The Freesat Awards return in 2012 to celebrate and recognise the very
best channels and services available on freesat, showcasing the breadth
of choice and quality of programming on offer... allegedly.
What would YOU vote for?
I'm thinking a visit to the pub might be a better idea.
Voting for stuff on TV has surely reached its sell-by date. Do we really have to vote for things just because they're presented to us in a format where there is more than a single option in a category?
In a world where we seem to have less and less control over our own destiny, the encouragement of such daily outpourings of self-expression seems like a trivial distraction - especially in this case, where the decision could be made by drawing lots as far as the public are concerned.
Voting used to be a motivational power and control thing. A new government, perhaps. A good old-fashioned referendum, if you're lucky. But having a faceless 'judging panel' vote BBC Four the "Best Digital Factual Channel Available After 7 o'clock on a Tuesday" only serves to distinguish it from BBC Four +1, which hasn't been launched yet, and will probably only be available on a Thursday. At least the audience on the night gets to vote for "Entertainment Show of the Year". Oh, joy.
Expressing an opinion on some TV channels that you already have, and which won't change after you're all done judging, seems like rather a pointless exercise - but I'm sure that I'm in the minority here.
One of the most interesting TV news stories of the week is that Apple
plans to bid for the
rights to Premier League football when they are once again up for auction
at the end of the 2011/2012 season - according to the Daily Mail that
is.
The US tech giant could clearly afford a slice of the £1.71bn Premier
League pie, but would Apple want to get into such a pie? It doesn't necessarily seem like the most natural fit with their existing Apple TV
platform.
This is where the story dovetails nicely with the teaser that Steve
Jobs left behind in his recently released biography, where he revealed
that he
had “cracked” the problem of building a TV.
Since that little gem was dropped, many tech-folks have been
speculating that the great man had already put
the wheels in motion to produce a full 'iTelly' - in fact well before his premature
passing late last year. Surely a new Apple TV hardware product, coupled
with such a glittering content package could prove to be a killer
proposition. It certainly worked for Sky in the UK, so why not out-Sky
Sky?
Indeed, buying the rights to the broadcasts would clearly raise the
profile of the existing Apple TV offering on the heels of its launch in
European and Asian markets. Currently Apple TV
doesn't offer any live satellite, terrestrial or cable television (only streamed), so maybe we are indeed looking
at a step-change for the platform - though clearly a
significant hardware upgrade is not just over the horizon. Such an
attractive rights package would clearly also have a beneficial effect on
European sales of the iPad, iPhone 4 and iPod Touch as well, all of which can make use of the AirPlay app that lets users stream content on those devices.
Apple will face strong competition for the PL rights though, with
other very strong bidders likely to throw their hat into the ring -
companies like Sky, ESPN and possibly Al Jazeera.
China Central Television (CCTV) has launched three Chinese-language channels on Freeview HD here in the UK.
Customers with Freeview HD can now access three free-to-air 24-hour channels. CCTV Channel 9 features films and dramas; CCTV Channel 4 showcases documentaries; and a third channel provides the latest news and coverage from China and worldwide.
Zhu Tong, deputy editor in chief of CCTV, said: “This is an exciting day for us – by delivering the very best and latest compelling television from China to our UK audience we hope to make them feel closer to home, even when they live on the other side of the world.”
John Mills, CEO of Vision IPTV, added: “CCTV has embraced the opportunity that internet television delivered over Freeview HD represents; to deliver high-quality, world-class broadcasting to the Chinese expat audience in the UK, and all for free.”
A new Wireless Dreambox 800HD SE clone has hit the mail-order suppliers, and it looks pretty good value at around £170 - especially when you consider it has a combo of three different tuners - satellite, terrestrial and cable.
Not sure what the demand for such a beast is though, with most people surely either wanting sat or cable, with a side-helping of terrestrial as backup? If you do have/want all three, you could probably lose an existing box from under your telly, and get superfast WiFi to boot.
Specifications: DVB receiver Sunray4 DM800 SE SR4
Tuners: Three-in-One DVB-S/C/T, Tuners can all be used at the same time.
Powerful receiver for digital TV and Radio programs.
Features a 400 MHz processor and supports the Linux TV API.
10/100MBit compatible Ethernet Interface
HDMI connector
Plug & play Tuner
Coloured OLED display
Plug & play slot for an internal 2.5" SATA hard disk
Technical Features
400 MHz MIPS processor
Enigma 2, Linux operating system
Coloured OLED display
MPEG-2 / H.264 hardware decoding
Tuner: DVB-S, DVB-C, DVB-T
Tuner module - Plug & Play
2 x Smartcard reader (Dreamcrypt CA)
Mini USB for service and software update
10/100Mbit Ethernet Interface
1 x Scart (RGB, FBAS or S-Video)
HDMI
2 x USB 2.0 (e.g keyboard)
Analog modem
S/PDIF interface for digital bit stream out (AC-3)
New proposals drawn up by struggling commercial broadcaster ITV could bring about the biggest shake-up in UK TV for many a year.
ITV sees one solution to securing it's long term survival being a super-merger of itself with the other two public service broadcasters Channel 4 and Five.
Both of these companies have also been experiencing tough times of late, with on-going discussions of 'top slicing' the UK TV licensing fee to prop-up Channel 4. There has also been talk of Channel 4 (a state-owned commercial PSB) merging with BBC Worldwide or Five to help balance the books.
This latest proposal however would see the creation of a third TV 'superpower' in the UK, alongside Sky and the BBC.
'ITV Forty Five' would control up to sixty per cent of the UK television advertising market and therefore become a major player, possibly threatening BSkyB advertising revenues and putting further pressure on smaller independent channels.
The plan would be sold to regulators OFCOM on the basis of the combined company being able to 'compete' directly with the BBC (whose funding model is seen as outdated and unfair by many) and would also be able to re-commit to enhanced levels of regional news and children's programming - a base level of which is required under the public service broadcasting rules.
Fulfilling the public service broadcasting requirements of quality in-house and local content has been a millstone around the TV companies' necks of late, as financial pressures have mounted and advertising revenues have shrunk, partly due to the advent of new media alternatives and of course the current depressed economic situation.
Is this the perfect solution for all concerned, or is this rolling up of the British TV market a step too far?
Welcome, Guest. Please 
January 27, 2012, 08:14:44 PM
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The Freesat Awards return in 2012 to celebrate and recognise the very
best channels and services available on freesat, showcasing the breadth
of choice and quality of programming on offer... allegedly.
One of the most interesting TV news stories of the week is that Apple
plans to bid for the
rights to Premier League football when they are once again up for auction
at the end of the 2011/2012 season - according to the Daily Mail that
is.
