Archive for the ‘Virgin Media’ Category

Channel 4’s head of programming, Julian Bellamy, has warned of a “culture of compliance” in British television. He said that the industry was becoming less creative, and that there was “less surprise and variety” than there should be.

In particular, he criticised the BBC for being “increasingly conservative in its editorial decision making”.

“After a string of scandals about taste and decency, it seems to avoid disruptive, potentially controversial ideas like the plague,” Bellamy told an audience at the Royal Television Society last night. “Time and again producers tell me this. And I believe it.”

He added that the recent culture of restraint was an “unintended consequence of the BBC’s method of funding” and the unrivalled public scrutiny that came with it.

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The culture secretary Ben Bradshaw has warned that Britain’s cultural figureheads are “sleepwalking” into being ruled by a Conservative government that would threaten the BBC’s impartiality, as well as the production of controversial plays such as Enron.

Speaking to an audience of Labour Party members, Bradshaw said that Tory media policy pandered to the interests of Rupert Murdoch’s News International, and predicted that the traditional principle of keeping government and media “at arm’s length” could be abolished under a Conservative government.

“There are far too many people sleepwalking towards the next election, too many people thinking lazily it might have to be time for a change without realising you cannot have change to the Conservatives without negative consequences,” he said, adding that the Conservative leader David Cameron was keen to promote the commercial interests of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire.

During his address to the Labour Party pressure group Progress, Bradshaw claimed that the Conservatives’ pledge to “tear up the multi-annual charter and licence fee represented an unprecedented assault on the BBC’s independence that no previous government, not even Margaret Thatcher, had contemplated”.

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The BBC has announced it will tighten up the procedure for dealing with complaints about party election broadcasts, in anticipation of an outcry from viewers over airtime given to the British National Party ahead of next year’s general election.

New rules will require complainants to clearly state their objections and back them up with evidence. Previously, people who made complaints were not required to meet these requirements as part of a formal process.

Today the BBC Trust published a consultation paper on the proposed changes, which it expects to put into effect before the 2010 general election.

Following the huge furore provoked by the appearance of BNP leader Nick Griffin on Question Time, the BBC is expecting a large volume of complaints about the amount of air time given to BNP election broadcasts.

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The taxi-driving father of Amy Winehouse, Mitch, is to front his own online celebrity chatshow from inside his London black cab. The weekly show will air on Living TV’s new online spin-off Liv.

The former Baywatch and Knight Rider star, David Hasselhoff, will be the first celebrity guest to appear on Mitch Winehouse’s Showbiz Rant, which runs for 13 weeks. Each instalment is three-and-a-half minutes long.

In his Hasselhoff interview, which airs today, Mitch Winehouse covers topics including “the perils of the music industry and the pressures of being a showbiz father”, as well as the Loch Ness monster and Shoreditch vampires.

A special Christmas Eve edition of the show sees Mitch give an alternative Christmas message from his cab.

Amy Barham, channel editor of Liv, described having Mitch as host of the show as a “coup”, since he is known for his “forthright, no-holds-barred approach”.

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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.

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One of the biggest dance events based on the High School Musical franchise is to be filmed in London for a new Disney Channel UK series.

In Club High School Musical: Make It Happen, four Disney fans are given four days to persuade 500 people to strut their stuff in a dance performance of a song from the show. The children have to find a venue in London for the final performance, helped by the show’s presenter and former Fame Academy choreographer Kevin Adams.

The four episode show will air later this month on Disney Channel UK. The show is being made by independent production company The Foundation, part of the RDF Group.

Nigel Pickard, the executive producer, said: “This is the first time that RDF Media Group has worked with Disney Channel UK.

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BSkyB is to make an official complaint to Ofcom in response to proposals that would force the broadcaster to sell its premium sports and movie channels to rivals such as Virgin Media at prices dictated by the media regulator.

BSkyB chief executive Jeremy Daroch said that if Ofcom’s proposals are pushed through, its pay-TV rivals will get Sky’s premium services “on the cheap”.

“These guys want a free ride. Intervention like this is not a good incentive to encourage people to invest in the UK,” Darroch said.

“[Ofcom] is proposing an unprecedented level of interference in commercial markets. Good regulation does not involve micro-management. Nor does it mean tinkering to reshape an industry so that it matches a spreadsheet in a regulator’s office,” he added.

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Virgin Media has signed a major deal with Disney to broadcast a raft of children’s shows and movies across Virgin Media’s three entertainment platforms.

The deal includes the addition of the recently launched Disney XD channel, TV on-demand content and HD programming. A range of Disney content will also be made available online.

Disney XD, aimed at 6-14 year olds, will join the existing Disney Channel and Playhouse Disney channels on Virgin Media. With the acquisition of Disney content, Virgin Media subscribers will have access to over 300 hours of children’s television on demand.

The new on-demand content includes popular shows such as Hannah Montana, Phineas and Ferb and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Customers will also have access to hundreds of Disney movies including High School Musical, Camp Rock, and the forthcoming Skyrunners, as well as music videos from bands such as The Jonas Brothers.

Katharine Burns, executive director of content acquisition at Virgin Media said: “Virgin Media has been a pioneer in developing new TV services and our three screens deal with Disney is a perfect example of how driving innovation can benefit the consumer and enhance their viewing experience. As the home of family entertainment, we’re uniquely positioned to give our customers the greatest range of flexibility and choice in their TV viewing, and with great premium content on demand we think kids and families alike are going to love the freedom this Disney deal will bring.”

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US broadcaster CBS is to launch a range of branded digital channels in the UK.

The broadcasting network will work in conjunction with channel provider Chellomedia, the European content division of Liberty Global, which will rebrand six of its 26 services - Zone Romantica, Zone Thriller, Zone Horror and Zone Reality, Zone Horror +1 and Zone Reality +1 - under the CBS banner. The channels have not yet been given new names.

CBS’s new UK themed channels, which will launch later this year, will feature programming from the network’s 70,000 hour back catalogue, including the 1980s soap opera Dynasty and the remastered version of the original series of Star Trek. In addition, the broadcaster will continue to acquire programming from third party suppliers.

The commercially funded Chello Zone channels are currently broadcast to over 13 million homes through Sky, Virgin Media and FreeSat. The rebranded CBS channels will continue to be operated by Chellomedia, but representatives from CBS will contribute to the shaping and day-to-day running of the channels.

American networks ABC, NBC and Fox have all run channels on British television, but this is the first time that CBS has launched such a venture, although its CBS Evening News programme already airs on Sky News.

“The CBS brand is recognised around the world for quality, both as a production studio and as a network,” said Armando Nuñez, president of CBS Studios International.

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Supermarket Iceland has axed Kerry Katona from its advertising campaigns, following allegations in The News of the World that she had been taking class A drugs.

On Sunday the newspaper published photos and video footage that allegedly showed the former Attomic Kitten singer and mother-of-four snorting cocaine in the bathroom of her home in Wilmslow, Cheshire.

Katona has appeared in adverts for Iceland for since she won the TV show I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here in 2004. However, the supermarket chain said that the allegations made it “impossible” for her to continue in the role. The firm added that it would help her get any support she needed.

An Iceland spokesman said that for “most” of her time with the company, “she has been a successful part of our advertising campaigns, but has also been through some tough times in her personal life.

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