ITV

Tag: BBC

  • BBC wins third Banff World Television Festival Outstanding Achievement Award

    MUMBAI: The BBC has been named winner of this year’s BWTVF Outstanding Achievement Award, becoming the first broadcaster to win the prestigious global award three times.

    The award winner is chosen annually from the world’s broadcasters by the Banff Television Foundation Board of Governors for work over a period of time.

    The judges commended the BBC’s exceptional programmes including: Strictly Come Dancing, Planet Earth and Doctor Who, and for leading the development of digital television, radio and online services.

    “The Banff World Television Festival salutes the many outstanding achievements of the BBC,” says Jennifer Harkness, BWTVF Director of Content. “The BBC continues to lead the way with its outstanding television programming and brand.”

    Mark Thompson, Director-General of the BBC, will accept the award on behalf of the BBC on Sunday 10 June. He will also be speaking at the closing session of nextMEDIA, BWTVF’s sister event.

    BBC departments who have previously received the award are the Natural History Unit in 1990 and Drama in 1998. Other winners have included America’s CBS and HBO and UK broadcaster Channel 4.

    Mark Thompson said today: “I am delighted to be accepting the Outstanding Achievement Award on behalf of everyone at the BBC.

    “It is an honour for our high quality and successful programming across several genres to be recognised by the Banff World Television Festival and celebrated before the international broadcasting community.

    “I am particularly pleased for the recognition of the BBC’s forward-looking role in innovating for new digital platforms and audiences across television, radio and online.”

  • BBC takes ‘Dirty Totten Cheater’ from Distraction Formats

    MUMBAI: Distraction Formats has announced that UK pubcaster the BBC has taken on Dirty Rotten Cheater, the interactive and comical game show format that involves strategies, tactics and a whole lot of cheating. In India a local version airs on Star.

    In the UK the show will be hosted by Brian Conley. It encompasses sincerity and deception in which contestants answer survey style questions in a quest to win the money. With one of the contestants secretly being fed the answers, the honest players must try and expose ‘The Cheater’ in order to take home any winnings. Filled with suspense as to who is being honest and who is cheating, the show climaxes with two final contestants competing for the highest prize.

    BBC international development executive David Morgenstern says, “Dirty Rotten Cheater is a classic gameshow format with a very strong structure. We’re going into development and preproduction very shortly. Brian loves the concept and we’re looking forward to turning Dirty Rotten Cheater into a great vehicle for his talents.

    Sarah Coursey, who brokered the deal at Distraction Formats commented; “We are obviously very happy to have placed Dirty Rotten Cheater with the BBC. Dirty Rotten Cheater is simply a strong, tried and tested format based on the universal theme of cheating. I’m very much looking forward to the BBC’s interpretation of it.”

  • BBC, Bob Geldof to map mankind

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC, its commercial arm BBC Worldwide and Bob Geldof have announced an intention to collaborate on the Dictionary of Man, a unique and ambitious anthropology project that will record every human society on the planet.

    The Dictionary of Man website will be a limitless repository of content, an immense digital catalogue of all current human existence and an enormous resource for the exchange of ideas and information.

    The BBC will, in tandem, produce for television a series The Human Planet. The eight-part series will be produced in a unique collaboration between the BBC’s world-renowned Natural History Unit, BBC Bristol Features and Documentaries and BBC Wales.

    The project will use every available medium to create what it says will be the largest ever living record of films, photographs, anthropological histories, philosophies, theologies, economies, language, art, and documented and personal accounts from people of every society across the globe. It will serve as a definitive record of us – Mankind – at the beginning of the 21st century.

    20 years ago Geldof was sitting on a tree stump in Northern Niger with a regional governor, looking out at what Geldof described as “a moonscape”. The governor told of how 300 different languages that once existed had disappeared forever in just two years during the famine. Geldof has written, “Even though I never heard those languages, I already miss them. In these ways the lights of human genius wink out.” From then on he was determined to record “all those sounds, voices and jokes so they never disappear again”.

    Announcing the Dictionary of Man project at the MipTV conference in Cannes, Geldof, who is working in partnership with award-winning producer/director John Maguire, said, “This will be an A to Z of Mankind which will catalogue the world we live in now, the people who share this planet, the way we live and the way we adapt to face common and different challenges. Mankind is the world’s most extraordinary animal. In an age of globalisation and increasing connection, we face the growing homogenisation of cultures and the disappearance of extraordinary and diverse mechanisms that man has invented in order to survive in whichever environment he has found himself. Culture is a function of survival.”

