ITV

Tag: BBC

  • BBC commentator John Barrett to step down after 36 years following Wimbledon

    BBC commentator John Barrett to step down after 36 years following Wimbledon

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC has announced that commentator John Barrett will step down after 36 years following the Wimbledon Ladies’ Final. He will commentate alongside with John McEnroe and Tracy Austin.

    Barrett said, “It will be a great thrill. I have always enjoyed commentating on the Ladies’ Final and there have been so many great ones – producing champions like Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova – and I’m sure this year’s winner will be equally exciting.”

    Jimmy Connors, John Lloyd and Andrew Castle will commentate on the Men’s Final BBC’s Wimbledon executive producer Paul Davies said, “Jimmy Connors, John Lloyd and Andrew Castle did a great job last year and we want to stick with that successful combination this year.”

    In 2005 the Ladies’ Final was watched by 6.8 million viewers and the Men’s Final achieved 5.8 million viewers. In recent years, the BBC has used a number of different commentators to call the singles finals including John Barrett, Chris Bailey, Andrew Castle, Barry Davies and David Mercer.

    BBC Head of General Sport Barbara Slater said, “We always leave the decision on who will commentate on the finals until the second week and it’s always a difficult decision because of the strength and depth of the team. The two singles finals obviously have equal status and in fact last year’s Ladies Final lasted longer and achieved higher viewing figures than the Men’s Final.”

    He has worked with the BBC at Wimbledon since 1971 – and feels that now is the right time to enjoy some more time off-court. Barrett adds, “It’s been a great privilege to work at Wimbledon over the past 35 years, and to have worked with so many truly talented individuals in a strong BBC team has always been a pleasure.”

  • BBC looks to take hit comedies to big screen

    BBC looks to take hit comedies to big screen

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC is looking to turn its comedy shows into feature films. Kenton Allen, an Oscar-winning producer who produced this year’s Academy award winning short film Six Shooter will lead the development initiative for the comedy department that produces shows like Little Britain, Extras, Ideal and Funland.

    Alongside exploring the potential to develop existing brands into feature films, Kenton Allen and the Comedy team will also work with a wide variety of writers and writer/performers to develop feature films. Allen said, “Many of the comedy talent we work with ultimately want to paint on a bigger canvas, and this relationship with BBC Films means that we can now offer them that opportunity.

    “From initial development in Radio and the Internet, through Television and on to Film, BBC Comedy can offer the best comedy talent the best possible development path for their work.

    “BBC Comedy has a fine tradition of developing iconic comic voices from Ronnie Barker to Ricky Gervais and I’m confident that this opportunity will lead to some truly original film making.”

    BBC Films head David Thompson said: “I am very excited about working with Kenton and The BBC Comedy team. Comedy is very much a target area for us at the moment, with several interesting projects in development, the recent successful releases of Debbie Isitt’s Confetti and Michael Winterbottom’s A Cock & Bull Story.”

  • Zoya Trunova is bbc russian.com editor

    Zoya Trunova is bbc russian.com editor

    MUMBAI: BBC World Service has appointed Zoya Trunova as the online editor for its Russian service. She will be heading a team of journalists, working to further develop and enhance the popular Russian-language website bbcrussian.com.

    A graduate of the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University, Trunova started her journalistic career in 1992, first as a stringer for Reuters Television, then as a freelance field producer in the Caucasus, Ukraine, Russia and elsewhere in the Former Soviet Union (FSU).

    She says, “The BBC team has worked hard to establish bbcrussian.com as a leading source of independent and impartial online news accessed by Russian-speakers around the world. I am looking forward to helping build on that success. As the number and sophistication of Russian-language online resources grow by the day, I am also inspired by the challenges ahead.”

  • Leander Paes to do commentary for BBC Radio for Wimbledon

    Leander Paes to do commentary for BBC Radio for Wimbledon

    MUMBAI: This Wimbledon, tennis fans will see India’s Davis Cup Captain and doubles champion Leander Paes in a new avatar. Along with former doubles champion Todd Woodbridge, Paes will for the first time join tennis legends Michael Stich and Pat Cash as part of BBC Radio Five Live’s all-star team as the station heads to SW19 for Wimbledon 2006.

    The expert tennis player who has earlier donned the responsibility of a TV presenter/commentator at the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai and Chennai Open 2006, will now be heard on radio talking on the tournament.

    Apart from Paes, the star team on BBC Radio includes presenters Simon Mayo and Clare Balding along with Annabel Croft, Frew McMillan, Tracy Austin, Judy Murray, all of who will give listeners commentaries on the best matches, top name interviews and analyses. The BBC’s tennis correspondent Jonathan Overend will lead the commentary team with Iain Carter and Tony Adamson.

    Paes says, “I am extremely pleased to be part of this super-star team at BBC Radio. Wimbledon has always held a special place in my heart and I am honoured to play the unique role of a radio commentator. I have enjoyed commentating on television in the recent past, and I am looking forward to this dual role!”

