Recent breaking news about a Fathers for Justice idiot on Buck Palace balcony. What's interesting is that News 24 within minutes went to a "Despatch Rider", something I've never seen before.
Presumably they have correspondents for london ready to go out on motorbikes to the scene of a breaking story? They only spoke on a crackling mobile phone though, so presumably they'll be rushing a camera crew (and Clarence Witchall) to the scene now- hopefully in time to catch the guy fall off.
A despatch rider is exactly what it says it is - someone on a bike who delivers packages.
Presumably he was driving past, saw it and phoned into base..... just the same as any BBC employee could, better to have a non-journalistic member of staff on the scene reporting than no-one at all
It SHOULD be ITN, they are the closest! That doesn't mean anything as we all know though.
The broadcasters are only as near as their nearest links truck. Doesn't matter how close the newsroom is if a rivals sat truck is just round the corner they'll get first pictures!
Besides, all 3 news broadcasters have a base at Millbank, just round the corner. Apart from that the BBC in Marylebone is the nearest
Sky is expected to reshuffle some of the specialist channels which use channel numbers
in the 600s shortly in order to create more space for upcoming shopping channels
So, Sky can't find EPG space for the upcoming ITV3, but decides to reshuffle existing channels for yet more shopping
channels.
For cryin' out bl**dy loud!
What kind of
idiots
have they got running things up in BSkyB's ivory towers?!?
End of rant.
If people want to launch shopping channels they can, if you don't want to watch them...
Then don't watch them!
.
The problem with ITV3 is to do with the EPG space, at the moment only channels who were confirmed for launch before May can launch. Eventually ITV3 will be able to launch..... and so will the shopping channels that this move is making room for
Indeed, but what I can't understand is this: why did the ITA and the IBA care, but the ITC and OfCom didn't/don't?
The ITA was created as a result of the Television Act 1954, and it's television regulation duties were largely preserved by the Independent Broadcasting Authority Act 1971. They were were regulators who were charged to allow commercially funded television to operate, but operate within the framework of public service requirements, and to make sure that these requirements were A) stringent and B) rigourously enforced. They are often viewed as 'iron hand' regulators because they were not a party you would argue with. The debacle over the ITC 'negotiating' with their licencees to bring back News at Ten wouldn't have happened in the IBA days; back then it would just be a case of 'News at Ten IS coming back, don't argue with us or we'll take your licences away'.
The diffrence between thn and now it that then the IBA was the broadcaster and the ITV companies were providers of programmes. Now they (and C4, five) are broadcasters in their own right. Old style regulation wouldn't be practical in this day and age, the regulator couldn't have absolute power over ITV when down the road there is a rival broadcaster (a satellite channel) who they don't
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The later Broadcasting Act 2003, forming OFCOM, did nothing to change this, and so we still have a hopelessly ineffective commercial TV regulator which will doubtless sit idly by in spite of the fact that it actually does have a huge range of regulatory powers at it's disposal - including having a very strong case for finding Westcountry Television, Central Independent Television, Carlton Television, Granada Television, Yorkshire Television, Tyne Tees Television, Border Television, London Weekend Television, HTV Group, Anglia Television, Meridian Broadcasting, Scottish Television and Grampian Television in breach of contract
They aren't in breach of contract, they're still broadcasting the local programmes they agreed last time round
That wasn't my point. It wasn't that they removed the HTV News brand, it's that they replaced it with 'ITV West News' and 'ITV Wales News' - i.e. HTV is the only station which now specifically has 'ITV' in the title of it's regional news programmes. It seems rather odd to do this (when they could have gone for Wales Tonight/The West Tonight) here and nowhere else - unless they are planning to go for 'ITV Midlands News' and 'ITV South News' etc at some point in the future.
Maybe they will, but surely the reason they changed the name of HTV news and not any of the others is because none of the others needed to be changed? The 'ITV' is just there to link the programme name with the channel - a very famous brand name
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No it isn't a single channel, it's a regional network. That's not a point open for debate, that's a fact - go and look at how channel 3 is licenced on the OFCOM website. The issues is not about the brand name they have used for their pretend channel, it's the fact that ITV plc is trying to use the fact that it holds most of the franchises to force a change in the nature of the ITV Network in defiance of the contracts which enable them to broadcast.