    With the cooperation of the great institutions of the world all extant photographs, archives and records will be included. Anthropologists, social historians and experts in many other disciplines will be involved as, over the years, the degrees of human difference are gradually logged.

    The architecture of the site will use the very latest social networking technologies in order to allow individuals across the globe to track and trace their national, clan, tribal, family and individual dispersals and reconnect to far-flung and ancient versions of their family or group members. “Ultimately I suppose in some ways we’re also building the World’s Family Photo Album,” said Geldof.

    Simultaneous to this vast site, Dictionary of Man crews will travel the globe to capture on film 900 of the separate groups of people that anthropologists believe to be in existence. Experts suggest that there could be up to 27,000 variations alongside the core 900.

    All the collated material will be available through the Dictionary of Man website, an encyclopaedic volume of DVDs featuring hundreds of hours of programming, books, magazines, CDs, exhibitions, theatrical and all media platforms.

    Filmed in high definition, the TV series The Human Planet will be an epic record of how different peoples adapt to different surroundings. As they’ve done before with The Blue Planet and Planet Earth, the BBC now turns its attention to Man – the Miracle Animal. “Only the BBC with its scope, scale, ambition, professionalism and reputation could possibly achieve this massive project and I’m proud to be associated with the Natural History Unit, one of the most renowned and respected parts of the BBC,” said Geldof.

    This project goes to the heart of the modern BBC – only two months ago Director of BBC Vision, Jana Bennett, called for a response to the challenge of what she called 360 degree media, referring to the digital age and the dissemination of content. The Dictionary of Man and The Human Planet places the BBC at the very edge of modern media and its capability.

    Bennett said, “Coming from joint production teams with this pedigree, The Human Planet promises to be spectacular television. It will give us the chance to meet and understand the people who share our planet in a way we’ve never seen them before. In joining forces with Bob Geldof, we have one of the world’s foremost humanitarians as an ally as we create a legacy for both current and future generations. More importantly, this is not just about television, it’s about 360 degree media on a scale we’ve never seen before. Public service – why the BBC exists.”

    BBC Worldwide, will act as facilitator in seeking international partnerships for the initiative. BBC Worldwide director of content and production Wayne Garvie says, “BBC Worldwide has a vast amount of experience in working with global partners and we are looking forward to using our international relationships to pursue all the opportunities this huge and exciting project can bring.”

  • BBC enters North African FM market with two relays

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC has become a radio player on the North African FM scene with the launch of two 24-hour FM relays in Mauritania.

    BBC 106.9 FM in the capital, Nouakchott, and BBC 102.4 FM in the second largest city, Nouadhibou, now bring 24 hours a day of BBC Arabic programming to Mauritanian audiences.

    As part of the agreement, the BBC has also provided Radio Mauritania staff with a training programme in broadcast journalism. Reports by the journalists who took part in the training programme will feature in a special edition of BBC Arabic service’s daily magazine programme, BBC Xtra, which will be broadcast from Nouakchott tomorrow (13 April).

    BBC World Service Business Development, Africa and Middle East Region head Simon Kendall said, “Mauritania is an important market for the BBC and it is the home of some of the BBC Arabic service’s most loyal listeners. We are delighted to be able to provide our listeners in Nouakchott and Nouadhibou with the opportunity to receive their favourite BBC Arabic programmes in crystal-clear FM quality.”

  • BBC celebrates 50th anniversary of Natural History Unit with ‘Saving Planet Earth’ initiative

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC will commemorate the 50th anniversary of its Natural History Unit with a show Saving Planet Earth. This will be a wide-reaching series supporting animal conservation and airs in the UK later this year. It will be anchored by Sir David Attenborough and Alan Titchmarsh.

    The show will have celebrities participaiting including Carol Thatcher, Fiona Bruce, Phil Tufnell and Saira Khan. They will explore the work of global conservation charities before appealing for public donations. The Saving Planet Earth season then culminates in a live fund raising finale.

    Using previously unseen footage from BBC One’s series Planet Earth Sir David explains how destruction of crucial habitat is affecting the future of many of the planet’s animals.

    He says, “Some scientists suggest that up to a quarter of animal species could be extinct by 2050. But it’s not too late – you can be involved in Saving Planet Earth. If you are a child, this is your future. If you’re a parent, it’s your legacy. The time to act is now.”

