Channel 4 hits record spend for out of London commissions March 15, 2022 Channel 4’s proportion of commissions and spend outside of London hit an all-time record high last year. Two thirds of all original programming commissioned for the main channel was produced in the nations and regions – nearly double the broadcaster’s 35 per cent quota set by Ofcom. Channel 4’s Chief Content Officer Ian Katz said: [...]
Local radio stations set to become more accessible following pandemic boom March 14, 2022 More local radio services could take to the airwaves under new plans for simpler licences and spectrums for ‘restricted’ radio, like hospital stations and services for religious observances such as Ramadan.
BBC set to cut original CBBC content as licence fee tries to remain competitive March 10, 2022 The UK media regulator has opened a new consultation into the number of CBBC’s original productions, accepting the BBC’s request to make cuts to its output. In an announcement this morning, Ofcom agreed with BBC’s suggestion to reduce the original productions quota for the dedicated TV channel for children, shifting it from 72 per cent [...]
Big Tech face UK legal duty to prevent fraudulent scams online March 8, 2022 The government are set to introduce new legal duty on big tech to prevent paid-for fraudulent ads appearing on their services. The change will improve protections against fake ads, including where criminals impersonate celebrities or companies to steal people’s personal data, peddle dodgy financial investments or break into bank accounts. As part of the government’s [...]
Russia takes BBC World News off air March 6, 2022 BBC World News has been taken off air in Russia as Putin’s government retaliates to Western boycotting. As the global news channel for the broadcaster, Russians will no longer be able to access the channel or the BBC content. It comes after media watchdog Ofcom said that it had opened a further 12 investigations into [...]
Russia blocks BBC after fierce Kremlin criticism and RT ban across Europe March 4, 2022 BBC Russia says there have been reports there are problems accessing its website in Russia. German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported, in Russian, that the BBC site was not working in Russia. According to a tweet posted by BBC Russian in Russian and translated into English, Meta (formerly known as Facebook) also appears to be [...]
Government gears up to introduce tougher telecoms security to defend UK against cyber attacks March 1, 2022 Mobile and broadband networks may be forced to provide better protection from cyber attacks under stronger security rules for telecoms firms proposed by the government. In a new public consultation on draft regulations, the government have outlined the specific measures telecoms providers would need to take to fulfil their legal duties under the new Telecommunications [...]
YouTube bans Russia Today and Sputnik in the UK and Europe amid Ukraine crisis March 1, 2022 YouTube has decided to axe Russian state broadcasters Russia Today and Sputnik in the UK and Europe as big tech firms take Kremlin-backed media offline.
Liz Truss says ban on Russia Today risks Kremlin crackdown on the BBC February 28, 2022 Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has warned that if the UK bans Russia Today then the BBC could be banned from Russia amid fears of a Kremlin crackdown. She said: “We want the Russian population to hear the truth about what Vladimir Putin is doing”. It comes after calls in the UK that the state-controlled Russian [...]
The parallel war of disinformation between Russia and Ukraine could seed more poison February 25, 2022 As Russian forces attacked Ukraine on three fronts, a parallel disinformation war was taking place on social media and on Russian news outlets. Since the early stage of this conflict, President Putin has sought to justify his invasion by depicting Ukraine as a belligerent actor threatening Russian lives. In his speech on Monday night, right [...]