• Broadcast Greenlight

    The results of the Indie Survey 2011

Broadcast
Katherine Rushton

Katherine is chief reporter at Broadcast magazine and Broadcastnow.co.uk. She writes news and features for the magazine, covering the BBC, children’s TV, and key superindies including Shine Group, RDF Media, All3Media, IMG and DCD Media. Please contact her with stories regarding any of these companies, as well as general industry issues. Katherine is also a regular paper reviewer for BBC News and has written for The Telegraph, The Independent, The Guardian and Time Out. Before joining Broadcast in 2007 she was senior reporter at the publishing trade magazine, The Bookseller.

  • Nick Wilson, Five

    1-Jul-2010

    He’s produced some of the seminal kids’ TV shows of the past three decades, and the long-serving director of children’s at Five is not afraid to speak his mind.

  • BBC3 tackles science with the inside story of drugs

    3-Jun-2010

    BBC3 is to make its first foray into science with a CGI series about the effects of drugs on the human body.

  • Worzel Gummidge put out to pasture as RDF option lapses

    3-Jun-2010

    Worzel Gummidge and RentaGhost are unlikely to get a new lease of life any time soon, after indie RDF Media decided not to renew its option to adapt the kids’ classics.

  • BBC World Service braces itself for budget cuts

    3-Jun-2010

    The BBC is preparing to drop some of its international radio services in line with an expected cut to the World Service budget.

  • Roux to train service staff for BBC2 series

    3-Jun-2010

    Michel Roux is hoping to do for front-of-house restaurant staff what Jamie Oliver did for chefs in a major series for BBC2.

  • New BBC social networking rules warn against political bias

    3-Jun-2010

    The BBC has clamped down on its employees’ social networking activity, asking programming staff not to reveal anything on the likes of Facebook or Twitter that may betray their political allegiances.

  • Shine hires Discovery exec to lead business development unit

    3-Jun-2010

    Elisabeth Murdoch’s Shine Group has hired Discovery’s Alden Mitchell and Channel 4’s Lucinda Hicks to help form a group-wide global business development unit.

  • C4 kicks off search for next 11 O’Clock Show

    3-Jun-2010

    Channel 4 is planning a stripped successor to The 11 O’Clock Show to launch new talent, and has put a six-month production contract out to tender.

  • Zodiak deal transforms RDF

    3-Jun-2010

    New Zodiak Entertainment chief executive David Frank is eyeing rapid growth in the Far East and South America in a bid to turn the group into a global production empire on the scale of Endemol or FremantleMedia

  • BBC calls time on Last of the Summer Wine

    2-Jun-2010

    BBC comedy Last Of The Summer Wine will not return after this summer’s series - retiring from the schedules after nearly 40 years.

  • Zodiak closes RDF deal

    2-Jun-2010

    RDF Media Group and Zodiak Entertainment have finalised their deal to create a £500m global production giant.

  • Little Britain duo return with airport sitcom

    28-May-2010

    Matt Lucas and David Walliams are to return to BBC1 for a new comedy series set in a busy airport.

  • EastEnders to go HD by 2011

    28-May-2010

    EastEnders, The One Show and The Apprentice will all be produced in HD by the end of the year, in line with plans to launch a high definition version of BBC1 this autumn.

  • RDF Rights takes on Shine’s Mills for US position

    27-May-2010

    RDF Rights has recruited Shine International’s JC Mills to join its LA office - while former RDF USA chief executive Chris Coelen has hired ex-colleague Karrie Wolfe for his start-up, Kinetic Content.

  • BBC battles back in WoCC

    27-May-2010

    BBC in-house improved its Window of Creative Competition (WoCC) performance slightly in 2009/10, led by a resurgent children’s division, but lost ground to indies in entertainment and drama.

  • BBC first for Plum as Reef returns to fold

    27-May-2010

    The BBC has commissioned its first daytime series from James May’s Toy Stories producer Plum Pictures, and handed Reef TV its first order since it was suspended over a string of fakery incidents.

  • Evan Davis series explores Britain’s economy for BBC2

    27-May-2010

    Today presenter Evan Davis is to examine the realities of the British economic landscape in a heavyweight series for BBC2.

  • Power inks co-production deal with TMG for nine mini-series

    27-May-2010

    Power has signed a €15m (£13m) co-production deal with German producer Tele München Gruppe for nine major mini-series over the next three years - including a follow up to ITV1’s Flood, called Fire.

  • Being Human moves to Boston for US remake

    27-May-2010

    Vampires and werewolves will swap Bristol for Boston in the $25m (£17.5m) US version of Being Human, which will also reveal more about the main characters’ family relationships.

  • Zodiak buyout of RDF on brink of completion

    27-May-2010

    RDF Media’s transformative deal with Zodiak Entertainment is “on track” and set to close next week, sources close to the companies have claimed.

  • BBC3 dramas to debut online

    26-May-2010

    BBC3 is to premier a trio of upcoming drama pilots online a week before they air, as part of a bid to beef up the channel’s web presence.

  • Jason Manford confirmed as One Show host

    26-May-2010

    Jason Manford is to replace Adrian Chiles as host of The One Show, the BBC has confirmed.

  • BBC hires Talkback's Hancock

    26-May-2010

    The BBC has hired its second TalkbackThames entertainment exec in a week – recruiting producer/director Sean Hancock as executive producer.

  • New-look iPlayer links with Facebook

    26-May-2010

    Viewers will be able to share iPlayer content with friends via Facebook and Twitter, under a new version of the video on demand service launched in beta today.

  • BBC to boost filming in the North

    25-May-2010

    The BBC has ordered more on-location shoots in the North, in a bid to “showcase” the region to the rest of the world and drive up local satisfaction with the corporation.

  • Indies slam 'flawed' BBC in-house guarantee

    25-May-2010

    Pact has called for an urgent review of the BBC’s commissioning system – with a view to reducing the in-house guarantee or scrapping it altogether.

  • DCMS takes £88m budget hit

    24-May-2010

    The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is to have its budget trimmed by £88m and Ofcom is preparing to have its powers reigned in under the new collation government’s public spending cuts.

  • BBC hires Talkback's Brereton

    24-May-2010

    BBC in-house entertainment has hired TalkbackThames development exec Andy Brereton to inject more comedy into its slate.

  • BBC's Jo Ball bounces back to Ricochet

    21-May-2010

    BBC commissioner Jo Ball is to leave the corporation and return to indie Ricochet as managing director.

  • Government to give NAO access to BBC books

    20-May-2010

    The BBC is to be forced to open its books to the National Audit Office under the new coalition government.

  • Dragonfly set to sign baby format US deal

    20-May-2010

    One Born Every Minute is on the brink of a US remake that would be the first major format deal for Shine Group’s Dragonfly Film and Television Productions.

  • Ragdoll’s Night Garden travels to US on Hasbro Hub ticket

    20-May-2010

    Igglepiggle, Upsy Daisy and Makka Pakka finally look bound for America, after it emerged that Discovery’s new Hasbro-backed channel is in advanced talks to take In The Night Garden.

  • Prince Charles to present doc on composer Parry

    20-May-2010

    Prince Charles is to front a BBC4 documentary about Hubert Parry, the little-known composer behind a slew of imperial anthems including the music for Jerusalem.

  • BBC may run Archers early to push DAB

    20-May-2010

    The Archers may be the oldest soap in the world - but it could also be the BBC’s secret weapon in converting radio listening to digital.

  • Ben Gale, factual, BBC Bristol

    20-May-2010

    After a brief period at Five, Ben Gale returned to the BBC to head up Bristol factual. He tells Katherine Rushton about his plans.

  • BBC1 gets £60m sports budget boost

    19-May-2010

    The BBC has inflated the BBC1 budget by £60m this year to account for coverage of major sporting events like the World Cup in South Africa.

  • Pressure group tells BBC to up kids spend

    19-May-2010

    Russell T Davies, Nigel Pickard and Stephen Garrett have called on the BBC to slash spending on “Hollywood imports” in order to free up cash for UK-produced kids’ content.

  • Spence sets up with Tiger Aspect

    14-May-2010

    Patrick Spence, the former head of drama for BBC Northern Ireland, is to launch his own indie under the umbrella of Tiger Aspect Productions.

  • "Media vicar" to counsel Salford movers

    14-May-2010

    The Church of England is to appoint a full time “media vicar” to help BBC staff handle the trauma of moving to Salford Quays.

  • BBC mulls meaning of distinctiveness

    14-May-2010

    The BBC and the BBC Trust are working together to define “distinctiveness” – the buzzword which lies at the heart of its strategy overhaul.

  • Pat Younge, BBC Vision Productions

    13-May-2010

    The head of BBC Vision Productions aims to boost morale and make in-house production truly multimedia, he tells Katherine Rushton.

  • BBC ditches Sherlock footage for re-shoot

    13-May-2010

    The BBC dumped all the footage from the original 60-minute version of Sherlock after making the decision to turn the drama into a 3 x 90-minute series, Broadcast has learned.

  • Producers claim BBC allows in-house spending excesses

    13-May-2010

    BBC in-house production is facing accusations of a lax attitude to budgetary overspends, with producers who work for both the indie community and in-house calling for a level playing field.

  • Wall to Wall to bring family history to ITV1

    13-May-2010

    Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell are to front an ITV1 series that goes beyond the family history of Who Do You Think You Are? to reunite estranged relatives.

  • Miranda exec upped in BBC comedy rejig

    12-May-2010

    BBC Vision Productions executive producer Jo Sargent has been promoted to creative head of comedy.

  • BBC3 reveals World Cup line-up

    12-May-2010

    Being Human actress Leonora Crichlow is to chart the life of Nelson Mandela as part of a season of BBC3 programmes to mark the World Cup in South Africa.

  • Ex-BBC exec launches North West indie

    11-May-2010

    New indie Platform Productions is aiming to become an umbrella for up-and-coming filmmakers in the North West of England.

  • BBC3 orders teen angst sitcom

    11-May-2010

    BBC3 is to pilot a new comedy from Plus One creators Tim Allsop and Stewart Williams, about the real-life experiences of gawky teenager and up-and-coming comic Daniel Sloss.

  • CBeebies looks outdoors for new series

    7-May-2010

    CBeebies is aiming to get children off sofas and out into the great outdoors, with two new series about outside spaces and activities.

  • Bob the Builder heads to China

    7-May-2010

    Bob the Builder is set to “fix it” in China after owner Hit Entertainment struck a deal with state broadcaster China Central Television.

  • Bakhurst promoted in BBC News rejig

    6-May-2010

    Kevin Bakhurst has been promoted to deputy head of the BBC newsroom following Craig Oliver’s move to Global News.

  • Lion wins drama order for BBC2 war pilot film

    6-May-2010

    Lion Television is to recreate the “claustrophobia and frenzy” of life in the cockpit of a Spitfire in a new BBC2 drama about young pilots fighting in the Battle of Britain.

  • Bookaboo wins second run

    6-May-2010

    CITV’s Bookaboo is to return for a second series, ending fears that funding pressures would lead to the Bafta-winning ...

  • Ruby readies ITV1 surgeon thriller and social drama for C4

    6-May-2010

    Ruby Films is developing an ITV drama series following a feisty female surgeon, adapted by Mistresses co-creator SJ Clarkson from the bestselling surgery memoir Direct ...

  • High churn expected in BBC Salford move

    6-May-2010

    The BBC is bracing itself for a major churn in personnel as some staff who had signed up to the Salford move seek new jobs in a bid to stay in London.

  • Yentob to address ‘problem’ teens post-Switch axe

    6-May-2010

    Shows on BBC Switch will live on after the teen service is axed, BBC creative director Alan Yentob has claimed - admitting that the corporation has yet to find a way of properly serving teen viewers.

  • Ex-EastEnders boss sets up indie with Kudos aid

    6-May-2010

    Former EastEnders exec Diederick Santer is leaving the BBC after a decade to set up his own indie under the umbrella of Kudos Film and Television.

  • BBC rapped over Smith’s Venice trip

    6-May-2010

    The BBC has come under fire after it flew Doctor Who actor Matt Smith to Italy for a making-of show - about a programme that was never filmed there.

  • Square Zero hires E1 producer

    4-May-2010

    Indie Square Zero has appointed E1 Entertainment’s Alexi Wheeler as development producer.

  • Five to air Nickelodeon tween shows

    4-May-2010

    Five has handed an hour of its weekly Shake! block to Nickelodeon, replacing its previous content deal with Disney.

  • Speculation over C4 move for Jay Hunt

    30-Apr-2010

    Speculation is mounting that BBC1 controller Jay Hunt could move to Channel 4 following Kevin Lygo’s departure.

  • Thompson raps Hadlow over BBC2 direction

    30-Apr-2010

    BBC director general Mark Thompson has given BBC2 controller Janice Hadlow a public dressing down about the direction of the channel, shocking senior colleagues.

  • Pageant series headlines BBC3 ‘adult’ doc season

    29-Apr-2010

    BBC3 is turning Baby Beauty Queens into a six-part series and has lined up topless model Alicia Douvall to discuss her “Faustian” aspirations for her teenage daughter, as part of ...

  • Nigella ends Dahl speculation with a return to BBC2

    29-Apr-2010

    Nigella Lawson is to return to BBC2 for a new 13-part series - ending suggestions that she has effectively been replaced by former model Sophie Dahl.

  • Sky 1 orders anti-X Factor search for talent

    29-Apr-2010

    Sky 1 has ordered a shiny-floor musical talent search that is being pitched as an anti-X Factor.

  • BBC’s 3D Olympics plan shapes up

    29-Apr-2010

    Boxing and gymnastics are top of the BBC’s 3D agenda for the 2012 Olympics as the corporation eyes the games as a watershed moment for technological experimentation.

  • Yentob: ‘cacophony’ of critical voices harms BBC

    29-Apr-2010

    The BBC’s creativity and independence is being threatened by too many regulators and commentators having their say, creative director Alan Yentob has claimed.

  • BBC drama boss hunting shows for 2011

    27-Apr-2010

    The BBC has £200m to spend on drama in 2011 and “literally nothing commissioned”, controller of drama commission Ben Stephenson has revealed - alongside his aspirations for a new 9pm police show and more younger-skewing drama.

  • BBC boss defends events spending

    26-Apr-2010

    The BBC’s chief operating officer Caroline Thomson has hit back at criticism of its spending on major events, claiming it would be a “false economy to cover them half-heartedly” and that viewers don’t want them to broadcast from “windowless” rooms.

  • Tina McCann to head Nickelodeon UK

    26-Apr-2010

    Turner Broadcasting’s Tina McCann is to replace Howard Litton as Nickelodeon UK’s senior vice president and managing director.

  • Joe Godwin, CBBC

    22-Apr-2010

    Joe Godwin may be looking for an issues-led drama for CBBC - but the new BBC Children’s director believes it can be gritty without being miserable.

  • Fiver acquires Doctor Who spin-off K-9

    22-Apr-2010

    Fiver has picked up the free-to-air rights to live action and CGI Doctor Who spin-off series K-9.

  • CBBC seeks mainstream showcase for its shows

    22-Apr-2010

    CBBC wants to air its programmes on mainstream BBC channels and is launching a search for a new, older-skewing drama to fill the void left by Grange Hill.

  • Humphrys to lead Matchlight’s BBC triple doc order

    22-Apr-2010

    John Humphrys is to examine the inequalities of the UK’s education system in Mind The Gap, one of three Matchlight productions commissioned by the BBC.

  • Nickelodeon on brink of appointing managing director for UK

    22-Apr-2010

    Nickelodeon is close to appointing a new UK chief after months of indecision over whether to replace former managing director Howard Litton.

  • Shine in talks to buy Brown Eyed Boy

    21-Apr-2010

    Shine Group is in advanced negotiations to acquire Brown Eyed Boy from Motive Television.

  • Volcano grounds Jonathan Ross A-list

    21-Apr-2010

    The BBC has hastily booked Jeremy Clarkson to appear on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross after three Hollywood stars were kept overseas by the volcanic ash.

  • Power lands Queen's Award

    21-Apr-2010

    Power has picked up a prestigious Queen’s award for Enterprise in International Trade – recognising three years of “sustained” international sales and production.

  • BBC execs splash out on taxis and flights

    20-Apr-2010

    The BBC’s disclosure of expenses is curbing day-to-day spending by execs – but senior figures continue to book business class flights costing more than £3,000 each and embark on expensive taxi rides.

  • MIPTV delegates stranded: update

    16-Apr-2010

    MIPTV: TV executives remain stranded in Cannes, with UK flights cancelled due to ash released from this week’s Icelandic volcano eruption.

  • BBC ends censorship row over Sri Lankan feeds

    15-Apr-2010

    BBC World Service programming is to return to Sri Lankan national broadcaster SLBC after the broadcasters resolved a row over censorship.

  • Coolabi's Scott quits for indie sector

    15-Apr-2010

    Coolabi head of children’s programming Julian Scott is quitting the company to set up his own indie.

  • Big Talk relocates Erica to Glasgow for UK remake

    15-Apr-2010

    Big Talk Productions is planning a “rough and ready” UK version of Canadian drama Being Erica - swapping the title character’s therapist for an NHS worker and relocating the action from Toronto to Glasgow.

  • BBC takes on fly-tippers and holidays from hell

    15-Apr-2010

    The BBC is to tackle fly-tippers and holiday disasters in two major daytime consumer journalism series for BBC1.

  • RDF chief ‘confident’ over Zodiak takeover

    15-Apr-2010

    RDF Media Group is on track to finalise its sale to Zodiak Entertainment by the end of the month, with RDF backer Cyrte Investments rolling its stake over into the enlarged group.

  • BBC staff slam FM&T revamp

    15-Apr-2010

    The radical restructure of the BBC’s Future Media & Technology division has sparked a furious internal row - with insiders accusing director Erik Huggers of “an aggressive land grab”.

  • Co-pros the talk of MipTV as execs tackle recession

    15-Apr-2010

    The crowds were noticeably thin at MipTV this week but meetings were productive as broadcasters shrugged off the recessionary gloom and set about finding ways to get the most ambitious shows on air.

  • BBC pension rules prompt exodus

    15-Apr-2010

    The number of BBC staff taking early retirement has tripled since the start of the year as employees opt to leave early rather than see their pensions become subject to new rules.

  • Carrington hunts kids comedy

    14-Apr-2010

    MIPTV: Less than a week into his new job at Turner Broadcasting, former CBeebies boss Michael Carrington has promised “quick decisions” and put a call out for a major new international series.

  • Scripps calls on indies to "reinvent" Travel

    13-Apr-2010

    MIPTV: Scripps Networks International has spelt out plans to aggressively grow Travel Channel, which it acquired last November, and called on UK producers to help it “reinvent” its content.

  • Ridley Scott on Pompeii mini-series

    12-Apr-2010

    Sony Pictures Television and Scott Free Television are developing a four-hour mini-series based on Robert Harris’ bestselling novel, Pompeii.

  • Aardman reducing reliance on TV

    12-Apr-2010

    MIPTV: Aardman Animations is to evolve its business model so it becomes closer to a character company like Chorion than a traditional producer.

  • Turner to open Middle East unit with Twofour54

    12-Apr-2010

    Turner Broadcasting is to launch a Middle Eastern animation school and studio in partnership with Abu Dhabi-based producer Twofour54.

  • Fremantle widens format net

    12-Apr-2010

    MIPTV: Broadcasters are securing more hits from emerging territories as prejudice about where shows come from “melts away”, FremantleMedia chief executive Tony Cohen has claimed.

  • Wallace & Gromit head down under

    9-Apr-2010

    Aardman Rights has sold its new Wallace and Gromit science show to ABC Australia as part of a raft of deals ahead of MipTV.

  • Lenny Henry R4 show in line for TV move

    8-Apr-2010

    Comedian Lenny Henry could be back on BBC television as the corporation’s in-house comedy team looks to adapt two more radio shows following the success of BBC2’s Miranda.

  • BBC breaks ground with Doctor Who game

    8-Apr-2010

    Forget Matt Smith - Doctor Who viewers will get the chance to regenerate as the new Timelord themselves, in a landmark game that is the BBC’s biggest-ever web commission.

  • BBC mulls Strictly makeover

    8-Apr-2010

    The BBC is eyeing a new home for Strictly Come Dancing as part of plans to supercharge the BBC1 format - and has yet to secure Bruce Forsyth as host for this year’s series.

  • Panorama criticisms demoralising staff

    7-Apr-2010

    Panorama staff are demoralised following a steady onslaught of criticisms of its journalism – with reporters claiming the BBC Trust rulings are “flawed” and threaten investigative output.

  • Kids to grill Cameron on CBBC

    7-Apr-2010

    David Cameron is to face questions from children about issues that affect kids, as part of a CBBC general election special.

  • Darlow signs with shock doc firm

    1-Apr-2010

    Darlow Smithson Productions has signed a first look deal with news company Barcroft Media in line with plans to broaden the company’s output.

  • Cbeebies takes Small Potatoes

    1-Apr-2010

    CBeebies has acquired Small Potatoes, a short-form animation from Little Airplane Productions, which has secured a flurry of international sales.

  • Joanna Shields quits Shine for Facebook

    1-Apr-2010

    Joanna Shields has left Liz Murdoch’s Shine Group for Facebook, just six months after she joined.

  • Benbow named CBeebies controller

    31-Mar-2010

    Kay Benbow has been named the new controller of CBeebies – confirming she will go to Salford after all.

  • BBC plans first Queen doc since Queengate scandal

    31-Mar-2010

    The BBC is lining up its first major documentary series about the Queen since the Queengate scandal rocked the TV industry two-and-a-half years ago.

  • Maverick signs Super Sweet deal with MTV

    31-Mar-2010

    MTV is extending its global My Super Sweet 16 franchise up to 21 year-olds, and has handed a major production contract to UK indie Maverick Television.

  • Fox format leads ITV drama rejig

    31-Mar-2010

    A UK remake of Fox’s paranormal US series The Oaks is among a trio of dramas being lined up by ITV in the wake of The Bill being axed.

  • BBC unveils FM&T shake-up

    30-Mar-2010

    The BBC has radically restructured its Future Media and Technology division, creating a powerful new director, digital media post and seeing the departures of Nic Newman and Seetha Kumar.

  • BBC on brink of FM&T shake-up

    26-Mar-2010

    The BBC is planning a major restructure of its Future Media and Technology division, described by insiders as “the night of the long knives”.

  • Syco names new chief exec

    26-Mar-2010

    Simon Cowell has hired FirstGroup’s Ellis Watson as chief executive of Syco Entertainment.

  • Tigress to track the story of an elephant’s carcass

    25-Mar-2010

    Tigress Productions has won an order from Animal Planet US and Channel 4 for a doc about the scavengers that slowly demolish a dead elephant.

  • Hope for Scarlet creditors as BBCW eyes deal

    25-Mar-2010

    The BBC has asked BBC Worldwide to buy distribution rights to Scarlet Television’s back catalogue in a deal that could see up to £50,000 returned to the indie’s freelance creditors.

  • Klein: BBC4 will not become dry or dusty

    25-Mar-2010

    BBC4 is to dramatise the beginnings of Coronation Street as controller Richard Klein attempts to prevent the channel becoming “a drier, dustier world” following the BBC Strategy Review.

  • C4 to merge fact ent and features

    25-Mar-2010

    Channel 4 is folding its factual entertainment commissioning team into features, and will hand head of features Sue Murphy control of the newly created super-division.

  • BBC Children’s departures hint at fears over careers

    25-Mar-2010

    Senior BBC Children’s staff who had signed up to the Salford move are leaving the department amid concerns over career progression.

  • Sony stalls sale of its minority stake in Shine

    25-Mar-2010

    Sony Pictures Entertainment is dragging its feet selling its 21% stake in Shine Group - but the deal is still expected to go ahead.

  • BBC's Goodchild takes IPTV role

    23-Mar-2010

    Marc Goodchild, head of interactive and on-demand at BBC Children’s, is leaving the department to take up a new role in the IPTV team.

  • BBC diversity chief steps down

    23-Mar-2010

    BBC Vision’s diversity chief Mary FitzPatrick has left the corporation and is joining the UK Film Council.

  • BBC's IT crowd votes for strike action

    19-Mar-2010

    Siemens staff working at the BBC are set to strike unless the IT company caves on its pay freeze.

  • Bumper BBC1 ratings for Fake Britain

    19-Mar-2010

    Fake Britain helped BBC1 to its highest 9.15am ratings since 2004 last week, when the Dom Littlewood series was stripped across a week.

  • Shine rises to top of indie pile

    18-Mar-2010

    Liz Murdoch’s Shine Group has become the biggest super-indie in the UK, vaulting over previous market leader All3Media thanks to dynamic growth overseas.

  • BBC adapts online strategy to make sites more user-friendly

    18-Mar-2010

    The BBC is shifting its online focus from generating volume of web content to making its existing sites more usable.

  • Monkey and Burnett pilot US gameshow

    18-Mar-2010

    Monkey Kingdom is working with Mark Burnett, the man behind The Apprentice and Survivor in the US, on a pilot gameshow format for ABC.

  • Animators join forces to lobby government for tax breaks

    18-Mar-2010

    UK animators are clubbing together to fund a report that will set out the business case for tax breaks.

  • Salt Beef to produce live CBBC magazine show

    18-Mar-2010

    Start-up Salt Beef TV has become the only indie to win a tender to produce one of several magazine shows for CBBC.

  • Liz Murdoch, Shine Group

    18-Mar-2010

    It’s taken Shine just nine years to grow into a global powerhouse, and its founder and CEO is no less passionate about the indie and its impressive pool of talent, writes Katherine Rushton.

  • Dance exec to take on Strictly

    17-Mar-2010

    The BBC has named the new executive producer of Strictly Come Dancing, following the departure of its long-standing exec Sam Donnelly to Gallowgate.

  • Asian Network presenters slam "weak" cuts

    12-Mar-2010

    BBC Asian Network presenters have slammed plans to axe the station as “weak” and “a devastatingly backward step” in in-house magazine Ariel.

  • C4’s canine coverage called into question

    10-Mar-2010

    A fresh row is brewing over TV’s coverage of the Kennel Club after a dog welfare campaigner and the director of Pedigree Dogs Exposed accused Channel 4 of compromising its editorial integrity.

  • IWC's Kirstie and Phil reclocate to new indie startup

    10-Mar-2010

    Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer are breaking away from IWC Media to launch their own indie - taking two key members of staff with them.

  • Fever Media sounds out buyers as Sony tie-up nears its end

    10-Mar-2010

    Dancing On Wheels producer Fever Media is courting would-be buyers as the clock ticks on its joint venture agreement with Sony Music Entertainment UK.

  • BBC to adapt Slater’s childhood memoirs

    10-Mar-2010

    BBC1 is to give the Billy Elliott treatment to the childhood autobiography of TV chef Nigel Slater in a drama from Ruby Film and Television.

  • Andrew Jackson: the BBC’s straight-talker

    10-Mar-2010

    Natural History Unit chief Andrew Jackson isn’t afraid to say what he thinks, and his self confessed lack of ‘pedigree’ is just what the corporation ordered, writes Katherine Rushton

  • BBC draws on Hollywood for wildlife action docs

    10-Mar-2010

    The BBC Natural History Unit is to kick off a new approach to programming with a Hollywood-style look at four predators for BBC1.

  • BBC4 to explore Britain’s relationship with the sea

    10-Mar-2010

    The Choir frontman Gareth Malone and actor Timothy Spall are to turn their attention to the sea in a major BBC4 season about Britain’s status as an island nation.

  • ITV's John Hollywood to join IMG

    10-Mar-2010

    IMG has hired John Hollywood, the man behind ITV’s indie acquisition strategy, to be director of production for all its sports coverage.

  • Arora to focus on out of London indies

    9-Mar-2010

    The BBC’s indie champion Krishan Arora has been moved out of his existing role to focus on the production community outside London.

  • Thompson "incredibly angry" at Times leak

    9-Mar-2010

    BBC director general Mark Thompson has told staff he is “incredibly angry” about how the corporation’s strategy review leaked to the Times, and promised a “full investigation” to find out who was responsible.

  • Taylor to run BBC in-house entertainment

    8-Mar-2010

    Katie Taylor has won the race to succeed Jon Beazley as head of BBC in-house entertainment.

  • One-off Darlow doc explores Air France mystery

    4-Mar-2010

    Darlow Smithson Productions is to investigate the 2009 disappearance of Air France Flight 447 in a one-off doc for BBC2 and PBS strand Nova.

  • BBC1 turns back the clock for high-street doc series

    4-Mar-2010

    BBC1 is to send five families who work in retail back in time for a history series about the changing face of the high street.

  • Opinion: Confused but still effective

    4-Mar-2010

    The BBC’s longawaited strategy review may be Putting Quality First, but it’s putting clarity last.