    Titchmarsh joins Sir David to present the celebrity expeditions, featuring nine UK-based charities raising cash for global issues. The endangered animals featured in the documentaries are:

    Crocodiles – Edith Bowman highlights how Cambodian crocodiles are threatened by the leather trade;

    Tigers – Fiona Bruce travels to India where tigers are suffering because of habitat loss and poaching;

    Turtles –- Saira Khan explores the problems of turtle egg stealing in Sri Lanka;

    Orang-utans – Nick Knowles discovers that orang-utans in Borneo are suffering from the deforestation of their habitat for commercial crops;

    Ethiopian wolves – Graham Norton reveals that Ethiopian wolves’ numbers are being threatened by domestic dogs;

    Elephants – Jack Osbourne finds that Namibian elephants are in competition with man for food and water;

    Albatross – Carol Thatcher sees how long-line fishing is reducing albatross numbers in the Falklands;

    Rhinoceros – Phil Tufnell travels to India to highlight the plight of rhinos still hunted for their horn;

    Gorillas – Will Young finds out about the problems faced by lowland gorillas who are hunted for bushmeat and whose habitat, in Gabon, is being destroyed by logging.

    Saving Planet Earth will also feature on CBBC and local BBC programming and on bbc.co.uk.

    On CBBC seven kids have won the chance to step into Sir David’s distinguished shoes to become part of the Saving Planet Earth team, reporting on the plight of globally endangered animals in the wild. And a host of celebrities, including Brian Blessed, Tom Conti, Sean Hughes, Myleene Klass and Shobna Gulati explore the plight of threatened wildlife across the UK.

    From basking sharks in the South West of England to eagles in Scotland, the regional programmes will show how viewers can make a difference to their local patch and play their part in Saving Planet Earth.

    Visitors to bbc.co.uk/savingplanetearth can find how they can join in the team effort to help endangered animals. These will range from details of the off-air fundraising events running throughout the summer to support Saving Planet Earth, ways of donating to the Saving Planet Earth fund and links to the conservation projects featured.

  • BBC to create 3 channels on YouTube

    BBC to create 3 channels on YouTube

    MUMBAI: Google’s YouTube may be facing the heat from the likes of Viacom on copy protection issues but the popularity of the online video network continues to grow. The British Broadcasting Corp. has struck a multi-year content deal with YouTube that will make programming available via three branded channels on the search giant’s video-sharing site.

    Three YouTube channels — one for news and two for entertainment — will carry content from BBC. BBC Worldwide will air promotional trailers for new programmes and clips from its old hit series on the website.

    The aim is to bring new audiences to the proposed BBC iPlayer service, and to secure commercial revenue via BBC Worldwide, its commercial subsidiary, to supplement the licence fee. 
    While the current deal includes its promotion of its non news programming, the publicly funded broadcaster also said that news clips will be added in the near future.

    From the BBC channel there will be content based on current hits such as Life on Mars and Doctor Who, while from BBC Worldwide there will be clips from old favorites such as Spooks and Top Gear, which are sold globally.

     
    The BBC Worldwide arm also plans to offer around 30 news items a day, though the advertising-funded news clips will not be available to users in Britain who pay the license fee that funds the BBC. The news channel will be launched later this year.

    The output will include specially created video diaries such as actor David Tennant taking viewers around the sets of Doctor Who and reporter Clive Myrie on the streets of the red zone of Baghdad.

    This would mirror the type of deal that YouTube has in place with US sports organisation NHL. Under the original deals the partners have used the platform for promotional purposes. Channel 4, for example, has a branded promotional channel plugging Ugly Betty.

    Several large broadcasters in the US have similar arrangements with YouTube including CBS, which claimed 200,000 extra viewers for The Late Show with David Letterman after clips from the show were posted on the video-sharing website.

     
    BBC Director-General Mark Thompson said: “This ground-breaking partnership between the BBC and YouTube is fantastic news for our audiences. YouTube is a key gateway through which to engage new audiences in the UK and abroad.

    “The partnership provides both a creative outlet for a range of short-form content from BBC programme makers and the opportunity to learn about new forms of audience behaviour. It’s essential that the BBC embraces new ways of reaching wider audiences with non-exclusive partnerships such as these.”

    Google CEO and Chairman Eric Schmidt said,”We’re delighted to be joining forces with the BBC to bring the best TV programming available to the YouTube community. We will continue to invest in our platforms and technologies to help our partners make the most of the enormous opportunities presented by the billion people now online.”

