The Culture Media and Sport select committee recently released the uncorrected oral evidence from the 21 Oct hearing on Channel 4’s annual report. I am barred from Portcullis House couldn’t attend so reading the draft transcript is interesting. Here’s the main nugget in my opinion:
Mr Johnson: ‘I think the Board’s view at Channel 4 is [...]
My dream of being the next Tony Wilson Ron Burgundy is finally coming to fruition!
Ofcom yesterday said it is developing procedures to award ’small chunks’ of UHF radio spectrum in the ‘white spaces’ where I suppose the larger digital transmitters will leave gaps. Ofcom says the spectrum could be used to set up a network [...]
That’s my take after reading his speech to POLIS, available here.
Hunt said: ’I do endorse the underlying analysis behind [Ofcom's PSB review], not least the vital importance of plurality of provision for both popular and public service broadcasting.’
More later… gotta run…
From Ofcom’s website:
28|10|08
Ofcom launches Russell Brand show probe
Ofcom has launched an investigation into the Russell Brand show broadcast on BBC Radio 2.
The show featured the presenter – together with guest Jonathan Ross – leaving a series of messages on the answer phone of Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs.
The BBC has subsequently apologised for the [...]
Folks, a Friday funny – Ofcom promote a film review contest for kids:
‘If you fancy yourself as a budding Jonathan Ross, Mark Kermode or Tom Paulin and you live in Northern Ireland, then we have the competition for you.
Ofcom has joined forces with the Coca-Cola Cinemagic International Film and Television Festival to launch an [...]
[from our friend Chris Marsden]
It seems both Copenhagen Economics and the Centre for European Policy Studies have new papers – the former commissioned by the incumbents has a headline-grabbing enormous figure for what ‘it’ (presumably heavyweight Net Neutrality) would cost Europe.
Hidden in the Guardian piece, Ofcom is actually quite sensibly adopting what I call ‘net neutrality lite’ [...]
Okay, I admit I don’t always read everything Ofcom puts out. Some of it is quite dry … and other Ofcom documents use too many colour charts (with editorial interpretations) instead of just supplying the data in tabular form.
But Ofcom has some snappy, well-written blogs:
The Teachings of Andy Duncan PSB Review Blog
The Mobile Citizens [...]
We recently received two substantive comments that I thought I would post on the main page because they would otherwise be buried in the archive:
First, on DAB (from Steven Green):
So DAB is successful, is it? This would be the same DAB for which the Digital Radio Working Group was set up to basically rescue; the [...]
European policy making appears very opaque and complicated to me. I admire people that can navigate their way through it and actually understand what is going on. Anyway, Ofcom’s Ed Richards yesterday delivered this speech in Brussels. He really looks in command of these important issues. Here are some nuggets:
‘[W]e must also remain true to [...]
The Times reports that Stephen Carter will possibly consider privatisation of Channel 4 as the state-owned broadcaster’s finances look unstable (under the current CEO Andy Duncan, it should be noted).
That’s a smart move on Carter’s part. A policy maker should explore the costs and benefits of all appropriate courses of action. Probably for ideological reasons, [...]
It’s official: Ofcom Chair David Currie does not like light touch regulation. In related news, George Bush does not like preemptive military strikes and Ben & Jerry hate ice cream.
Currie in October 2008: ‘I personally dislike the term “light touch regulation”. Either it arrogantly assumes that the regulator knows everything that is going on in [...]
Ofcom released a statement on Channel 4’s reported abandonment of its national DAB licence on Friday. It says in part:
‘Channel 4 has today informed Ofcom of its decision to withdraw from 4 Digital Group, the consortium which was awarded a licence for the second national commercial DAB radio multiplex last year.
Ofcom recognises that the economic [...]
Stephen Carter was just made a peer and at the same time appointed Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting (I have also seen it described as ‘Minister of Technology, Telecoms and Broadcasting’). It looks as if he will work jointly with DBERR and DCMS. This basically means he will oversee Ofcom’s work. That’s my take…
I [...]
The Ofcom press release is here. Some of the nuggets:
‘Ofcom is consulting on its view that BSkyB has market power in the wholesale supply of this content, and that BSkyB has an incentive to limit the distribution of this content to competitors, in a manner that favours its own satellite platform.’
and…
‘Ofcom is also consulting on [...]
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