  • Being Human team in indie launch talks

    4-Mar-2010

    The two key creatives behind Being Human are in talks to launch their own indie and already have another high-concept drama in development for BBC1.

  • Daytime turns its back on property

    4-Mar-2010

    BBC Daytime will get a cash fillip under Putting Quality First - but will not spend any of it on new property shows.

  • Thompson: Teens don't need dedicated services

    4-Mar-2010

    The BBC will no longer target teenagers with dedicated services Switch and Blast! but will still engage them through the likes of EastEnders, according to director general Mark Thompson.

  • Shake-up hands new remit to BBC2 and BBC4

    4-Mar-2010

    BBC2 and BBC4 are both set for major shake-ups, with the former placing a fresh emphasis on scripted output and the latter going back to its highbrow roots.

  • BBC set for £400m clearout

    3-Mar-2010

    The BBC is preparing a £400m clearout of programming that no longer fits with its strategic aims.

  • Thompson tight-lipped on Newsnight

    3-Mar-2010

    Director general Mark Thompson has refused to tell Newsnight whether anyone lost their job because of the massive overspend on BBC property projects.

  • Dyke ramps up pressure on Thompson

    2-Mar-2010

    Former BBC director general Greg Dyke has claimed Mark Thompson is paid too much and that BBC staff are failing to buy in to his vision for the corporation.

  • BBC to confirm "size and scope" cuts tomorrow

    1-Mar-2010

    The BBC is to publish its size and scope review tomorrow morning, following Friday’s leak.

  • 600 jobs at risk as BBC breaks silence

    26-Feb-2010

    More than 600 BBC staff could lose their jobs under the size and scope review according to Bectu, which has just come out of tense discussions with BBC management.

  • No word from DG on “tactical” cuts

    26-Feb-2010

    Plans for sweeping cuts across the BBC have met with mixed reactions among employees – and online staff are furious that director general Mark Thompson has not been in touch about the changes.

  • Radio and web to bear brunt of BBC review

    26-Feb-2010

    The BBC plans to axe digital radio stations 6 Music and Asian Network, halve the BBC website and cut spending on sport and imported shows, according to leaks from its size and scope review.

  • BBC’s Samra: ‘There is no cash flow issue’

    25-Feb-2010

    BBC business chief Bal Samra has denied the BBC is experiencing cash flow problems and assured producers that they can raise concerns with him without fear of losing business.

  • BBC slammed for £100m refurb overspend

    25-Feb-2010

    The BBC’s refurbishment of Broadcasting House is running more than £100m over budget and four years late because of poor management, the National Audit Office has found.

  • Delia show crew owed £150,000

    25-Feb-2010

    Freelancers who worked on BBC2’s Delia Through The Decades are owed a total of £150,000 - and the cooking superstar is herself about £50,000 out of pocket.

  • BBC3’s Cohen: ‘I haven’t had contact with C4’

    25-Feb-2010

    BBC3 controller Danny Cohen has quashed speculation that he is discussing a move to Channel 4.

  • Bhaskar to star as immigrant doctor for BBC1 daytime series

    25-Feb-2010

    Sanjeev Bhaskar is to star in the next BBC1 daytime drama, as a high-flying immigrant doctor who finds himself working in 1960s Wales.

  • Former Five man Menzies to head Twofour Arabia

    25-Feb-2010

    Twofour Group has hired former Five head of features Alex Menzies to head a new Middle East and North Africa division based in Abu Dhabi.

  • Power takes on Fremantle’s Green to lead rollout of soaps

    25-Feb-2010

    UK indie Power is to launch a division dedicated to rolling out local versions of international soaps - and plans to revive axed US soap Guiding Light as a Latin American telenovela.

  • Danny Cohen, BBC3

    25-Feb-2010

    BBC3 has had its fair share of flak, but controller Danny Cohen continues to carve out a distinct niche for the channel and maintains there’s more to come, finds Katherine Rushton

  • BBC to apologise for "distorted" facts on Panorama

    24-Feb-2010

    The BBC Trust has ordered an on-air apology from the BBC after en episode of Panorama “distorted known facts” and breached its own impartiality rules.

  • BBCW signs Universal Music TV deal

    24-Feb-2010

    BBC Worldwide is to distribute all of Universal Music UK’s new television output after signing a long-term deal.

  • BBCW to take Glastonbury on tour

    23-Feb-2010

    BBC Worldwide is taking Glastonbury around the world after signing an exclusive deal to distribute footage from the music festival across television and radio.

  • Bectu urges BBC's IT crowd to strike

    22-Feb-2010

    Bectu is urging Siemens staff working at the BBC to strike over pay.

  • CNBC ramps up free-to-air presence

    19-Feb-2010

    Business news broadcaster CNBC is to launch on Freesat as part of an “aggressive” bid to increase its UK presence.

  • Dragonfly bolsters creative team

    19-Feb-2010

    Dragonfly Film and Television has made two new senior hires following the departures of co-founders Nick Curwin and Magnus Temple.

  • Cyrte takes stock of UK deals

    18-Feb-2010

    Cyrte Investments, the low-profile Dutch private equity house, is pulling the strings in a fresh round of consolidation in the UK indie sector.

  • Betty secures BBC3 order for fit pensioner format

    18-Feb-2010

    BBC3 is to pit unhealthy young Brits against fitness-obsessed American pensioners in a 5 x 60-minute series from Betty.

  • Mensah upbeat on indie drama

    18-Feb-2010

    BBC1 is planning a “hot, passionate” detective series and a look at single fatherhood in two major dramas series steered by head of independent drama Anne Mensah.

  • BBC touts its distinctiveness

    18-Feb-2010

    The BBC’s size and scope review has yet to be published, but the word on the lips of the corporation’s staff is “distinctiveness”.

  • BBC opens doors to new drama writers

    17-Feb-2010

    BBC Drama is to hold monthly “open days” for new and upcoming writers.

  • ITV brings in external consultants

    17-Feb-2010

    ITV has brought in external business analysts LEK Consulting to conduct its 12-week strategic review.

  • Tom Giles named Panorama editor

    16-Feb-2010

    The BBC has named Tom Giles the new editor of Panorama.

  • BBC News to broadcast live from Cuba

    16-Feb-2010

    BBC News is to broadcast live from Cuba next week – thought to be a first for a UK news channel.

  • Trust gives hope to 6 Music

    15-Feb-2010

    Under-fire BBC radio station 6 Music has received a vote of confidence from the BBC Trust – despite revelations that just 20% of adults even know it exists.  

  • Gately tribute is first order for Ballard indie

    15-Feb-2010

    A tribute to late Boyzone star Stephen Gately will be the first commission for 10 Star Entertainment, the indie launched by former BBC entertainment exec Bea Ballard at the start of 2009.

  • BBC has 382 staff on £100k or more

    15-Feb-2010

    Some 382 BBC staff - including 35 producers - are on six-figure salaries, according to new figures published over the weekend.

  • BBC axes Omid Djalili Show

    15-Feb-2010

    BBC1 has axed The Omid Djalili Show after two series.

  • Sky 1 pilots format from new Noel JV

    11-Feb-2010

    Sky 1 is to test a Price Is Right-style format jointly developed with Noel Edmonds.

  • Nickelodeon drops splat for ‘older’ identity

    11-Feb-2010

    Nickelodeon UK is ditching its famous orange splat as part of a major global rebrand.

  • BBC Trust orders review of sports rights spending

    11-Feb-2010

    The BBC Trust is to launch a major review into the BBC’s spending on sports rights.

  • Don’t cave in on star salaries, BBC urged

    11-Feb-2010

    Execs, in-house producers and indies have urged the BBC to stand firm on its refusal to reveal talent deals in the face of mounting media and political pressure.

  • Love bridges The Generation Gap for BBC2 series

    11-Feb-2010

    BBC2 is to send a group of young people into an old people’s home in a bid to persuade them the elderly should not be “consigned to the dustbin”.

  • Clive Edwards, BBC current affairs

    11-Feb-2010

    As executive and commissioning editor, Clive Edwards is doing his bit to make BBC current affairs more accessible, but not at the expense of its journalism.

  • Freeview: we will take a fifth of Sky HD customers

    10-Feb-2010

    Freeview has predicted it will take nearly a fifth of Sky HD customers when it launches its own HD offering in March, following YouGov findings.

  • BBC execs cut back on presents

    9-Feb-2010

    BBC executives have dramatically tightened purse strings since their expenses started getting published – cutting back on claims for presents and extravagant schmoozing.

  • BBC spent £229m on talent last year

    9-Feb-2010

    The BBC paid on-air talent more than £229m last year, including £54m for presenters paid over £150,000.

  • BBC criticised for "sloppy" spending on events

    9-Feb-2010

    The BBC’s accounting is “sloppy” and its refusal to open its books to the National Audit Office looks “inexplicably evasive and self-indulgent,” the House of Commons public accounts committee has said.

  • BBC DG reassures staff over in-house production

    8-Feb-2010

    BBC director general Mark Thompson has hinted to staff that in-house production will not be significantly affected by the size and scope review.

  • Mentorn poaches IWC Media's Ransford

    8-Feb-2010

    Mentorn Media has hired How To Look Good Naked commissioner Philippa Ransford as executive producer for features and formats.

  • Frontrunners emerge for BBC entertainment job

    5-Feb-2010

    Three leading executives with experience at ITV, the BBC and Virgin Media are understood to be the frontrunners to replace Jon Beazley as head of BBC entertainment – but the race remains wide open.

  • Melanie Leach, Twofour

    4-Feb-2010

    Melanie Leach, managing director of Broadcast indie of the year Twofour, tells Katherine Rushton what it’s planning next.

  • Twofour courts stars for self-branded AFP sites

    4-Feb-2010

    Twofour Group is inviting celebrities to bypass broadcasters and launch their own “broadband channels”, which it hopes will become a fi rst window for advertiser- funded video content.

  • BBC cash flow problem piles pressure on indies

    4-Feb-2010

    BBC cash flow issues are heaping fresh financial pressure on indies.

  • Beazley: Strictly is on ‘top form’

    4-Feb-2010

    Outgoing BBC entertainment chief Jon Beazley has backed the BBC’s entertainment record - claiming Strictly Come Dancing was “on top form” last year.

  • BBC hits Reef TV with £500k Sun, Sea... fine

    4-Feb-2010

    The BBC fined Reef TV around £500,000 in the wake of last year’s fakery scandal and has axed the Sun Sea and Bargain Spotting brand, Broadcast has learned.

  • Bruce Parry off to Arctic for next BBC2 adventure

    4-Feb-2010

    Amazon presenter Bruce Parry is to turn his attention to the Arctic Circle in a series for BBC2 - one of two major new productions from Wales.

  • Nick Jr picks up £4m stop-frame series from start-up Komixx

    4-Feb-2010

    Nick Jr has ordered a stop-frame animation thought to be worth £4m about a little boy whose toys come to life.

  • RTÉ enlists help of ITV to co-fund Single-Handed

    4-Feb-2010

    RTÉ drama Single-Handed is to be resurrected for a second series after ITV agreed to come on board as a co-producer.

  • Start-up indie serves up BBC3 absurdist comedy

    4-Feb-2010

    Former ITV factual producers Chris Carey and James Dean have launched their own comedy indie and secured a TX pilot on BBC3.

  • Five acquires Little Kingdom

    4-Feb-2010

    Five’s Milkshake! strand has acquired UK terrestrial rights to Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom, the newest series to come from Peppa Pig producer Astley Baker Davies.

  • Dragonfly co-founders launching new indie

    4-Feb-2010

    Dragonfly co-founders Nick Curwin and Magnus Temple are to launch a new indie.

  • Jon Beazley quits BBC entertainment

    3-Feb-2010

    Jon Beazley, the BBC entertainment production boss behind Strictly Come Dancing, is leaving the corporation to take a “sizable career break”.

  • Switch orders second season of The Cut

    2-Feb-2010

    BBC Switch has ordered a second series of The Cut and is holding a series of open auditions to find two new cast members.

  • KidsCo to commission UK content

    1-Feb-2010

    KidsCo has produced a series of UNICEF interstitials and will start commissioning original content from UK indies within months.

  • BBC staff savage Thompson's pay argument

    29-Jan-2010

    BBC employees have rubbished claims by director general Mark Thompson that the corporation should pay senior execs large salaries in order to compete with the private sector.

  • Carrington: "Huge opportunity at under-played Turner"

    29-Jan-2010

    Michael Carrington’s move from CBeebies to Turner Broadcasting is likely to signal a major shake-up for the broadcaster and could herald an increase in UK commissions.

  • Bruce is ‘art detective’ in primetime BBC1 show

    28-Jan-2010

    Fiona Bruce is to bring art history to primetime audiences in a new detective-style series for BBC1.

  • Setback for Salford as CBeebies chief quits

    28-Jan-2010

    BBC Children’s move to Salford suffered a major setback yesterday after CBeebies controller Michael Carrington quit the corporation.

  • BBC World News counting on stars in regional push

    28-Jan-2010

    BBC World News is to emphasise star names in a shake-up of its schedules, in a bid to grow ad revenues in Asia, Asia Pacific and Europe.

  • Younge peps up BBC production morale

    28-Jan-2010

    The BBC’s new production chief Pat Younge has issued a rallying cry to staff, calling on them to shout about their hits like an indie.

  • RDF Media staff to split £50m from Zodiak sale

    28-Jan-2010

    RDF Media Group staff will share in a £50m jackpot later this spring if the company sells to Zodiak Entertainment as expected.

  • Michael McIntyre signs £500k BBC deal

    27-Jan-2010

    The BBC has signed a “golden handcuffs” deal with comedian Michael McIntyre, worth £500,000 for a year.

  • Lyons claims £29,000 in expenses in six months

    27-Jan-2010

    The 12 BBC Trustees racked up nearly £78,000 in expense claims between them over the last six months – with chairman Sir Michael Lyons accounting for £29,000 alone.

  • Carrington quits CBeebies

    27-Jan-2010

    CBeebies controller Michael Carrington is to leave the BBC for a senior role at Turner Broadcasting.

  • Second course for BBC3's Lunch Monkeys

    27-Jan-2010

    BBC3 has ordered a second series of Lunch Monkeys – despite a weak first run for the office-based sitcom.

  • Peston to tell BBC3 viewers how to vote

    26-Jan-2010

    Robert Peston is to tell teenagers how to vote in two short trails for BBC3 - part of a raft of new content around the general election.

  • Lords committee calls for kids TV tax breaks

    25-Jan-2010

    The campaign for tax credits for children’s programming has received a shot in the arm after a House of Lords select committee called for film tax credits to be extended to kids TV.

  • RDF to be bought by Zodiak

    22-Jan-2010

    Zodiak Entertainment is in advanced talks to buy RDF Media Group - a deal which would create the third largest TV production company in the world.

  • Warner Bros plans UK assault

    21-Jan-2010

    Warner Bros’ new recruit, Andrew Zein, is planning a buying spree of UK indies and super-indies and will launch a major assault on the UK market led by local remakes of its hit US shows.

  • BBC indie spend worth £1.4bn to UK

    21-Jan-2010

    The BBC’s spend with indies contributes £867m direct to the UK economy and is estimated to have a knock-on value of up to £1.4bn, according to a forthcoming study by Deloitte.

  • BBC Wales in bid to charm indies to drama hub

    21-Jan-2010

    BBC Wales is courting indies to join its new, multi-million-pound drama village in Roath Basin - but nearby BBC Bristol is worried it could be overshadowed.

  • DCD Media in talks to buy Steadfast Television

    21-Jan-2010

    September Films owner DCD Media is in advanced talks with Apace Media to acquire its bluelight specialist Steadfast Television.

  • BBC’s Shillinglaw hits out at ‘shit’ authored docs

    21-Jan-2010

    BBC science and natural history commissioning editor Kim Shillinglaw has shocked indies by branding the majority of ideas she receives for authored docs as “shit”.

  • Kim Shillinglaw, BBC science and natural history

    21-Jan-2010

    The BBC’s outspoken science and natural history commissioning editor wants to combine more accessible programming with more challenging pieces.

  • Kids newcomer wins Disney XD order

    20-Jan-2010

    Disney XD has commissioned its first UK production from Sassy Films marking the indie’s first foray into children’s programming.

  • Zein quits Tiger Aspect

    19-Jan-2010

    Tiger Aspect Productions managing director Andrew Zein is to leave the company after 13 years to join Warner Bros.

  • Occupation exec Patrick Spence to exit BBC NI

    19-Jan-2010

    Patrick Spence, head of drama for BBC Northern Ireland and the commissioning exec behind Occupation, is to step down from the role.

  • BBC to boldly go into astronomy archives

    19-Jan-2010

    The BBC is to make 40 years of astronomy content available to the public – drawing together material from Tomorrow’s World, Horizon, QED and Sky At Night.

  • Kudos names Haines legal boss

    19-Jan-2010

    Kudos Film and Television has named Martin Haines as its new head of legal and business affairs.

  • Kudos wins apocalypse drama order from BBC1

    18-Jan-2010

    Life On Mars producer Kudos Film and Television has landed a BBC1 commission for a post-apocalyptic drama set on another planet.

  • BBC confirms plans for Welsh drama hub

    18-Jan-2010

    The BBC has confirmed plans for a multi-million pound drama hub in Wales, that will house production of Doctor Who and Casualty.

  • EastEnders spin-off delivers 600,000

    18-Jan-2010

    EastEnders: E20 has been viewed nearly 600,000 times since it launched a week ago, Broadcast can reveal.

  • BBC Trust to review iPlayer

    15-Jan-2010

    The BBC Trust has fired the starting gun on a major review of the iPlayer and all of the BBC’s on-demand television services.

  • Record 7.4m audience for One Show

    14-Jan-2010

    A “snow special” helped The One Show to its highest ever audience last night, peaking with 7.4m (30.7% share) at 7.30pm.

  • iPlayer hits 114m in December

    14-Jan-2010

    The BBC iPlayer received more than 114 million requests in December, led by Top Gear and David Tennant’s exit from Doctor Who.

  • Ben Stephenson, BBC Drama

    14-Jan-2010

    BBC Drama has come under fire over the past year, but its commissioning controller is not looking back as he strives to improve the broadcaster’s output.

  • Shine promotes Shibley to boost UK client book

    14-Jan-2010

    Shine International has promoted Eli Shibley from manager to director of international distribution in line with plans to grow the company’s roster of third-party clients in the UK.

  • Heat on drama indies as film producers court BBC

    14-Jan-2010

    Drama indies are facing increasing competition from feature film producers who are turning to the BBC with projects that never made it as cinema releases.

  • C4 to cut back on Dispatches

    14-Jan-2010

    Channel 4 is cutting back core PSB documentaries strand Dispatches - but has vowed to maintain its overall budget for at least this year.

  • Think tank takes aim at BBC3

    14-Jan-2010

    A political think tank with close links to the Tory party is proposing a massive PSB shake-up that would see the BBC overhauled and BBC3 radically reworked or axed.

  • BBC launches drive to find female ent faces

    14-Jan-2010

    The BBC has made hunting for new female entertainment talent a key priority and could use Jonathan Ross’ departure to give women presenters a higher profile.

  • Peppa Pig to belt up over safety concerns

    14-Jan-2010

    Peppa Pig indie Astley Baker Davies is to spend three months adding car seats and seatbelts in to old episodes of the animated kids’ series because of health-and-safety fears.

  • Dennis to replace May on BBC wine show

    12-Jan-2010

    BBC2 is lining up Hugh Dennis to permanently replace James May on Oz and James’ Big Wine Adventure.

  • Jeff Anderson to edit Watchdog

    11-Jan-2010

    Former ITV current affairs chief Jeff Anderson is to be the new editor of Watchdog.

  • Talks reopen over ITV Salford move

    11-Jan-2010

    ITV is back in talks about taking space at Salford MediaCity - which could see Coronation Street move to a new home.

  • Watchdog editor steps down

    8-Jan-2010

    Watchdog editor Rob Unsworth has stepped down from the role to join the BBC’s editorial policy unit.

  • Norton will not replace Ross on Fridays

    8-Jan-2010

    BBC insiders have “categorically” ruled out Graham Norton as a replacement for Friday Night With Jonathan Ross.

  • Mansfield to head RDF USA

    4-Jan-2010

    RDF Media Group’s Grant Mansfield is to replace Chris Coelen as chief executive of RDF USA, following Coelen’s departure last month.

  • Carole Walker joins BBC News presenting team

    22-Dec-2009

    BBC political correspondent Carole Walker has been named as the fourth new, female BBC News presenter aged over 50.

  • DCD moves back into profit

    21-Dec-2009

    DCD Media edged up its turnover in the 12 months to 30 June and moved from a £24.4m operating loss into a £1m profit.

  • BBC Trust set to greenlight Canvas

    21-Dec-2009

    The BBC Trust is set to announce tomorrow that it has provisionally approved multi-broadcaster IPTV joint venture Project Canvas.

  • BBC names Telegraph's David Bond as sports editor

    18-Dec-2009

    Daily Telegraph journalist David Bond is to replace Mihir Bose as the BBC’s sports editor.

  • BBC's older female newsreaders revealed

    18-Dec-2009

    The BBC is expected to name Zeinab Badawi and Fiona Armstrong as two of its new female news presenters over 50.

  • Patrick Stewart's Macbeth to follow David Tennant Hamlet on BBC

    15-Dec-2009

    Patrick Stewart will reprise his role as Macbeth on the BBC next year, following the TV version of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Hamlet starring David Tennant, which airs this Christmas.

  • BBC2 backs second series of Miranda

    15-Dec-2009

    BBC2 has ordered a second series of Miranda, the pre-watershed studio comedy show starring Miranda Hart.

  • Target seals new sales for Roary

    15-Dec-2009

    Target Entertainment Group has sealed a spate of new sales for key children’s properties, led by Chapman Entertainment’s Roary the Racing Car.

  • BBC drama to explore social services fallout

    14-Dec-2009

    The BBC is to air a 90-minute film about three brothers split up by social services, produced by Kindle Entertainment and directed by The Devil’s Whore director Marc Munden.

  • Jungle Junction to air in 70 countries

    14-Dec-2009

    Playhouse Disney’s UK animation Jungle Junction is to air in more than 70 countries worldwide following successful launches in the UK and US.

  • BBCW forms German JV with All3Media

    14-Dec-2009

    BBC Worldwide is to partner with superindie All3Media to launch a new production company in Germany.

  • BBC to offer pitching tips

    14-Dec-2009

    The BBC is to host pitching workshops for indies and will post journalism masterclasses by Robert Peston and John Humphrys online, as part of a wide-ranging initiative to share its training resources.

  • Sarah Edwards bolsters BBC entertainment

    14-Dec-2009

    The BBC has recruited Sarah Edwards, head of entertainment development at TalkbackThames, to bolster its in-house entertainment production team.

  • Coelen exits RDF "by mutual agreement"

    11-Dec-2009

    RDF USA boss Chris Coelen has left the company by mutual agreement with group chief executive David Frank.

  • Murray to debunk German stereotypes for BBC4

    10-Dec-2009

    BBC4 plans to combat negative stereotypes about German culture in a two-part factual series fronted by comedian Al Murray.

  • I’m A Celeb… creator joins RDF

    10-Dec-2009

    RDF Media Group has poached ITV Studios controller of factual entertainment and I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! creator Natalka Znak to step up its assault on the US market.

  • Horton drops out of ITVS entertainment chief race

    10-Dec-2009

    ITV Studios controller of entertainment Claire Horton will not apply to become creative director of its new entertainment group and could leave the company in spring.

  • BBC ditches Siemens from £80m DMI scheme

    10-Dec-2009

    The BBC’s £80m Digital Media Initiative is floundering so severely that the corporation has ditched technology partner Siemens.

  • We Are The Champions returns for Sport Relief

    10-Dec-2009

    CBBC is to revive classic children’s show We Are The Champions for next year’s Sport Relief, with Phoenix Nights comic Paddy McGuinness as host.

  • Sony Pictures Television diverts resources away from drama

    10-Dec-2009

    Sony Pictures Television has effectively closed its UK drama production unit - but departing director of drama and comedy Serena Cullen is on the brink of getting another major project off the ground.

  • Pedigree Dogs was "on the money", producer claims

    9-Dec-2009

    Pedigree Dogs Exposed producer Jemima Harrison has claimed today’s Ofcom ruling as a victory after it rejected Kennel Club allegations that the doc was unfairly edited.

  • Ofcom rules against Pedigree Dogs Exposed

    9-Dec-2009

    Ofcom has upheld three of 19 complaints against BBC documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed, despite coming under severe pressure from the corporation.

  • BBC3 charts 9% year on year growth

    9-Dec-2009

    BBC3 is on course to increase its share of 16-to 34-year-olds to 4.4% by the end of the year – in line with growth for all the BBC’s digital channels.

  • MasterChef heading to France

    9-Dec-2009

    It was a long time coming, but MasterChef is finally going to teach the French how to cook.

  • BBCW may be sold off by Government

    8-Dec-2009

    The BBC is on a new collision course with Number 10 after the government included BBC Worldwide in a list of assets it may sell.

  • BBC hires first iPlayer scheduler

    8-Dec-2009

    The BBC has appointed its first “head of content release” – a new addition to the scheduling team that will oversee how content is launched on iPlayer as well as on linear TV.

  • Horne and Corden "on hold"

    8-Dec-2009

    The future of Mathew Horne and James Corden’s sketch show is looking shaky after the BBC suspended production of the second series.

  • Panorama's Sandy Smith moves to The One Show

    8-Dec-2009

    Panorama executive editor Sandy Smith is to move across to The One Show, replacing Tessa Finch as executive editor.

  • BBC2 greenlights Watson & Oliver pilot

    7-Dec-2009

    BBC2 has greenlit a pilot from female comedy duo Watson & Oliver to be made by Peep Show producer Robert Popper and French and Saunders exec Jo Sargent.

  • Cartoon Network rapped for breaking junk food rules

    7-Dec-2009

    Cartoon Network has fallen foul of UK junk food advertising laws – over ads broadcast in Spain.

  • Shaps to chair NFT board

    7-Dec-2009

    Simon Shaps, former ITV director of television, is to chair the board of the National Film and Television School.

  • RDF hires Bebo sales director

    7-Dec-2009

    RDF Media has hired Bebo’s Simon Podd as head of sales at its “brand-facing” digital arm, RDF Contact.

  • Shine TV names new commercial chief

    7-Dec-2009

    Shine TV has promoted John Gilbert to the new role of commercial director and re-hired Dragonfly’s Wayne Davison to replace him as director of legal and business affairs.

  • Target restructures as Dockery departs

    3-Dec-2009

    Target Entertainment Group will not replace Jane Dockery, director of sales and programming, following her departure to 2waytraffic International.

  • BBC taps Northern Ireland indies for entertainment shows

    3-Dec-2009

    Northern Ireland indies have landed a flurry of major BBC network orders, including an eight-part National Lottery series and an entertainment pilot starring Welsh comedian Rhod Gilbert.

  • BBC to run fresh TV fakery course

    3-Dec-2009

    Key daytime suppliers will be hauled into the BBC for yet another lesson on avoiding TV fakery following the Reef Television scandal over Sun, Sea And Bargain Spotting and other shows.

  • C4 bids to slash budgets for returning shows

    3-Dec-2009

    Channel 4 shows River Cottage and 8 Out Of 10 Cats are set to be produced on almost half their 2009 budget when they return next year.

  • Sky plans ‘muscular’ new Treasure Island

    3-Dec-2009

    Sky is lining up a major adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic pirate novel, Treasure Island, and is eyeing Eddie Izzard to play Long John Silver.

  • BBC2 to pilot Talkback’s The Rob Brydon Show

    3-Dec-2009

    BBC2 is piloting a new entertainment show fronted by Rob Brydon and produced by Talkback Thames.

  • Jane Root indie signs with BBCW

    2-Dec-2009

    Jane Root’s production company, Nutopia, has signed a two-year, first-look distribution deal with BBC Worldwide.

  • Garvie: business as usual under new BBCW rules

    2-Dec-2009

    New limits on BBC Worldwide imposed by the BBC Trust last week will not change the behaviour of the business or stop it taking stakes in indies, managing director of content and production Wayne Garvie has claimed.

  • BBC4 unveils love and sex season

    2-Dec-2009

    BBC4 is to dramatise DH Lawrence’s controversial novels The Rainbow and Women in Love in a new season about love and sexuality in 20th century literature.

  • Ofcom: no progress on PSB content for kids

    2-Dec-2009

    Ofcom chairman Collette Bowe has admitted the regulator has “not made much progress” in protecting public service content for children – but appears to have passed the buck to the nation at large.

