| ITV & Sky - the dispute continues 31-01-05 |
ITV has signed another temporary renewal to its carriage contract with Sky as the dispute between the two broadcasters rumbles on.
The extension will run through April, when independent regulator Ofcom is expected to report back on the situation.
ITV asked Ofcom to investigate what it called "unfair, unreasonable and unduly discriminatory" terms offered by Sky for the regionalisation of ITV1 across the UK. Sky is asking for an estimated £17m for ITV's encryption and regionalisation, in comparison to the £4m the BBC pays for regionalisation alone.
ITV confirmed today that the existing contract had been renewed for a further three months pending Ofcom's ruling. "ITV has agreed a further temporary extension to its existing regionalisation and encryption deal with BSkyB," a spokesman told C21.
"This means that ITV1 continues to be regionalised and, unless it opts otherwise, encrypted on the digital satellite platform pending the outcome of Ofcom’s investigation into the price BSkyB should charge ITV1 for the provision of a regionalisation service only." |
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| Channel 4 may start new games channel 31-01-05 |
| Channel 4 is reported to be considering the launch of a new gaming channel on Freeview. The station could be an offshoot of the popular 9 Live Quiz TV show which was trialled on E4 last year. |
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| Freeview reaches five million homes 24-01-05 |
| Five million British homes now have Freeview, according to official figures from the BBC, Sky and Crown Castle - its joint owners. The jump in figures come after approximately 190,000 set-top boxes were sold in each of the two weeks before Christmas. |
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| Ofcom to help EC investigate Sky football deal 24-01-05 |
The European commission has called in UK media and competition regulators to help its investigation into the way the Premier League sells its rights, including its exclusive £1bn pay-TV deal with BSkyB.
The communications regulator Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading - which have joint responsibility for competition regulation of the British media sector - have been asked by the commission to provide "specialist advice" about the UK broadcasting market and the value of the Premier League's rights.
The European commission has waged a long campaign to force the Premier League to scrap its exclusive arrangement with BSkyB and share its live TV rights with other UK broadcasters. |
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| New Freeview channel to launch this Spring 24-01-05 |
| ITV, Channel 4, Channel Five and Disney are among the broadcasters vying to launch a new channel this Spring on Freeview. Crown Castle, one of the three partners in the digital terrestrial service, is freeing up some of its multiplex space to enable a new channel to launch as soon as April. Crown owns two of the six multiplexes used to transmit Freeview and has said that technology developments are making it possible to squeeze in an extra channel alongside the existing 31 services. ITV, which is hoping to launch ITV4 this year, is reported to be interested along with a host of other broadcasters. |
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| Sky to launch second slot credit card 24-01-05 |
| Sky is to introduce a credit card 'within weeks' that can be used via the second card slot in its digital boxes, according to media press reports. Three other broadcasters are also planning to use the card slot to launch loyalty-card schemes and offer high-street discounts to viewers. The Sky credit card will be marketed as a way to pay for home shopping and betting services via the Sky remote control and to respond to interactive adverts. One of the first uses for the service could be a retailer offering discounts on DVDs and CDs to viewers of a music channel. After inserting the loyalty card, viewers will be prompted at regular intervals to confirm via the remote control that they are still watching the channel, for which they will earn points. |
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| New dating channel starts on Sky Digital 24-01-05 |
| A new dating channel called Look4Love TV will launch on Sky Digital channel 685 on Monday January 24. The Hampshire-based channel was recently granted a broadcast license and has already begun test transmissions at 11.623GHz/H. |
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| Fizz music channel makes debut on Sky 24-01-05 |
| The broadcaster behind Channel U, which broadcasts a range of music videos, launches its latest channel, Fizz, on Monday January 24. It will be available on Sky Digital channel 468. |
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| ITV News now on Astra 2D 17-01-05 |
| ITV News have moved to the Astra 2d satellite, fuelling speculation that ITV will soon be broadcasting in the clear and abandoning Sky's Videoguard encryption. ITV News is now available on transponder 49, 10.832 H, Symbol Rate (SR) 22000, Forward Error Correction (FEC) 5/6. |
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| Ofcom launches probe into ITV complaint 17-01-05 |
| Government regulators at Ofcom have launched their first investigation into Sky after ITV complained about the charges to be part of its platform. Talks between the two over the amount ITV pays to have its channels encrypted and included on Sky Digital's EPG recently broke down and Ofcom has confirmed that it has launched a probe. ITV pays Sky £17m a year for Conditional Access and EPG services, which enable viewers in each region to receive the correct local news and other regional programmes. ITV is alleging this amounts to overcharging. |
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| Five planning new kids TV channel 17-01-05 |
| Five is planning to launch its own childrens TV channel. The new station is being masterminded by Five's controller of children's programming, Nick Wilson, who plans to use the Five's existing 'Milkshake' kids TV brand to create a daytime station. The proposed channel is one of several options being considered, although no final decision has been made. Five has the option of launching as many as two channels on Freeview but its slots on the platform are currently leased to shopping channels. |
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| ITV is considering buying UKTV channels 17-01-05 |
| ITV is reported to be considering a bid for UKTV's portfolio of digital TV channels which include UKTV Gold, Drama, History, People, Style and Documentary. The channels are currently run through a joint venture deal between the BBC and Flextech, but such a buy-out would strengthen ITV's digital presence against fierce competition from BBC, Channel Four and Sky. Media watchers believe that such a takeover would be subject to approval by the competition commission. |
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| New gardening TV channel to launch in March 17-01-05 |
| A new channel for green-fingered viewers is to launch in March. Called UKTV Style Gardens, the channel will be the UK's first dedicated gardening channel and it's expected to include shows like Ground Force, Garden Invaders and Gardeners' World in its schedule. |
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| Teachers' TV channel starts in February 17-01-05 |
| Teachers' TV, a new channel for teachers, is to launch on February 8. Run by the Department for Education and Skills, the channel will provide advice, news and information to a range of teachers - including head teachers, newly qualified teachers, governors and support staff. Teachers' TV will be on air 24 hours a day on Sky Digital and cable. It will be available part-time on Freeview. |
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| Media barons in £6bn bid to capture ITV 17-01-05 |
| Media moguls Greg Dyke, Lord Hollick and Stephen Grabiner may launch an audacious £6 billion bid for ITV, City sources said last night. The three work for private equity houses that have held talks about forging an alliance to bid for Britain's largest commercial terrestrial broadcaster. |
| Dyke, the former BBC director-general who resigned after the Hutton inquiry, and Grabiner, ex-managing director of the Daily Telegraph, advise venture capitalist firm Apax. Hollick, recently appointed to KKR, the US private equity group, said last week that buying back ITV 'would have a nice ring to it. I wouldn't rule anything out'. |
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| ITV to launch new Teletext service 12-01-05 |
ITV has announced a 10-year deal with Teletext to launch and operate text services across all the ITV family of channels in digital homes. The new service, which will be branded Teletext on ITV, will be accessible on all digital platforms giving viewers direct access via the text button on their remote control.
