Premier League TV Rights...

Sky and BT Sport have paid a record £5.136bn for live Premier League TV rights for three seasons from 2016-17. This is 70% up from the current deal of £3.018bn which itself was 70% up from the previous deal before that of £1.773bn.

Sky will now show 126 live games per season (up from 116) and BT Sport will show 42 live games per season (up from 38). So that's 168 live games (up from 154).

I wonder if any of it will make it's way to ticket price reductions?

BBC iPlayer London Collection...

Loving the BBC iPlayer London Collection. A collection of fascinating mainly black and white documentaries from the 1950s, 60s and 70s about good old London town. Well worth a look.

BBC Television Centre...

So it's farewell to BBC Television Centre.

Swap Shop, TOTP, The Goodies, Dr Who, Record Breakers, Children In Need... Ah memories.

It was never the same after it went from "W12 8QT" for competitions to "W12 7RJ" for the suits.

Blink...

Paul came to stay last night, I cooked and we stayed in and watched some telly. We rounded the night off with the fantastic Doctor Who episode Blink. For the umpteenth time.

The Weeping Angels still makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. Gives me the heebeegeebees. 

Shame Carey Mulligan's Sally Sparrow didn't become the new assistant - but guess she had bigger fish to fry.

Eurovision 2011...

Stuart and Luca kindly invited us - and a bunch of other Eurovision fans - to watch the show on Saturday night. They laid on the nosh and booze, we brought the thinly disguised xenophobic mumblings. All great fun. Blue sadly lost. Azerbaijan won. We had a rollicking good time.

Psychoville Halloween Special...

Psychoville returns with a spooktacular hour-long Halloween special. Four tales of terror unfold as location manager Phil Walker investigates the abandoned ruins of Ravenhill Psychiatric hospital. Does the ghost of evil Governess Edwina Kenchington still walk the empty corridors? What other horrors lie within the crumbling walls and will health and safety allow any filming there in the first place? Psychoville is written by and stars Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. So that's Psychoville Halloween Special showing on BBC 2 at 10pm on Sunday 31st October.

Oh My Giddy Aunt...

Those of who you who get a bit wobbly at the top of a stepladder are strongly advised to look away now, because here's a helmet cam video of just how you get to work when your office is at the top of a 1,768ft TV mast.

US TV Shows...

When does Glee start again? New series of Family Guy? Well, here are the dates for some of the more popular US series returning Stateside. UK screenings are likely to follow, either same week (if on Sky1) or later.
Tuesday, Sept. 7
Sons of Anarchy, (Bravo)
Sunday, Sept. 19
Boardwalk Empire, (Sky1 - the new HBO drama)
Monday, Sept. 20
House, (Sky1)
Two and a Half Men, (Comedy Central)
Hawaii Five-0, (Bravo)
Tuesday, Sept. 21
NCIS, (FX)
Glee, (E4)
NCIS: Los Angeles, (Sky1)
Wednesday, Sept. 22
Modern Family, (Sky1)
Criminal Minds, (Living)
Law & Order: SVU, (Hallmark)
Cougar Town, (Living)
Thursday, Sept. 23
The Big Bang Theory, (E4)
Bones, (Sky1)
30 Rock, (Comedy Central)
Grey’s Anatomy, (Living)
CSI, (Five)
Fringe, (Sky1)
Private Practice, (Living)
The Mentalist, (Five)
Friday, Sept. 24
Smallville, (E4)
CSI: NY, (Five)
Supernatural, (ITV2)
Sunday, Sept. 26
The Simpsons, (Sky1)
Desperate Housewives, (C4 - 2011 UK debut probably)
Family Guy, (FX)
Dexter, (FX)
Brothers & Sisters, (E4)
Tuesday, Sept. 28
The Good Wife, (C4)
Sunday, Oct. 3
American Dad (FX)
CSI: Miami, (Five)
Wednesday, Nov. 10
Lie to Me, (Sky1)

Virgin Media Player...

Virgin has announced that it is launching its own web-based video on demand service called Virgin Media Player. Coming soon... http://www.virginmedia.com/player
If you're a Virgin XL TV customer, who also has a broadband package with the company, then you'll be able to access the service first. Initially ITV, Living, Disney, Cartoon Network, National Geographic, MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon.

Two Great Dramas Coming Soon To BBC Soon...

Hattie: Ruth Jones playing Hattie Jacques coming soon on BBC Four
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/05_may/17/hattie.shtml

Christopher And His Kind: Matt Smith playing Christopher Isherwood coming soon on BBC Two http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/05_may/19/christopher.shtml

Kangaroo, Canvas and Darwin...

All UK broadcasters and most content owners are now pretty much convinced that the internet offers a technically viable means to distribute content to consumers. For some, but not all, it will be commercially viable too. But will it be limited to just the internet? The answer is definitely “no”.

Project Kangaroo, the joint venture between BBC Worldwide, ITV and Channel 4, wanted to offer its online platform for archive rights to the likes of the Freesat digital-satellite service. The Competition Commission reviewed the Kangaroo proposition after a flurry of complaints and announced it was a no-go. The technology was then sold and has been relaunched earlier this year as Seesaw. A small player at the moment but nothing a big advertising push couldn't solve.

Project Canvas is particularly interesting as it would see the UK public-service broadcasters create an open platform to offer video-on-demand over IP using the “open” internet to the television set. For the first time, it will give the PSBs a digital platform they can truly own, but it also raises some competition concerns, which must first be overcome to avoid Canvas drawing a blank. Virgin Media aren't too happy about Canvas as they would have no control over the branding - so they have lodged a complaint to Ofcom. Sky are yet to respond. Watch this space.

Finally we have Project Darwin which is BSkyB’s initiative to connect its high-end set-top boxes to the internet. It wants to use the open internet to do this next year rather than investing heavily in a managed IPTV network. It’s a smart move, as Sky needs a comprehensive on-demand service to compete in the connected world. It’s likely to use “progressive downloading”, where the content starts downloading to the hard disk of its digital-video recorders before playing on screen to ensure that quality of service can be (virtually) guaranteed.

There is a lot at stake so don’t be fooled by the silly project names. Online TV distribution is starting to define the next phase of the broadcasting industry.

Clever Advert...

Can you guess what this advert is really for? Subtle and clever as it dawns upon you.

Japan Ad...

Can you guess what this is an advert for?