  • C4 appoints Gorman head of entertainment

    1-Dec-2009

    Channel 4 has appointed Justin Gorman, executive producer of The Cube, as its new head of entertainment, Broadcast can reveal.

  • EastEnders wins diversity award

    1-Dec-2009

    EastEnders was applauded for its positive portrayal of disabled people last night, at the 2009 RADAR People of the Year Awards, which celebrate diversity across a wide spectrum of industries.

  • Question Time helps iPlayer to record figures

    1-Dec-2009

    Question Time pushed usage of BBC catch-up service iPlayer to a new high in October after nearly a million users requested the episode featuring BNP leader Nick Griffin, newly released figures reveal.

  • Nickelodeon triumphs at Children's Baftas

    30-Nov-2009

    Nickelodeon UK was named channel of the year at the Children’s Baftas last night, beating CBBC and CBeebies to the prize for the first time ever.

  • Richard Sambrook to leave BBC; Horrocks steps up

    30-Nov-2009

    Richard Sambrook, director of BBC global news, is to leave the corporation in March 2010 after nearly 30 years.

  • Aaqil Ahmed, BBC head of religion and ethics

    26-Nov-2009

    The BBC head of religion tells Katherine Rushton why the row over his appointment is trivial, how class is more crucial than race and what he plans to do with Songs Of Praise.

  • Red-tape protests unite speakers across industry

    26-Nov-2009

    Producers, politicians and talent all identified a common enemy at last week’s The Media Festival: excessive regulation.

  • BBC scraps plans to air ‘horny priests’ ballet

    26-Nov-2009

    The BBC has dropped plans to air a ballet inspired by impresario Sergei Diaghilev this Christmas – after discovering that it features a deformed Pope who rapes nuns.

  • UK animators fight for tax breaks

    26-Nov-2009

    The struggling UK animation sector is launching a last-ditch bid to get tax breaks from the government after losing another long-standing player – Triffic Films.

  • Snap buy boosts Endemol UK

    26-Nov-2009

    Endemol UK has become the country’s biggest indie after completing a whirlwind deal to buy Tiger Aspect and Darlow Smithson Productions for around £30m.

  • Endemol buys Tiger and Darlow

    24-Nov-2009

    Global production giant Endemol has bought Tiger Aspect and Darlow Smithson Productions for around £30m, ending the indies’ turbulent relationship with former parent IMG Media.

  • Huggers: Canvas may be delayed until 2011

    20-Nov-2009

    MEDIA FESTIVAL: Project Canvas will be delayed until 2011 unless the BBC Trust gives interim approval before the end of the year, BBC director of future media and technology Erik Huggers has revealed.

  • C4 plans to charge for web previews

    20-Nov-2009

    MEDIA FESTIVAL: Channel 4 is considering charging for online views of new programmes - before it airs them on television.

  • Give Ofcom the "off switch", says Gaunt

    20-Nov-2009

    MEDIA FESTIVAL: Shock jock Jon Gaunt has launched a blistering attack on the level of censorship in radio - claiming it will “kill” the medium and calling for Ofcom to be scrapped.

  • Major reform of TV regulation under Tories, says Hunt

    19-Nov-2009

    MEDIA FESTIVAL: The Tories have pledged a “massive reform” of television regulation, which would go “considerably further” than the light-touch approach in the US.

  • Ahoy! RDF to make ABC Family pirate drama

    19-Nov-2009

    RDF Media is developing a “swashbuckling” pirate drama for ABC Family, targeted at the Merlin demographic.

  • NHU head Jackson makes mark with key exec changes

    19-Nov-2009

    The BBC has named Life executive producer Mike Gunton the first creative director of the Natural History Unit, one of a number of changes by new NHU head Andrew Jackson.

  • Godwin: Blue Peter ‘100% safe’ on BBC

    19-Nov-2009

    New director of BBC Children’s Joe Godwin has vowed to safeguard Blue Peter and reintroduce Saturday morning magazine programmes as a major feature of the CBBC schedule.

  • Ragdoll uses ‘handmade’ animation in new series

    19-Nov-2009

    Ragdoll Productions has developed a “breakthrough” animation technique for its first preschool project since In The Night Garden.

  • BBC/Ofcom play down Dogs furore

    19-Nov-2009

    BBC and Ofcom officials moved to distance the organisations from the Pedigree Dogs Exposed furore yesterday after Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards telephoned director general Mark Thompson to discuss a series of damning leaks.

  • Maverick to check into children’s ward for ITV

    19-Nov-2009

    Maverick Television has won its first ITV1 primetime commission with a look at life in Europe’s largest children’s hospital.

  • Miranda / Strictly Come Dancing

    19-Nov-2009

    Katherine Rushton and David Constable share their views on the latest TV shows.

  • KidsCo picks up DangerMouse in FME detail

    18-Nov-2009

    KidsCo is to air DangerMouse, Count Duckula and other children’s classics after striking a deal with FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME).

  • BBC creates fund for northern indies

    18-Nov-2009

    BBC Children’s has ring-fenced £500,000 of its multiplatform budget exclusively for northern indies.

  • BBC axes Silver Street

    18-Nov-2009

    The BBC is to axe Asian Network soap Silver Street after five years on air – a move heavily criticised by the Writer’s Guild

  • BBC's Comedy College wins first commission

    18-Nov-2009

    The BBC’s Comedy College has won its first commission – a sitcom pilot by John Warburton for BBC3.

  • BBC: No plans to reveal all senior salaries

    18-Nov-2009

    The BBC will not publish the salary and expenses details of all its senior managers despite protestations that nearly 300 senior figures earning more than £100k were kept out of last Thursday’s disclosures.

  • BBC Trust blocks atheists on Thought for the Day

    17-Nov-2009

    Thought for the Day will remain closed to atheists and humanists, after the BBC Trust rejected accusations that the Radio 4 programme is in breach of editorial guidelines.

  • Private equity investors eye media as 2010 target

    17-Nov-2009

    The media industry will attract more private equity investment in 2010 – but indies are still struggling to fund productions, financial advisory firm Grant Thornton has claimed.

  • Ofcom recommends relaxing media ownership rules‎

    17-Nov-2009

    Ofcom has called for a radical shake-up of media ownership rules which would open the door for a new spate of consolidation.

  • BBC Parliament hits 2m mark

    16-Nov-2009

    BBC Parliament has doubled its audience since launching on Freeview – reaching more than 2 million viewers throughout October.

  • Tories may shrink BBC licence fee

    16-Nov-2009

    The Tories may force the BBC into accepting a reduced licence fee and axing its digital channels, shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has said.

  • BBC's Hadlow and Cohen earn equal wage

    12-Nov-2009

    BBC SALARIES: BBC2 controller Janice Hadlow earns exactly the same as BBC3’s Danny Cohen, despite the fact that she presides over a 24-hour ...

  • Top BBC execs tighten purse strings

    12-Nov-2009

    Senior BBC execs reigned in their spending habits in the three months to July – signalling that the harsh light of public scrutiny is affecting their ability to schmooze talent.

  • Google new writers, Guild tells TV execs

    12-Nov-2009

    The Writers’ Guild has advised TV execs to “Google” writers they have not worked with before, give feedback within eight weeks and to leave their “internal politics” out of script editing, in a new ‘good practice guide’ to working with TV writers.

  • Touchpaper opens in Wales as Scottish drama head joins Shed

    12-Nov-2009

    Being Human will move to Wales if a third series gets the greenlight, in line with plans by Touchpaper Television to open a new office in Cardiff.

  • Hadlow on hunt for ‘smart’ drama series

    12-Nov-2009

    BBC2 plans to air regular 30-minute dramas at 10pm and is on the hunt for more “smart” returning series to stop the channel’s drama output feeling too bitty.

  • BBC science head bows out after landmark series

    12-Nov-2009

    BBC head of science John Lynch is to step down at the end of this year, and will leave the BBC altogether in 2010 after delivering a major landmark series about the history of science.

  • Dad’s the word for BBC4 with documentary slate

    12-Nov-2009

    BBC4 is to investigate the truth behind the cliché “every child needs a father” in a slate of films about fatherhood.

  • CBeebies audio trial proves a turn-off with Radio 7 listeners

    12-Nov-2009

    The BBC has all but given up on children’s radio after a trial CBeebies block on Radio 7 lost the slot 40% of its listeners in the six months it was running.

  • Monty Halls to escape to Outer Hebrides for BBC2

    12-Nov-2009

    BBC2 has ordered a second series of Monty Halls’ Great Escape from Tigress Productions.

  • Camilla Campbell named head of C4 drama

    11-Nov-2009

    Camilla Campbell, the commissioner behind Shameless, is to replace Liza Marshall as Channel 4 head of drama, Broadcast can reveal.

  • BBCW wins 2Entertain appeal

    11-Nov-2009

    BBC Worldwide has triumphed over Woolworths’ liquidators in an appeal case over the value of DVD publishing business 2Entertain.

  • Bradshaw urged to "strong arm" watchdog over Canvas

    11-Nov-2009

    The House of Lords communications committee has urged culture secretary Ben Bradshaw to “strong arm” the Competition Commission into approving Project Canvas.

  • Peake to play "first modern lesbian" in BBC2 drama

    11-Nov-2009

    Criminal Justice’s Maxine Peake is to play 19th century landowning lesbian Anne Lister, in a BBC2 dramatisation of her “painfully honest” diaries.

  • Bragg returns to the BBC

    11-Nov-2009

    Melvyn Bragg, the longstanding face of arts coverage at ITV, is to return to BBC television where he started his career nearly 50 years ago.

  • Thompson reassures stars over Mock the Week censure

    10-Nov-2009

    BBC director general Mark Thompson has given reassurances to key corporation talent that Mock the Week can still be “edgy”, as he was quizzed last night over a BBC Trust ruling regarding a joke about athlete Rebecca Adlington.

  • BBC restricting drama writers, claims Poliakoff

    10-Nov-2009

    “Kafkaesque” committees at the BBC are artificially restricting writers and endangering television drama, Stephen Poliakoff has claimed.

  • C4 to follow fight for Harrow scholarships

    10-Nov-2009

    Channel 4 is to lift the curtain on the fight for scholarships to Harrow School, after Boomerang Plus secured behind the scenes access.

  • Top Gear rapped over gory "suicide"

    9-Nov-2009

    Ofcom has rapped Top Gear over the bloodiness of a sketch that portrayed a man committing suicide, sparking 50 viewer complaints.

  • Ofcom bows to BBC over Pedigree Dogs ruling

    9-Nov-2009

    Ofcom has held off publishing rulings about BBC1’s Pedigree Dogs Exposed documentary after sparking “unprecedented” anger from the corporation.

  • Nick Fraser, Storyville

    5-Nov-2009

    BBC4’s Storyville editor Nick Fraser has a reputation for being unrelentingly highbrow - so why does he want the series to be funnier? He reveals all to Katherine Rushton.

  • Malone changes tune for BBC schools show

    5-Nov-2009

    The Choir presenter Gareth Malone is to turn from music to education in a TwentyTwenty Television series for BBC2.

  • Gale’s BBC Bristol factual team gets three new execs

    5-Nov-2009

    BBC head of Bristol factual Ben Gale has added ballast to his development team with three further appointments.

  • Top-heavy BBC needed staff cuts, insiders say

    5-Nov-2009

    The BBC’s move to axe more than 100 senior managers has sparked outrage among staff - largely over the fact there were so many in the first place.

  • Shine recruits Nam and Stott for new positions

    5-Nov-2009

    Shine Group has hired former Five head of rights Steve Nam and former ITV Global Entertainment marketing chief Caroline Stott to fill two new roles.

  • Syfy in US transfer

    5-Nov-2009

    BBC3 supernatural comedy-drama Being Human is to get an American makeover after Syfy greenlit a 13-part remake from RDF Media USA.

  • Tony Blair and Dolly Parton to discuss faith on BBC1

    4-Nov-2009

    Fern Britton is to interview Dolly Parton and Tony Blair about their faith in a new BBC1 series this Christmas – one of the first commissions from its new religion chief Aaqil Ahmed.

  • BBC sports exec heads to college of journalism

    4-Nov-2009

    BBC head of sports news James Porter - one of the first senior figures to decline the move to Salford - has secured a new 12-month post in the corporation’s college of journalism.

  • Jason Horton to head BBC South

    4-Nov-2009

    The BBC has hired Jason Horton as its new head of BBC South, replacing Mike Hapgood who retires at the end of the year.

  • Gordon Ramsay to co-pro MasterChef US

    3-Nov-2009

    MasterChef is finally heading to the States - featuring Gordon Ramsay.

  • Tinopolis finalises Pioneer deal

    30-Oct-2009

    Welsh production giant Tinopolis has finalised its acquisition of Pioneer Productions in a deal thought to be worth between £12m and £15m in a mix of cash and shares.

  • More than 100 BBC senior managers to go

    30-Oct-2009

    The BBC is to axe more than 100 of its senior managers in a bid to slash its pay bill by a quarter over the next three and a half years.

  • BBC archive could be decades away

    29-Oct-2009

    The BBC is to launch an online catalogue of every programme it has broadcast by the end of next year - but could take decades to release a full online archive.

  • Thompson restricts BNP to once a year

    29-Oct-2009

    The BBC will give the BNP a platform on a range of political programmes - but no more than once a year, director general Mark Thompson has said.

  • Being Human to get American makeover

    29-Oct-2009

    Being Human is to get an American makeover after Syfy greenlit a 13-part remake from RDF Media USA.

  • Tinopolis poised to buy Pioneer

    29-Oct-2009

    Welsh production giant Tinopolis Group is on the brink of buying Pioneer Productions - its first acquisition since going private in summer 2008.

  • Occupation director: BBC ‘debilitated’ by job fears

    29-Oct-2009

    BBC staff are plagued by “morbid job insecurity”, which is “debilitating” the corporation’s ability to deliver its public service remit, Occupation director Nick Murphy has claimed.

  • Big Talk secures BBC2 urban church sitcom

    29-Oct-2009

    The Full Monty director Peter Cattaneo is to return to his TV roots for a BBC2 sitcom about a frustrated urban Anglican vicar.

  • BBC orders legal, art and war docs from regions

    29-Oct-2009

    BBC1 is to investigate libel law in a 6 x 60-minute ob doc co-production from BBC Scotland and Matchlight as part of a batch of orders from the nations and regions.

  • Cash Cab enters US syndication

    29-Oct-2009

    Lion Television’s US daytime hit Cash Cab is to go into syndication with MGM Domestic Television.

  • Flame TV wins BBC daytime order

    29-Oct-2009

    The BBC has ordered more than 40 new hours from Flame TV as part of a raft of recommissions by daytime controller Liam Keelan.

  • Jana Bennett, BBC Vision

    29-Oct-2009

    Director of BBC Vision Jana Bennett talks about BBC bashing, shifting production to the nations and regions and the reasoning behind the Strictly/X Factor scheduling clash.

  • Mark Gatiss to adapt HG Wells novel for BBC4

    28-Oct-2009

    League of Gentleman star Mark Gatiss is to star in his own adaptation of HG Wells’ sci-fi romance, The First Men In The Moon, for BBC4.

  • BBC to give BNP annual platform

    28-Oct-2009

    The BBC will give the BNP a platform on a range of political programmes but no more than once a year, director general Mark Thompson has said.

  • BBCW: Lonely Planet is not for sale

    28-Oct-2009

    BBC Worldwide has moved to reject rumours that it is planning to sell Lonely Planet.

  • Toksvig wades into TV ageism row

    27-Oct-2009

    The television industry does not value older women as much as their male counterparts, and women tend to get ahead by being young and pretty, comedian Sandi Toksvig has claimed.

  • BBC's Gaelic channel under review

    26-Oct-2009

    The BBC Trust is to consider whether Gaelic TV channel BBC Alba should get a Freeview slot, as part of a review of the service launched today.

  • BBC to release Freeview capacity

    26-Oct-2009

    The BBC is to auction off two of its under-used Freeview streams, to stop them “sitting idle” in the run up to 2012.

  • Broadcast goes to the Prix Europa

    26-Oct-2009

    The Prix Europa has established itself as one of the most important award ceremonies in the European broadcast calendar. So why does the UK continue to give it the cold shoulder? Katherine Rushton travelled to Berlin to find out.

  • Occupation picks up Prix Europa

    26-Oct-2009

    Occupation, the BBC Iraq war drama produced by Kudos, has won the Prix Europa for the best episode of a drama series or serial.

  • Boomerang Plus profits down 19%

    26-Oct-2009

    Welsh indie Boomerang Plus saw a 19% drop in operating profits in the year to 31 May because of delayed and cancelled projects, commissions which underperformed financially, and a “general downward pressure” on programming budgets.

  • BBC fears 30% cuts under Conservatives

    22-Oct-2009

    Senior BBC staff expect an incoming Tory government to usher in a period of radical change and shrink the corporation’s income by around 30% a year.

  • Web drama comes of age with EastEnders spin-off

    22-Oct-2009

    EastEnders is to get a younger-skewing online spin-off in what will be the UK’s highest profile web drama to date.

  • Furious BBC to give up on Open iPlayer

    22-Oct-2009

    The BBC’s plans to share iPlayer appear to be dead in the water after insiders revealed it will not submit a new commercial proposal to the BBC Trust.

  • Chiles goes from One to Ten with Avalon spin-off

    22-Oct-2009

    Avalon Television is lining up a late-night spin-off of The One Show for the BBC that is expected to feature comedian Frank Skinner alongside Adrian Chiles.

  • BBC could drop WoCC for Salford kids move

    22-Oct-2009

    The BBC is looking at temporarily reducing or even scrapping the in-house guarantee for children’s content when it moves key departments to Salford.

  • BBC3 reality show to chart lives of junior medics

    22-Oct-2009

    BBC3 is to follow five doctors in their first four months of the job for a 6 x 60-minute series shot in the style of a glossy medical drama.

  • Modern Family / Life

    22-Oct-2009

    Michael Rosser and Katherine Rushton give their verdict on the latest shows.

  • Five's Dutta heads to BBC Bristol

    21-Oct-2009

    Five commissioning editor Robi Dutta is to join BBC Bristol as executive producer for factual, with particular focus on BBC3.

  • Over 50s brand TV ageist

    21-Oct-2009

    More than two thirds of over 50s believe there is clear evidence of ageism against older presenters in Britain, and around a quarter of those name the BBC as the worst offender - more than any other broadcaster.

  • One Show boss to lead BBC in-house development

    20-Oct-2009

    Tessa Finch is to leave The One Show and become head of development for Vision Productions.

  • Trust rejects iPlayer sharing proposals

    20-Oct-2009

    The BBC must go back to the drawing board with its proposals to share the iPlayer with other broadcasters, after the BBC Trust said it was “too complicated” to assess properly.

  • BBC axes Christmas party budget

    20-Oct-2009

    The BBC has pulled the plug on Christmas parties “in light of the economic climate”.

  • Boomerang seals £2.4m deal with Indus

    20-Oct-2009

    Listed indie Boomerang Plus has completed its acquisition of Amazon-producer Indus Films in a deal worth just under £2.4m.

  • Mock the Week "humiliated" Olympic sportswoman

    19-Oct-2009

    The BBC Trust has censured the BBC over a joke on Mock The Week that branded Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington “very dirty”.  

  • BBC invitation to BNP "unlawful", claims Hain

    19-Oct-2009

    The BBC’s decision to allow BNP leader Nick Griffin onto Question Time is “unlawful” and runs “the very serious risk of legal challenge,” Welsh secretary Peter Hain has claimed.

  • Janet Lee to edit The Culture Show

    16-Oct-2009

    Imagine editor Janet Lee is to move across to The Culture Show, replacing Eddie Morgan.

  • Andrew Jackson at centre of BBC row - before he even starts

    15-Oct-2009

    Incoming BBC Natural History Unit boss Andrew Jackson has found himself at the centre of a conflict of interest row - weeks before he even starts the new job.

  • Moffat developing a ‘British Heimat’ for BBC1

    15-Oct-2009

    BBC1 is developing a British equivalent of the German television landmark, Heimat, penned by Criminal Justice writer Peter Moffat.

  • Tiger and Darlow ‘orphaned’

    15-Oct-2009

    Tiger Aspect Productions and Darlow Smithson Productions have been “orphaned” by parent IMG Media after it backtracked on its strategy to diversify beyond sport and put them up for sale.

  • Sky on IPTV box from next year

    15-Oct-2009

    Sky’s movies and Premier League football will be available via an IPTV set-top box from early next year, after the satellite company struck a deal with manufacturer Fetch TV.

  • Bagpuss TV return is blocked by Postgate

    15-Oct-2009

    Bagpuss is unlikely to return to TV after all, as creator Oliver Postgate’s son does not want a “heartless” new version that could be “tarnished” by “lurid” CGI animation.

  • Barraclough leaves Mentorn to set up production company

    15-Oct-2009

    Mentorn Media head of factual entertainment Dan Barraclough has left to set up his own production outfit, taking executive producer Hannah Wyatt with him.

  • Frustrated Henderson to leave Presentable

    15-Oct-2009

    Gavin Henderson, head of programmes at RDF Media’s Welsh indie Presentable, is poised to leave the company after losing faith in the nations and regions commissioning drive.

  • Boomerang closes in on Indus

    15-Oct-2009

    Listed indie Boomerang Plus is poised to buy Amazon producer Indus Films.

  • Tiger Aspect and Darlow Smithson up for sale

    14-Oct-2009

    IMG Media has put Tiger Aspect Productions and Darlow Smithson Productions up for sale, either separately, or as a package that could be worth up to £40m.

  • BBC to revive Upstairs Downstairs

    12-Oct-2009

    The BBC is to revive its classic television saga Upstairs Downstairs, with Jean Marsh reprising her original role as Rose the parlour maid - who has been promoted to housekeeper.

  • BBC2 greenlights Simon Amstell sitcom

    12-Oct-2009

    BBC2 has commissioned a six-part run of Grandma’s House from Tiger Aspect Productions, written by and starring Simon Amstell.

  • BBC defends BNP radio interview

    12-Oct-2009

    The BBC has come under fire for the way it handled a controversial with two BNP activists, on Radio 1 Newsbeat.

  • Pact: freezing online services a 'car crash' for suppliers

    9-Oct-2009

    Pact has launched a blistering attack on the BBC Trust’s “shocking” decision to freeze the budgets for three of the corporation’s online learning services – claiming it will be a “car crash” for indie suppliers.

  • BBC Trust freezes three learning services

    8-Oct-2009

    The BBC Trust has frozen the budgets of three of the BBC’s online learning services following complaints from the British Educational Suppliers Association – one of the organisations that sealed the fate of BBC Jam.

  • Animal baby series to kick off BBC Bristol partnership

    8-Oct-2009

    BBC1 has unveiled plans for an “emotionally charged” natural history series about the attempts to save some of the rarest animals on earth.

  • Hilary Salmon, BBC executive producer

    8-Oct-2009

    Executive producer Hilary Salmon may be rather reserved, but she’s the woman behind the corporation’s noisiest dramas. Katherine Rushton finds out why she has a lot to shout about.

  • Shine to revive fortunes of brass band for BBC2

    8-Oct-2009

    BBC2 hopes to do for local brass bands what Strictly has done for ballroom dancing with a three-part Shine Television series fronted by Sue Perkins.

  • Small Potatoes / Mipcom madness

    8-Oct-2009

    Katherine Rushton gives her thoughts on a new kids show from MipJunior and Mipcom madness in general.

  • Sky set to take drama from Morrissey indie

    8-Oct-2009

    Sky 1 is poised to commission a high-end police drama, starring David Morrissey and based on the novels of Mark Billingham.

  • O’Grady will not move to Sky 1 as talks break down

    8-Oct-2009

    Sky 1’s talks with Paul O’Grady to take his eponymous chatshow to the channel have broken down.

  • Industry’s gloom lifts at Mipcom

    8-Oct-2009

    The Doomsday feeling that has hung over TV for the past 18 months finally appeared to be turning at this year’s Mipcom and MipJunior - giving way to a Dunkirk spirit of collaboration instead.

  • Sony to sell its stake in Shine

    8-Oct-2009

    Sony Pictures Entertainment’s 21% stake in Liz Murdoch’s burgeoning Shine Group is up for grabs.

  • BBC Trust issues public consultation on editorial guidelines

    8-Oct-2009

    The BBC Trust has cracked down on “intimidation, humiliation and aggressive behaviour”, in a post-Sachsgate overhaul of the BBC’s editorial guidelines.

  • ITV in talks to co-pro Single Handed

    7-Oct-2009

    ITV is in talks with RTE to come in as a co-pro partner on the second series of Touchpaper Television’s police drama, Single Handed.

  • BBCW greenlights first CBeebies series

    6-Oct-2009

    MIPCOM: BBC Worldwide Channels has commissioned its first original international production for CBeebies, which will launch in Australia and later migrate to the UK.

  • Chapman strikes first BBC deals

    6-Oct-2009

    Chapman Entertainment has struck its first deal with the BBC, which has taken its new preschool properties Little Charley Bear and Rah Rah The Noisy Lion.

  • KidsCo eyes 2010 launch

    6-Oct-2009

    KidsCo has set a 2010 deadline for its UK launch and is considering going free to air.

  • New Wallace & Gromit heading down under

    5-Oct-2009

    MIPCOM: Aardman Animations has pre-sold its live action Wallace & Gromit science show it to ABC Australia.

  • FME launches kids division

    5-Oct-2009

    MIPCOM: FremantleMedia Enterprises has launched a new children’s and family entertainment division, and aims to strike partnerships with five or six kids suppliers before MipTV 2010.

  • Now Coolabi agrees "Chorion deal is over"

    1-Oct-2009

    Coolabi has finally confirmed what Chorion says has been the case for weeks: the talks to buy Chorion’s crime division are over.

  • Mark Bell, BBC arts

    1-Oct-2009

    The man with the BBC’s arts tick is looking to throw off cultural programming’s elitist image and prove that there is more to arts coverage than just music.

  • Aussie Masterchef to air in UK

    1-Oct-2009

    Australian MasterChef will make its UK debut on Watch after UKTV acquired the rights from Shine International.

  • BBC hires Merton for Hollywood and Euro cinema docs

    1-Oct-2009

    Comedian Paul Merton is to front his first factual show on BBC2 in one of two commissions drawing on his love of cinema.

  • BBC seeks out indies for hour-long Wonderlands

    1-Oct-2009

    The BBC is to extend the length of its Wonderland docs from 40 minutes to an hour and open the strand to indie producers for the first time.

  • CITV to split target audiences with preschool strand launch

    1-Oct-2009

    ITV is to launch a dedicated preschool strand hosted by animated ‘acorn-like’ creatures to differentiate it from the main CITV brand, which will now target older kids.

  • BBC execs round on ent team

    1-Oct-2009

    The BBC’s in-house entertainment unit is under fire from the corporation’s own staff for failing to come up with enough new hits.

  • Coolabi prepares to bring Bagpuss out of retirement

    1-Oct-2009

    Bagpuss, Ivor The Engine and The Clangers could be returning to TV after Coolabi struck a deal with the creators of the kids programmes’ to allow it to make new series.

  • All3 launches major US push

    1-Oct-2009

    All3Media is planning a major US offensive following a deal made by Objective Productions to remake ITV1 gameshow The Cube for Fox.

  • Robert Webb named BBC Worldwide chairman

    30-Sep-2009

    BBC non-executive director Robert Webb QC is to be the next chairman of BBC Worldwide.

  • Alesha Dixon to front BBC3 doc

    30-Sep-2009

    A BBC3 doc about the implications of growing up without a father is to be fronted by singer and Strictly Come Dancing judge Alesha Dixon, to be produced by Flame TV.

  • Chorion: Coolabi talks "definitely off"

    30-Sep-2009

    Chorion has revealed that Coolabi’s bid to buy its crime division has collapsed after the listed indie failed to secure enough funding.

  • Coolabi: Chorion talks ongoing but will end soon

    30-Sep-2009

    Coolabi is seeking a “swift resolution” to its sales talks with Chorion, which have seen its shares suspended for nearly five months.

  • BBC to cut 90 jobs

    29-Sep-2009

    The BBC is to axe 90 jobs in a restructure of its talent and rights negotiation team.

  • KidsCo to launch in Oz with Foxtel

    29-Sep-2009

    KidsCo is to launch in Australia on Foxtel and Austar, in a deal which gives them access to an extra 1.5 million homes.

  • Andrew Davies slams "downmarket" BBC drama

    29-Sep-2009

    Screenwriting legend Andrew Davies has hit out at the BBC for moving its period drama “downmarket” and moving away from more obscure classics.

  • Johnny Vegas heads CBBC slate

    28-Sep-2009

    Johnny Vegas is to play himself in a new CBBC comedy, in which he balances his day-to-day showbiz career with a secret life as a puppet hunter.