    YouTube CEO and Co-Founder Chad Hurley said, “We’re constantly looking for innovative ways to bring the best content to our community. The BBC is a premier source for quality programming, and we’re excited that they are leading the way in enabling two-way dialogue and real engagement with an entirely new audience. We hope to open up an entirely new audience for their content, while deepening their relationship with their existing viewers.”

  • BBC Trust approves plans to launch Freesat platform

    MUMBAI: The BBC Trust has provisionally approved UK pubcaster the BBC management’s proposal to develop and launch a free-to-view satellite platform, “Freesat”.

    BBC management envisages Freesat being achieved as a joint venture with other public service broadcasters. The Trust believes that the service would create significant public value by offering licence fee payers an additional means to access digital services, including the BBC’s digital television channels and radio services, which is subscription free and guaranteed to stay that way. It would be offered on the basis of a one-off initial payment only, to cover the cost of equipment and installation. The service would be future-proofed, through the designing in of high definition and personal video recorder compatibility, and would be marketed through retail outlets and via the internet. BBC management’s intention is to establish a joint venture company with other public service broadcasters to manage the marketing and technical aspects of the new platform. Set top boxes would be supplied by third parties working with retailers to a specification agreed with the joint venture company.

    The Trust has published its decision, and the evidence and analysis which informed its judgement, and opened a 28 day public consultation prior to making its final decision in April 2007.

    BBC chairman Chitra Bharucha said, “The BBC’s Royal Charter requires the Corporation to take a leading role in digital switchover which begins next year. From 2008 until 2012, as each UK nation and region switches to digital, all households that haven’t done so already will have to choose a new way to access television. One of the benefits arising from digital switchover will be greater choice for viewers. For those seven million homes yet to make the switch, it needs to be clear that the benefits of digital television do not need to equal ‘pay television’.

    “A new, guaranteed subscription-free satellite service would provide the public another option when deciding which platform to choose. Over half of those yet to switch fall outside the Freeview coverage area. For these homes, the new service would mean being able to access BBC digital services they have already paid for via their licence fee but until now have been unable to receive on a guaranteed subscription-free basis.

    “We have considered the market impact and whilst there may be some negative effects, in our view these should be balanced against the potential positive market impact of greater choice. Overall, we believe a “Freesat” service to be in the public interest and we hope that other public service broadcasters would join the BBC in a joint venture. We welcome all responses to our provisional conclusion during the consultation. “

    The BBC Trust has decided that Freesat meets the BBC’s Charter and Agreement definition of a ‘non-service’ activity and does not require a Public Value Test. Nonetheless, in reaching its provisional decision the Trust has considered the potential public value and market implications of launching the service.

    In particular, the Trust examined the proposition in four key areas:

    Whether the proposition would serve the best interests of licence fee payers:
    Of the 7 million homes yet to switch to digital, over half fall outside the Freeview coverage area. Inability to access free-to-view digital is an issue frequently raised by the public in its contacts with the BBC. For some, this would remain an issue until the analogue system is switched off entirely in 2012. The Trust considers failure to address this issue to be inconsistent with its public service duties.

    What public value the new platform might create:
    The Trust has provisionally concluded there is significant public value in the “Freesat” proposition. It believes such a service would have a positive impact by introducing choice to the market and a guaranteed subscription free alternative to Sky’s free satellite option. The costs to the BBC are modest and comparable with those of Freeview. Launching the proposition as a joint venture would further increase value for money.

    How the proposition fits with the BBC’s public service remit:
    The Charter and Agreement set out a number of public service duties for the BBC. The Charter includes a Public Purpose to help deliver the benefits of emerging technologies to the public, and to take a leading role in digital switchover. Meanwhile, the Agreement states that the BBC “must do all that is reasonably practicable to ensure that viewers, listeners and other users are able to access the UK public services that are intended for them”. The Trust has provisionally concluded that the objectives of the proposition are consistent with, and enhance, the BBC’s public service remit.

    The competitive impact of the proposals on the wider market:
    The Trust’s provisional conclusion is that the proposition would have some negative impact on the wider market but increase choice for consumers. The Trust’s view takes account of analysis of the proposition’s potential market implications carried out by its own independent advisers within the Trust Unit and external independent economists.

    Under the terms of the previous Charter the BBC submitted a proposal, approved by the Governors, to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in June 2006 to launch a free open standard satellite service. However the Charter expired before the Secretary of State reached a decision and, in line with the terms of the new Charter, the decision now rests with the BBC Trust. The Trust received the open file from the Secretary of State in January. Further to detailed scrutiny at its Finance & Strategy Committee and the provision of further independent advice referred to above, the Trust reached its provisional conclusion at its meeting on 21 February.
        
