We received the following comment from the British Entertainment Industry Radio Group:
“Another major impact of the digital switchover is threatened loss of interleaved spectrum (an certainly the loss of useful spectrum co-ordination through the JFMG) for PMSE (Programme Makiing and Special Events) use. So – loads of bandwidth for new channels, but no radio mics, [...]
In this elegant posting, the Open Knowledge Foundation takes aim at Ofcom’s idea for a public service publisher, or PSP. Some of the criticism is fair — and some over-stated. The Foundation writes:
“[I]t became clear that the decision had already been made to turn the PSP into a funding agency that gives money [...]
I thought it was interesting that the very first adjudication in Ofcom’s most recent Broadcast Bulletin (released yesterday) was one involving racist remarks. Click here for the bulletin. So, if you are interested in learning how Ofcom might approach the recent furore over certain Celebrity Big Brother housemates making allegedly racist remarks against [...]
A friend of mine who just took the U.K. citizenship test was quizzing me over dinner on Saturday night and — while she could not remember the exact question — she said the U.K. citizenship test asks something along the lines of ‘If you have ten TVs in your house, how many television licences must [...]
OFCOM have released another monster (and interesting) report which is the Market Impact Assessment on the proposed BBC On Demand services. It is too early for me to have digested the whole 168 pages, but there are three points that immediately spring to my mind from an initial glance at the report.
OFCOM estimates of Video [...]
Ofcom today published its first Market Impact Assessment (MIA) which examines the BBC’s proposal to develop and bring to market new on-demand services.
The proposed services represent an important opportunity for audiences to access BBC content in new and different ways. The services also have the potential to expand growth in UK-based new media industries.
However, there [...]
I spent yesterday at the Oxford Media Convention. This was the third or fourth year I had attended and — except for Andy Duncan’s embarrassing beg-a-thon — it’s generally a good overview of law and policy in the U.K. media sector.
I thought the most interesting part of the day was the panel discussion on [...]
I always get frustrated when I hear the beeb expressing its licence fee in the mandatory cost to the individual householder, so here is a different view.
A quick explanation about the model:
Number of households is taken from the Annual report and is the combined total of fee paying colour licence payers and over-75’s who are [...]
This morning, just before heading off to the Oxford Media Convention, I typed ‘Shilpa’ into the Ofcom website search engine.
The result? A recommended link: ‘Complain to Ofcom about Celebrity Big Brother‘.
Thinking this proactive Ofcom stance might work for my benefit, I then searched for ‘Dunstone’ – no luck…
Yesterday the European Commission issued this press release, highlighting the importance of ‘media pluralism’ and some steps the European Commission is doing to promote the concept. The Commission envisions three-steps:
1. a staff working paper, available here*;
2. an independent study, to be completed in 2007, on media pluralism in the Member States; and
3. [...]
All the news about Ofcom these days seems to be about food adverts or racism, including these types of pieces about allegedly racist remarks and bullying in the Celebrity Big Brother house. (The CBB house-mates also smoke and drink and eat junk food, so it’s a nightmare for ‘quality media’ watchdogs) It’s a [...]
Great article in the MediaGuardian this morning by Emily Bell. She discusses the transparency issues surrounding the recently released BBC board minutes at the time of Greg Dyke’s 2004 departure. Bell ties the transparency aspects of that madhouse with the current debates over the proper size of the BBC licence fee. She writes:
If only this [...]
Just a follow-up on Ofcom’s award of an FM licence to Diamond FM covering Plymouth in March 2006. As we were migrating OfcomWatch to its new site, I noticed that our previous post on the issue (which is here) had a few comments questioning Ofcom’s licence award decision, including one which points to a [...]
Ofcom yesterday released a further consultation as it seeks to refine its spectrum auction for the 10 GHz, 28 GHz, 32 GHz and 40 GHz frequency bands. Comments are due by no later than 8 February 2007.
Auction / game theory experts (both of you) take note: Ofcom want your opinion on the auction design – should [...]
More commentary on Ofcom’s recent publication… Today, I will briefly review the essay submitted by Martin Cave titled ‘New spectrum-using technologies and the future of spectrum management: a European policy perspective’. Professor Cave is a well-known expert in the area of radio spectrum policy and he was the author of major report that influenced [...]
The MediaGuardian is reporting that -
“…the BBC has set up a £350m war chest for expansion into social networking on the internet and international acquisitions.
The BBC is to increase its presence in the social networking world with a series of new and improved websites, based around its favourite brands such as the car programme [...]
ZDNet reports -
Cable & Wireless has accused BT of overcharging it regularly for connecting customers to unbundled exchanges.
In a complaint now lodged with Ofcom, the provider has claimed BT broke rules set by the national telecommunications regulator, which were supposed to see BT charge other operators fair prices for setting up new lines in its exchanges.
Ofcom today announced plans to simplify the licensing of private radio communications used by a wide range of businesses, including taxi and courier firms, utilities and supermarket chains.These changes will come into effect in early 2008 and are designed to:
* Reduce complexity: 21 different types of licence, covering 50,000 licensees, will be replaced by three basic types:
1. Light Licences – a simple licence that does not require coordination with other spectrum users;
2. Area Defined Licences for geographically based national or regional use; and
3. Technically Assigned Licences for dedicated or specialist services at a specific location or local area.
Dear readers,
As you may have already noticed, we have re-designed and migrated OfcomWatch to a different publishing platform. There’s still some more work to do (this new site is still not entirely functional), but our archive is now fully searchable back to 2003. A special ‘thank you’ to Scott Lunt for all his [...]
The Internet Service Providers’ Assn (ISPA) apparently just released something called their Heros and Villains list for 2006.Ofcom received a ‘hero’ nomination for its opposition to Europe’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive amendment to the Television Without Frontiers Directive. Viviane Reding received a ‘villain’ nomination for her policies on .eu domain registrations.
I wonder if Talk Talk [...]