  • Godwin to run BBC children's

    28-Sep-2009

    Joe Godwin has landed the most powerful job in British kids TV, after being named the new director of BBC children’s.

  • Blick turns to drama for BBC2 thriller

    25-Sep-2009

    Marion and Geoff creator Hugo Blick is to move away from comedy and into fully blown crime drama with a major series for BBC2.

  • BBC Trust to review BBC1, 2 and 4

    24-Sep-2009

    The BBC Trust has launched its biggest service review to date, encompassing BBC1, BBC2, BBC4 and the red button service.

  • Bennett: We moved Strictly to serve audiences

    24-Sep-2009

    The BBC scheduled Strictly Come Dancing against The X Factor “exclusively” to serve audiences, BBC Vision director Jana Bennett has claimed.

  • BBC eyes up older women

    24-Sep-2009

    BBC director general Mark Thompson has set BBC News a 12-month deadline to recruit a female presenter over 50, as the corporation battles accusations of ageism.

  • Five revives Shake! with Disney

    24-Sep-2009

    Five is to reinstate Shake!, the tween strand it dropped in 2007, after signing a strategic sponsorship deal with Disney.

  • Pact slams ITV for ‘bullying’ suppliers to waive terms of trade

    24-Sep-2009

    Pact has hit out at ITV’s tough new negotiating tactics, condemning the letters of intent it is sending to would-be suppliers that demand they waive the terms of trade.

  • Turner’s Arnesen lines up animation before exiting

    24-Sep-2009

    Turner Broadcasting’s European animation studio has won its first-ever commission - but the executive who got it off the ground, Finn Arnesen, is leaving the company.

  • BBC2 backs Gardeners’ World ‘punk rock’ spin-off

    24-Sep-2009

    BBC2 has greenlit a 6 x 30-minute Gardeners’ World spin-off, fronted by the series’ assistant presenter, Alys Fowler.

  • Fry’s indie plans to film series of Wilde mysteries

    24-Sep-2009

    Stephen Fry’s indie is planning to turn a set of novels about Oscar Wilde into a TV drama franchise.

  • BBC2 probes tricks of the memory in Eyewitness series

    24-Sep-2009

    BBC2 will investigate the reliability of eyewitness accounts in a 3 x 60-minute series funded by the Open University.

  • US indie DLT sets up joint venture with NI’s Waddell

    24-Sep-2009

    DLT Entertainment, the US indie behind My Family, has launched a joint venture with Northern Ireland-based Waddell Media.

  • Warwick takes on producing role at Shine format unit

    24-Sep-2009

    Former ITV entertainment commissioner Paula Warwick has joined Shine Group as part of its new format-sharing unit, Shine Network.

  • Finn Arnesen quits Turner after 16 years

    23-Sep-2009

    Finn Arnesen, senior vice president and general manager at Turner Broadcasting, is leaving the company.

  • Heggessey calls for iPlayer charge

    23-Sep-2009

    Lorraine Heggessey, Talkback Thames chief executive and a former controller of BBC1, has called on the BBC to charge for iPlayer content.

  • Saul Nassé named controller of BBC Learning

    22-Sep-2009

    The BBC has named Saul Nassé as its new controller of Learning, replacing Liz Cleaver who opted not to follow the department to Salford.

  • Chorion profits leap but Coolabi sale delayed

    21-Sep-2009

    Chorion has posted a 63% leap in profits for the 12 months to April – but remains silent on talks to sell its crime division to Coolabi, amid claims the listed children’s producer is having trouble raising the money.

  • Eyre slams BBC drama "dereliction of duty"

    21-Sep-2009

    Drama veteran and former BBC governor Richard Eyre has accused the corporation of a “dereliction of duty” for turning its back on classic playwrights.

  • TV bosses call for review of regulation "shackles"

    18-Sep-2009

    RTS CAMBRIDGE: TV’s heavyweights have issued a near-unanimous call for a major review of television regulation, with a clear majority also backing partial television news.

  • Geldof blasts govt over NI regional news snub

    18-Sep-2009

    Ten Alps co-founder Bob Geldof has blasted the government for proposing Independently Funded News Consortium pilots in all the nations except Northern Ireland.

  • Thompson signals review will reduce size of BBC

    18-Sep-2009

    RTS CAMBRIDGE: BBC director general Mark Thompson has given his clearest signal yet that the review of the BBC’s “size and scope” will result in a smaller organisation.

  • C4's Johnson will lead hunt for chief executive

    18-Sep-2009

    RTS CAMBRIDGE: Channel 4 chairman Luke Johnson has confirmed he will personally lead the search for Andy Duncan’s successor, despite the fact he too is standing down in January.

  • Jana Bennett to stand down from BBCW board

    18-Sep-2009

    BBC director of vision Jana Bennett is to step down from the BBC Worldwide board in a shake-up to prevent potential “conflicts of interest”.

  • Bradshaw may scrap BBC Trust before Charter Review

    17-Sep-2009

    RTS CAMBRIDGE: The row between the BBC Trust and the government intensified late yesterday evening, with Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw suggesting he could scrap the Trust before the next Charter Review.

  • The wind of change blows through BBC

    17-Sep-2009

    As the BBC faces its biggest overhaul since the 2006 Creative Future review, Katherine Rushton examines executive reaction to the shake-up and what the changes will mean for the corporation.

  • Pitt oversees Screen England united front

    17-Sep-2009

    The nine regional screen agencies have joined forces as Screen England, and recruited docs veteran Ruth Pitt and former Channel 4 head of corporate relations John Newbigin to head the new operation.

  • BBC eyes online docs archive

    17-Sep-2009

    The BBC is considering creating a permanent online portal to house full-length documentaries as part of its plan to revolutionise how it uses its archive.

  • BBC cuts My Family budget; orders two new series

    17-Sep-2009

    BBC1 has cut the budget for My Family by 15%, and commissioned a 10th and 11th series of the sitcom.

  • Shine exhumes corpses for BBC2’s History Cold Case

    17-Sep-2009

    BBC2 has ordered a history series from Shine Television, billed as “Time Team for dead bodies”.

  • Caroline Raphael, Radio 4

    17-Sep-2009

    Risky, edgy, experimental: BBC Radio 4’s commissioning editor talks to Katherine Rushton about comedy, compliance, self-censorship and using the radio waves to strike TV gold.

  • Redmond: BBC and C4 must work together

    17-Sep-2009

    RTS CAMBRIDGE: Grange Hill creator Phil Redmond has called for BBC and Channel 4 to be merged as a single “creative content provider” in a bid to save teen television.

  • Palin slams BBC "interference"

    16-Sep-2009

    Veteran broadcaster Michael Palin has hit out at the culture of “managerial interference” at the BBC, claiming it no longer allows the sort of creative freedom that led to Monty Python.

  • DCMS and BBC Trust at war over top-slicing

    15-Sep-2009

    The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has entered a war of research with the BBC Trust – issuing new findings about public opinion on top-slicing that directly counter findings by the BBC’s governing body.

  • Trust concludes on BBC events sponsorship

    15-Sep-2009

    The BBC Trust has formally banned commercial sponsorship of on-air BBC events, as part of a shake up of its sponsorship rules.

  • BBC hands "size and scope" review to ex-Tory advisor

    15-Sep-2009

    The BBC has handed the review of its “size and scope” to John Tate, formerly a senior Tory advisor who has worked closely with David Cameron.

  • Nick Jr to launch new morning block for kids

    11-Sep-2009

    Nickelodeon UK is ramping up its pre-school presence with the launch of a new daily two-hour block designed to help get children ready for the day ahead.

  • Analysis: are you ready for musical chairs?

    11-Sep-2009

    The industry is bracing itself for another round of executive musical chairs - with insiders predicting a complex series of moves could end with ITV’s Elaine Bedell and Alison Sharman going head to head to become the broadcaster’s director of television.

  • BBC links up with Ecosse for Atkinson adaptation

    10-Sep-2009

    The BBC is lining up a major adaptation of Kate Atkinson’s Behind The Scenes At The Museum from Mistresses producer Ecosse Films.

  • Trust review to shrink BBC

    10-Sep-2009

    The BBC is facing its biggest shake-up since 2006’s Creative Future strategy after the BBC Trust fired the starting gun on a major review of its size and scope.

  • BBC loadsamoney row rages

    10-Sep-2009

    Greg Dyke and Will Wyatt have waded into the BBC pay row - agreeing with the Tories that corporation exec salaries are too high.

  • The Culture Show’s Morgan to drive BBC production training

    10-Sep-2009

    The Culture Show editor Eddie Morgan is stepping down from the BBC2 show to become head of the college of production within the new BBC Academy.

  • BBC1 kick-starts football magazine for all regions

    10-Sep-2009

    BBC1 is launching a local Football League magazine show with different versions across England, and is inviting indie producers to pitch for three of the seven production contracts.

  • CBeebies head counts himself out of kids’ role

    10-Sep-2009

    CBeebies controller Michael Carrington has ruled himself out of the running for BBC Children’s controller - leaving Nickelodeon UK boss Howard Litton and CBBC head of drama and acquisitions Steven Andrew as frontrunners.

  • RDF Rights seals deal to distribute Macqueen films

    10-Sep-2009

    RDF Rights has signed a deal to distribute the first slate of films from former C4 head of documentaries Angus Macqueen’s indie Ronachan Films.

  • BBC boss hits back at Murdoch

    9-Sep-2009

    Mark Thompson has launched a return attack on James Murdoch, savaging his MacTaggart as “desperately out of touch” with the views of the audience.

  • Trust review set to shrink BBC

    9-Sep-2009

    The BBC Trust has fired the starting gun on a process which is likely to see the BBC rein in the size and scope of its activity – said by a senior BBC exec to be “as big as Creative Futures”.

  • BBC Trust to examine compliance in wake of Sachsgate

    8-Sep-2009

    The BBC Trust is to examine the BBC’s compliance procedures for radio and whether it has done enough to toughen them up after Sachsgate.

  • Tories plan BBC pay clampdown

    8-Sep-2009

    The Tories are planning to cap pay for all BBC executives at £192,250 – the same level as the Prime Minister – if they come into power.

  • BBC Switch to launch "YouTube X Factor"

    7-Sep-2009

    BBC Switch is to launch a talent hunt billed as a “YouTube X Factor”, made by Hat Trick Productions.

  • Terry Wogan hands R2 breakfast slot to Chris Evans

    7-Sep-2009

    Veteran DJ Sir Terry Wogan this morning confirmed he is to quit his BBC Radio 2 breakfast show after 27 years, with Chris Evans taking over the slot.

  • BBC1 casts Wire star in Luther

    4-Sep-2009

    Actor Idris Elba, who played Stringer Bell in acclaimed US crime drama The Wire, is to star in BBC1 thriller Luther.

  • BBC reviews web commissions

    3-Sep-2009

    The BBC has launched a major review of its approved supplier and online commissioning systems following complaints from angry suppliers that the current processes are “shrouded in secrecy”.

  • BBC radio boss pledges to move away from commercial rivals

    3-Sep-2009

    BBC director of audio and music Tim Davie has set out his ambition to steer the corporation’s radio output away from commercial rivals.

  • BBC steps up Project Canvas work

    3-Sep-2009

    The BBC is moving full steam ahead with Project Canvas, hiring staff to work on the IPTV service and empowering the Digital TV Group to hammer out the technical details.

  • The Family’s baby sequel

    3-Sep-2009

    Channel 4 is to apply the multicamera ob doc format it used in The Family to a maternity ward.

  • Murdoch speech signals the start of a perfect BBC storm

    3-Sep-2009

    James Murdoch’s furious MacTaggart attack on the BBC has sparked accusations from other industry chiefs that the corporation is ignoring the “perfect storm” brewing around it.

  • Mulville and Fry savage TV’s compliance culture

    3-Sep-2009

    Jimmy Mulville and Stephen Fry launched an angry Edinburgh tirade against the box-ticking culture of TV compliance, sparking relief among execs who welcomed the “bullet-proof ” talent’s decision to say “what everyone else is thinking”.

  • So TV lands CBBC 360 order

    3-Sep-2009

    So Television has landed a CBBC order for almost 20 hours of scripted comedy, including a third run of sketch show Sorry I’ve Got No Head and a new sitcom spin-off.

  • Testimony to look at history of being a father for BBC4

    3-Sep-2009

    BBC4 is to examine how fatherhood has evolved over the past 100 years, in a 3 x 60-minute series made by Testimony Films.

  • BBC2 serves up Restaurant spin-offs

    2-Sep-2009

    BBC2 has ordered two new spin-off shows from The Restaurant including a Raymond Blanc cookery series and a reality show about event catering.

  • BBC names Gompertz as "Peston for the arts"

    2-Sep-2009

    BBC News has ended its hunt for a new arts editor, naming the Tate’s Will Gompertz as its “Robert Peston for the arts”.

  • Graham Norton indie plays down C4 rumours

    1-Sep-2009

    Graham Norton’s indie has poured cold water on reports he will leave the BBC and return to Channel 4 when his deal expires later this year.

  • Father's fury over BBC Ipswich murders drama

    1-Sep-2009

    The father of one of the victims of Ipswich serial killer Steve Wright has lambasted the BBC over its plans for a drama based on the murders.

  • Disney buys Marvel for $4bn

    1-Sep-2009

    The Walt Disney Company has acquired Marvel Entertainment in a $4bn (£2.5bn) deal, positioning Spide-Man and the X-Men alongside Hannah Montana and High School Musical.

  • Sky 1's Murphy moots 3D interview series

    30-Aug-2009

    EDINBURGH: Sky 1 controller Stuart Murphy has revealed plans for a 50% boost in scripted content and a 3D interview series hosted by a “famous footballer”.

  • Stephen Fry savages TV box-ticking

    29-Aug-2009

    EDINBURGH: Stephen Fry has said editorial compliance staff should “fuck off” in a rail against a culture of inflexible rules which is damaging realism in television.

  • Wallace and Gromit to front science show

    29-Aug-2009

    EDINBURGH: Animated characters Wallace and Gromit are to present a new BBC1 programme about inventions.

  • Jay Hunt speaks of distress over bad press

    29-Aug-2009

    EDINBURGH: BBC1 controller Jay Hunt has spoken of her distress at negative press coverage about her – and fears that it will discourage other women from taking senior TV roles in the future.

  • Comedian to host BBC3 news show

    29-Aug-2009

    BBC3 has lined up comedian Russell Howard to host a younger-skewing take on Charlie Brooker’s Newswipe, in a bid to boost the channel’s coverage of current affairs.

  • Clarkson: stars who do stunts may get hurt or die

    28-Aug-2009

    EDINBURGH: Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson has scorned health and safety checks, saying presenters who do dangerous stunts will inevitably sometimes get hurt or die.

  • Clock ticking on Lloyd Webber ITV deal

    28-Aug-2009

    Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber is fighting to extricate himself from his BBC contract so he can move to ITV before his rights to stage the Wizard of Oz expire in 2010.

  • Five freezes drama and comedy commissions

    28-Aug-2009

    EDINBURGH: Five channel controller Richard Woolfe has warned it will not be able to commission original drama or comedy until after the recession.

  • Illegal TV downloading habits revealed

    28-Aug-2009

    New research has revealed that US drama Heroes was the most popular illegal download this year, while Top Gear also proved popular with filesharers.

  • Top TV stars overpaid, says poll

    28-Aug-2009

    Four out of five people think Britain’s top television presenters do not deserve their salaries, putting them ahead of bankers and MPs as one of the country’s most overpaid groups of workers.

  • Izzard to star in feelgood CBBC Christmas drama

    27-Aug-2009

    CBBC has ordered a flagship Christmas family drama starring Eddie Izzard as a mysterious man with the ability to “recover the lost”.

  • Mirren to star in Brighton Rock remake

    27-Aug-2009

    Helen Mirren is to star in a 1960s adaptation of Graham Greene’s classic novel Brighton Rock, produced by Kudos Pictures.

  • M&A: Perfect partner or failed union?

    27-Aug-2009

    For some, it’s a marriage made in heaven, for others, a relationship from hell. Should indies go for outside investment.

  • Taylor takes over the comedy reins at BBC

    27-Aug-2009

    Cheryl Taylor has landed the role of BBC controller of comedy commissioning, and will remain in Manchester where she currently works as executive editor, out of London comedy commissioning.

  • C4 trials Frankie Boyle pilot from RDF Scotland

    27-Aug-2009

    RDF Scotland has won a raft of new commissions, including a 30-minute Channel 4 pilot fronted by Mock The Week comedian Frankie Boyle.

  • Tiger Aspect links with Muppet Show creator for CBBC comedy

    27-Aug-2009

    Tiger Aspect Productions has teamed up with The Muppet Show creator The Jim Henson Company for a new drama about a group of friendly monsters.

  • BBC tracks web ‘buzz’ of shows

    26-Aug-2009

    The BBC is trialling a web service that highlights its most talked about programmes by monitoring the internet buzz around them.

  • Ardal exits Zodiak

    25-Aug-2009

    Kim Ardal, vice president of Zodiak’s Nordic division, is to leave the group after three and a half years.

  • 25 indies win XM25 places

    25-Aug-2009

    A mix of established and less well-known indies have won places on the BBC’s XM25 scheme, which has expanded from 15 to 25 places for its second year.

  • Hotbed Media hires True North exec

    25-Aug-2009

    Hotbed Media has hired former True North head of development Chris Walker as creative executive.

  • Perrin leaves UKTV for Shine

    25-Aug-2009

    UKTV’s director of entertainment commissioning, Lisa Perrin, is leaving the broadcaster to join Shine TV.

  • CBBC revives Junior Masterchef

    24-Aug-2009

    Shine Television is reviving Junior Masterchef in a new 13-part series for nine to 12-year olds on CBBC.

  • Little Airplane unveils new animation

    24-Aug-2009

    Little Airplane Productions, the indie behind Wonder Pets, has developed a new preschool show-within-a-show and a new short-form animation about singing potatoes.

  • Krod Mandoon facing uncertain future

    24-Aug-2009

    The BBC has retracted claims by senior staff that it has axed Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire because of funding issues.

  • Krod Mandoon axed

    21-Aug-2009

    The BBC has confirmed it will not order a second series of “swords and sandals” comedy Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire after its funding partner pulled out.

  • BBC2 green lights Alan Davies chef comedy

    21-Aug-2009

    BBC2 has greenlit Whites, the kitchen comedy co-written by Peep Show star Matt King and featuring Alan Davies as a lacklustre celebrity chef.

  • BBC4 doc to trace search for 'golden hare'

    21-Aug-2009

    BBC4 is to chronicle the story of Kit Williams, eccentric and author of the children’s book Masquerade, and his reunion with a golden hare he hid in the British countryside 30 years ago.

  • Richard Klein, BBC4

    21-Aug-2009

    He’s been a postman, a bank clerk, a print journalist and spent a week partying with the Happy Mondays. Katherine Rushton talks to maverick BBC4 controller Richard Klein.

  • Shine merges distribution operations

    20-Aug-2009

    ShineReveille International has merged with the distribution arm of Friday TV and rebranded as Shine International.

  • BBC4 explores metal and synth in major arts push

    20-Aug-2009

    BBC4 is to expand its Music Britannia format to heavy metal and electro-pop as part of a major season of arts and culture programming.

  • Tigress adds Corney in executive shuffle

    20-Aug-2009

    Tigress Productions has appointed Five natural history commissioner Bethan Corney, completing a senior editorial triumvirate that also includes Kath Moore and Dick Colthurst.

  • Indie deals back on the agenda

    20-Aug-2009

    The wheels are starting to turn again on indie mergers and acquisitions, with Roger Bolton’s Flame TV and Amazon-producer Indus both on the brink of deals.

  • Target enters talks with potential backers

    20-Aug-2009

    Target Entertainment Group is courting new backers and has appointed merchant bank Quayle Munro’s managing director Hugo Montgomery to advise on the deal.

  • Firecracker heads for US and drafts in Oriel

    20-Aug-2009

    Firecracker Films has opened a US office and drafted in former IWC Media managing director Sue Oriel to help develop the business.

  • ITV lines up family thriller from Goodnight Mister Tom novelist

    20-Aug-2009

    Monarch Of The Glen creator Michael Chaplin is adapting the latest novel by the author of Goodnight Mister Tom for ITV.

  • CBBC orders give backing to British animation

    20-Aug-2009

    CBBC is throwing its weight behind British animation by commissioning two series and opening its Cartoon Works portal as a platform for new shortform content.

  • BBC to dramatise Lehman Brothers collapse

    19-Aug-2009

    BBC2 is to mark the anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers with a 24-style dramatisation of the weekend leading to its demise.

  • BBC to air new Beatles recordings

    17-Aug-2009

    BBC2 and BBC4 are to screen a joint “Beatles Week” featuring previously unaired outtakes of the group’s “studio chat”.

  • Fury at BBC ban on funeral flowers

    17-Aug-2009

    BBC staff have reacted furiously to a ban on sending flowers to the funerals of staff who have died in service.

  • BBCW hires Nigella brand guru to spearhead licensing push

    17-Aug-2009

    BBC Worldwide has hired Nigella Lawson’s brand guru William Miller to launch new retail ranges for its major on-screen talent.

  • Race hots up for BBC comedy job

    13-Aug-2009

    Channel 4 comedy chief Andrew Newman and BBC exec Cheryl Taylor are the favourites to land the job as BBC head of comedy commissioning as the selection process enters its final stages.

  • Strictly no Sunday results show

    12-Aug-2009

    BBC1 has dropped Strictly Come Dancing’s Sunday night results show and is reverting to a single longer programme on Saturday nights.

  • BBCW wins ruling over value of 2Entertain

    11-Aug-2009

    BBC Worldwide has won its court case against the administrator of Woolworths over the value of their joint venture 2Entertain.

  • Hunt at centre of second conflict claim

    10-Aug-2009

    A new row erupted over the weekend regarding BBC1 controller Jay Hunt and alleged conflicts of interest.

  • BBC plans kids commentaries for sports

    7-Aug-2009

    BBC Children’s interactive division is aiming to forge a closer alliance with BBC Sport and produce “children’s commentaries” of key sporting events.

  • "Major risk" that Salford will exceed £867m budget

    6-Aug-2009

    The BBC has warned of “major risks” that the Salford move will exceed its £867m budget.

  • Bate exits Box TV, joins Bill Kenwright

    5-Aug-2009

    Box TV executive producer Adrian Bate has left the company and is to launch a film and television operation for theatre impresario Bill Kenwright.

  • BBC under fire for Alagiah charity ban

    5-Aug-2009

    The BBC is facing accusations of double standards after forcing newsreader George Alagiah to step down as a charity patron because of conflicts of interest - but allowing BBC1 controller Jay Hunt to profit from training BBC presenters.

  • Southern Star chief Hugh Marks steps down

    5-Aug-2009

    Southern Star chief executive Hugh Marks has left the company after seven years, and will be replaced by current managing director Rory Callaghan.

  • C4 scraps heap from Scrapheap Challenge

    4-Aug-2009

    Channel 4 is to drop the scrapheap from Scrapheap Challenge in a bid to slash costs on the long-running show.

  • BBC slammed for low Edinburgh turnout

    3-Aug-2009

    The BBC has come under fire for a “bizarre” decision to send fewer staff to the month-long Edinburgh Festival than it did to Scotland’s three-day pop event, T in the Park.

  • BBC defends Hunt in conflict of interest row

    3-Aug-2009

    The BBC has leapt to the defence of BBC1 controller Jay Hunt, saying it approved her links to a media firm which trains the corporation’s own presenters.

  • Placing BBC drama under the spotlight

    30-Jul-2009

    Writers and producers alike have voiced their concerns about the commissioning process at the BBC. Broadcast continues the debate with an open letter to Jana Bennett. Katherine Rushton reports.

  • Sanjay Singhal named Dragonfly MD

    24-Jul-2009

    Dragonfly Film and Television – the Shine Group indie formerly known as Firefly – has promoted Sanjay Singhal to managing director as part of a management restructure.

  • Shine teams with BBCW on Masterchef

    24-Jul-2009

    Shine has signed a partnership deal with BBC Worldwide to manage the massive expansion of the MasterChef brand in the UK and Eire.

  • Family Guy-style puppet comedy heads to BBC3

    23-Jul-2009

    BBC3 has commissioned an adult puppet comedy pitched as “Avenue Q meets Family Guy”.

  • Drama producers point to ‘systemic’ failures at BBC

    23-Jul-2009

    Leading drama figures have called on the BBC’s most senior managers to stop hiding behind drama controller Ben Stephenson and use their power to tackle a “systemic” failing in drama commissioning.

  • High exec salaries outrage staff

    23-Jul-2009

    BBC staff have come out in defence of controllers who gave gifts on expenses - but have hit out at the size of their pay packets.

  • Renegade to turn drinking doc into returnable strand

    23-Jul-2009

    Renegade Pictures is to turn its one-off BBC3 documentary Drinking with the Girls into a returnable strand that examines how women deal with key issues at different stages of their lives.

  • BBC Wales: the next Salford

    23-Jul-2009

    The BBC is planning a new drama village in Cardiff Bay that is likely to become the cornerstone of a “Salford for Wales”.

  • Greenlit gets first BBC order with cop comedy

    23-Jul-2009

    Foyle’s War producer Greenlit Rights has won its first BBC commission: a “relationship-driven” comedy drama about a pair of police detectives.

  • Mr Bean to mark 20 years with HD series

    22-Jul-2009

    Mr Bean is to return to television in high definition (HD), as part of plans by Tiger Aspect Productions and RDF Rights to mark the 20th anniversary of the brand.

  • Aussie MasterChef dishes up record ratings

    21-Jul-2009

    The Australian version of MasterChef has set a new ratings record – attracting the biggest audience share of any non-sporting event the country has even seen.

  • Kavanagh named CBBC chief

    21-Jul-2009

    Daytime scheduler and former children’s commissioning exec Damian Kavanagh has landed the job of CBBC controller.

  • BBC's local output "letting Wales down"

    21-Jul-2009

    The BBC’s localised Welsh television output has fallen 15% since 2004 – prompting claims the corporation is “letting Wales down”.

  • Salmon woos Salford 'backyard'

    20-Jul-2009

    Peter Salmon, director of BBC North, has appealed to economic interests in the region in a bid to bolster support for the corporation.

  • BBC plans web push for Burgess thriller

    17-Jul-2009

    Lime Pictures’ digital arm Conker Media has teamed up with controversial teen novelist Melvin Burgess for a cross-platform psychological thriller for BBC Switch.

  • CBBC to give kids run of British Museum

    17-Jul-2009

    CBBC viewers will get the chance to stay overnight in the British Museum, dodging security guards and piecing together mysteries, in a new adventure game show for CBBC.

  • I want to be on Jay Hunt's Christmas list

    17-Jul-2009

    BBC1 controller Jay Hunt is one of the biggest gift givers, but at least she has the good grace to be imaginative with public money, writes Katherine Rushton

  • New BBC expenses reveal Jay Hunt's £50 sock claim

    17-Jul-2009

    BBC1 controller Jay Hunt has spent more than £2,000 of licence fee payers’ money on gifts – including £50 on socks for an indie and over £800 of Molton Brown products.

  • BBC boss defends new expenses revelations

    17-Jul-2009

    BBC chief operating officer Caroline Thomson has defended a second tranche of expenses published today (17 July) stressing that some claims, such as overseas travel, are inevitable and help secure “millions of punds” of co-production investment. 

  • Question Time libel suit costs BBC £45,000

    16-Jul-2009

    The BBC has paid £45,000 in damages to the head of the Muslim Council of Britain after airing claims on Question Time that the organisation implicitly encouraged the killing of British troops.

  • Jo Whiley moves in R1 shake-up

    16-Jul-2009

    Jo Whiley and Edith Bowman are to leave their weekday slots on BBC Radio 1 in its biggest schedule shake up for five years.

  • BBC in firing line over drama

    16-Jul-2009

    The Writers’ Guild is to call a public meeting with the BBC after the battle lines were drawn this week over the state of its drama commissioning.

  • BBC Trust lays down challenge in comedy

    16-Jul-2009

    The size of the challenge facing the next BBC comedy chief was spelled out this week as the BBC Trust highlighted failings in the genre.

  • Richard Deverell, BBC Children's & BBC North

    16-Jul-2009

    BBC Children’s and BBC North’s Richard Deverell speaks to Katherine Rushton about catering for teenage audiences, disability ‘box ticking’ and stepping into the DG’s shoes

  • Tories: hand regional TV to papers

    15-Jul-2009

    Regional television news could fall into the hands of local newspapers, under Conservative proposals published this afternoon.

  • MPs take stand against top-slicing

    15-Jul-2009

    Government proposals to top slice the BBC licence fee suffered a setback today, after Labour and Conservative figures called for the corporation to keep all of its £3.5bn a year income.