          

  • BBC Worldwide makes first intl sale of ‘In the Night Garden’

    BBC Worldwide makes first intl sale of ‘In the Night Garden’

     MUMBAI: UK pubcaaster the BBC’s sales division BBC Worldwide has made the first international sale of new children’s property In the Night Garden to New Zealand’s TVNZ.

    The children’s series from Ragdoll was created to appeal to very young children.

    In The Night Garden is a modern interpretation of a nursery rhyme picture book that takes children on an imaginative journey to meet a dazzling host of characters living together in a happy and caring woodland community.

    BBC Worldwide’s Sales Manager, NZ Melanie Owen says, “In The Night Garden is just enchanting. It is funny, reassuring and inspiring entertainment for young children and their carers.”

    BBC Worldwide has also concluded deals with TVNZ for the first two series of The Catherine Tate Show and Fear Stress and Anger.

    Little Robots and What Not to Wear S6 will also have their New Zealand premieres on the network.

     

  • BBC in content deal with Chinese portal

    BBC in content deal with Chinese portal

    MUMBAI: Users of Chinese web portal QQ.com can now learn English directly from the site thanks to a partnership deal with BBC World Service. It is the first Chinese portal to enter content partnership with the BBC.

    From today 14 February 2007, users of the portal will be able to access BBC Learning English content specially tailored for Chinese speakers.

    BBC Learning English teaches reading, listening and comprehension. It explains various points of the English language through human interest stories and topics including UK lifestyle and culture.

    The BBC will start English teaching on QQ.com with two popular features, Take Away English and Quizzes. Take Away English the BBC says has been a hit with Chinese users as it offers MP3 audio and pdf text downloads, so the learner can quite literally take away the BBC’s English lessons.

    Topics range from the latest Harry Potter book and online gaming to Chinese football players, and include listening, reading, exercises and an audio glossary. Quizzes offers learners an interactive test of their English vocabulary and grammar and helps them with teacher feedback.

    Looking ahead at what BBC Learning English has in store for Chinese online users, Alison Konieczny, who is the editor of BBC English Language Teaching China team said, “We are planning to treat Chinese learners to two more features which will enrich their English vocabulary in fun and entertaining ways. Real English teaches words and phrases learners won’t necessarily find in their dictionaries, and Word Master is an interactive game which tests and teaches vocabulary common in English proficiency exams.”

    “I can’t think of a better day to launch our partnership with QQ.com than 14 February, which of course is Valentine’s Day. It’s a memorable day for a lot of people, and I hope Chinese learners will fall in love with our BBC pages and make us a regular date!”

    BBC World Service’s Business Development Manager for China and North Asia, Raymond Li said, “We are delighted to partner with one of the leading national portal sites in China to provide quality English learning content to many learners in China. Internet has become an increasingly popular and effective learning platform among young people, and the BBC has been building up successful partnership with China’s local portal sites over last few years. Our new partnership deal with QQ.com will help us reach more online learners in China, therefore bringing more benefit to them, too.”

    BBC Learning English offers English language teaching programmes and online content for a global radio and online audience.

    English learning materials are available online at bblearningenglish.com and, for Chinese speakers, on bbcchina.com.cn.

  • BBC to kick off search for anthem for 2012 Olympics

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC has announced that its radio station BBC London’s Anthem for 2012 Olympics competition launches next week inviting all Londoners to compose an anthem for the capital.

    BBC London in conjunction with Sing London – a festival to take place this summer to is looking for the song which will become synonymous with London.

    Each year from now until 2012, a song will be chosen by BBC London viewers and listeners to compete to be BBC London’s Anthem for 2012. This the BBC is hopinh will be the tune on everyone’s lips when the Olympics take place.

    This year’s winner will be arranged and performed by professionals and will also get huge exposure this summer during the Sing London Festival. It will form part of the programme of singing events around the city in such prestigious venues as The Roundhouse and the South Bank.

    It will also be sung in schools across London as we move towards the Olympics and will be available for download at bbc.co.uk/london and singlondon.org.

    The closing date for entries for this year’s competition is 5 April 2007. bbc.co.uk/london for all entry details. The song should be no longer than three minutes.

    A panel of experts, including BBC London 94.9’s Robert Elms, will select a shortlist of five songs.

    In early May the BBC London audience will hear all five shortlisted songs, arranged and performed by professionals. BBC London listeners and viewers will vote for the winner.