  • Sandy Smith the new editor of BBC’s flagship current affairs show ‘Panorama’

    Sandy Smith the new editor of BBC’s flagship current affairs show ‘Panorama’

    MUMBAI: UK pubcaster the BBC has announced that Sandy Smith is the new editor of Panorama which is BBC One’s flagship current affairs series.

    He will take over the post in September. The appointment comes after the former Editor Mike Robinson announced in March this year that he was to step down and retire from the BBC.

    Sandy has worked at the BBC since 1988. The majority of that time has been spent producing and directing programmes for the corporation’s current affairs department but since August 2005, he has been editor of the BBC ONE programme Watchdog.

    BBC director of news Helen Boaden said, “Sandy has great flair in making creative television that delivers provocative, challenging and serious journalism to wide audiences. His energy and commitment will invigorate and refresh our most important current affairs programme.”

    BBC head of current affairs George Entwistle says, “Sandy is an exciting addition to Current Affairs’ strong senior editorial team. His commitment to original journalism and creative programme-making will ensure Panorama tells the biggest and most relevant stories of our time in an accessible and engaging way.”

    Smith said, “I am delighted to take over at Panorama which despite its long and illustrious career still has its best years ahead of it. I have enjoyed my time at Watchdog and will be very sad to part company with such a talented, young team but I am very much looking forward to the challenge ahead.”

  • BBC picks up teen drama from FremantleMedia

    BBC picks up teen drama from FremantleMedia

    MUMBAI: Fremantle International Distribution (FID), the distribution arm of global format creator and owner FremantleMedia ,has sold its new teen drama Falcon Beach to the BBC and many other additional international broadcasters. The drama is now set to be broadcast in 18 countries worldwide.

    BBC Daytime has secured the UK rights to the edgy new one-hour drama, which premiered on ABC Family in Australia on 5 June 2006. Further significant licensing agreements will see the programme launch on ABC, Australia; RTE, Eire; SBS (Flemish), Belgium; RTM, Malaysia; ANTV, Indonesia; ABC5, Philippines; ETV, Sri Lanka; UBC, Thailand; Show TV, Turkey and Hot, Israel.

    These broadcasters join a raft of deals for Falcon Beach already signed with M6, France; TV2, Denmark; TV4, Sweden; TV Norge (SBS Channel), Norway; Channel 4, Finland; Nederland 3, Netherlands and IBC Iceland’s Sirkus.

    Falcon Beach is positioned as sexy, edgy and full of energy. It is produced by Insight Productions and Original Pictures, in conjunction with Global Television and ABC Family USA and centres on the lives and loves of the town’s young men and women, as they find their way towards their futures.

    Falcon Beach is a quiet lakeside town where locals and summer visitors mingle and where seduction, sand and scandal are abundant. A coming-of-age drama following a group of twenty-somethings, Falcon Beach focusses on friends, families and enemies during a summer of romance and passion, soul-searching and conflicts.

    FremantleMedia CEO David Ellender said, “Falcon Beach has received a deservedly warm welcome from broadcasters the world over, and we are certain that all will be delighted with the results it will no doubt deliver. Dramas of this calibre are rare and the broadcasters that have seen the potential of Falcon Beach will soon be the envy of their rivals.”

  • Fifa in a funk over BBC show

    Fifa in a funk over BBC show

    MUMBAI: Even as the football World Cup gathers momentum in Germany, football’s governing body Fifa is in a funk over a BBC Panorama show which aired in the UK a few days ago.

    The report was called The Beautiful Bung – Corruption and the World Cup. Veteran reporter Andrew Jennings revealed the serious allegations and evidence that triggered a major investigation by the Swiss authorities. The report had shown serious allegations of bungs, sleaze and vote-rigging by some of the men running the World Cup.

    In the programme, Jennings was pushed by a Fifa vice president for asking him how much profit he plans to make from selling World Cup tickets this year. Then he was banned from Fifa headquarters for asking president Sepp Blatter on what he knows about kickbacks to senior officials from a company seeking lucrative contracts.

    The programme revealed that over a million pounds worth of bribes have secretly been repaid. Not by the officials who received the kickbacks, but, according to a secret court judgement, by Fifa itself. Magistrate Hildbrand must decide if this act went against Swiss law. If it did, some of the most senior Fifa officials could face jail.

    Fifa has issued a statement stating that it takes exception to certain allegations in Panorama. This does not mean that any of the other points raised are acceptable to Fifa as the truth. Fifa notes that as confirmed by the relevant authorities, it is completely false and defamatory to claim that either Blatter or Fifa are the subject of a bribery probe by the Swiss police. Fifa says that in the past, it was actually the victim of ISL irregularities. On the BBC show, a senior executive from ISL, the former marketing company that paid the bribes, had spoken anonymously to Jennings, revealing that ‘bungs’ were paid systematically, frequently through offshore bank accounts, over a 20-year period.

