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By Russ on January 31st, 2008
Save the date: Feb 27th / LSE lecture …
[Distant suffering in the media = watching ITV ~ Russ]
Archive for January, 2008
By Russ on January 30th, 2008
Ofcom’s Ed Richards: roaming an ‘obstacle to business’
[pronounced ~ ob-stack-el ~ as seen in O' Brother Where Art Thou?]
Folks, Ofcom this week show signs of a consumer-oriented revitalisation on the subject of rip-offs in the telecom sector. Basically, Ofcom are urging tougher European action (or industry moderation) on roaming charges, voice, data and text.
Ed Richards’ comments are here. Here are some of [...]
By Russ on January 29th, 2008
DBERR — the BSkyB / ITV decision …
UPDATE:Â I should add — I am now a News Corp (Class A) shareholder … as of 25 Jan 08, although not in significant amounts (sadly)…
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Folks, by now everyone has seen the outcome of the government’s review of BSkyB’s 17.9 percent stake in ITV. The full details can be found on the DBERR website: [...]
By Russ on January 25th, 2008
Ofcom — untimely action on Sky Picnic proposal
I was just criticised in the comments section of this blog along the lines that our recent FT piece was complaining about Ofcom’s maltreatment of Sky’s Picnic application when all Ofcom are trying to do is regulate a dominant player. Fair criticism — so let me explain the basis of my personal concerns of [...]
By Russ on January 25th, 2008
Anthony Lilley — the 2020 media landscape…
As part of his lecture series here in Oxford Anthony Lilley is seeking questions on this topic:
‘I’m looking for contributions on what the 20 most important questions are right now if the media landscape of 2020 is going to be fit for purpose.’
I’ve got one:
Given our seemingly unstoppable and unquenchable desire to amuse and express [...]
By Russ on January 25th, 2008
Friday round-up…
Hello everyone, just (hopefully) emerging from a bad cold and thought I would see what’s about:
– Nick Reynolds recently commented on our site, asking ‘What exactly are the arguments FOR top slicing or indeed the PSP?’. While my thinking is evolving the more I learn about the UK system, I actually favour four things: [...]
By Russ on January 22nd, 2008
Toynbee on the BBC’s destruction…
A quick she/me on Polly Toynbee this morning, discussing the BBC’s potential top-sliced future:
She: ‘The BBC has many dangerous and powerful enemies. Rupert Murdoch has his press lobbing relentlessly against the BBC, wanting it reduced to a US-style public subscription service offering only education and information, and no competition with the commercial sector. ITV [...]
By Russ on January 21st, 2008
Reding: NGA is ’single most important policy question in telecoms sector today’
The key nugget from her recent speech:
‘How we treat next generation access is therefore the single most important policy question in the telecoms sector today. We have to create incentives for investment whilst making sure that no-one (and I insist on this no-one), can be in a position to foreclose the market.
What are the incentives [...]
By Russ on January 21st, 2008
Monday tee-up…
Folks, some good chatter today:
– Owen Gibson sets out the current state of affairs. I particularly liked this nugget:
‘Some of those voices are asking whether extra public money liberated from the licence fee or by other means wouldn’t be better spent bridging the digital divide and bringing affordable broadband to all, or on other [...]
By Russ on January 18th, 2008
OW Friday Film Festival
Ed Richards should watch this one — it pretty much sums up the types of ISP complaints people often make. They get lost in a system of confusing emails / calls, missed appointments, dropped help tickets. Telling someone like this that the advent of retail competition means they can swtich away from bad [...]
By Russ on January 18th, 2008
Oxford Media Convention — the PSP debate …
Folks, I thought the most interesting part of the day was a mini-debate or discussion concerning Ofcom’s Public Service Publisher, or PSP. It was pretty funny — Anthony Lilley and Tom Loosemore were on the panel defending the concept of a PSP. Both were defensive, telling the audience that thinking of a PSP [...]
By Russ on January 16th, 2008
The Oxford Media Convention and the government’s convergence think-tank
Tomorrow is the Oxford Media Convention — the most important media policy gathering in the UK each year. It’s like a Madonna concert … well … except there is no Madonna and it’s much more expensive. The cheapest tickets to be had are 245 GBP and up. So, while much of the [...]
By Russ on January 14th, 2008
Ofcom’s Broadcast Bulletin — the wackiness continues…
Ofcom today released its 100th Broadcast Bulletin. Every time you reach a milestone like the 100th, the 1000th, etc., you should either celebrate by popping the cork on some bubbly, or … shake your head in amusement and wonder what’s the point…
The Bulletin — nine-tenths bullsh-t and one-tenth selected facts all 27 pages of it [...]
By Russ on January 11th, 2008
OW Friday Film Fesival: BT high-speed shoe broadband, Virgin Media fair use policies
There is an entire wiki devoted to shoe tossing!!??! In this case, I think it signifies the community’s disgust for BT Broadband…
And here’s one that I call No Country for Old Networks:
By Russ on January 10th, 2008
Ofcom announce new Consumer Panel chair: Anna Bradley
Ofcom announced today:
‘Ofcom announced today the appointment of Anna Bradley as Chairman of its independent Consumer Panel. The Panel advises Ofcom on the consumer interest in telecommunications, broadcasting and spectrum markets.
Ms Bradley was Consumer Affairs Director of the Financial Services Authority (2002-5) having been Chief Executive of the National Consumer Council (1999-2002). She has an [...]
By Russ on January 07th, 2008
Ofcom take over HM Government, announce non-exec board positions
Number 10 announced today that former Ofcom CEO Stephen Carter has been appointed as senior adviser to Gordon Brown covering communications, strategy, etc. I think Carter will probably best be remembered as the person promising and delivering on cost savings in the field of public regulation (while still paying good salaries), so his expertise [...]
By Russ on January 05th, 2008
2008 already? Anyone at Ofcom back at work???
Folks, the new year has started and it’s time again to start thinking about everyone’s favourite topic: media and communications policy. Here are some good looking events for January and February:
– 17 January 2008; The Oxford Media Convention. Expensive, but probably the best ticket around. Last year was particularly fun: [...]