Teletext on ITV will first launch on digital satellite and digital terrestrial during early summer 2005. The service will include news, sport, weather, travel, lottery results plus entertainment features including content relating to ITV programmes.
Enhanced benefits compared to the Teletext service on analogue channels will include full colour pages, easy-to-read fonts, faster, easier navigation plus the ability to view programmes in quarter screen format whilst scrolling through content.
Teletext on ITV will extend and complement existing ITV digital services such as 24:7, ITV's interactive offering which includes enhanced programming features, gaming and downloads.
Mick Desmond, Chief Executive of ITV Broadcasting said: 'Teletext has a long-established track record as the leader in this field and this deal means we can offer our viewers the best possible service. ITV is committed to developing and enriching its digital offering and this new service adds depth and value for viewers.' The new text service will join Teletext's existing services on Sky and Freeview. |
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| ITV & Sky at war? 10-01-05 |
| ITV has made a formal complaint to government regulators about the charges which Sky wants to impose on it for enabling satellite TV viewers to receive the correct regional version of the channel. ITV claims in a statement to OFCOM that Sky's proposed charges are: "unfair, unreasonable and unduly discriminatory and therefore in breach of Sky's obligations under EU and UK law." The complaint comes after the two broadcasters failed to reach an agreement regarding ITV's new contract with Sky, which was supposed to have been renewed in November. A two-month stay of execution was granted but talks reached a stalemate and ITV has since decided that it has no option but to have Sky investigated. ITV wants at least £13m slashed off its annual £17m a year bill for Sky's services to encrypt and regionalise its channel. |
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| Sky to launch ad-free TV viewing service 10-01-05 |
| Sky has reportedly patented a new technology that allows viewers to record programmes without any ad breaks. While the Sky + personal video recorder allows users to skip through advertisements, even when played at 30 times normal speed, the ads can still be seen by viewers. Sky hopes to offer a service that allows viewers much greater control. One patent, filed in August 2000, allows viewers to "interrupt the recording of programmes so as not to record adverts". It could also allow viewers to edit shows so that only favourite acts were recorded from music programmes. |
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| Two new free-to-air film channels on Sky 10-01-05 |
| The company that runs shopping channels Bid-Up TV and Price-Drop TV is planning to launch two new free-to-air film channels on Sky Digital. Called 'Real-Movies.tv' and 'Movies On 333', they will fully launch this summer. It's reported that the channels will be a low-cost venture, with an investment of under £3m. "These will be free movie channels aimed at specific demographics and will initially be broadcast on Sky, but we hope to be on other platforms in the future," said spokesman Ashley Faull. Real-Movies.tv will be female orientated, with an emphasis on true stories, while Movies On 333 will focus on Westerns, niche films and possibly British short films. |
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| Set-top box firm's profits up 10-01-05 |
Set-top box manufacturer Pace Micro Technology saw profits rise fourfold in the first half of its financial year, as the company shipped more than double the number of boxes it delivered in the same period a year earlier.
But the company said its financial recovery would "take longer than was initially anticipated", following on from a profit warning it gave last month.
In the 27 weeks to December 4, Pace shipped 2.1 million boxes - a half-year record - compared with 1 million for the corresponding period in 2003.
The company - Europe's largest maker of set-top boxes - said BSkyB remained an important customer in the UK, thanks to the increasing take-up of personal video recorder service Sky Plus. |
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| EastEnders - Who shot Den Watts? 10-01-05 |
Three Albert Square regulars are to plot Dirty Den's death next month, according to The People today.
Chrissie Watts, Sam Mitchell and Zoe Slater decide to team up to shoot Den, over four episodes to be screened in February. Producers hope that viewers will be gripped by the storyline - as we are kept guessing about who pulls the trigger. A source told the newspaper, "The plan is for history to repeat itself with Den in the Walford canal. But this time he'll end up dead as a dodo - there'll be no coming back a second time.
"The three girls team up after deciding they have to get rid of Den but viewers will be left wondering who the actual killer is." While Zoe is furious after falling pregnant to Den, and losing her boyfriend Dennis Jnr as a result, Chrissie can't believe that he has betrayed her again. Meanwhile, Den makes an enemy in Sam, after teasing her about Phil Mitchell and making a play for her.
The source added, "They plot and scheme to give themselves alibis and exact their revenge for what Den has done to them." A spokesman for the soap said, "We don't discuss storylines that haven't been filmed yet." |
