Archive for the ‘Freeview’ Category

MTV is to launch a new comedy and music channel, Viva, to replace the digital music channel TMF.

The new channel will feature MTV reality series such as The Hills and Scream Queens as well as early episodes of US comedies including Two and a Half Men and South Park and the “best in rock and pop music”, said the broadcaster.

Heather Jones, MTV Network’s director of television, said Viva was “about fun and frivolity and not taking yourself too seriously” and a “real antidote to the daily grind”.

“It is not simply a new-look TMF but instead a completely new channel with a unique blend,” Jones added. “TMF has for a long time been about more than just music, so it deserves an identity that reflects its output.

“MTV has a long history of ensuring the look and feel of our channels remains current and vital and in tune with the 16- to 34-year-old audience.

(more…)

18 million households had to retune their Freeview set-top boxes yesterday lunchtime following a nationwide upgrade which will see Channel Five receive almost universal coverage across the UK.

The Freeview platform is reorganising its digital TV transmission signal in order to make room for more high definition channels, as well as sports channels from the BBC and ITV ahead of next year’s football World Cup in South Africa.

The upgrade will also make Channel Five available to the vast majority of UK households, with an estimated 500,000 Freeview homes receiving Five for the first time, provided they retune.

However, the reorganisation will mean that a small percentage of homes will lose access to ITV3 and ITV4 after retuning, while the Community Chanel will no longer be available on digital television in those regions that have already gone through the switchover.

About 5% of homes that have already gone through the digital switchover will also lose some BBC radio stations, although these services can be restored with the retuning.
Around 17.7 million UK homes had access to digital TV via Freeview by the end of last year, according to Ofcom figures.

If you’re a Freeview user, don’t be surprised to find Channel Five missing from it’s usual slot when you turn your TV on tomorrow.But don’t worry it’s not gone forever - all you need to do is retune your Freeview box.

As well as Channel Five, you’ll also need to retune your Freeview box to get ITV3, ITV4 and some radio stations back on your TV.

This is happening because despite many customers switching over to Freeview from analogue, there are still some half a million UK homes which cannot receive Channel Five.

(more…)

Martin Freeman and Alexander Armstrong will star in a new BBC Four comedy drama celebrating the classic years of British computing in the 1980s.

Going under the working title Syntax Era, the show documents the on-going rivalry between maverick visionary Sir Clive Sinclair, played by Armstrong, and his former colleague Chris Curry (Freeman) as they go head to head to achieve domination of the growing home computer market.

“Those of us that lived through the eighties will remember the sense of excitement when gadgets and technology started to appear in our homes,” says Controller of BBC Four, Richard Klein.

“But not many of us will know the fascinating stories behind their arrival. Alexander Armstrong and Martin Freeman are excellent choices to portray Sir Clive Sinclair and Chris Curry at a time when battling to have the UK’s most loved home computer was their number one priority.”

The 90-minute drama was written by Tony Saint and uses archive footage from programme’s such as John Craven’s Newsround to illustrate the buzz around Sinclair and Curry’s inventions, as well as the infamous Sinclair C5 battery-powered tricycle.

The BBC has announced that it will begin broadcasting programmes in High Definition on terrestrial television from December.

Freeview HD, initially comprising of high definition services from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, will be launched on what is currently known as multiplex B. The roll-out of the service is planned to coincide with the digital switchover, starting with the Winter Hill transmitter which serves Liverpool and Manchester. Regions that have already made the switch to digital television will also receive the HD service from December.

In a posting on the BBC’s Internet blog, Graham Plumb, Head of Distribution Technology at the corporation said,” The plan is still to launch Freeview HD on December 2nd at the Winter Hill transmitter serving Manchester and Liverpool. The plan has always been to roll Freeview HD out around the country following switchover and Winter Hill was selected as the first achievable transmitter. There will need to be a retrospective upgrade of regions that have already switched.”