  • Sophie Dahl to look at emotional food for BBC2

    15-Jul-2009

    Sophie Dahl is to take an emotional look at food, in a new BBC2 show from Jamie Oliver’s Fresh One Productions.

  • BBCW and C4 deal "weeks" away

    15-Jul-2009

    BBC Worldwide and Channel 4 are “literally weeks” from signing a joint venture deal, after BBCW jettisoned some of the original sticking points.

  • Licence fee evasion rising

    14-Jul-2009

    Licence fee evasion rose 4% last year and is expected to get worse as the recession deepens.

  • BBC to crackdown on salaries

    14-Jul-2009

    BBC bosses have pledged to “bear down” further on exec and talent pay – but warned the corporation must stay “flexible” to award bonuses.

  • Garnett slams "junk food" drama at BBC

    13-Jul-2009

    This Life and Cathy Come Home producer Tony Garnett has launched a blistering attack on the BBC, accusing it of smothering creativity and “packing in junk” in a cynical bid for ratings.

  • BBC to cut 26 post-production jobs

    10-Jul-2009

    The BBC is to axe 26 staff, following the move of 70 jobs from BBC Resources to BBC Vision Productions.

  • Jay Hunt: Totally Saturday has not worked

    9-Jul-2009

    BBC1 controller Jay Hunt has admitted Totally Saturday has not worked – even though the corporation has refused to confirm the Graham Norton’s entertainment show is being axed.

  • ITV demands commissioners prove shows’ ROI potential

    9-Jul-2009

    ITV has effectively handed a commissioning tick to its business affairs team by insisting that commissioners prove a programme’s business worth as well as its creative merit.

  • RDF Television secures Allen for managing director role

    9-Jul-2009

    Jim Allen, ITV Studios’ former director of factual and entertainment, is to join RDF Television as managing director.

  • All3Media accounts paint complex financial picture

    9-Jul-2009

    All3Media owed the banks £281.2m at the end of August last year - five and a half times its EBITDA - despite a strong underlying performance.

  • Children’s TV execs claim BBC is ‘neglecting’ teens

    9-Jul-2009

    Four leading figures in children’s TV drama have rounded on the BBC for “neglecting” young teens - with a former CBBC drama chief claiming it has “lost its bottle” for gritty issues.

  • Nickelodeon to take on Disney in tween battle

    9-Jul-2009

    Nickelodeon will take on rival Disney in the teen and tween girls market with a major new UK sitcom and the launch of a young-skewing daily T4-style strand.

  • BGT under fire over reaction to Hollie’s tears

    9-Jul-2009

    Britain’s Got Talent producers were too slow to give Hollie Steel a second chance, and closed in on her crying face in a voyeuristic way, industry figures have claimed.

  • New CBBC controller will have one-year job

    8-Jul-2009

    The BBC will replace CBBC controller Anne Gilchrist on a one-year attachment so that Richard Deverell’s eventual replacement as controller of BBC Children’s can pick his or her own team.

  • KidsCo: let digital channels at PSB funds

    7-Jul-2009

    KidsCo managing director Paul Robinson has called for a contestable fund for younger children’s programming to be made open to both digital and terrestrial channels.

  • RTÉ looking for kids business shows

    7-Jul-2009

    Ireland’s national broadcaster RTÉ is looking for business shows to help its children cope with the country’s economic crisis.

  • Origin strikes deal for Boyd drama

    7-Jul-2009

    Origin Pictures, the production company of acclaimed film producer David Thompson, and BBC Films have secured the rights to William Boyd’s next thriller before its September publication.

  • Jackson to head NHU, Smithson to take over at Tigress

    6-Jul-2009

    Tigress managing director Andrew Jackson is stepping down to head up the BBC Natural History Unit, with Darlow Smithson’s John Smithson taking over responsibility for Tigress’ creative output.

  • Opie joins Twofour as consultant

    6-Jul-2009

    Twofour has recruited former Five exec Lisa Opie as a consultant for its online television service, Mediafreedom, and is trialing online channels for “major” broadcasters.

  • Totally Saturday axed

    6-Jul-2009

    The BBC has axed Graham Norton’s Totally Saturday, according to reports.

  • End nostalgia in kids TV, say industry figures

    3-Jul-2009

    SHOWCOMOTION: Children’s broadcasters must stop relying on nostalgia to save kids TV and try to reposition themselves instead, some of the industry’s most senior figures have claimed.

  • BBC to resurrect Just William

    3-Jul-2009

    Just William is to return to the BBC for the third time, in a new adaptation by Men Behaving Badly writer Simon Nye.

  • Kids TV may benefit from contestable PSB fund

    3-Jul-2009

    The government has launched a public consultation to hammer out the detail of its proposed contestable public service broadcasting fund – suggesting that children’s programming could also benefit from the pot.

  • Showcomotion: Dunkirk spirit

    3-Jul-2009

    At the Showcomotion children’s media conference in Sheffield, Katherine Rushton finds a cash-strapped industry adopting a Dunkirk spirit and a buzz around the BBC’s move north.

  • Disney hunting British Zac Efron

    3-Jul-2009

    SHOWCOMOTION: Disney wants to find the “next Zac Efron” in the UK, with plans to produce shows in the vein of High School Musical and Hannah Montana that target boys.

  • McKerrow defends Boys and Girls Alone

    3-Jul-2009

    SHOWCOMOTION: Richard McKerrow, creative director of Love Productions, has hit back at critics of his Channel 4 series Boys and Girls Alone for making snap judgements claiming they did not what they were talking about.

  • CITV signs Britvic AFP deal

    2-Jul-2009

    CITV has ordered a new magazine show sponsored by Britvic and produced by RDF’s The Foundation.

  • CITV bucks trend to grow budget

    2-Jul-2009

    CITV will be the only ITV channel to increase its budget next year – but it will not necessarily spend the additional money on original commissions.

  • BBC middle-managers back Salford move

    2-Jul-2009

    Around 40% of mid-ranking BBC staff whose departments are moving to Salford will relocate to work at BBC North, Peter Salmon has revealed.

  • Old ideas hit as BBC freeze ends

    2-Jul-2009

    Multiplatform ideas that were set to be greenlit before the bbc.co.uk budget freeze are likely to lose out to new pitches in the current CBBC commissioning round.

  • BBC expenses: an expensive lesson in transparency

    2-Jul-2009

    The corporation’s decision to reveal allowances hasn’t exposed any duck houses, but ‘the antiseptic of sunlight’ will still make staff think twice about claims.

  • Indies slam BBC and Pact’s low support

    2-Jul-2009

    The BBC and Pact have come under fire over the level of support they are offering indies, it emerged in Broadcast’s Surviving the Downturn survey.

  • MTV retunes with more music and indies fund

    2-Jul-2009

    MTV1 is to return to its music performance roots in an overhaul that will also give UK indies the chance to pitch for commissions from a new international MTV fund.

  • BBC1 chooses not to revisit Havers 1980s comedy

    2-Jul-2009

    BBC1 has turned down a revival of 1980s sitcom Don’t Wait Up, in which Nigel Havers would have reprised his role as Dr Tom Latimer.

  • CBBC commissions Cinderella sitcom and kids Dragon’s Den

    2-Jul-2009

    CBBC has ordered a major sitcom about a modern-day Cinderella and a Dragon’s Den-style series in which children will compete to come up with inventions that could change the world.

  • Greenlit takes on Wright and Twofour projects

    2-Jul-2009

    Twofour Broadcast head of drama Jo Wright has moved to Greenlit Rights, taking the indie’s drama slate with her.

  • Restoration and rip-offs land BBC daytime orders

    2-Jul-2009

    The BBC is bolstering its daytime output with a “daytime Watchdog” and a 20 x 30-minute antiques show on repairing damaged goods.

  • Shine poaches Ben Hall from DRG

    1-Jul-2009

    Shine Group has hired the Digital Rights Group’s chief creative officer Ben Hall to head up a new, group-wide format sharing operation.

  • ESPN 'planning daily sports show'

    1-Jul-2009

    ESPN is planning a daily sports show as part of its new Premier League football package, Broadcast has learned.

  • Sky to win contract for ESPN match coverage

    29-Jun-2009

    BSkyB is close to sealing a deal to produce all Premier League match coverage for ESPN, Broadcast understands.

  • Still not the last of Last of The Summer Wine

    29-Jun-2009

    The BBC has recommissioned the world’s longest running sitcom, Last of the Summer Wine, for a 31st series -countering widespread rumours the show was about to be axed.

  • BBC reveals controller salaries

    25-Jun-2009

    The BBC’s four main TV channel controllers took home at least £880,000 combined last year, but none of them troubled the corporation’s list of the top 15 earners.

  • BBC paid out for Bennett's stolen handbag

    25-Jun-2009

    Jana Bennett claimed £500 to help replace a stolen handbag in 2008/09, and the BBC forked out £641.25 for its television controllers to “discuss projects” at a dinner.

  • Gardner spent almost £8,000 on hospitality

    25-Jun-2009

    Julie Gardner spent more on entertaining than any BBC executive bar Mark Thompson last year, in her role as BBC Wales head of drama and BBC head of independent drama commissioning in the nations and regions.

  • Taxis, handbags and lunches: BBC expenses laid bare

    25-Jun-2009

    The BBC is to publish the names, salaries and line-by-line expenses of its top earners and decision-makers, as part of a new transparency drive across the corporation.

  • Meet the Natives to get Amish twist

    25-Jun-2009

    Keo Films is to bring Amish youths to Britain in a follow-up to Channel 4’s “reverse anthropology” series, Meet the Natives.

  • Thompson: BBC may axe regional partnership

    25-Jun-2009

    BBC director general Mark Thompson has warned that the corporation could pull its regional news-sharing proposals if the government does not change its mind on top-slicing.

  • BBC1 goes Around the World with XM25 scheme

    25-Jun-2009

    Former Touch Productions execs Nick Watts and Joseph Maxwell have teamed up with Nasa for the first project from their new company, Burning Blue Media.

  • BBC to tighten taste rules in wake of Sachsgate

    24-Jun-2009

    The BBC is to implement new production guidelines to guard against “malicious intrusion, intimidation and humiliation” and make sure that they are “never celebrated for the purposes of entertainment”.

  • BBC3 to air live Schools Question Time

    24-Jun-2009

    The BBC is to broadcast Schools Question Time live for the first time – with two airings on BBC3 and BBC1 in the same evening.

  • Public wants BBC to pursue risk

    24-Jun-2009

    A BBC report commissioned in the wake of the Sachsgate scandal has found that the British public wants the corporation to pursue creative risk and accepts that offence may be caused in the process.

  • BBC Radio plans Whitman and Holiday docs

    24-Jun-2009

    BBC Radio is taking a look at some of America’s leading cultural icons – with a doc on the poet Walt Whitman on BBC Radio 4, and a Radio 2 special on Billie Holiday, fronted by Neneh Cherry.

  • BBC plans 'pop-up restaurant' show

    23-Jun-2009

    BBC2 is piloting a primetime reality format based on “pop-up restaurants” – the second of its type to hit the headlines in as many months.

  • Clampdown on University Challenge rules

    22-Jun-2009

    The BBC has tightened the rules for University Challenge in a bid to prevent a repeat of last year’s debacle which saw the ‘winning team’ being disqualified.

  • Tracey Beaker publisher moves into TV production

    22-Jun-2009

    Random House Children’s Books, one of the UK’s biggest children’s publishers and the company behind Tracey Beaker, is to move into television production.

  • BBC1 to animate Gruffalo

    22-Jun-2009

    BBC1’s is planning an animated version of the bestselling children’s book The Gruffalo as the centrepiece of its Christmas schedule.

  • BBC Vision "front-loads" cuts

    19-Jun-2009

    BBC Vision is to make 7.5% in efficiency savings this year, as it front loads its five-year cost cutting plan.

  • BBC comedy chief quits for Sky

    19-Jun-2009

    The BBC’s comedy chief Lucy Lumsden is leaving the corporation after 11 years to join Sky.

  • BBC plans strategy to fight top-slice threat

    18-Jun-2009

    The BBC’s top management was locked in meetings to discuss the fall out from Digital Britain on Wednesday afternoon ahead of a last-ditch attempt to stave off top-slicing - but the mood among rank-and-file staff was very different.

  • BBC develops ‘holy grail’ to revamp the ratings

    18-Jun-2009

    The BBC is developing a new audience measurement tool that has nailed the “holy grail” of audience metrics by factoring in all timeshifted and online viewing.

  • ITV veteran takes factual role at Lion Scotland

    18-Jun-2009

    Jeff Anderson’s next job after more than 20 years at ITV will be as Lion Scotland’s head of factual.

  • CBeebies dishes up food series targeted at tots

    18-Jun-2009

    The BBC is to teach preschoolers how to cook and where their food comes from, in a new CBeebies cookery show.

  • BBC3: search for the secret of youth

    18-Jun-2009

    BBC3 faces several obstacles in its remit to reach 16- to 34-year-olds - not least a brand teens see as uncool. Katherine Rushton reports on how the channel is engaging with its viewers

  • Tiger's Fell to go freelance

    17-Jun-2009

    Tiger Aspect drama exec Richard Fell is to go freelance after entering a period of consultation over his post.

  • Tony Ball joins BT as non-exec

    17-Jun-2009

    Tony Ball, the former BSkyB chief exec tipped to replace Michael Grade at ITV, has joined the BT Board as non-executive director.

  • BBC Trust will not 'sit by' and allow licence fee raid

    16-Jun-2009

    DIGITAL BRITAIN: The BBC Trust has warned it will not “sit quietly by” whilst the licence fee becomes a general “slush fund”, in a strongly-worded list of objections to the Digital Britain report.

  • Digital radio switchover set for 2015

    16-Jun-2009

    DIGITAL BRITAIN: The government is pushing manufacturers to offer DAB radios for under £20, and has set a 2015 date for digital switchover in radio.

  • Channel 4 to take on teens

    16-Jun-2009

    DIGITAL BRITAIN: Channel 4 is to have a “solid commitment” to children’s programming enshrined in its statutory remit – particularly targeted at older children and teens.

  • BBC names dot com boss

    16-Jun-2009

    BBC Worldwide has named Luke Bradley-Jones as its new head of BBC.com and is planning a tailored US version of the international website.

  • BBC and STV may share resources

    16-Jun-2009

    The BBC and STV could share their archives, news footage and production technology, under the latest in the corporation’s partnership initiatives.

  • Disney XD to replace Jetix in UK

    15-Jun-2009

    The Walt Disney Company is to call time on its Jetix brand, replacing it in the UK with Disney XD.

  • Pat Younge named BBC Vision Productions boss

    15-Jun-2009

    Pat Younge is to replace Peter Salmon as the new chief creative officer of BBC Vision Productions - arguably the biggest production job in UK broadcasting.

  • BBC faces £130m cut to licence fee

    15-Jun-2009

    The Digital Britain report, due to be unveiled tomorrow, is expected to take the £130m digital switchover surplus from the BBC and use it to fund services on other broadcasters.

  • Sissons retires from news after 45 years

    12-Jun-2009

    Peter Sissons, Britain’s longest-serving national news presenter, is to retire in the summer - ending his 45-year career whilst he is “still on top of his game”.

  • BBCW in High Court over value of 2Entertain

    12-Jun-2009

    BBC Worldwide is to appear in the High Court today with the administrator of Woolworths, to settle a dispute over the value of their join venture 2Entertain.

  • Five offers shows to third-party sites

    12-Jun-2009

    Five has inked a syndication deal with the online video platform Brightcove, which will allow viewers to embed full episodes of its programmes on third-party websites.

  • IMG hunts for further job cuts at Tiger Aspect

    11-Jun-2009

    IMG Media is planning to make a fresh round of redundancies at Tiger Aspect Productions and its natural history subsidiary, Tigress Productions.

  • BBC1 debut for Nigel Slater with simple cooking

    11-Jun-2009

    Nigel Slater is to move from BBC2 to BBC1 for a primetime show about “achievable” cooking.

  • CBBC focuses on science with double order

    11-Jun-2009

    CBBC has ordered a guide to “holidaying in space” and a second run of Richard Hammond’s Blast Lab - both to tie in with the BBC’s 2010 year of science.

  • Lumsden on lookout for agile comedy series

    11-Jun-2009

    BBC controller of comedy commissioning Lucy Lumsden has asked indies to tender “nimble” series that could be shifted to pre-watershed slots if they are successful.

  • Sergeant goes on the rails in India for BBC4

    11-Jun-2009

    Strictly Come Dancing star John Sergeant is to travel to India in the latest in a string of BBC documentaries about railways.

  • BBC comedy: Nothing funny about playing safe

    11-Jun-2009

    With BBC comedies having been outstripped by C4 at the Baftas, are the corporation’s commissioners stifling the laughter by being too risk-averse?

  • Renegade’s redecorating couples ordered by BBC3

    11-Jun-2009

    Renegade Pictures is to apply its Don’t Tell The Bride format to interior decoration in a 6 x 60-minute series for BBC3.

  • BBC2 gives greenlight to Bwark ad agency sitcom

    11-Jun-2009

    The Inbetweeners producer Bwark has had the greenlight from BBC2 for a full series of its pilot comedy, The Scum Also Rises.

  • BBC talent facing 25% pay cuts

    10-Jun-2009

    BBC stars earning above £100,000 a year are facing pay cuts of 25% when their deals come up for renegotiation – and some of the highest paid names are expected to have their salaries halved.

  • BBC3 calling for 3pm start

    10-Jun-2009

    The BBC has suggested bringing BBC3’s start-time forward to 3pm – but the BBC Trust has reservations.

  • BBC boosts Scottish production

    10-Jun-2009

    The BBC is on track to meet its Scottish production targets - boosted by three Scottish network comedies including the return of Rab C Nesbitt and a BBC4 Scottish season featuring The Thick of It’s Peter Capaldi.

  • Griffiths named Newsround editor

    10-Jun-2009

    Owenna Griffiths has been named editor of CBBC’s Newsround, replacing Sinead Rocks who has moved to BBC Current Affairs as executive producer.

  • BBC to pay out nearly £1m after libel battle

    9-Jun-2009

    The BBC is to pay nearly a million pounds following a libel battle over claims made in a Panorama programme about an IVF doctor.

  • Gilchrist to join BBC comedy

    8-Jun-2009

    CBBC controller Anne Gilchrist is to join the BBC’s in-house comedy department as creative and business director.

  • BBC lands the best job in the world

    5-Jun-2009

    BBC1 has ordered a doc on the search for a caretaker for an Australian tropical island - widely billed as “the best job in the world”.

  • BBC Trust calls for more info on Project Canvas

    4-Jun-2009

    The BBC Trust has given the Project Canvas team the green light to launch a charm offensive after it called on the BBC executive to put more details about the project into the public domain.

  • Anderson questions ‘safe’ TV

    4-Jun-2009

    Question Time executive producer Steve Anderson has questioned whether the show would be commissioned in today’s compliance-heavy TV environment.

  • CBeebies quick to reorder Waybuloo

    4-Jun-2009

    CBeebies has commissioned RDF Media Group subsidiary The Foundation to produce 50 more episodes of Waybuloo just weeks after the first 100 shows began airing.

  • Steve Anderson, Mentorn Media

    4-Jun-2009

    As the storm over MPs’ expenses rages, Question Time has been the lightening rod for angry voters to voice their views. Katherine Rushton talks to Mentorn Media’s creative director

  • MacDonald takes creative lead at IWC

    4-Jun-2009

    Former ITV controller of daytime Adam MacDonald has joined RDF Media as creative director of its Scottish subsidiary, IWC Media.

  • BBC1 hunts pop factual docs with youth appeal

    4-Jun-2009

    BBC1 controller Jay Hunt is looking for 10.35pm documentaries and popular factual series that will help skew the channel towards younger viewers.

  • BBC1 mobilises Land Girls for daytime drama push

    4-Jun-2009

    BBC1 is stepping up its daytime drama push with a major period series about four women working in the Women’s Land Army during the Second World War.

  • Coolabi closes in on its buyout of Chorion's crime

    4-Jun-2009

    Coolabi is expected to finalise its £40m buyout of Chorion’s crime division “within days”.

  • Primates to "funk up" CBeebies

    3-Jun-2009

    CBeebies controller Michael Carrington is to “funk up the channel” with a major new 52 x 22-minute live action series fronted by primates.

  • BBC1 cools on acquisitions

    3-Jun-2009

    BBC1 controller Jay Hunt has warned that she will not be shopping for US acquisitions and pledged her support to British productions instead.

  • Norton chatshow heads to BBC1

    2-Jun-2009

    Graham Norton’s BBC2 chatshow will move to BBC1 in the autumn as part of a plan to make him one of the principle faces of the channel.

  • BBC disputes ITV regional news cost

    1-Jun-2009

    The BBC has questioned Ofcom’s estimate for the cost of a regional news service on ITV, amid fears it will have to cover at least some of the shortfall.

  • 'Disgusting' Monty Python nearly axed after first series

    1-Jun-2009

    Monty Python’s Flying Circus was nearly taken off the air after just one series after BBC management lost patience with its “disgusting and nihilistic” humour, newly released documents have revealed.

  • OFT advises change to ITV's CRR ad rules

    29-May-2009

    ITV is significantly closer to a change in the CRR rules which govern how much it can charge for ads, after the Office of Fair Trading officially advised the Competition Commission to consider making changes.

  • Indies lower rates in return for bulk deals

    28-May-2009

    Indies are dropping their rates for bulk production deals to hedge against fewer commissions and further budget cuts next year.

  • Delia to cook up classic dishes for tribute on BBC2

    28-May-2009

    Delia Smith is to take a fresh look at the dishes that have defined her 40-year career in a major five-part series for BBC2.

  • BBC3 gives a Strictly spin to disabled talent show

    28-May-2009

    BBC3 is to mix the glitz of Strictly Come Dancing with the public service gravitas of wheelchair use in its latest disabled talent format.

  • BBC3 quiz show to test theories of intelligence

    28-May-2009

    BBC3 is to pit hairdressers against quantum physicists in a quiz show designed to challenge conventional thinking on intelligence.

  • Expenses: The drive toward deeper disclosure

    28-May-2009

    The BBC is due to publish its exec and non-exec board members’ expenses this October, but should it take the long, hard road to reveal more allowances.

  • R2 to pre-record Jonathan Ross show

    22-May-2009

    Jonathan Ross is to pre-record his Radio 2 show to make sure it is “watertight” against future editorial breaches.

  • BBC awarded £17.5m in bonuses despite cuts

    22-May-2009

    The BBC paid £17.5m in bonuses last year to 9,777 staff – despite trenchant job cuts throughout the corporation.

  • Thompson admits cuts risk quality of BBC News

    22-May-2009

    BBC director general Mark Thompson has admitted cuts in BBC News risk damaging its quality – but pledged to “correct it immediately” if it does so.

  • BBC to publish its top level exec expenses

    21-May-2009

    The expenses spotlight is set to turn on the BBC later this year when the corporation begins publishing details of claims made by its executive board members.

  • BBC staff angry at £10m Discovery commission

    21-May-2009

    BBC Natural History Unit staff are upset after its former head, Keith Scholey, won a £10m-plus commission from Discovery with an idea similar to one they also pitched.

  • BBC2 to look at key to success for John Lewis

    21-May-2009

    BBC2 will look at John Lewis’s 150-year history and how the department store business is weathering the current  recession in a documentary series.

  • Gyles Brandreth to host BBC2 quiz show Knowitalls

    21-May-2009

    BBC2 is to air a quiz show without any questions. Knowitalls will be hosted by politician-turned-Countdown regular Gyles Brandreth.

  • Sir Michael Lyons, BBC Trust

    21-May-2009

    Whether it’s the licence fee, Lonely Planet or Wossy’s big mouth, the BBC Trust is criticised outside as well as within the BBC. How does its chairman manage?

  • Lyons: No area of the BBC safe from cuts

    20-May-2009

    BBC Trust chairman Michael Lyons has told Broadcast there are “no safe areas” at the corporation as it continues to squeeze every pound of the licence fee.

  • BBC names new Scotland commissioner

    20-May-2009

    The BBC has hired Sam Anthony as its knowledge commissioning executive producer for Scotland – fresh from Jane Root’s new indie Nutopia.

  • BBC Children's names new scheduling boss

    20-May-2009

    Disney Channel’s Louise Bucknole has been appointed the new head of scheduling at BBC Children’s - replaces Philip Stagg who has moved to the BBC HD Channel.

  • Lyons issues warning over licence fee use

    20-May-2009

    BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons has sounded a clear warning that he will not be railroaded into handing over any digital switchover surplus if licence fee payers would prefer it returned to them.

  • IPA adds to Project Canvas concerns

    19-May-2009

    The UK’s leading trade body for advertising and marketing agencies has added its voice to the concerns about Project Canvas – claiming that the BBC it is not being sufficiently open about its plans for the IPTV joint venture.

  • BBC religion hiring sparks 115 complaints

    15-May-2009

    The BBC has assured audiences that Christians “will remain the key audience” for its religious output, following a deluge of complaints over the appointment of a Muslim as its new head of religion.

  • C4's Younghusband takes final BBC Knowledge job

    14-May-2009

    Jan Younghusband is leaving Channel 4 after a decade to take the commissioning editor for music and events role at the BBC.

  • Shine sets MasterChef superbrand strategy

    14-May-2009

    Shine Television is planning to turn MasterChef into a global superbrand after inking a deal to produce more than 150 new hours of the show for the BBC.

  • Huggers: Licence fee avoiders should pay for iPlayer

    14-May-2009

    BBC technology chief Erik Huggers has called on the corporation to close the legal loophole that permits people who do not pay the licence fee to watch BBC content online for free.

  • Root appoints Nutopia board

    14-May-2009

    Jane Root has appointed former Channel 4 boss Michael Jackson and ex-Endemol chief creative officer Peter Bazalgette to the board of her new indie, Nutopia.

  • BBC Switch soap will air online and have TV slot

    14-May-2009

    BBC Switch is to launch what is planned as a long-running online soap that will also get a weekly omnibus slot on BBC2.

  • BBC reveals new team to commission knowledge

    14-May-2009

    Producers are anticipating a fresh impetus behind religion and arts programming at the BBC, after the corporation revealed its new knowledge commissioning line-up.

  • TMi presenters to front CBBC Skate Nation

    14-May-2009

    CBBC has ordered a Strictly Come Dancing-style show for teenage roller and inline skaters, fronted by TMi’s Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes.

  • BBC moving 13 news roles to the North

    13-May-2009

    BBC News is to bolster its presence in the North by moving around 13 posts and creating at least three new jobs in Salford.

  • Canvas on track for launch in 2010, says Huggers

    13-May-2009

    BBC technology chief Erik Huggers has said Project Canvas is still aiming to launch in the first half of next year – insisting it is “appropriate” for the corporation to lead the way in developing an open standard.

  • BBC pays libel damages to West Ham duo

    13-May-2009

    The BBC has paid undisclosed libel damages to West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola and first-team coach Steve Clarke after a contributor claimed on Radio 5 Live they were planning to take over at rival club Chelsea.

  • BBC3 orders Russell Tovey comedy

    12-May-2009

    BBC3 has commissioned a broadcast pilot set entirely in a couple’s bedroom, starring Being Human actor Russell Tovey.

  • BBC poaches C4's Ahmed in new Knowledge hirings

    11-May-2009

    Channel 4’s Aaqil Ahmed has been poached to run the BBC’s religion and ethics department as part of the second round of Knowledge appointments – in which four of the key commissioning jobs have been handed to existing BBC staff.

  • Thompson defends against licence freeze

    11-May-2009

    BBC director general Mark Thompson has pre-empted the Commons vote on the licence fee with a defence against top-slicing or freezing in Westminster publication The House Magazine.

  • BBC Trust names new heads

    8-May-2009

    The BBC Trust has hired Alex Towers as its new head of finance, economics and strategy, and Steve Pollock as head of audiences and marketing.

  • BBC NI names new commisioning exec

    8-May-2009

    Timewatch exec James Hayes has landed the job of BBC commissioning executive producer for Northern Ireland.

  • BBC News sets voluntary redundancy deadline

    8-May-2009

    BBC News staff have less than a month to decide whether they are interested in voluntary redundancy, as the corporation battles to get nearly 90 staff off its books by April 2010 - the end of the current financial year.

  • Tigress management in bid to launch MBO

    6-May-2009

    The management team at Tigress Productions is attempting a buyout of the company from its parent, IMG Media.

  • French in BBC2 minutiae of marriage sitcom

    6-May-2009

    Bafta fellowship-winning comedian Dawn French is to swap her cassock for civvies in a comedy about married life for BBC2.

