Inside BBC :: Latest BBC news and updates :

BBC to trial HDTV mid 2006

2005-11-09T13:58:00.000Z

The BBC will begin trial broadcasts of high-definition television (HDTV) next year, director of TV Jana Bennett has confirmed.
Highlights of its schedule will be made available in high-definition format to selected digital satellite and cable viewers from mid-2006.
The BBC also aims to test the format on digital terrestrial TV in London.
Current series Bleak House and Rome have been made in HDTV, which requires a compatible TV and receiver.

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BBC director general Mark Thompson has pledged to deliver free-to-air HDTV on all BBC digital platforms "as soon as practical", which is expected to be by about 2010.

[...]

Sky also plans to launch its own HDTV service in 2006, which will include live Premiership football.
The HDTV system is already available in Japan, Canada, Australia and South Korea and the US, and compatible HDTV sets are already on sale in the UK.

"Our promise to our licence payers is to give them the highest quality television, so the time is right for the BBC to get involved in high definition."

This is the move I have been waiting for. It is about time britain moved into the realm of superior quality digital televsion.

Source BBC

ITV trials broadband TV service

2005-10-18T23:04:00.000Z

One of the UK's leading terrestrial broadcasters is to throw its hat into the broadband TV ring. ITV will trial a TV service via the internet, which will offer people the chance to create their own schedules and broadcasts. Local content, including classified advertisements, will be key to the new service. Using high-speed net connections to deliver TV content is capturing the imagination of broadcasters and telcos. The three-month trial will initially be aimed at viewers in Brighton and Hastings, although ITV plans to extend to other regions if it is deemed a success. Viewers will be invited to upload their own reports and budding film-makers will be able to showcase their films as part of a drive towards citizen-led TV.

Source

Google Video to stream aired BBC shows

2005-09-30T13:57:00.000Z

Google recently acquired the rights to air the pilot of a new UPN television series entitled "Everybody Hates Chris" (starring Chris Rock) via its Google Video service. It seems this was the first step towards much bigger things. According to the Unofficial Google Weblog, the BBC and UPN are in talks with Google " to provide streaming access to already-aired TV shows". This shows that the BBC are continuing to innovate along the Internet-television direction whilst keeping their content free of any additional service charge.

Broadband to reshape the way we watch TV

2005-09-14T11:40:00.000Z

The BBC is carrying an article that discusses the impact of IPTV (internet protocol television), outlining a score of new features, options and benefits that viewers can take advantage of. It speaks of the now possible IPTV option within the UK due to the recently announced broadband speed increases by NTL and Blueyonder to 10mbit and suggests "increased user control" within the next 5 years as analogue television is phased out.

Within a decade, says the report from Lovelace Consulting and informitv, TV delivered to sets over the net will be an established way to receive content. TV will be much more web-like, with millions of shows to download.

TVs will be hooked up to set-top boxes which are in turn hooked up to the broadband pipe too. The broadcast and on-demand programmes it will be able to receive will be in standard as well as high-definition formats.

It is an interesting read for those perplexed with the future of television: BBC Article

BBC opens TV archive to remixers

2005-09-08T13:07:00.001Z

Source: BBC opens TV archive to remixers

The BBC has released the first TV clips from its archive onto the internet for people to "rip, mix and share".
Almost 100 clips, from shows such as Walking With Beasts and Tomorrow's World, are for the UK public to use for free in their own creative works. The BBC hopes to foster innovation by letting anyone re-use its material for personal and educational purposes under the Creative Archive Licence. BBC Radio 1 launched the scheme with a competition to produce a music video. The clips, mostly a few minutes long, range from animals to landscapes and art. The licence says they must not be used in commercial or campaigning ways and must not be used to defame other people.

