3 during 2004. The move depends on a deal between the new ITV plc and Sky over archive rights and equity positions in ITV's planned digital channels. A resolution is expected before Christmas |
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| Sky One wins rights to cult spy show '24' 21-12-03 |
| Sky One has won the rights to the cult US spy thriller 24, starring Kiefer Sutherland, after a row reportedly broke out between the BBC and US distributor Fox about the BBC's intention to broadcast it on its free-to-air satellite TV channels, thereby allowing viewers in other European countries to watch it. Sky One outbid Channel 4 for the rights to the series, and it is believed it will be able to repeat the first two series, which originally appeared on BBC2. However, the BBC has rights to the first two seasons until 2005 and 2006, respectively. |
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| New look for BBC4's news programme 21-12-03 |
| BBC4's nightly news programme is to be relaunched in January with a new name, new set and more international reporting. The World will continue to be fronted by Kirsty Lang and will include additional features on global news issues and will occasionally devote whole programmes to one major issue. |