  • Doherty to take fresh focus on food for BBC1

    6-May-2009

    TV pig farmer Jimmy Doherty will visit the country's leading food manufacturers to discover the science behind mass production for his debut BBC1 series.

  • At It pair make a break from Eyeworks parent

    6-May-2009

    Eyeworks UK managing directors Chris Fouracre and Martin Cun-ning, who also ran the company under its former guise as At It Productions, have left the company.

  • Indies hand BBC a WoCC bashing

    6-May-2009

    External producers land three-quarters of orders in the Window of Creative Competition.

  • BBC looking for elusive Grange Hill audience

    6-May-2009

    The BBC is working on ways to “reconnect” with working class children according to children's controller Richard Deverell.

  • Waybuloo

    6-May-2009

    TX: Katherine Rushton reports on the new kids series that teaches children the importance of being happy while raising moral issues - and how it ultimately benefited from Queengate.

  • Almost 90 jobs to be axed from BBC News

    6-May-2009

    BBC News is to axe the equivalent of 88.5 full time posts, with the majority coming from newsgathering.

  • Twofour's Joe Houlihan heading to Cineflix

    6-May-2009

    Cineflix Productions has snapped up Twofour Broadcast's director of programmes Joe Houlihan - leading to a staff reshuffle at Twofour.

  • BBC working to 'reconnect' with Grange Hill viewers

    30-Apr-2009

    The BBC is working on ways to “reconnect” with its 'Grange Hill viewers' - but is still not doing enough, children's controller Richard Deverell has claimed.

  • Indies and ITV at loggerheads

    29-Apr-2009

    Major UK indies met last week to discuss their relationships with ITV, which appear to have hit an all-time low.

  • BBC doc exposes skin-lightening products

    29-Apr-2009

    The One Show and Watchdog's Anita Rani is to turn the spotlight on skin-lightening treatments in a one-off documentary for BBC1.

  • BBC1 orders ‘PSB take' on The Amazing Race format

    29-Apr-2009

    BBC1 has ordered an adventure format from the executive producer of Last Man Standing that will ‘abandon' losing contestants in far-flung locations around the world.

  • BBC Sport execs shun Salford

    29-Apr-2009

    Three more senior BBC Sport figures have said they will not go to Salford, on the eve of today's decision deadline for senior managers.

  • BBC wants standalone web content

    29-Apr-2009

    The BBC has pledged to put extra firepower behind standalone web projects as part of a “shot in the arm” for online content producers.

  • Morrison handed BBC Academy role

    29-Apr-2009

    BBC controller of network production Anne Morrison is to take up a new role as head of a cross-discipline training body for the corporation.

  • Shine swoops on Nordic indie for £60m

    29-Apr-2009

    Shine Group has stepped up its global expansion with the£60m acquisition of the Nordic region’s biggest production group, Metronome Film and Television.

  • Novel wins first radio commission for Fimbles

    29-Apr-2009

    CBeebies has handed Novel Entertainment its first-ever radio commission, based around characters from the Fimbles.

  • ITV1 to air crime doc on TV appeal phenomenon

    29-Apr-2009

    ITV1 is to examine the phenomenon of people who make impassioned TV appeals about kidnaps and murderers - and then turn out to have committed the crime.

  • Low share price led to Shed MBO attempt

    29-Apr-2009

    Shed Productions chief executive Eileen Gallagher has for the first time spoken publicly about the failed management buyout attempt of parent company Shed Media and has also signalled plans to poach big-name talent.

  • ITV to refresh This Morning

    29-Apr-2009

    ITV has denied there will be a cull of its This Morning presenters - but admitted it is looking at ways to refresh the programme, including its line up of experts.

  • Shine acquires Metronome for£60m

    28-Apr-2009

    Shine Group has acquired Metronome Film and Television, the Nordic region's biggest production group, in a deal worth nearly£60m.

  • No direct replacement for Tranter at BBC

    27-Apr-2009

    The BBC has abandoned its search for ‘a new Jane Tranter' and instead promoted its existing films and acquisitions chiefs to the BBC Fiction board.

  • Chorion seals Noddy sales

    27-Apr-2009

    Chorion has secured a flurry of new Noddy sales across Europe.

  • C4 cleared over Big Brother bullying row

    27-Apr-2009

    Ofcom has cleared Channel 4 over how it dealt with bullying allegations made during the last series of Big Brother, despite receiving nearly 5,000 complaints about the reality show.

  • The Thick of It elected for BBC2 move

    27-Apr-2009

    The Thick of It is to move from BBC4 to BBC2 for its third series.

  • BBC Learning boss to leave

    24-Apr-2009

    BBC controller of Learning Liz Cleaver has decided to step down later this year and not to move to Salford.

  • BBC points to surge in online news viewing

    24-Apr-2009

    The gap between the number of people watching major news events on TV and those watching online is narrowing fast, the BBC has claimed.

  • C4's Johnson: Crunch is a chance to cut fat

    24-Apr-2009

    Channel 4 chairman Luke Johnson has sounded a rare note of optimism in the credit crunch, claiming it is an opportunity to cut fat from businesses and take new risks.

  • Grade: I'm handing over a revitalised ITV

    23-Apr-2009

    Michael Grade has told ITV staff he is confident of handing his successor a “revitalised ITV”.

  • BBC explores force of nature

    22-Apr-2009

    BBC2 is to follow 2007's landmark Earth: The Power of the Planet with a 6 x 60-minute series looking at the planet's power over people.

  • Project Canvas under fire as tech industry hits out

    22-Apr-2009

    Project Canvas faces becoming another Project Kangaroo after the UK's biggest technology trade body raised major concerns about the IPTV project.

  • Salmon: I only want keen staff to come to Salford

    22-Apr-2009

    BBC North director Peter Salmon has insisted he does not want staff to move to Salford grudgingly, but believes those that do will have more career opportunities because it will have a “fluid” culture.

  • BBC Nations and Regions: Life outside London calling

    22-Apr-2009

    The BBC's nations and regions strategy aims to change the DNA of UK broadcasting. As the deadline looms for managers to commit to Salford, it's crunch time, says Katherine Rushton.

  • RDF Kids options Planet Happy

    22-Apr-2009

    RDF Kids and Family is lining up a project from the creator of Waybuloo about two children who find a small planet in their bedroom.

  • Peter Salmon to headline Showcomotion

    22-Apr-2009

    The BBC's Peter Salmon has been confirmed as the headline speaker at this year's Showcomotion Children's Media Conference.

  • Alex Zane to leave Xfm

    21-Apr-2009

    DJ Alex Zane is to hang up his headphones at Xfm after two years of hosting the breakfast show.

  • Alex Zane leaving Xfm

    21-Apr-2009

    DJ Alex Zane is to hang up his headphones at Xfm after two years of hosting the breakfast show.

  • iPlayer goes HD

    21-Apr-2009

    The BBC has launched its HD channel on the iPlayer, allowing users to watch programmes like Doctor Who in high definition up to 30 days after their initial broadcast.

  • BBC names online access champ

    17-Apr-2009

    The BBC has appointed a new “online access champion” and is planning an online access forum to help bridge the digital divide.

  • Grade-Dyke court battle edges closer

    17-Apr-2009

    The prospect of a court battle between two of television's most lively characters has edged closer, after it emerged that ITV chairman Michael Grade has issued a writ for libel against former BBC director general Greg Dyke and The Times.

  • BBC appoints Horrocks replacement

    16-Apr-2009

    Peter Horrocks' deputy Mary Hockaday has replaced him as head of the BBC multimedia newsroom.

  • Indies bank on Woolfe spending at Five

    15-Apr-2009

    Indies expect Five to swing back into action with incoming channel controller Richard Woolfe splashing the cash on a handful of statement shows.

  • BBC2 brings back Restoration

    15-Apr-2009

    BBC2 has revived the Griff Rhys Jones-fronted architecture show Restoration for a one-off special, three years after it last aired.

  • Five to soften Milkshake! with animation

    15-Apr-2009

    Five's Milkshake! is to introduce a “softer touch” with a “whimsical” series of hand-drawn animated shorts, about a girl who is friends with a pig and a unicorn.

  • BBC defends 'honest' horse slaughter scenes

    15-Apr-2009

    The BBC has defended its decision to air footage of horses being slaughtered - claiming it wanted to show horsemen's lives “as honestly as possible”.

  • Chorion in sale talks with Coolabi

    8-Apr-2009

    Agatha Christie-owner Chorion is poised to split in two after entering sale talks with listed kids producer Coolabi.

  • Shine to head down under

    8-Apr-2009

    Elisabeth Murdoch's Shine Group has hired Fremantle Media Australia chiefs Mark and Carl Fennessy to head up a new Australian division.

  • MPs revive top-slicing threat

    7-Apr-2009

    MPs and peers reignited the PSB funding debate this week, rejecting media secretary Andy Burnham's favoured partnership between Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide and putting licence fee top-slicing back on the agenda.

  • Shine makes TV quiz for BBC1

    7-Apr-2009

    BBC1 has commissioned Shine Television to make a Buzzcocks-style quiz show about TV.

  • BBC forces producers to cut talent budgets

    7-Apr-2009

    The BBC is compelling producers to pass on budget cuts to on-screen talent, by demanding a minimum pay reduction for some shows' presenters and actors.

  • Coltrane steps back into police role for ITV thriller

    7-Apr-2009

    Cracker star Robbie Coltrane is to return to ITV crime drama in a new thriller told from three different perspectives.

  • BBC4 unveils landmark Christianity series

    7-Apr-2009

    BBC4 is to examine the beginnings of Christianity and what it means to be a part of the religion in a new “landmark” series lined up for the autumn.

  • DLT to take C4 execs to the US for drama

    7-Apr-2009

    The indie behind My Family is flying a pair of Channel 4 executives out to Los Angeles to thrash out ideas for a drama penned by a US writing team.

  • C4 to aim Yo Gabba Gabba! at teens

    7-Apr-2009

    Channel 4 hopes to turn preschool show Yo Gabba Gabba! into a cult hit with students after buying it from RDF Rights for the T4 strand.

  • BBC3 viewers to decide Two Pints outcome

    7-Apr-2009

    BBC3 is throwing the storyline of Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps open to the audience and asking them to decide the ending of the eighth series.

  • BBC names regional heads

    7-Apr-2009

    ITV's London news editor Stuart Thomas is to head the BBC's East Midland's operation, as one of three new regional heads at the corporation.

  • Ofcom 'unable' to fine Ross and Brand over Sachsgate

    6-Apr-2009

    Ofcom has said it is “unable” to fine Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand for the Sachsgate scandal, leaving the BBC to pay the£150,000 penalty.

  • Five's Roary racing to Canada

    2-Apr-2009

    MipTV: Five preschool series Roary the Racing Car is on the road to Canada following a deal with Treehouse TV.

  • Screw turns again for BBC1

    1-Apr-2009

    BBC1 has commissioned a 1920s-set version of Henry James' classic ghost story The Turn of the Screw.

  • Ben Stephenson, controller, BBC drama commissioning

    1-Apr-2009

    The BBC’s top drama commissioner is happy to engage with his critics but won’t be deflected from offering shows that appeal to all audiences.

  • Shine to pilot singing gameshow in Germany

    1-Apr-2009

    MipTV: Shine Germany has won its first business three months before it officially begins trading - to pilot Reveille singing gameshow Fame and Fortune for ProseibenSat 1 broadcaster German Free TV Holding GmbH.

  • First sales for RDF's Waybuloo

    31-Mar-2009

    MipTV: RDF Media Group has signed its first overseas deals for Waybuloo, the£10m preschool show which will make its UK debut on CBeebies in May.

  • Second series of Horne & Corden in pipeline

    31-Mar-2009

    The BBC is in “advanced discussions” over a second series of the Tiger Aspect sketch show Horne & Corden, despite a poor critical reception.

  • Al Jazeera acquires Aardman's Timmy Time

    31-Mar-2009

    MipTV: Aardman is to take Sean the Sheep's cousin to the Middle East after signing a flurry of new deals for his preschool spin off, Timmy Time.

  • BBC Storyville chief slams NGO 'propaganda' docs

    31-Mar-2009

    MipTV: Nick Fraser, editor of the BBC's Storyville strand, has branded film schools and NGOs as “the two big dangers” facing documentaries.

  • S4C moves to secure digital future

    30-Mar-2009

    Welsh-language broadcaster S4C is hunting more programmes focused specifically on Wales, to ensure that viewers seek it out after digital switchover.

  • Storyville exec gets new role

    27-Mar-2009

    The BBC has promoted Storyville editorial executive Greg Sanderson to executive producer, handing him new commissioning and compliance responsibilities for the documentary strand.

  • CBBC extends stay in Dani's House

    27-Mar-2009

    RDF Media Group has sold CBBC drama Dani's House to several key European territories, and secured a recommission for two more series.

  • DCMS to examine BBC/ITV news-sharing plans

    26-Mar-2009

    The BBC's plans to share news footage with ITV will come under scrutiny in a new select committee enquiry.

  • Casualty moving to Cardiff

    26-Mar-2009

    The BBC has confirmed that Casualty will move to Cardiff in 2011 after more than 20 years of being produced in Bristol.

  • BBC names radio comedy boss

    26-Mar-2009

    The BBC has named Bafta-winning comedy producer Jane Berthoud as its new head of radio comedy.

  • Hawking to crack cosmos for Discovery

    25-Mar-2009

    Darlow Smithson Productions has secured Stephen Hawking to front a major Discovery Channel series that aims to do for the universe what David Attenborough has done for natural history.

  • Way clear for Shed MBO after chair steps down

    25-Mar-2009

    Shed Media's failed MBO could be back on the agenda after one of the key opponents to the price of the bid, non-executive chair Katherine Innes Ker, stepped down last week.

  • BBC Scotland to veg out with CBBC animation

    25-Mar-2009

    BBC Scotland will stick googly eyes on to vegetables and kitchen utensils for a new comedy animation ordered by CBBC.

  • Gutted to launch UKTV's Home

    25-Mar-2009

    UKTV will launch its new channel Home with a Twofour show in which hoarders have to choose between cash or keeping the possessions they have accumulated.

  • BBC to name 'media literacy champion'

    25-Mar-2009

    The BBC is to appoint a new “media literacy champion” in the latest of its efforts to broaden its role to become a “supporting hand” to the rest of the media sector.

  • Outline lands first food series

    24-Mar-2009

    BBC2 will show families how they can keep eating fine food despite the recession in a 6 x 60-minute series from Outline Productions.

  • BBC gets tough over NUJ strikes

    24-Mar-2009

    The BBC has warned staff they will not be paid if they refuse to cross NUJ picket lines for two planned strikes next month.

  • Horrocks defends BBC's Jade coverage

    24-Mar-2009

    BBC head of newsroom Peter Horrocks has defended the BBC's decision to lead its Sunday news bulletins with the death of Jade Goody, after viewers questioned whether it was “appropriate” to carry the story at all.

  • Waybuloo creator teams up with Hit

    23-Mar-2009

    Waybuloo creator Dan Good is working on a new preschool series with intellectual property company Hit Entertainment.

  • DCD enjoys jump in first half revenue

    23-Mar-2009

    DCD saw a 23% uplift in revenue in the first six months of its current financial year but warned that it will make cost savings to help weather the downturn.

  • Burnham demands more TV coverage of women's sport

    23-Mar-2009

    Media secretary Andy Burnham has called for more TV coverage of women's sport and suggested new targets for governing bodies could make them tougher when negotiating with broadcasters.

  • ITN slams BBC web super-funding

    20-Mar-2009

    ITN has accused the BBC of aiming to “destroy the business models of competitors” after it upped its online budget by 26%.

  • BBC Trust approves extra£30m for online

    20-Mar-2009

    The BBC Trust has lifted the bbc.co.uk budget freeze after 10 months and released£30.7m new of cash for online over the next three years.

  • Being Human gets one-off special

    20-Mar-2009

    BBC3 is to screen a Being Human special next week, offering a behind the scenes look at the hit comedy drama.

  • Doctor Who writer wants lotto cash for kids TV

    19-Mar-2009

    Russell T Davies has called on the national lottery to help prop up children's programming.

  • Engle to make feminism docs for BBC4

    18-Mar-2009

    The director behind the critically acclaimed BBC series Lefties and Jews is to turn her attention to feminism for BBC4.

  • CBBC orders high profile drama slate for 2010

    18-Mar-2009

    CBBC has ordered a raft of new dramas, including a Being Human-style comedy for children and the first TV work from novelist Jeanette Winterson since Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.

  • Shearman and Bell miss out in BBC restructure

    18-Mar-2009

    BBC factual commissioners Nick Shearman and Mark Bell have failed to land jobs in the new Knowledge structure, sending shockwaves through the production sector.

  • BBC1 to champion donation drive

    18-Mar-2009

    BBC1 will highlight the need for blood and organ donation in the latest of its hard-hitting live, stripped programmes in daytime.

  • Trust: BBC must get better service from mega-contracts

    18-Mar-2009

    The BBC has reduced the cost of its biggest outsourcing contracts ahead of targets, but is not getting good enough service for its money, a National Audit Office report has found.

  • CBeebies orders more Grandpa in My Pocket

    18-Mar-2009

    CBeebies has commissioned Adastra Creative to make a second series of Grandpa in My Pocket, the live action series about a boy whose grandfather can shrink.

  • Tiger Aspect ups Cavey to comedy role

    17-Mar-2009

    Tiger Aspect has promoted Ben Cavey, producer of BBC3 sketch show Horne & Corden, to creative director of comedy.

  • Lucy Adams named BBC HR boss

    17-Mar-2009

    The BBC has hired named Lucy Adams as its new human resources chief, replacing Stephen Kelly who left the corporation last November.

  • Chuggington on track for second series

    17-Mar-2009

    CBeebies has acquired a second series of Chuggington, the talking train animation made by Ludorum.

  • BBC journalists plan strikes

    16-Mar-2009

    More than a thousand BBC journalists have voted to hold two one-day strikes against compulsory redundancies at the corporation.

  • BBC Trust warns against licence fee freeze

    16-Mar-2009

    The BBC Trust has warned that any move to freeze the licence fee will put BBC services at risk and would 'not be in the interest of licence fee payers'.

  • BBC1 plots County Durham sitcom

    16-Mar-2009

    BBC1 has commissioned pilot scripts for a comedy set in a County Durham hamlet.

  • Survivors moving to Birmingham

    16-Mar-2009

    The second series of post-apocalyptic BBC1 drama Survivors will be made in Birmingham, relocating from its previous base in Manchester.

  • Bigwigs join DCD to form Scottish indie

    11-Mar-2009

    DCD Media has created a new indie by teaming up with six senior figures from the Scottish production community.

  • Film-makers to explore pop culture icons for BBC3

    11-Mar-2009

    The Oscar-winning film-maker behind When We Were Kings is to investigate the Britney Spears phenomenon for BBC3.

  • RDF swells exec ranks in top-level staff reshuffle

    4-Mar-2009

    RDF Media Group has appointed two senior executives and a raft of group directors as part of a top-level reorganisation.

  • The Broadcast interview: David Frank

    4-Mar-2009

    RDF Media Group's chief executive tells Katherine Rushton how engineering a private equity-backed MBO just 18 months after Queengate has made him philosophical.

  • Crufts to be streamed online

    27-Feb-2009

    Crufts, the dog show dumped by the BBC over cruelty concerns, is to be streamed direct to viewers via its website.

  • Project Canvas lined up for 2010 launch

    26-Feb-2009

    The BBC hopes Project Canvas set-top boxes will hit the shops next year, making the plan to offer viewers easy access to the internet and on-demand services via their television sets more tangible than ever before.

  • Five set to axe third of staff

    25-Feb-2009

    Five will reveal plans for savage job cuts on Thursday 5 March - the day after ITV is expected to announce a major new round of redundancies of its own.

  • BBC2 bids for success with antiques series

    25-Feb-2009

    Flog It! presenter Paul Martin is to gamble people's savings on the antiques market in a new BBC2 daytime series.

  • BBC1 to air Dimbleby art docs

    25-Feb-2009

    David Dimbleby is to roam the world in search of British art from the past 2,000 years in a landmark arts documentary series for BBC1.

  • BBC Sport boss hopeful on Salford

    25-Feb-2009

    New director of BBC Sport, Barbara Slater, has said she is hopeful that more than a third of the department will make the move to Salford in 2011.

  • BBC to bring back Five Days and Criminal Justice

    25-Feb-2009

    The BBC is to turn Criminal Justice and Five Days into returnable brands by applying their stripped format to new casts and storylines.

  • BBC Drama: Never mind the bonnets

    25-Feb-2009

    Adaptations of classics are still BBC Drama Production's bread and butter, but now they're jostling for position with a new generation of bold contemporary series.

  • Barbara Slater named BBC Sport director

    25-Feb-2009

    The BBC has named former international gymnast Barbara Slater as its new director of sport.

  • Folio to follow up Soho Blues for Five

    25-Feb-2009

    Five has commissioned Folio to make a fast-turnaround follow up to its successful doc series Soho Blues.

  • BBC signs Dale Winton to host lottery shows

    25-Feb-2009

    Dale Winton is to front a host of new lottery shows - after striking a deal with the BBC understood to be worth nearly£750,000.

  • Lyons: Don't make BBC a 'convenient piggy bank'

    24-Feb-2009

    The BBC must not be allowed to become “the Lloyds Bank of the media world,” BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons has warned.

  • BBC2 challenges celebrity chefs to make money

    18-Feb-2009

    BBC2 will ask TV chefs to prove themselves in a busy restaurant in a spin-off of Reef TV's Put Your Money Where your Mouth Is.

  • BBC execs vet Teletubbies repeats

    18-Feb-2009

    Senior BBC staff are having to re-comply old episodes of Teletubbies that have already screened, as part of a BBC crackdown on compliance procedures.

  • Blue Peter to be 'more like Top Gear'

    18-Feb-2009

    BBC children's controller Richard Deverell has outlined his ambition to reinvent Blue Peter - by making it more like Top Gear.

  • US may get 50 years of Corrie on-demand

    18-Feb-2009

    ITV Studios managing director Lee Bartlett has revealed his ambition to launch Coronation Street in the US, as it endeavours to build the company's international footprint.

  • Mosey: Olympics should be 'coming of age' for digital

    18-Feb-2009

    The London Olympics should do for digital media what the 1930 abdication did for radio and the 1953 coronation did for television, the BBC's Olympics tsar will claim today.

  • ITV Studios inks deal with 19 Entertainment

    17-Feb-2009

    ITV Studios has signed a production deal with 19 Entertainment, the indie owned by American Idol creator Simon Fuller.

  • C4/BBC joint venture takes shape

    17-Feb-2009

    The proposed BBC Worldwide and Channel 4 joint venture could include the likes of E4 and Dave - but will not include BBCW's magazine or DVD businesses in their entirety.

  • BBCW: We will not work to Carter's deadline

    17-Feb-2009

    BBC Worldwide has warned it will not necessarily work to Stephen Carter's 12 March deadline to come up with a joint venture plan with Channel 4.

  • BBC names NW regional programming head

    17-Feb-2009

    The BBC has appointed Aziz Rashid head of regional and local programming for the north west of England.

  • Chorion profits top£28m

    16-Feb-2009

    Chorion, the intellectual property company behind Mr Men and Noddy, made£28.4m last year - driven by 35% annual growth in its children's division.

  • Microsoft exec named BBC marketing director

    16-Feb-2009

    The BBC has appointed former Microsoft executive Sharon Bayley as director of BBC marketing, communications and audiences, replacing Tim Davie who became director of BBC audio and music last year.

  • McIntyre to front BBC1 comedy roadshow

    16-Feb-2009

    Comedian Michael McIntyre will tour the country in search of the best stand up acts Britain has to offer, in a new six-part series for BBC1.

  • ITV to put Friends Reunited up for sale

    16-Feb-2009

    ITV is attempting to claw back some of its£120m deal for Friends Reunited, by putting the social networking business up for sale, it is understood.

  • Indies fear losing out in Knowledge restructure

    11-Feb-2009

    Indies are fearful that the commissioning restruct-ure at BBC Knowledge will favour in-house prod-ucers and that they are being “penalised” for their success in the Window of Creative Competition.

  • BBC's This Week up for grabs to indie sector

    11-Feb-2009

    BBC News is putting the contract for current affairs series This Week out to tender - in order that in-house production can hit its nations and regions targets.

  • Another week, another crisis

    11-Feb-2009

    Every week seems to bring a fresh scandal at the BBC, and with it the column inches. Has the corporation got crisis management under control.

  • BBC's Beautiful People to return

    11-Feb-2009

    BBC2 has ordered a second series of Beautiful People, the comedy drama adapted from Simon Doonan's memoir by Gimme Gimme Gimme creator Jonathan Harvey.

  • BBC's McGhee to take career break

    10-Feb-2009

    George McGhee, the man who brought Mad Men and Heroes to the BBC, is leaving his job as BBC controller of programme acquisition to take a career break.

  • BBC mulls kids radio station

    10-Feb-2009

    The BBC is looking at launching a dedicated children's radio station - otherwise it faces having to pull out of kids' radio altogether.

  • Neighbours move hits BBC kids shows

    10-Feb-2009

    Audiences for Newsround and Blue Peter have fallen “significantly” after BBC1 shrunk the children's schedule to accommodate the loss of Neighbours to Five.

  • BBC to pull Sri Lankan shows in censor row

    9-Feb-2009

    The BBC World Service is to suspend its FM programming on the Sri Lankan national broadcaster following a row over censorship.

  • Chiles: Carol Thatcher is not a racist

    9-Feb-2009

    The One Show presenter Adrian Chiles has described his horror and embarrassment at Carol Thatcher's “golliwog” remark - but claimed she is not a racist.

  • Horrocks 'leaks' BBC promotions on Twitter

    6-Feb-2009

    BBC head of newsroom Peter Horrocks has inadvertently revealed that Andrew Roy has replaced Richard Porter as BBC World News' head of news.

  • Wire in the Blood axed

    6-Feb-2009

    ITV has pulled the plug on Robson Green's long-running crime drama series, Wire in the Blood.

  • BBC Trust set to announce kids TV results

    6-Feb-2009

    The BBC Trust will say on Tuesday whether the BBC needs new rules for the way it runs its children's services in light of the decline in kids programming.

  • RDF gives 100 staff a stake in business

    5-Feb-2009

    RDF Media Group is to hand 100 of its staff a stake in the business after it delisted from the stock exchange on Monday.

  • Antiques Roadshow gets BBC2 weekday spin-off

    4-Feb-2009

    Antiques Roadshow is heading to BBC2 in a stripped weekday spin-off that will revisit some of the show's most memorable finds.

  • BBC Trust under fire over ‘misleading' statements

    4-Feb-2009

    The BBC Trust is facing fresh criticism after the cross-party Commons Department for Culture Media & Sport select committee accused it of ducking questions and trying to fulfil two functions at once.

  • ITV Westcountry moves into indie offices

    3-Feb-2009

    Budget cuts across the ITV's regional operations is to see ITV Westcountry move into the Plymouth offices of indie Twofour.

  • BBC to claw back£1.75m in staff overpayments

    2-Feb-2009

    The BBC is trying to recover£1.75m in accidental overpayments made to staff made over the last three years.

  • Splash Media names factual head

    2-Feb-2009

    Splash Media, the indie co-founded by former BBC exec Jane Lush, has hired freelance producer Michael Massey as head of its factual division.

  • Bill Oddie quits Springwatch

    30-Jan-2009

    Bill Oddie has left Springwatch - leaving the BBC short of a co-host for the next series which starts in May.

  • Cover star Morph a 'timely salute' to Hart

    30-Jan-2009

    Morph has finally quit his naturist ways and put on some clothes - for a fashion shoot in Esquire.

  • BBC spent£1m on local video plans

    30-Jan-2009

    The BBC Trust spent more than£1m of licence fee money testing the BBC's local video proposals, which it eventually canned.

  • Pact insists indies retain IP

    29-Jan-2009

    Digital Britain: Pact has delivered a veiled warning that indies must be able to hang onto their own IP, under the planned “evolution” of the terms of trade.

  • Carter ushers in terms of trade review

    29-Jan-2009

    Digital Britain: Communications, technology and broadcasting minister Stephen Carter has given his stamp of approval to the terms of trade but warned that they will have to be “evolved” for the digital future.

  • Ofcom PSB report: The strain of pulling together

    29-Jan-2009

    After months of slugging it out, the BBC and Channel 4 are being ordered to make peace and come up with constructive solutions. How will that work, asks Katherine Rushton.

  • Archie makes its kids debut with karaoke remake

    28-Jan-2009

    Archie Productions is to remake a Finnish children's show for six new territories after landing its first ever kids' commission.