What would be the point of them owning all those franchises and leaving everything as it was before? No point at all
So why pay the subscription Ar*seholes ? Get a life , and let Murdoch go down the drain - where all his programming comes from. If the gov't had any balls they would legislate to ensure that subscription means just that - you pay for the programmes and nothing more. That would soon knock the b*stard off the air. Bur you're all too weak willed to do it - aren't you ?
Gotta get my fix of tv rubbish..... Only £28 a month ..... not bad for cr ap.......
ARS*HOLES.
In a way I agree with you: if you don't lik paying the money, don't take the service.
On the other hand don't forget that SKY are responsible for only a small proportion of the channels on it's platform. If you boycott their channels you are also boycotting loads of other companies who don't make as much money as the bigger broadcasters such as Sky
Unless ITV West/Wales News is a pilot for what will eventually be rolled out nationally, it seems a very odd route to go down. Removing the HTV brand is one thing, but replacing what was called HTV News with ITV Wales News and ITV West News only serves to highlight that the ITV brand is there because another brand is missing - something that they haven't done with other regions.
But surely you can't get rid of one without the other?
The truth is that the 'H' in 'HTV' was always irrelevant and became even more so when the merger happened. 'ITV1 Meridian' or ITV1 Anglia' make a lot moe sense than 'ITV1 HTV'
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Because there is no such thing as a channel called ITV1, and the company which owns the majority of the franchises should not be at liberty to try to pretend there is. They are still operating the ITV Network, which is still licenced as a regional network of regional franchisees. Back in July 2001 when they first <<<<SNIP (for space concerns)>>>an ident with 'ITV1' on it is allowed to be played out to the whole of England (and Wales, with minor half-hearted attempts at creating a seperate identity for them) as though it's a single channel
It is a single channel though, those who want 'Coronation Street' tune to it as do those who like 'I'm a Celebrity' or 'This Morning'. Who cares if it is called 'ITV' or 'ITV1' as long as those who want to watch their programmes can find then there is no problem
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By the same token, if the majority of viewers can only access one ITV Network station, there is no need to build a national 'ITV1' brand, and it doesn't matter if they identify with different brands in different parts of the country. As long as the brand in their own region is strong, there is no need to change it.
So ITV1 viewers never listen to radio or read national newspapers or any other medium that might promote or mention an ITV1 show?
In terms of promotion ITV1 can place one advert on radio stations and poster sites across the country. In the old days each station would place their own publicity in an ad-hoc fashion, not the best way of doing it
After all the channel was refered to as 'ITV' in the national media for most of its exsistance as it was by most of the public
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If ITV plc could rid their franchise of all PSB commitments, the surviving regional elements they still have would disappeat overnight. And that the regulator stands idly by and allows what was (arguably) once the best regional television system in the world to be turned into a single national channel due to increased deregulation is shocking.
Hardly, just watch a US local station and see how much better they do regional coverage compared with anything ITV (or the BBC for that matter) has ever done....ever
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I think the Carlton brand going from London was more of a symbolic gesture towards the merger which Carlton and Granada were seeking rather than a true attempt to banish it. Remember that dual branding didn't disappear from Carlton regions until November 2003 (a year after it left Granada stations) when Carlton were sure the merger was going ahead. And I have no doubt that if the merger for some reason was blocked and ITV plc was never formed, that Carlton's first move would have been to once again raise the profile of the Carlton brand on the franchises which they held.
It is true that the 'Carlton' name was removed by the merger, but the main reason that it and 'LWT' disappeared from screens was that there was no need for them anymore. When ITV1 all day every day is being provided by the same company what's the point in disguishing between weekends and weekdays?...... there's no point at all.
I know Spotlight CI use Final Cut Pro on Apple Mac G5's but I think other areas use Avid.
AFAIK none use Avid as a production and transmission system, but some have stand alone suites for more creative or invoved edits (features and documentaries). The current refits all involve Quantel systems
Don't forget that the subscription money gets split between the Sky channels, UKTV, Flextech, Discovery and all the other non-free to air channels.... that £13-£20 for the primary channels doesn't go very far when it's split between them
Yes, perhaps it doesn't, but much of the content on the primary channels is constantly repeated. For example, the UKTV channels and Sky One simply buy their programmes from outside sources, repeating them often, with as many commercials as possible squeezed in.
Surely, even with some reduction in commercials, these channels would remain profitable.
No they wouldn't, the revenue from subscription isn't that much. If that worked they'd be doing it already, even with subscription and advertising funding there aren't a lot of stations making a huge amount of money (except shopping abnd gambling channels which are a totally diffrent business model completely)