    ISL was set up in 1982 and soon acquired the marketing and television rights to the Olympic Games, the World athletics championships and the football World Cup. Media reports indicate that rumours have circulated for years that senior sports officials took bribes in return for these lucrative contracts. ISL collapsed in 2001 and when the liquidator took over the company’s bank records, he found evidence of bribes.

    Some officials repaid the money but when others declined, the liquidator went to court. The result was a secret deal in early 2004 to repay more. Fifa says that it looks forward to the final proceedings in the Swiss courts, which it continues to support. During his investigation for the BBC, Jennings travelled from the Swiss Alps to the beaches of the Caribbean.

  • BBC forks out $33mn to retain film host Jonathan Ross

    BBC forks out $33mn to retain film host Jonathan Ross

    MUMBAI: Jonathan Ross who presents film shows for UK pubcaster the BBC like Friday Night and Film 2006 has renewed his contract despite fierce bidding from rival channels. Reports indicate that Ross will be paid $33.1 million over a three year period.

    With his tongue firmly in cheek Ross said, “I am delighted to be staying with the BBC if only because it is the only studio I can drive to without getting lost. It is the best channel in the country, and I’m proud they want me back.”

    This deal covers BBC Television and BBC Radio. Channel 4 and ITV were competing for Ross. However, when the BBC matched Channel 4’s offer Ross decided to stay put with the pubcaster.

  • UK broadcasters join forces in DTT high definition trial

    UK broadcasters join forces in DTT high definition trial

    MUMBAI: UK broadcasters BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five have joined forces to launch the UK’s first high definition (HD) trial broadcasts to terrestrial aerials.

    A specially selected 450-strong audience sample have collected their trial HD set top boxes (STBs) for the closed technical digital terrestrial television (DTT) technical trial, which is due to last six months.

    HD, the parties state, is a step change in television technology, which provides far clearer and more detailed pictures than normal standard definition TV. Each picture contains up to five times as much digital information as an ordinary TV picture.

    The trial will offer participating broadcasters and their technical partners valuable lessons about delivering HD broadcasts on a digital terrestrial network and also research how the audience enjoys this new format.

    It will help to discover whether there could be HD broadcasts on Freeview in future. The trial is being conducted under an Ofcom licence, which strictly limits the number of receivers and forbids reception of the trial stream by general members of the public. Humax and Advanced Digital Broadcast (ADB) have supplied the HD set top boxes for the trial.

    The DTT HD trial consists of low power transmissions from Crystal Palace in London on frequencies that are not suitable for high power broadcasting.

    National Grid Wireless (NGW) is transmitting the BBC’s HD stream, which went on air last month, and Red Bee Media provides play-out services.

    Arqiva is transmitting the multiplex shared by ITV, Channel 4 and Five, with Grass Valley, a business within Thomson, providing broadcast playout and video encoding equipment.

    Siemens Business Services is providing technical support for the BBC’s HD trial. The test broadcasts will use MPEG4 video coding, 8K carriers and 64QAM modulation at launch – different parameters may be tested during the trial period.

    The BBC’s trial DTT HD stream will offer identical programming to its HD trial broadcasts on satellite and cable over the trial period.

    That includes the BBC’s World Cup coverage, major Wimbledon matches and programming highlights such as Planet Earth and Bleak House.

    ITV will offer its own World Cup coverage in HD, completing the full line-up of World Cup games, as well as drama such as Agatha Christie’s Poirot specials Death on the Nile and Murder in Mesopotamia, documentaries such as Jean-Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Adventures and classic films including All Quiet on the Western Front and The Big Sleep.

    Channel 4’s HD trial broadcasts will include hit US drama series Lost and Desperate Housewives, FilmFour films and other Channel 4 programming.

    Five will be showing episodes of CSI in addition to commissioned programmes such as Tim Marlow at MOMA and movies like Cocktail.

    Research company TNS Media is conducting the research. The audience panel was selected from online volunteers who registered on a website in April. All had existing HD Ready television sets and will be supplied with special DTT HD set top boxes.

  • BBC to offer live broadband streaming of Wimbledon to UK audiences

    BBC to offer live broadband streaming of Wimbledon to UK audiences

    MUMBAI: In a move that will offer UK tennis fans even greater access to Wimbledon, the BBC has announced that, for the first time UK broadband users will have access to five courts of live tennis action during the 2006 Wimbledon Championships.

    The service, available free from BBC Sport’s dedicated Wimbledon website – bbc.co.uk/wimbledon – will feature coverage from BBC’s live terrestrial coverage and its digital interactive feeds, enhancing the site’s news, latest scores and results service.

    In addition to the live streaming of the 2006 Wimbledon Championships, tennis fans will also have the opportunity to catch any action they miss with the short, three-minute highlight packages rounding up each day’s play.

    For Wimbledon fans across the globe, these highlights will also be available to an international audience.

    BBC head of general sports Barbara Slater said, “This is an exciting opportunity that will ensure Wimbledon reaches an even wider audience. The live streaming coverage will make one of the biggest sporting events in the world available to broadband users in the UK, wherever they are at home or in the office so they never have to miss a game.”