  • BBCW faces radical shake-up threat

    28-Jan-2009

    BBC Worldwide is bracing itself for the DCMS select committee to call for a radical change to the way it acquires BBC programmes.

  • Pay hope for BBC rank and file

    28-Jan-2009

    The BBC wants to look after rank-and-file staff despite clamping down on bonuses and executive pay rises this week.

  • BBC Worldwide facing stricter control

    28-Jan-2009

    BBC Worldwide looks set to face a clamp down on what it can and cannot do, after the BBC Trust gave its clearest signal yet that the commercial operation has extended too far.

  • BBC back to 'bonnets' with Emma

    28-Jan-2009

    BBC Drama is to return to its Jane Austen heartland with a new period adaptation of the classic novel, Emma.

  • No BBC bonuses until 2010; senior level pay freeze

    27-Jan-2009

    None of the BBC's 24,000 staff will receive a bonus until at least 2010 and 400 of it most senior managers will have their pay frozen over the same period.

  • Barrowman to host new BBC talent series

    26-Jan-2009

    BBC1 is to mix the wish fulfilment of Jim'll Fix It with the unlikely performances of Britain's Got Talent in a new shiny floor show lined up for Saturday nights.

  • Davis to front TV version of Bottom Line

    26-Jan-2009

    The BBC is piloting a TV version of Evan Davis' radio show, The Bottom Line, and has signed him up as a permanent presenter on Today.

  • Ent Rights hit by FSA fine

    23-Jan-2009

    Entertainment Rights has been fined quarter of a million pounds after it withheld news of an anticipated $14m hit to its profits from the stock market.

  • Entertainment Rights hit by FSA fine

    23-Jan-2009

    Entertainment Rights has been fined quarter of a million pounds after it withheld news of an anticipated $14m hit to its profits from the stock market.

  • Burnham: support unsung indies

    23-Jan-2009

    Culture secretary Andy Burnham has said one of the “fundamental principles” of the PSB solution must be to support indies, whose contribution is under-appreciated in the ongoing debate.

  • Horrocks: BBC journalists 'unsettled' by sharing plan

    23-Jan-2009

    BBC journalists in the nations and regions are “shocked” and “unsettled” by plans to share resources with ITV, Peter Horrocks head of multimedia newsroom has admitted.

  • C4 ups deals outside terms of trade

    22-Jan-2009

    Channel 4 is ramping up the amount of business it does outside of the terms of trade - but wants the existing terms to remain in place if it merges with BBC Worldwide.

  • Burnham: top-slicing is unlikely

    22-Jan-2009

    Media secretary Andy Burnham has refused to rule out top slicing the BBC licence fee - but has admitted it is towards the bottom of his list of possible solutions to the PSB funding crisis.

  • Disabled viewers demand ‘real' roles

    21-Jan-2009

    Disabled viewers are demanding more “warts and all” portrayal of disability on TV, major new research by the BBC and Channel 4 has revealed.

  • Five's Airey throws weight behind Milkshake strand

    21-Jan-2009

    Five chief executive Dawn Airey has thrown her weight behind kids programming on the channel and is eyeing ways of expanding its preschool Milkshake brand.

  • ‘Shrewd' Thompson scores licence fee victory

    21-Jan-2009

    After the disappointment of the licence fee settlement, director general Mark Thompson has scored an arguably more important victory by seeing off the threat of top-slicing.

  • Loosening the straitjacket

    21-Jan-2009

    After years spent fighting its CRR restrictions, ITV is looking forward to finally having them relaxed. But not everyone is convinced, writes Katherine Rushton.

  • Comic Relief to cash in on celebrity dance trend

    21-Jan-2009

    BBC1 has lined up more dancing celebrities - this time paying homage to iconic dance routines in a new live shiny-floor show.

  • BBC wins top-slicing battle

    21-Jan-2009

    The BBC has won its battle to avoid the licence fee being top-sliced, but it is likely to lose the digital switchover cash surplus.

  • BBC foreign news overspend hits£1.2m

    20-Jan-2009

    The BBC's foreign news overspend has climbed to£1.2m because of the struggling pound and a continuing spate of major news stories overseas.

  • BBC kicks off director of sport search

    19-Jan-2009

    Interviews to find the new director of BBC Sport are set to begin this week, firing the starting gun on what appears to be a genuinely open competition.

  • Don't cut training, BBC urges industry

    16-Jan-2009

    The BBC's training and development director Caroline Prendergast has urged the industry to continue to invest in educating staff despite the economic downturn.

  • ITV: CRR changes could 'save' risky drama

    15-Jan-2009

    Risky, expensive dramas like Lost in Austen and the cancelled A Passage To India could have a future at ITV if its CRR “straitjacket” is relaxed, the broadcaster has claimed.

  • OFT: 'Relax ITV's CRR'

    15-Jan-2009

    The Office of Fair Trading has recommended the relaxation of ITV's Contract Rights Renewal (CRR) undertakings which currently force it to compensate advertisers for falling audiences.

  • BBC Knowledge firms up latest merger plan

    14-Jan-2009

    BBC Knowledge has firmed up proposals to reintegrate its in-house and indie commissioning teams, with a decision anticipated as early as the end of January.

  • BBC and C4 draw final PSB battle lines

    14-Jan-2009

    The BBC and Channel 4 are at loggerheads in the run-up to Ofcom's final PSB report, with the broadcasters disagreeing on almost all key proposals.

  • BBC plans Broadcasting House security fence

    14-Jan-2009

    The BBC has applied for planning permission to build a US Embassy-style “ring of steel” around Broadcasting House.

  • BBC World Service eyes launch of Urdu channel

    14-Jan-2009

    The BBC World Service is eyeing indigenous-language channels in the Indian subcontinent, China and Latin America, following the launches of its publicly funded BBC Arabic and BBC Persian television services.

  • BBC daytime orders Countryfile spin-off

    14-Jan-2009

    BBC daytime has ordered a Countryfile spin-off and a quiz show fronted by Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark.

  • UKTV drops relationship dramas in Watch rethink

    14-Jan-2009

    UKTV is ditching flagship “relationship” dramas from Watch in a bid to reposition the channel just three months after its launch.

  • Balancing act in an asymmetric war

    14-Jan-2009

    With the BBC receiving over 1,000 complaints about its latest Gaza coverage, Chris Curtis and Katherine Rushton examine how news bulletins have handled this politicised conflict.

  • Kennel Club changes breeding rules

    13-Jan-2009

    The Kennel Club is overhauling the controversial breeding rules that prompted the BBC to drop its coverage of Crufts.

  • Cohen edges BBC3 younger

    13-Jan-2009

    BBC3 controller Danny Cohen is trying to skew the channel's “sweet spot” younger - but insisted he will not alienate its core viewers.

  • Butcher talent show leads BBC3's spring slate

    13-Jan-2009

    BBC3 plans to do for butchers what The X Factor does for singers, in a new series of awards shows about Britain's young tradespeople.

  • BBC launches fresh expenses crackdown

    13-Jan-2009

    The BBC is monitoring how long staff keep taxis waiting as part of a fresh crackdown on expenses.

  • BBC in Ski Sunday U-turn

    12-Jan-2009

    The BBC has ditched its revamp of Ski Sunday and is splitting off the show's new travelogue elements in a separate series called High Altitude.

  • Iran blocks BBC Persian reporter bid

    8-Jan-2009

    Iranian authorities have refused the BBC permission to base a Persian-speaking correspondent in Iran, despite the launch of the BBC Persian television channel later this month.

  • Fresh woes for Entertainment Rights

    8-Jan-2009

    Entertainment Rights is facing a fresh crisis because its main US DVD distributor, Genius Products, has failed to pay it the money it owes.

  • RDF deal to complete next month

    7-Jan-2009

    RDF Media Group will delist on 2 February following shareholder approval of the£52m management buy-out.

  • BBC's Gaza complaints split down middle

    7-Jan-2009

    The BBC has received more than 1,000 complaints about its coverage of the Gaza conflict - but they are evenly split between accusations of bias towards either the Israelis or the Palestinians.

  • BBC1 clears schedule for Obama

    7-Jan-2009

    BBC1 has cleared the teatime schedules for two hours on 20 January for live coverage of Barack Obama's inauguration as US president.

  • Olivia to make US debut

    7-Jan-2009

    Chorion and Brown Bag Films' pre-school series Olivia is poised to air on Nickelodeon US for the first time.

  • BBC3 plans Being Human online prequels

    7-Jan-2009

    BBC3 is to launch a series of online prequels to Being Human, telling the back-stories of the series' central characters - a vampire, ghost and werewolf.

  • Gromit wins iPlayer battle

    6-Jan-2009

    Wallace and Gromit beat the Timelord and Jeremy Clarkson to the iPlayer top spot over Christmas, during the catch-up service's best ever viewing period.

  • Indies ‘starving' due to R4 commissioning changes

    6-Jan-2009

    Independent radio producers have claimed the BBC is “starving” them out after Radio 4 unveiled plans for a major overhaul of its commissioning process.

  • BT Vision to escape group cuts

    6-Jan-2009

    BT Vision chief executive Dan Marks has vowed the telecoms giant will not scale back investment in the IPTV service despite its plans to axe 10,000 jobs and slash costs.

  • BBC resolves discrimination dispute

    6-Jan-2009

    A journalist who suffers from multiple sclerosis has left the BBC after more than 20 years after claiming she suffered discrimination.

  • Ross' BBC1 return date confirmed

    6-Jan-2009

    Friday Night with Jonathan Ross will return to BBC1 on 23 January, bringing an end to his three-month suspension over Sachsgate.

  • ER confirms takeover talks

    5-Jan-2009

    Troubled kids company Entertainment Rights is in takeover talks, the company confirmed over the Christmas period.

  • BBC staff air Sachsgate frustrations

    23-Dec-2008

    Around three times the usual number of BBC staff turned out for a routine editorial policy meeting this month, to vent their frustration about the Ross-Brand debacle.

  • Pressure on BBC to overhaul Strictly voting

    23-Dec-2008

    A Liberal Democrat peer has heaped pressure on the BBC to make the Strictly Come Dancing voting system more transparent and prevent a repeat of this year's “debacle”.

  • BBC reveals more Holmes details

    22-Dec-2008

    Atonement actor Benedict Cumberbatch is to star as Sherlock Holmes with The Office actor Martin Freeman as his Watson in a new BBC adaptation of the classic detective stories.

  • BBCW slashes£60m off 2Entertain offer

    22-Dec-2008

    BBC Worldwide has slashed its£100m offer to buy Woolworths out of their DVD publishing joint venture, 2Entertain, to just£40m.

  • MTV UK to cut 80 jobs

    19-Dec-2008

    MTV UK is to axe up to 80 jobs in line with cost cutting measures imposed by parent company Viacom.

  • Staff numbers plunge at Eyeworks UK

    19-Dec-2008

    Eyeworks UK, formerly At It Productions, has dramatically slimmed down its team following the loss of the Channel 4 contract to produce T4.

  • Govt urged to set digital radio deadline

    19-Dec-2008

    The government should set a date for Britain's migration from analogue to digital radio, the Digital Radio Working Group has concluded.

  • BBC launches iPlayer for kids

    19-Dec-2008

    The BBC has launched its children's iPlayer - allowing it to promote the catch up service to younger viewers for the first time.

  • CBBC names Andrew drama boss

    18-Dec-2008

    CBBC has named Steven Andrew as head of drama and acquisitions.

  • Ofcom slaps£95,000 fine on BBC

    18-Dec-2008

    Ofcom has hit the BBC with a£95,000 fine for conducting competitions unfairly on the Dermot O'Leary Radio 2 show and the Tony Blackburn BBC London 94.9FM show.

  • How to plug the PSB funding gap

    17-Dec-2008

    The BBC has warded off the threat of top-slicing - but will proposals to share resources with other broadcasters help it keep hold of BBC Worldwide? Katherine Rushton reports.

  • Whizz Kid lands ITV New Year's bash

    17-Dec-2008

    Elton John, Will Young and X Factor winner Alexandra Burke will star in ITV1's New Year's Eve special at the O2 arena.

  • Twofour promotes Greg Barnett

    17-Dec-2008

    Twofour has promoted executive producer Greg Barnett to the new role of head of entertainment.

  • BBC2 orders major space drama

    16-Dec-2008

    The BBC has signed up as a co-pro partner for a major 13-part space drama from the makers of Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives.

  • BBC in Strictly refund climb down

    16-Dec-2008

    The BBC has backed down in the face of public anger by offering refunds to Strictly Come Dancing voters upset by the result of Saturday's semi-final.

  • BBC drops licence fee direct mail firm

    15-Dec-2008

    The BBC has fired the company in charge of sending out letters to licence fee evaders for using false statistics.

  • BBC under fire over Strictly debacle

    15-Dec-2008

    The BBC has been flooded with 200 complaints after the Strictly Come Dancing scoring system meant that viewer's phone votes were unable to alter the outcome on Saturday.

  • Blog: Game changing or game plan?

    11-Dec-2008

    The BBC's partnership proposals are part of a bigger plan to secure its own future, writes Katherine Rushton.

  • BBC cold on C4/Worldwide merger

    11-Dec-2008

    The BBC has poured cold water on proposals to merge Channel 4 with BBC Worldwide - claiming any such move would trigger a “catastrophic loss of value”.

  • Shaps seeks indies for£5m investment slate

    10-Dec-2008

    Simon Shaps is poised to invest around£5m in a raft of small to medium-sized indie producers, Broadcast can reveal.

  • This Morning exec steps down

    10-Dec-2008

    This Morning executive producer Anya Francis has left the daytime magazine show.

  • Allsopp to go it alone

    10-Dec-2008

    Location, Location, Location co-presenter Kirstie Allsopp will go it alone for the first time in a new craft series for C4.

  • Online Switch show to be 'glue' for BBC2 strand

    10-Dec-2008

    BBC Switch's online magazine programme The 5.19 Show is to transfer to BBC2 and become the host strand for other Switch TV content.

  • CBBC snaps up Decode's talking dog animation

    10-Dec-2008

    CBBC has signed a deal with Canadian distributor Decode to acquire a North American series about a talking dog.

  • Peter Salmon named BBC DG of the North

    9-Dec-2008

    BBC Vision's chief creative officer Peter Salmon is to lead the biggest staff move in the history of the BBC as its first “director general of the North”.

  • Tories call for licence fee breakdown

    9-Dec-2008

    The Conservative Party has called for the TV Licensing Authority (TVLA) to adopt BBC branding and to offer a breakdown of how the licence fee is spent with any requests for payment.

  • C4 and ITV may get free use of iPlayer

    9-Dec-2008

    Channel 4 and ITV may be granted free and open use of the BBC iPlayer, under new proposals by the BBC to help solve the PSB funding gap.

  • Holdsworth confirmed as English regions head

    8-Dec-2008

    The BBC has confirmed David Holdsworth as controller of English regions.

  • Indies: Fighting for opportunities to survive

    27-Nov-2008

    With forecasts of a tough year to come, even the biggest among production companies will have to cut costs. Katherine Rushton looks at the secrets of making it through a downturn.

  • Monkey Television picks up Make My Day for US

    26-Nov-2008

    Monkey Television is to follow the lives of unsuspecting Americans in a Stateside remake of its Channel 4 hidden camera show Make My Day.

  • BBC emails reveal Sachsgate details

    21-Nov-2008

    Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand were both “very keen” for the prank call at the centre of Sachsgate to be aired, BBC Radio 2 producer Nic Philps has claimed.

  • BBC under fire over more Brand/Ross claims

    21-Nov-2008

    The BBC Trust has criticised the corporation over two further breaches of decency involving Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross.

  • BBC bosses waive bonuses

    21-Nov-2008

    All the members of the BBC executive management team will waive their entitlement to bonuses in the 2008/2009 financial year, in the light of the current economic turmoil.

  • Ross to return to BBC

    21-Nov-2008

    Jonathan Ross will be reinstated after his 12-week suspension, after the BBC Trust claimed it is not its responsibility to dictate sanctions against presenters.

  • Ofcom: BBC local video would have negative market impact

    21-Nov-2008

    The BBC's proposed local video service would have a “significant negative impact” on commercial rivals and threaten future innovation, Ofcom has warned.

  • BBC Trust refuses local online video plans

    21-Nov-2008

    The BBC Trust has blocked BBC proposals for a£68m online local news service, claiming it would not justify the expenditure of licence fee funds or the negative market impact on commercial rivals.

  • Humphreys to head Shine specialist arm

    20-Nov-2008

    Shine Television has recruited Parthenon Entertainment creative director Natalie Humphreys to head a new specialist factual unit.

  • Interview: Louis Theroux

    19-Nov-2008

    Louis Theroux dodges questions on internal BBC politics, muses on the role of the journalist-interviewer and tells Katherine Rushton why these days he's more interested in telling good stories than trying to be funny.

  • Louis Theroux on...

    19-Nov-2008

    ...aggressive interviewers

  • Fact File: Louis Theroux

    19-Nov-2008

    Age: 38

  • Theroux signs three-year exclusive deal with BBC

    19-Nov-2008

    Louis Theroux has signed a new three-year contract with the BBC.

  • Financial misery to hit home next year

    19-Nov-2008

    Producers are bracing themselves for the fallout of the economic crisis as hard-hitting budget cuts by broadcasters threaten to hammer the content sector.

  • Trust to ‘contain' BBCW activity, Lyons tells MPs

    19-Nov-2008

    The Sachsgate row has overshadowed the BBC Trust's clearest indication yet that it will rein in BBC Worldwide's activities.

  • RDF USA and IWC Media strike first co-pro deal

    19-Nov-2008

    RDF Media is to examine the science behind blowing up buildings in the first co-production between its UK and US businesses.

  • Make My Body Younger to return

    19-Nov-2008

    Twofour is to make a second series 8 x 60-minute series of Make My Body Younger, but is relocating the production base to its headquarters in Plymouth.

  • BBC orders credit crunch property show

    19-Nov-2008

    BBC1 has commissioned Homes Under The Hammer producer Lion Television to pilot a new daytime format called House Swap, in which home owners trapped by the property downturn trade properties.

  • TV is positive influence on kids

    18-Nov-2008

    Eight out of 10 parents believe television has a positive impact on their child's development, according to a new survey by clinical psychologist and TV presenter Dr Tanya Byron.

  • Phoo Action series axed

    17-Nov-2008

    The BBC has pulled the plug on Phoo Action because it “was struggling to fulfil its ambitions”.

  • BBC in talks with Google

    14-Nov-2008

    The BBC is looking at ways that it can work with Google, potentially positioning it as the most powerful media partnership in the UK.

  • R2 confirms Ross' return

    13-Nov-2008

    The BBC has named the date for Jonathan Ross' return - before publishing the findings of its Sachsgate review.

  • Extra job losses loom at BBC

    13-Nov-2008

    The BBC is facing the prospect of a new round of job losses, on top of the hard-hitting cuts already tabled under the Fewer, Bigger, Better plans.

  • MPs to grill BBC bosses on Sachsgate

    13-Nov-2008

    BBC bosses face will be quizzed by MPs about the Ross/Brand prank call next Tuesday, as part of a Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee investigation.

  • Top indie producers decline Tranter's job

    12-Nov-2008

    The BBC is struggling to find a successor to controller of fiction Jane Tranter who departs for BBC Worldwide in LA next month.

  • BBC4 to adapt Cloud Spotter's Guide

    12-Nov-2008

    BBC4 is to take a “lyrical” look at clouds in a feature-length documentary based on the bestselling book The Cloud Spotter's Guide.

  • Armed forces awards show to air on Sky 1

    12-Nov-2008

    Sky1 is to televise “The Millies” - the awards for military bravery launched this year by Prince Charles and the Sun newspaper.

  • Schama lines up major history of the Jews for BBC2

    12-Nov-2008

    Simon Schama is in discussion with the BBC to chart the history of the Jews in his next series.

  • BBC boosts in-house entertainment

    12-Nov-2008

    BBC Vision Productions has bolstered its entertainment team with a new tier of managers focused on different sub-genres.

  • RDF close to£53m management buyout

    12-Nov-2008

    The management of Wife Swap creator RDF Media is “nearing completion” of a£53m takeover bid for the company, backed by Endemol founder John De Mol's investment firm.

  • BBC's Gardner follows Tranter to US

    12-Nov-2008

    Julie Gardner, head of drama for BBC Wales, is to join the corporation's outgoing director of fiction Jane Tranter in the US.

  • Princess wins multimillion T4 contract

    11-Nov-2008

    Princess Productions has won the multimillion pound contract for Channel 4's youth strand T4.

  • CBeebies to adopt rolling commissioning

    11-Nov-2008

    CBeebies has abandoned its annual commissioning round in favour of rolling commissioning.

  • HD Crime network to feature Killer Couples

    11-Nov-2008

    The Crime Investigation Network HD is to examine couples who murder in its first UK commission since its high definition relaunch last week.

  • iPlayer users to download shows before broadcast

    10-Nov-2008

    iPlayer users will soon be able to download programmes seven days in advance of broadcast, under new plans aimed at spreading its burden on bandwidth.

  • Klein slams titillating and 'Big Mac' docs

    10-Nov-2008

    Documentaries are being undermined by “false, cod sympathy”, voyeurism, and biased views, Richard Klein, head of independents commissioning for BBC Knowledge, has claimed.

  • Brand defends Sachs call

    10-Nov-2008

    Russell Brand has claimed that there was “no malicious intent” behind the messages he and Jonathan Ross left for Andrew Sachs.

  • Sachsgate claims another BBC scalp

    7-Nov-2008

    Dave Barber, the head of compliance at BBC Radio 2, has quit the corporation following the row over Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand's prank call.

  • BBC plans twin seasons on credit crunch crisis

    5-Nov-2008

    The BBC is aiming to demystify the stock market and track the personal impact of financial problems in two factual seasons around the economic crisis.

  • Ross and Brand ‘will escape lasting harm'

    5-Nov-2008

    Neither Russell Brand nor Jonathan Ross will suffer lasting damage to their careers because of the row over their prank phone calls to Andrew Sachs - or so think most people in television.

  • Elliott to boost RDF drama slate

    5-Nov-2008

    RDF Media Group has recruited former ITV drama luminary Nick Elliott as a consultant to sit on a group-wide drama board.

  • Budget blowout heaps pressure on BBC news

    5-Nov-2008

    The BBC has exceeded its foreign news budget by nearly£1m and is considering closing some of its foreign bureaux to make ends meet.

  • End BBCW first-look deal, producers tell MPs

    5-Nov-2008

    BBC Worldwide is “systematically underpaying” the BBC for distribution rights, Fremantle Media chief executive Tony Cohen has told MPs.

  • Milkshake pets to star in spin-off series

    5-Nov-2008

    Five's Milkshake! pre-school strand's pets are to star in their own spin-off series.

  • Analysis: What next for BBC talent?

    5-Nov-2008

    After a prank in poor taste backfired on the whole corporation, Katherine Rushton asks whether curbing top stars' pay and enforcing decency risks scaring off the talent.

  • Sachsgate complaints hit 42,000

    4-Nov-2008

    Complaints about the Ross/Brand prank call have continued to roll into the BBC over the last few days, with the figure reaching 42,000.

  • No replacement for Film 2008

    3-Nov-2008

    The BBC has decided not to replace Film 2008 With Jonathan Ross and is instead “pulling the schedule forward by half an hour.

  • No cash for Ross through indie

    3-Nov-2008

    The BBC has redoubled its pledge not to pay Jonathan Ross any money during his 12-week suspension- including through his independent production company Hotsauce TV.

  • Cameron slams 'bloated' BBC

    3-Nov-2008

    David Cameron has accused the BBC of overpaying senior executives and talent and of losing touch with licence fee payers.

  • Blog: Have broadcasters lost control of talent?

    31-Oct-2008

    Broadcast's Katherine Rushton thinks the BBC needs strong leadership.

  • Ross could still get money from BBC

    31-Oct-2008

    Jonathan Ross may still receive money from the BBC for the three months of his suspension.

  • Lyons defends BBC's right to take risks

    31-Oct-2008

    BBC Trust chairman Michael Lyons has pledged not to wade into editorial decisions about provocative output and has defended the corporation's right to take risks.

  • BBC Staff: Edgy comedy at risk after 'Sachsgate'

    31-Oct-2008

    Edgy comedy could be sacrificed amid an “atmosphere of fear” at the BBC following Sachsgate, staff at the corporation have warned.

  • BBC still silent over 'Sachsgate' cause

    31-Oct-2008

    Confusion has continued to cloud the ‘Sachsgate' phone prank row this morning, with the BBC remaining silent on how the offending incident was allowed to air.

  • BBC Trust: tighten editorial controls

    30-Oct-2008

    The BBC Trust has called on the BBC to toughen up its editorial controls and demanded that it offers an on-air apology to licence fee payers for the prank phone call scandal involving Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand.

  • Ross suspended for 12 weeks

    30-Oct-2008

    The BBC has suspended Jonathan Ross for 12 weeks without pay - but warned that the consequences for managers will be “more serious”.

  • Lesley Douglas resigns

    30-Oct-2008

    BBC Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas has resigned from the corporation saying she believes it is “right that [she] takes responsibility” for ‘Sachsgate'.

  • Complaints top 35,000 but start to slow

    30-Oct-2008

    The number of complaints flooding into the BBC over Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand's prank call has reached 35,700 but has finally started to slow.

  • BBC pulls Buzzcocks tonight

    30-Oct-2008

    The BBC has cancelled the broadcast of tonight's planned edition of Never Mind the Buzzcocks because it featured disgraced comedian Russell Brand.

  • BBC braces itself for Trust verdict

    30-Oct-2008

    BBC executives are bracing themselves for the BBC Trust's verdict on Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand after a gruelling three-hour emergency meeting.

  • Huntingford joins Boomerang Plus

    30-Oct-2008

    Cardiff-based indie Boomerang Plus has appointed former Chrysalis Group chairman Richard Huntingford as a non-executive chairman.

  • BBC1 goes for Speed instead of Ross

    30-Oct-2008

    The BBC has scheduled the Keanu Reeves film Speed in place of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross tomorrow evening - as the number of complaints about Ross' and Russell Brand's obscene prank phone call reached 30,500.

  • Blumenfeld joins ITVP

    30-Oct-2008

    Amaze TV has ceased trading and its boss Remy Blumenfeld is joining ITV Productions as the head of a newly formed global formats team.

  • Too little, too late, say angry BBC staff

    29-Oct-2008

    BBC staff are furious at how the corporation has handled the Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand prank call row, claiming that once again it has done too little, too late.

  • Writer claims BBC stole sitcom idea

    29-Oct-2008

    A row has erupted over BBC sitcom In My Country after comedy writer Jim Miller claimed the corporation stole his idea.

  • New programme director for RDF

    29-Oct-2008

    RDF Television has poached the controller behind ITV Productions' Come Dine with Me and I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! as director of programmes.

  • Brand Ross complaint numbers rocket

    29-Oct-2008

    More than 27,000 people have now complained to the BBC about the Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand phone prank.

  • MTV UK considers axing in-house production unit

    29-Oct-2008

    MTV Networks UK & Ireland is considering axing its in-house production unit and outsourcing all its British-made content.

  • Horse story saddles up for Storyville

    29-Oct-2008

    The BBC is to offer a horse's eye view of the Irish national hunt in a documentary for the Storyville strand.

  • BBC suspends Ross and Brand

    29-Oct-2008

    BBC director general Mark Thompson has suspended Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand over their “offensive” prank call and vowed to “satisfy” licence fee payers that “appropriate action” will be taken.

  • Princess favourite to land T4 contract

    29-Oct-2008

    Princess Productions is the favourite to win the multimillion pound T4 production contract, as Channel 4 enters the final round of its tender process.

  • RDF names new CFO

    29-Oct-2008

    RDF Media Group has promoted Jonny Slow to the role of chief financial officer, replacing Janice Price who is leaving the super-indie after 12 years.

  • Green Wing commissioner to leave C4

    28-Oct-2008

    Caroline Leddy, the woman behind Smack the Pony, Green Wing and the Brass Eye paedophile special, has become Channel 4's first high profile commissioner to take voluntary redundancy.

  • Tigress appoints development exec

    28-Oct-2008

    Factual specialist Tigress Productions has recruited the BBC's Inge Samuels as development executive.

  • BBC Trust wades in to Ross and Brand row

    28-Oct-2008

    The BBC Trust has waded in to the row over Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand's prank calls as the number of complaints to the BBC snowballed to nearly 5,000.

  • BBC religion recruits Nagra

    28-Oct-2008

    The BBC has recruited Jesus Camp executive producer Tommy Nagra to its Manchester-based religion and ethics department.

  • Children's Baftas shortlist revealed

    28-Oct-2008

    The BBC already has the Bafta for the best children's presenter in the bag, after it emerged that all the nominees for the prize front BBC programmes.