'Tuned in'

The scheme has been in the pipeline since former BBC director general Greg Dyke in 2003. The British Film Institute, Channel 4, Open University and Teachers' TV are also set to make more material available. Paul Gerhardt, director of the Creative Archive Licence Group, said the scheme was aimed at "a young, media aware audience". They were "naturally tuned into the idea of content being available when they want it, and who will welcome the right to shape it to meet their needs", he said. Radio 1 and 1Xtra listeners are being invited to edit the clips and set them to three minutes of music. Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt said: "My experience of the creativity of our audience leaves me in no doubt that together we'll make some great material."

BBC and ITV to start Sky TV rival

2005-09-08T13:07:00.000Z

Source: BBC and ITV to start Sky TV rival

The BBC and ITV are to launch a free-to-view satellite TV service to cater for viewers unable to receive Freeview digital coverage.
ITV announced plans for the service, to be called Freesat, on Wednesday. Freesat, to be launched early in 2006, will rival BSkyB and will carry all BBC and ITV digital TV, interactive and radio services plus other channels. BBC director general Mark Thompson said the announcement "paved the way" for nationwide free digital television. Mr Thompson said he welcomed ITV as partners in the project "to develop a consumer friendly, subscription-free satellite proposition".

"The huge success of Freeview, already in more than five million homes, demonstrates how highly free digital television is valued by many people," he said

Digital take-up

"Our long-stated aim has been to bring about an open market in subscription-free satellite services so we can ensure free access to all the BBC's services across the country in the run-up to switchover and beyond." The government plans to switch off analogue TV signals, region-by-region, by 2012. Sky launched its own free satellite service - called "freesat from Sky" - last October, which allows access to 140 non-subscription channels for a one-off fee. ITV's chief executive Charles Allen said the company would also start broadcasting its channels "in the clear" in the next few months, meaning the channels can be watched through any satellite receiver. ITV currently encrypts - or scrambles - its transmissions via satellite, using the service provided by Sky. He said: "We want our channels to be available to as many people as possible, regardless of technological and geographical constraints. "As we move from analogue to a digital environment, Freesat - and Freeview - will enable every family in the UK to enjoy a wide range of quality channels for free." A recent Ofcom report said more than 60% of UK households now receive digital TV. Approximately a quarter of TV viewers live outside the Freeview coverage area.

ITV has also launched a new service to allow mobile phone users to watch highlights or footage of favourite programmes such as This Morning, Coronation Street, and I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! The service, available on mobile phones with internet access, will also include showbiz news and gossip, competitions, games, ringtones and a TV reminder service. ITV is also to trial a local TV service on broadband in the Brighton and Hastings area, containing local news and weather, community activities, travel and property advertising.

Breaking News, "smoking bus"

2005-08-02T14:39:00.000Z

The BBC is reporting that a bus is "smoking" in london: BBC NEWS

(14:32 GMT) Police are investigating a security alert on a bus in central London, near King's Cross. There are reports of a smoking bus on Gray's Inn Road, which has been closed in both directions as has Euston Road. Police and fire services are attending, and a bomb disposal unit is due but it is unclear if there was a suspect package on board. A cordon has been put in place as a precaution, but at present there are no reports of an explosion, police said. Some passengers were reported to have suffered from smoke inhalation and London Ambulance has sent two ambulances to the scene.

Welcome to "Inside BBC"

2005-08-02T03:15:00.000Z

Hello and welcome to this newly opened blog site. The aim of this site is to document and inform you of the latest innovations, changes, articles and improvements made at the british broadcasting corporation's (BBC) website and elsewhere.

This site is in no way affiliated with the BBC.

TV listings opened for development

2005-07-23T11:09:00.000Z

BBC news is reporting that "backstage.bbc" have opened up their TV and radio schedules to the public and are now inviting users to develop innovative uses of the listings.

"The competition, announced at the Open Tech conference in London, has been organised by the BBC's backstage.bbc.co.uk developer network. Backstage lets people remix the BBC's content to make new applications. The latest content release is seven-day listings information for TV and radio, in a format called TV Anytime."

Open Source Launch

2005-07-14T10:27:00.000Z

On July 12th the BBC opened up their Open Source development website.