(more…)

Newsreader Peter Sissons has announced his retirement from the BBC, aged 66.

With 45 years on the job, Sissons is thought to be the UK’s longest-serving newsreader. He plans to leave the BBC in the summer and start work on his memoirs.

Sissons began working for ITN in 1964 after graduating from Oxford University. Just five years later he was appointed ITN’s News Editor, becoming industrial correspondent a year later, and industrial editor in 1972. Since then he has anchored several flagship news programmes including ITV’s News at One, BBC1 news bulletins and Channel 4 News, which he also helped found.

Sissons told the Mirror, “The longest newscaster before me was Dickie Baker, who did the BBC news for 28 years. Some people think I am still working for ITN, even though I left 20 years ago.”

“I do feel I’m still on top of my game and I still enjoy it - I don’t know how much I’ll miss it until I stop but I don’t think I’ll be sitting in a darkened room.”

(more…)

Senior executives at Setanta are today locked in talks to wrangle over the final details of a deal that could see the Irish broadcaster’s two founders, Michael O’Rourke and Leonard Ryan, and an unnamed international backer take a majority stake in the ailing company.

Both founders are hoping that a decision can be reached and approved by the board so that an official announcement can be made by the end of today.

If the proposed deal is to go ahead, the board must come to a consensus ahead of a £30 million payment to the English Premier League due on Monday. The broadcaster has already defaulted on a £3 million payment to the Scottish Premier League.

According to the Irish Times, O’Rourke and Ryan have secured an international backer that could help them secure Setanta’s future by putting in an offer for a majority stake in the business. If accepted, other shareholders would have their holdings in the pay TV operator diluted. A deal would also secure about 450 jobs at the broadcaster.

(more…)

Comedian Steve Coogan is the latest British TV star to announce a cinema appearance, as he confirmed plans to bring Alan Partridge to the big screen.

Speaking to Radio 1, the Night At The Museum actor disclosed that “there are plans afoot” to create a movie about the hapless chat show host.

“We are planning on making a movie,” he said. “We’re talking at the moment. What it is we’re not quite sure.”

Coogan admitted that a storyline had already been drafted, but refused to disclose further details. When asked whether he was worried about sustaining humour throughout a feature-length film rather than a half hour programme, the 43-year-old said that he would have to approach his character in a different way for the big screen.

(more…)

BT Vision has increased its subscription charges and now plans to charge customers for its digital recorder.

The newly renamed BT Vision+ box will be free for the first year to customers who sign up to a BT broadband package. However, customers who choose not to renew their broadband subscription after a year will be charged a whopping £194.76 for the unit, while those who continue their subscription will face a £90 charge.

Speaking on its forums, BT explained, “The higher price only applies to customers that are out-of-contract for broadband and choose not to commit to us for a further 12 months.

“We previously provided a VBox and Powerline set for free, only to see these sold again on auction sites.

“To keep the prices down for customers that are willing to make a commitment to us we felt it was fair to ask a reasonable price from those that choose not to commit.”

BT is also hiking up the price of its Bronze viewing package, from £13.70 to £14.68 a month. The company argues that the increased price reflects significant additions to its OnDemand content and its TVReplay service, which now covers all five terrestrial channels.

BT’s Silver and Gold packages will remain at their current price of £17.61 and £19.57 respectively.

MPs have rejected a Tory motion to freeze the BBC licence fee this year at £139.50 rather than raising it to £142.50 as planned.

After a heated debate in the Commons lasting almost two hours, 334 MPs rejected the motion, while 156 voted in favour.

During the debate, the Conservative chairman of the Commons culture, media and sport select committee, John Whittingdale, said that he had been “profoundly disturbed” by a speech made on Tuesday evening by Sir Michael Lyons in which the BBC Trust chairman criticised Tory plans to block a £3 raise to the licence fee, which currently brings the BBC £3.6 billion a year.

(more…)