News and Features
Sky Sports confirm Cricket World Cup final will be free-to-air… but schedule clash throws up headache for Channel 4 who must juggle coverage over two channels due to British Grand Prix
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England’s Cricket World Cup final will be shown live on Channel 4 on Sunday
Netflix hires BBC Studios marketing chief
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Netflix has tapped up BBC Studios chief marketing officer Jackie Lee-Joe to oversee its estimated $3bn (£2.4bn) marketing budget.
Grantchester will return to ITV for a fifth series
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Grantchester will return to ITV for a fifth series
Small Axe: John Boyega and Letitia Wright to star in Steve McQueen’s BBC One series
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John Boyega and Letitia Wright will star in Small Axe, Steve McQueen’s new series for BBC One.
ITV ‘draws up plans to bring back Jeremy Kyle back for TWO new projects including a secret camera show’ despite controversy after guest ‘took his own life’
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The 56-year-old presenter will front a new ITV show called The Kyle Files in 2020
‘We are going to do this together’: BBC Ambulance shows moment operator helps woman who didn’t realise she was pregnant
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‘We are going to do this together’
What YOU think of the BBC’s over 75s licence fee decision
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65% of RadioTimes.com readers said they are against the decision to cancel millions of free TV licences for the elderly
BBC One announces The Pale Horse as next Agatha Christie adaptation
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The Pale Horse will be the next Agatha Christie story to get the Sarah Phelps and BBC One treatment.
Disney+ lifts lid on animated offerings
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Disney has lifted the lid on kids programming heading to its forthcoming streaming platform, including a reboot of classic series Chip ‘n’ Dale.
Bodyguard creator Jed Mercurio reveals he’s ‘in talks’ with the BBC for a second series… after admitting he’s ‘surprised’ by the show’s success
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Jed Mercurio has revealed he’s ‘in talks’ with the BBC to write a second series of Bodyguard.
8K TV: the futuristic resolution
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Super resolution screens are about to go mainstream
Like it or not, 8K resolution is here to stay. A couple of years ago, 8K seemed like little more than a whisper. But as the saying goes: if you build it, they will come.
Killing Eve season 2 return date: Fans go wild as BBC announce hit show will return on 8 June
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Killing Eve season 2 will be released on 8 June.
BAFTA, Netflix partner to take talent scheme global
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Netflix has boarded BAFTA’s flagship new talent scheme Breakthrough Brits, replacing Burberry as the initiative’s main supporting partner.
When is BBC sitcom Ghosts back for series 2?
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Here’s everything we know about the second series of this BBC1 sitcom from the team behind Horrible Histories
Tory leadership candidates to compete in head-to-head BBC debate
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The final two candidates will also be invited to take part in a special edition of Question Time
BBC accused of ‘plagiarising’ Slay in Your Lane slogan
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The BBC has been accused of plagiarism for using the slogan “Slay In Your Lane” in a women’s sport promotion.
Cartoon Network grows programming slate
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The Cartoon Network has added two new original adventure comedies to its programming line-up in the form of Parker Simmons’s Mao Mao, Heroes of Pure Heart and Tig N’ Seek.
BBC announces first full-length interactive programme
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BBC Click’s 1,000th show will use tools created by BBC R&D
BBC Question Time: Lord of the Rings star branded ‘sexist’ as he clashes with ‘betrayal’ MPs
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John Rhys Davies – who once claimed Europe faces a Muslim “demographic catastrophe” – confronted Remainer MPs to their faces on the BBC’s Question Time but was accused of being “thuggish”
BBC admits iPlayer has lost streaming fight with Netflix
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Corporation wants to be able to show programmes for up to a year in attempt to stem decline
Disney+ could spell trouble for Netflix
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23 per cent would leave Netflix if Disney films and shows were removed
Netflix unveils ‘The English Game’ cast
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Netflix has announced the cast of its upcoming football drama The English Game, written and executive produced by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellows.
Game Of Thrones season 8 episode 2 leaks ahead of broadcast and fans are mad
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Game of Thrones season eight episode two has accidentally leaked before it was due to be broadcast, with some Amazon Prime users managing to get a sneak preview over in Germany.
Dracula to be hero of his own story, say makers of new BBC/Netfilx adaptation
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Ever since Bram Stoker penned his ever popular Gothic horror novel, Dracula has been one of the genre’s most enduring villains – his exploits terrifying generations of readers and cinema goers alike.
Strictly Come Dancing’s Stacey Dooley And Joe Sugg To Front BBC One’s New Year’s Eve Celebration
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“This is the perfect ending to such a great year!”
Stacey Dooley has already landed her first post-‘Strictly Come Dancing’ presenting gig, following her win this weekend.
Doctor Who season 12 spoilers: BBC show scrapped for 2019 after New Year special
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DOCTOR WHO season 11 concluded Jodie Whittaker’s first series tonight with The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos, but BBC One revealed the show will not return for another series until 2020.
Doctor Who fans followed the dramatic tenth episode of series 11 which landed on the planet of Ranskoor Av Kolos, but after the show finished, a brand new trailer was unveiled.