This site provides information about and links to BBC open source projects. It lists projects developed by the BBC where the source code has been released as open source. The site doesn't cover the many open source projects to which the BBC has contributed, but only those that the BBC has initiated and managed itself.

For the BBC, open source software development is an extension of our Public Service remit. Releasing open source software helps our audience get additional value from the work they've funded, and also get tools for free that they couldn't get any other way. It also allows people outside the BBC to extend projects in such a way that may in future be used in the BBC.

Recent projects include:

BBC in trouble over free downloads

2005-07-10T03:40:00.000Z

Mathaba News, Independant Online, Geek News Central and Slashdot are reporting that the free classical music downloads the BBC website posted have angered some British record labels. The music, all nine of Beethoven's symphonies, was performed by the BBC symphony orchestra and posted on the BBC's site for all to download and enjoy for free. However, record companies are arguing that such offerings constitute as unfair governmental competition and is ultimately "devaluing the music," despite being in the public domain:

From Mathaba News, a record label owner states:

"There is the obvious issue that it is devaluing the perceived value of music. You are also leading the public to think that it is fine to download and own these files for nothing."

However, the scheme was a success and the BBC reports that over 1,000,000 downloads were made.

Cult Television section removed

2005-07-02T11:24:00.000Z

CultTv, previously adorned with the likes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" has now closed. Reasonings behind this decision are presented below in the BBC's response to many filed complaints. It seems that 700,000 users per month to the site was not a significant enough public resource with respect to maintenance and update costs.

The BBC's response

We recognise that the Cult website has attracted a large following. However, efficiency savings are needed to pay for new projects which will ensure that the BBC continues to offer distinctive and innovative services, so it is necessary to close this site.

As Ashley Highfield, Director of New Media, explained in December "..to meet the 10% target set out by the BBC Governors, we are announcing today a further 7.5% reduction to be achieved through lowering investment in areas where we feel this will not cause a reduction in public value... These changes build on the first steps we took in July to close those websites which we felt did not offer sufficient distinctive public value for the investment required. The savings we made in July represented 2.5% of our web output."

Furthermore, the BBC outlined in November its commitment to offer more distinctive content. We felt that many areas covered by the Cult site were already being replicated on other areas of the web. This meant there was very little distinction between the BBC and the commercial sector.

The exception to this is Dr Who, the largest of our Cult sites, which has now evolved into its own website, as an extension of the hugely successful BBC One TV series. We hope users will continue to visit and enjoy this site.

Programme Download Trial

2005-05-20T11:44:00.000Z

The BBC press office has announced a 5000-strong three month trial of their interactive media player (iMP) to begin in September 2005.

The BBC's interactive media player (iMP) is a new application in development which will allow users to download tv and radio programmes from bbc.co.uk to their PC or laptop and watch or listen to them for seven days after the transmission date.

BBC Press Office:

BBC New Media has today (16 May 2005) announced the next phase in the development of the BBC's interactive Media Player (iMP): an extensive three month content trial that will begin in September 2005.

iMP offers UK viewers the chance to catch up on TV and radio programmes they may have missed for up to seven days after they have been broadcast, using the internet to legally download programmes to their home computers.

A technical trial took place in Summer 2004 with a limited number of participants and a small amount of rights-cleared programmes to test the concept of using peer-to-peer technology and digital rights management (DRM) to protect rights holders.

As part of the next phase of iMP's development, the BBC will now open up more of its radio and TV schedule - around 190 hours of TV programmes and 310 hours of radio programmes, as well as local programming and rights-cleared feature films.

The trial is in association with Siemens Business Services, BBC Broadcast and Kontiki Inc., assisting in the technical aspects of the project. iMP will use a peer to peer setup to distribute media content and

"iMP could just be the iTunes for the broadcast industry, enabling our audience to access our TV and radio programmes on their terms - anytime, any place, any how"

Another exciting note to point is that as part of this trial there will be an extension of BBC online radio in the form of downloadable podcasts.