TV Trailer: ‘The ABC Murders’ On BBC One
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BBC One has released the trailer for their three-part Agatha Christie adaptation The ABC Murders, which is set to premiere on Boxing Day (Wednesday December 26th) at 9pm.
The ABC Murders is set in 1930s Britain and follows Poirot as he faces a serial killer known only as A.B.C. As the murder count rises, the only clue is the copy of The ABC Railway Guide at each crime scene. Poirot’s investigations are thwarted at every turn by an enemy determined to outsmart him. If Poirot is to match his nemesis then everything about him will be called into question; his authority, his integrity, his past, his identity.
BBC iPlayer records ‘strongest month to date
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The BBC iPlayer on-demand service recorded its strongest month to date in October, boosted by the popularity of hit series Killing Eve, Doctor Who and The Cry.
BBC iPlayer recorded 334 million requests in October, up 18% year-on-year, with a new record for average daily requests of 10.8 million.
8K is now being regularly broadcast in Japan
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On a daily basis, 12 hours a day
At 10am on Saturday (1st December), Japan broadcaster NHK began broadcasting in 8K. Content with the superior resolution, which is 16 times that of HD, is now being broadcast on two satellite channels, BS4K and BS8K, with the latter scheduled to play 8K broadcasts for around 12 hours a day.
The 7680 x 4320 pictures will be broadcast with 22.2 multi-channel audio, too.
With limited 8K content to hand, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that most of the schedule is made up of repeated programming, though.
The first programme, at 10am, was an information broadcast revealing future shows on the channels, while the launch night film later that day was Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. NHK said it had asked Warner Bros to scan the original 65mm film negatives in 8K for the occasion, according to the BBC.
As we’ve known for some time, Japan broadcasters are gearing up to show the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in 8K in 18 months time, where a live 8K workflow will be required.
A considerable spend on hardware is necessary to watch these broadcasts, however. For starters you’ll need a 8K TV (you\’re looking at a minimum of £5000), and then you’ll need a source: as they’re being shown on satellite as opposed to terrestrial channels, a dedicated satellite dish is required.
As reported by advanced-television.com, market analysts IHS Markit says that it predicts only 18,000 8K sets sold globally this year – considerably down on its own earlier forecast that the number would be 85,000 units in 2018.
That figure will no doubt increase next year – at least in some parts of the world – with more 8K TVs, from LG for example, being announced at CES 2019 and hitting the shelves in the following months. After all, only Samsung and Sharp currently have 8K sets on the market.
Still, 8K will likely be a novel, niche concept for at least a few years – as 4K was. So don’t worry, your 4K TV isn’t obsolete yet.
Source: What HiFi [wp-svg-icons icon=”new-tab” wrap=”i” size=”13px”].
Image: ID 97396923 © Ilyach | Dreamstime.com
ITV turned down The Great British Bake Off – because it knew the stars weren’t signed up
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“You really are buying baking powder and a tent.”
Unless you’ve been living in a Bundt cake-shaped hole, you’ll know that The Great British Bake Off hosts Mel & Sue have decided not to follow the show to Channel 4, suggesting that the BBC was its natural home.BBC Accused Of Doctoring Image Of John Swinney To Make Him Look Like Hitler
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‘The large cuff would have seemed less authoritarian in my opinion.’
Scottish Nationalists have claimed the BBC doctored an image of the country’s Deputy First Minister to make him resemble Hitler.
Sky to show Drone racing on Sky Sports Mix channel
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Sky has announced it has invested $1 million in the Drone Racing League (DRL) and agreed on a deal that will bring the new sport of drone racing to the Sky Sports Mix channel. Sky Sports Mix is free for all Sky TV customers and shows a mixture of live football, golf, cricket, tennis and more.
Extending the reach of your Wi-Fi
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Are you having problems getting a Wi-Fi signal around your home or office, or even in a yard or garden?
Then a Wi-Fi extender, also referred to as a range expander, is probably the answer. We were asked recently to install a weatherproof Wi-Fi extender at a location in Chichester, to boost the signal strength and, expand the network reach to those dark corners at the extreme limits of a standard wireless router’s range.
No loyalty – Twitter slams Paul Hollywood and C4 in latest Bake Off backlash
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The baking phenomenon queen revealed today she won’t judge the innuendo-filled show when it moves to Channel 4.
But Paul Hollywood will remain on the show after the switch — a decision which also left Twitter unimpressed.
TV trader faces prosecution over set-top box sales in streaming case
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A trader will be the first in the country to be prosecuted for selling set-top boxes which allow people to stream the latest films and football matches for free.
Brian Thompson, who runs Cut Price Tomo’s TV in Middlesbrough, says he will contest the prosecution in what could become a landmark case.
BBC to launch their own cooking show?
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A lot has happened in the past week over in Great British Bake Off land.
First off, the infamous BBC cooking show – that racks in millions of viewers every episode -announced that the programme will be moving to Channel 4. Shortly after, Mel and Sue made all our hearts break when they announced that they’re quitting the show.