  • BBC orders Five Days spin-off

    27-Oct-2008

    The BBC is planning a spin-off of its crime thriller Five Days featuring the two main detective characters.

  • BBC may sell Jam content to recover licence funds

    22-Oct-2008

    The BBC is proposing to commercially exploit mothballed BBC Jam content in a bid to recover some of the millions of pounds of licence- fee funding spent on the axed education service.

  • BBC kicks off XM25 indie scheme

    22-Oct-2008

    Established indies like True North and Presentable will sit alongside smaller players such as Bristol's Avatar in the first intake of the BBC's XM25 access scheme.

  • Acclaimed novel Small Island comes to BBC1

    22-Oct-2008

    BBC1 is planning a major dramatisation of Andrea Levy's bestselling novel Small Island.

  • Watch launch hampered by Virgin package hitch

    22-Oct-2008

    More than a million Virgin Media customers were unable to view UKTV's Watch for a full week after it went live - undermining its flagship show, Richard & Judy's New Position.

  • Motive sets up rescue fund

    22-Oct-2008

    Motive Television has set aside a£1m “lifeboat fund” to rescue indies that have hit cash-flow difficulties because of the economic downturn.

  • Indies land BBC regional scheme places

    22-Oct-2008

    Established indies like True North and Presentable will sit alongside smaller players such as Bristol's Avatar in the first intake of the BBC's XM25 access scheme.

  • US election special for Question Time

    22-Oct-2008

    Question Time is moving to America, for a special one-off around the US presidential elections.

  • Robinson: BBC may become Mugabe-figure

    21-Oct-2008

    Time Team presenter Tony Robinson has raised fears that the BBC could become a Robert Mugabe-figure under new proposals for it to form partnerships with other public service broadcasters.

  • Viacom ‘confident' of $1bn Google action win

    16-Oct-2008

    Viacom is “quite confident” it will win its $1bn lawsuit against Google, either in or out of court, according to chief executive Philippe Dauman.

  • BBC hands flagship shows to regions

    15-Oct-2008

    Casualty is poised to relocate to Wales and Question Time will head to Scotland as part of the BBC's biggest ever shake-up of network programming from the nations and regions.

  • Commissioning roles

    15-Oct-2008

    As revealed by Broadcast, these “creative hubs” will be underpinned by five new commissioning posts in the nations.

  • Specialist hubs

    15-Oct-2008

    The new blueprint aims to build different creative “hubs”, much as the Natural History Unit has done in Bristol, in each nation and key region.

  • Shows on the move

    15-Oct-2008

    Full list of BBC shows on the move as part of the corporation's biggest ever shake-up of network programming from the nations and regions.

  • BBC woos Yentob for DG of North job

    15-Oct-2008

    Alan Yentob is being courted by BBC bosses to become the “DG of the North” - but negotiations have been complicated by his opposition to the decision to move arts strand Imagine to Scotland.

  • Firecracker bear series for Animal Planet

    15-Oct-2008

    Animal Planet has commissioned Firecracker Films to make a full series based on its Five documentary The Man Who Lives with Bears.

  • Broadcasters predict programming shortfall

    15-Oct-2008

    Mipcom: Buyers and distributors are predicting a worrying dearth of high quality content in the next one to two years, as broadcasters cut back on commissioning original programmes.

  • C4 orders Charles love triangle doc

    14-Oct-2008

    Channel 4 is to air a documentary about one of Prince Charles' early romances and a little-known love triangle that included him and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.

  • Thomas on track for China

    14-Oct-2008

    MIPCOM: Thomas the Tank Engine is to roll into China for the first time, following a deal by Hit Entertainment.

  • Viacom boss 'optimistic' but tightening purse strings

    13-Oct-2008

    MIPCOM: Viacom chief executive Philippe Dauman has said he is 'optimistic' that the media will perform well in the economic downturn, despite downgrading expectations of the media giant's performance.

  • Amaze cuts ties with private equity firm

    13-Oct-2008

    Production company Amaze TV has severed its ties with the private equity group Palamon Capital Partners following the collapse of the Dutch firm D&D, which Palamon also owned.

  • Fremantle to spend its way out of credit crunch

    13-Oct-2008

    MIPCOM: FremantleMedia chief executive Tony Cohen has pledged to plough money into development and acquisitions in a bid to weather the economic crisis.

  • BBCW execs face select committee grilling

    9-Oct-2008

    BBC and BBC Worldwide executives will be called in front of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee to give evidence, as the corporation faces the most serious examination of its commercial activities to date.

  • Kids iPlayer to tackle web watershed problem

    8-Oct-2008

    The BBC is to solve the online watershed conundrum by launching a children's version of the iPlayer.

  • BBC pilots comedy for ‘little Britons'

    8-Oct-2008

    The BBC has invested in a slew of children's comedy pilots in a bid to bring the Little Britain formula to younger audiences.

  • Tranter bids emotional farewell

    8-Oct-2008

    Jane Tranter bid a tearful farewell to the UK drama industry last night, at the screening of Little Dorrit - expected to be her last major speech before she steps down as BBC director of fiction.

  • BBC hands nations extra clout

    7-Oct-2008

    The BBC has promoted its national controllers to the BBC Direction Group and plans to dismantle its Nations and Regions division, in its latest effort to devolve power from London.

  • Brand to front BBC war doc

    7-Oct-2008

    Comedienne Jo Brand is to mark the 90th anniversary of the Armistice for BBC1, with a look at the life of First World War nurse Vera Brittain.

  • Exhibition planned for Wallace and Gromit

    3-Oct-2008

    Wallace and Gromit are to be the focus of a major new exhibition planned by the Science Museum.

  • C4 cuts taking toll on ratings

    3-Oct-2008

    The budget cuts at Channel 4 are already starting to take a toll on audience figures, viewer's editor Paula Carter has claimed.

  • Mary... queen of charity shops

    3-Oct-2008

    Mary, Queen of Shops presenter Mary Portas is to turn her merchandising expertise to charity shops in a new project for BBC2.

  • Interview: Danny Cohen

    2-Oct-2008

    The critical scorn meted out to Lily Allen's chat show has not deterred BBC3 controller Danny Cohen from his mission to give new talent a break.

  • Danny Cohen on...

    2-Oct-2008

    BBC3 controller Danny Cohen on...

  • Ross returning to BBC1 to fight crime

    1-Oct-2008

    Former Crimewatch presenter Nick Ross is to return to BBC1 to present a primetime show about the battle to fight crime.

  • BBC eyes teen drama as rival to Hollyoaks

    1-Oct-2008

    The BBC is planning to rival Channel 4's Hollyoaks with a new drama set in a hair and beauty academy in Manchester.

  • BBC adapts Jacqueline Wilson for Christmas

    1-Oct-2008

    Juliet Stevenson is to star in a BBC film adaptation of Jacqueline Wilson's teen novel Dustbin Baby, about a girl whose life is a blur of social workers and care homes.

  • Janice Hadlow wins BBC2 controller role

    1-Oct-2008

    BBC4 controller Janice Hadlow has been named controller of BBC2, confirming widespread expectations in the industry.

  • Clements makes first SMG hiring

    30-Sep-2008

    Alan Clements has made his first major appointment at Scottish media group SMG, handing the role of head of entertainment and factual to Paul Murray.

  • CITV acquires CGI series

    30-Sep-2008

    CITV has acquired preschool series Bo on the Go! from Decode Enterprises, the DHX Media-owned children's and entertainment distributor.

  • BBC World News MD quits

    29-Sep-2008

    Anne Barnard, managing director of BBC World News, is leaving to “recharge [her] batteries” after more than 14 years at the corporation.

  • Entertainment One to buy DHX

    29-Sep-2008

    International distributor Entertainment One (E1) is to buy Canada-based children's producer DHX Media in a deal which values the company at C$1.59 (85p) a share or C$68m (£36.3m).

  • Prospect of shared BBCW draws nearer

    29-Sep-2008

    The BBC is already in talks with rival broadcasters to share commercial arm BBC Worldwide as part of the shake up to public service broadcasting.

  • DCD secures£2m rights deal

    26-Sep-2008

    Aim-listed producer and distributor DCD Media has landed£2m worth of rights deals through its newly established licensing arm, DCD Publishing.

  • BBC Vision's commissioning wishlist

    25-Sep-2008

    As the credit crunch bites, the BBC is calling for more feel-good TV. With budgets stretched and its audience fragmented, all genres must be bold and inclusive.

  • BBC schedules its intentions

    25-Sep-2008

    The BBC is feeling the credit crunch in more ways than one. Besides the staff cuts, the steadily tightening production purse strings, and the corporation's slew of economics scoops, the BBC is reshaping its schedules to relieve some of the wider economic gloom facing audiences.

  • BBC Vision: Michael Carrington, controller of CBeebies

    25-Sep-2008

    Michael Carrington is on the hunt for new content for web-savvy two-to four-year-olds.

  • BBC Vision: Anne Gilchrist, controller of CBBC

    25-Sep-2008

    Anne Gilchrist has taken the BBC's “fewer, bigger, better” mantra to heart and wants to find key brands that CBBC can go “hell for leather” with on all platforms.

  • BBC Vision: Liam Keelan, controller of daytime

    25-Sep-2008

    Weekday mornings on BBC1 are about current affairs, presented in an accessible, tangible way that makes viewers feel empowered.

  • BBC Vision: Elaine Bedell, controller of entertainment

    25-Sep-2008

    It is not long since Elaine Bedell commissioned physical gameshows Hole in the Wall and Total Wipeout for Saturday night on BBC1 but there is still room for one more, she says.

  • BBC Vision: Lucy Lumsden, controller of comedy

    25-Sep-2008

    Lucy Lumsden wants about half of the BBC's sitcoms to be filmed in front of a studio audience - but currently only one in five of the ideas she receives fit the bill, so her headline plea is for more audience shows.

  • BBC Vision: George Entwistle, controller of knowledge

    25-Sep-2008

    Evenings on BBC1 are a tough spot for factual, and controller of knowledge commissioning George Entwistle is looking for a pre-watershed series that will do for the channel what the “kinetic adventure” shows Amazon or Tribe have done for BBC2.

  • BBC Vision: Jane Tranter, outgoing controller of fiction

    25-Sep-2008

    Top of the BBC's wish list is a few more laughs, according to Jane Tranter. These could manifest themselves in comedy drama, “dramedy”, or as touches of levity in decidedly solemn pieces.

  • Tranter in£1m web pledge

    24-Sep-2008

    BBC Fiction controller Jane Tranter has handed a parting gift to the UK's new media producers - earmarking£1.3m for online drama projects.

  • Entwistle to ‘stay put'

    24-Sep-2008

    George Entwistle has vowed to stay put as controller of BBC Knowledge and has ruled out going for a channel controller job.

  • Cactus lands series with Hairy Bikers

    24-Sep-2008

    The Hairy Bikers are to front a major stripped daytime series for BBC2 that will be made by Cactus TV instead of their long-time producer, Big Bear Films.

  • Timewatch editor forms indie JV with Impossible

    24-Sep-2008

    Primeval producer Impossible Pictures is to launch a new indie specialising in history and science in partnership with Timewatch editor John Farren.

  • RDF operating loss triples year on year

    24-Sep-2008

    RDF Media Group increased its revenues by more than 10% in the six months to 31 July - but its operating loss more than tripled to£824,000.

  • BBC commissioner quits for indie sector

    24-Sep-2008

    RDF-owned indie Presentable has recruited BBC commissioner Martyn Ingram as head of development.

  • RDF revenues rise but losses triple

    24-Sep-2008

    RDF Media Group grew its revenues by more than 10% in the six months to 31 July - but its operating loss more than tripled to£824,000.

  • BBC2 to co-produce Hat Trick comedy

    18-Sep-2008

    BBC2 is to screen medieval comedy Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire after signing up as co-production partner on the Hat Trick Productions comedy.

  • BBC1 hands Hammond Saturday night Wipeout

    17-Sep-2008

    Richard Hammond has landed his first Saturday night presenting job on BBC1, hosting the corporation's version of assault course gameshow Wipeout.

  • TwoFour wins first comedy order

    17-Sep-2008

    TwoFour has won its first comedy commission - a Paramount Comedy pilot from two of the writers of BBC's The Wrong Door.

  • Lion to explore classroom life in Damascus

    17-Sep-2008

    BBC4 is to look at life in four Damascus classrooms in the latest series of its Open University foreign schools strand.

  • Panorama prompts PM action

    17-Sep-2008

    Prime Minister Gordon Brown has ordered a review of all the intelligence material around the Omagh bombing, following claims by BBC's Panorama that the bombers phones were being tapped before it happened.

  • BBC3 to strip audiences

    17-Sep-2008

    BBC3 has commissioned World of Wonder to pilot a “fashion gameshow” in which the audience strips to its underwear.

  • Paul Jackson quits ITV

    16-Sep-2008

    Paul Jackson is to leave his job as director of entertainment and comedy at ITV at the end of the year to return to production.

  • BBC creates two new exec roles for Salford

    16-Sep-2008

    The BBC is to appoint a director of BBC North by the end of the year, to spearhead its controversial move to Salford Quays.

  • BBC sport boss moves to Olympics role

    15-Sep-2008

    Roger Mosey is to step down as BBC director of sport and instead coordinate all of the corporation's coverage around the London Olympics in 2012.

  • BBC4 unveils season line-up

    12-Sep-2008

    BBC4 is to examine babies' development in the womb, in a series of groundbreaking documentaries lined up for the autumn/winter season.

  • BBC eyed BBC4 for first BME controller

    11-Sep-2008

    The BBC considered downgrading the BBC4 controller job in order to broaden the list of potential applicants to include some black and minority ethnic (BME) candidates.

  • BBC and C4 to create regional supply map

    10-Sep-2008

    The BBC and Channel 4 are working together to draw up a “supply map” of the UK that will align geographical areas with specific programming genres.

  • Starkey to profile Henry VIII for C4

    10-Sep-2008

    David Starkey is to produce a four-part “psychological profile” of Henry VIII for Channel 4.

  • ITV1 doc looks at hunt for paedophile

    10-Sep-2008

    Folio is to piece together the worldwide hunt for the paedophile dubbed “Mr Swirl” in a 60-minute doc for ITV1's Real Crime strand.

  • BBC2 film revisits The Satanic Verses

    10-Sep-2008

    BBC2 is to examine the controversy around Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses - despite silence from the author and his publisher for fear of reprisals.

  • Cash injection deal sets Pulse racing

    10-Sep-2008

    Cross-sector producer Pulse Films, best known as a producer of music videos and commercials, is embarking on an acquisition and hiring spree funded by Sir Harry Solomon, the food and property mogul.

  • C4's Millionaire earns 4.1m

    10-Sep-2008

    Channel 4's Secret Millionaire continued to dominate Tuesday night ratings, once again beating BBC1 drama Mutual Friends.

  • Chelsea Flower Show remains rooted at the BBC

    9-Sep-2008

    The BBC has renewed its contract with The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) for exclusive rights to broadcast all of its major flower shows.

  • Danny Dyer returns to Bravo

    9-Sep-2008

    Bravo has signed Danny Dyer to front a new series about reformed killers and crime bosses.

  • BBC jumps on board container story

    8-Sep-2008

    The BBC is to track a shipping container around the world for a year to illustrate the global economic story in an easily tangible way.

  • BBC Trust to review licence fee collection

    8-Sep-2008

    The BBC Trust is to ask the public if the BBC is too heavy handed in the way that it collects its licence fee, as part of a wide-ranging review launched today.

  • Promotion for BBC Trust comms chief

    5-Sep-2008

    The BBC Trust's communications chief Tina Stowell is to move across to the BBC's senior management team as head of corporate affairs.

  • New Blue Peter team complete

    5-Sep-2008

    Blue Peter has named Joel Defries as its new presenter, completing its line up for the new series which starts on CBBC on 23 September.

  • BBC4 takes a poetic look at UK landscape

    4-Sep-2008

    Poet and novelist Owen Sheers will trace the relationship between six classic poems and the British landscape in a BBC4 series.

  • BBC plans power shift to regions

    3-Sep-2008

    The BBC is to hand network commissioning power to the nations for the first time in what is being hailed as a “radical reshaping” of its structure.

  • BBC4 to chart life of the ‘queen of romance'

    3-Sep-2008

    Dame Barbara Cartland is next in line for the BBC4 drama biopic treatment, with Dinner Ladies actress Anne Reid playing the novelist in her later years.

  • DCD hires ex Prospect director

    3-Sep-2008

    DCD Media has made Prospect Pictures managing director Liam Hamilton its first business development director and hired Fiona Morris as its first executive producer working across the group's different indies.

  • Preschool Bo on the Go! lands six deals

    3-Sep-2008

    Halifax Film has sold its preschool series Bo on the Go! into six new territories, in a flurry of deals through its sister company, Decode Enterprises, writes Katherine Rushton.

  • BBC under fire over£10m flights bill

    3-Sep-2008

    The BBC has defended criticisms that it spent more than£10m on flights last year - including£3m on business and first class fares.

  • Kumar named controller of bbc.co.uk

    3-Sep-2008

    The BBC has appointed Seetha Kumar as controller of bbc.co.uk, responsible for making sure the service does not repeat the£36m overspend which came to light in May.

  • BBC hires multimedia Mogull

    1-Sep-2008

    Erik Huggers, director of future media and technology at the BBC, has recruited Kerstin Mogull to the newly created role of divisional chief operating officer.

  • CBeebies returns Night Garden to bedtime hour

    1-Sep-2008

    In the Night Garden has returned to CBeebies Bedtime Hour, ending a four-month hiatus that sparked fury among parents of toddlers.

  • DCD inks£1.8m licensing deal

    1-Sep-2008

    DCD Media has signed a substantial licensing deal with internet broadcaster Classical TV Limited, which will allow it to make inroads into its convertible debt.

  • ITV franchise trio kicks off battle over programme costs

    28-Aug-2008

    UTV, SMG and Channel Television are poised to appoint an independent consultancy to establish how much they should pay for ITV programming, as part of a bid to reduce their contribution.

  • DCD offers indies£10m in exchange for rights

    27-Aug-2008

    DCD Media is to put£10m up for grabs for indies in exchange for programme distribution rights.

  • Zane hits out at XFM over his week-long suspension

    27-Aug-2008

    DJ Alex Zane has accused XFM of “over-reacting in the extreme” after it suspended him and his breakfast show production team for playing a controversial song.

  • Garvie hits back at BBCW critics

    27-Aug-2008

    BBC Worldwide's Wayne Garvie has staunchly defended the business against a groundswell of anger from the commercial sector over the extent of its activities.

  • Trade buyers likely to drive indie deals

    27-Aug-2008

    Trade buyers rather than private equity groups will increasingly be the most likely buyers of independent producers, Peter Bazalgette has claimed.

  • BBC3 dares Brits to face terrifying tasks

    27-Aug-2008

    BBC3 will challenge young Brits to take on the scariest jobs in the world in a new series from the creator of Last Man Standing.

  • DCD results impacted by production deals

    26-Aug-2008

    DCD's turnover for the 2007/08 fiscal year will be impacted by the delay of “several” production deals, the company has warned.

  • Day Three at Edinburgh

    24-Aug-2008

    A round-up of the best stories from the biggest sessions on the final day of the Edinburgh TV festival.

  • Overseas investments could 'seriously damage' BBC

    24-Aug-2008

    Edinburgh 08: The BBC is facing “a cultural sub-prime” crisis by investing in production companies overseas, Wall to Wall managing director Alex Graham has warned.

  • 'Serious doubts' over BBCW's Lonely Planet deal

    24-Aug-2008

    Edinburgh 08: Some members of the BBC Trust had “serious doubts” about approving BBCW's acquisition of travel publisher Lonely Planet, Time Out chairman Tony Elliott has claimed.

  • BBC sweeps Edinburgh TV awards

    23-Aug-2008

    Edinburgh 08: The BBC has swept the board at the 2008 Channel of the Year awards, winning the top prize in every single category.

  • Chris Evans returning to TV

    23-Aug-2008

    Edinburgh 08: Chris Evans is returning to television after a three-year absence to stand in for Adrian Chiles on The One Show.

  • BBC1 planning Reginald Perrin remake

    23-Aug-2008

    BBC1 is considering the resurrection of Reginald Perrin, controller Jay Hunt has revealed.

  • BBC will extend online catch-up to whole series

    23-Aug-2008

    Viewers will be able to watch any episode of some BBC series for the entire duration of the series, following the introduction of a new “stacking” feature on iPlayer next month.

  • Bragg: Lift restrictions or watch ITV collapse

    23-Aug-2008

    Edinburgh 08: Melvyn Bragg has warned that ITV faces collapse unless it is freed of CRR and other restrictions, labelling the broadcaster a 'whipping boy'.

  • UKTV calls for new wave of property formats

    23-Aug-2008

    Edinburgh 08: Indies need to reinvent property shows to appeal to a new demographic according to Jane Rogerson, head of commissioning at UKTV.

  • Baz: Indies may have to give up IP rights

    23-Aug-2008

    Edinburgh 08: The Pact terms of trade have a limited lifespan and broadcasters could force a return to retaining programme rights, Peter Bazalgette has warned.

  • BBC3 to boost drama output

    22-Aug-2008

    Edinburgh 08: BBC3 controller Danny Cohen has pledged to up the amount of drama on the corporation's digital youth channel and is also looking for new sitcom ideas.

  • RDF signs kids presenters deal

    21-Aug-2008

    RDF Media Group has signed an exclusive first-look deal with kids presenters Stephen Mulhern and Reggie Yates.

  • BBC2 Switch orders ‘Baywatch boot camp'

    21-Aug-2008

    The BBC is to subject eight British adolescents to “Baywatch boot camp”, in a new 8 x 30-minute ob-doc series that aims to turn teens into US lifeguards.

  • BBC: no merged controller role

    21-Aug-2008

    BBC Vision director Jana Bennett has ruled out merging the BBC2 and BBC4 controller jobs.

  • BBC plots 39 Steps remake

    20-Aug-2008

    The BBC is to revive John Buchan's classic espionage thriller The 39 Steps in a one-off dramatisation to be made in Scotland.

  • Princess Talent agency to close

    20-Aug-2008

    Princess Talent Management, the agency which launched the TV careers of Vernon Kay and Fearne Cotton, is to close its doors on Friday.

  • Ready Steady Cook serves up 20th series

    19-Aug-2008

    BBC2 has recommissioned Ready Steady Cook for a 20th series, and is moving the show to Television Centre for the first time.

  • Disney UK orders teen sketch show

    18-Aug-2008

    Prism Entertainment has won a commission from Disney Channel UK to produce a 16 x 5-minute comedy sketch series starring young British actors.

  • BBC3 to show teens the rod

    18-Aug-2008

    Teenagers will get a taste of the strict upbringings typical of Ghanaian, Indian and Jamaican parents in a new factual series at the heart of BBC3's autumn season.

  • BBC4 to get raunchy for Mills & Boon's 100th

    18-Aug-2008

    BBC4 is to mark the 100th anniversary of pulp romance publisher Mills & Boon with a documentary and a “raunchy” one-off drama exploring the company's beginnings.

  • BBC reveals problems in£100m outsourcing of HR

    18-Aug-2008

    BBC people director Stephen Kelly has admitted problems with the corporation's£100m deal to outsource its human resources operation.

  • Olympics ratings exceed BBC expectations

    15-Aug-2008

    Around half of people living in the UK have watched at least 15 minutes of the Beijing Olympics on the BBC, according to corporation figures released today.

  • BBC3 beats ITV to football rights

    14-Aug-2008

    BBC3 has secured the rights to the second leg of Arsenal's Champions League third-round qualifier, after the BBC beat Setanta and ITV in a surprise bid for the match.

  • Parthenon poaches Hit exec

    14-Aug-2008

    Parthenon Entertainment Group has named Hit Entertainment executive Marie Chappelow as commercial director of its children's arm, Parthenon Kids.

  • Daily Crimewatch to tackle Asbo UK

    14-Aug-2008

    The BBC is to take a Crimewatch spin-off on a month-long tour of the country to try and tackle the UK's Asbo problems.

  • Sky 1 to develop crime novel

    13-Aug-2008

    Sky 1 is developing a crime drama featuring a down-to-earth male detective and his “damaged” female colleague.

  • Format Focus: Battleship

    13-Aug-2008

    Celebrities get a soaking in this watery version of the classic Battleship board game.

  • BBC names new Gardeners' World presenter

    13-Aug-2008

    BBC2 has named “ethical gardener” Toby Buckland as the lead presenter on Gardeners' World, replacing Monty Don who stepped down in the spring after suffering a stroke.

  • BBC3 takes the wheel for new driving series

    13-Aug-2008

    BBC3 is to turn the spotlight on family relationships, in a new 60-minute pilot about parents teaching their children to drive.

  • US picks up Britcoms

    12-Aug-2008

    Channel 4 sitcom The IT Crowd has found a new home in the US, after a trio of comedy sales by distributor FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME).

  • All3M to reveal surge in turnover

    11-Aug-2008

    All3Media is believed to have doubled its turnover to£400m over the last year, making it the UK's biggest indie producer.

  • BBC lauds bumper start to Olympics

    11-Aug-2008

    The BBC has defended its decision to send more than 400 staff to the Beijing Olympic Games after its coverage of the opening ceremony averaged a massive 5m viewers - equivalent to a 51% share.

  • BBC2 lines up ‘19th century Entourage'

    6-Aug-2008

    BBC2 is to lay bare the sex and drugs lifestyle of the Pre-Raphaelite artists, in a “rude gang drama” pitched as a 19th century Entourage.

  • Shine TV shakes up its top roles

    6-Aug-2008

    Shine TV has restructured its top executive roles and appointed Tiger Aspect commercial director Jamie Munro as joint managing director.

  • Edwards to supervise CGI relaunch of Hit favourites

    6-Aug-2008

    Hit Entertainment has appointed Bafta-nominated producer Marion Edwards to oversee the CGI relaunches of the likes of Bob the Builder and Thomas & Friends.

  • Peak Practice creator attacks BBC

    6-Aug-2008

    Peak Practice and Soldier Soldier creator Lucy Gannon has launched a virulent attack on the BBC saying it should “hang its head in shame” for the way it treats writers and producers.

  • Simpson to teach war reporting for BBC2 series

    6-Aug-2008

    John Simpson will teach adventurers Ranulph Fiennes and Robin Knox-Johnston to file news reports from a war-zone as part of a series for BBC2.

  • Typical iPlayer user revealed

    6-Aug-2008

    The average iPlayer user is a 40-year-old man with a girlfriend but no children, BBC research has revealed.

  • C4 to present Britain through foreign eyes

    5-Aug-2008

    Channel 4 has commissioned a series of shorts from Tiger Aspect, to be filmed by foreign students on attachment with the indie.

  • BBC factual developer joins Southern Star

    5-Aug-2008

    BBC factual developer Joe Evans has left the corporation to join Meerkat Manor-creator Southern Star Factual.

  • Walters to star in BBC euthanasia drama

    18-Jul-2008

    Julie Walters is to star in a new BBC1 drama based on the true story of a doctor and her husband who are both diagnosed with incurable neurological illnesses.

  • BBC comedy boss says slapstick is back

    18-Jul-2008

    Silly, slapstick comedy is set to make a comeback, the BBC's creative head of talent and head of comedy north Kenton Allen has claimed.

  • BBC HD chief replaced

    18-Jul-2008

    BBC head of HD Seetha Kumar has been replaced by Danielle Nagler, previously head of the director general's office.

  • Huggers confirmed as BBC technology boss

    18-Jul-2008

    Former Microsoft executive Erik Huggers has been confirmed as the new BBC director of future media and technology, with effect from 1 August.

  • Trust: BBC generates£6.5bn

    17-Jul-2008

    The BBC contributes around£6.5bn to the economy every year - more than double the money invested in it, the BBC Trust has claimed.

  • Bleasdale pens BBC war drama

    16-Jul-2008

    Alan Bleasdale is to return to writing for the BBC with an Anglo-German co-production about the sinking of a British ship by a German U-boat during the Second World War.

  • 90% say BBC bosses do not deserve their pay rises

    16-Jul-2008

    Nearly 90% of respondents to Broadcast's online weekly peer poll said BBC bosses do not deserve their six-figure pay rises.

  • BBC's Schlesinger to help comics make leap to TV

    16-Jul-2008

    BBC head of radio comedy Paul Schlesinger is to return to television as part of the corporation's efforts to narrow the jump from the comedy circuit to TV.

  • Nick UK to launch new Toons channel

    16-Jul-2008

    Nickelodeon UK is to launch its first new channel for six years, targeting children aged five to seven.

  • Pact will slim council down to 12 members

    16-Jul-2008

    Pact is to reduce its council from 31 to 12 members and limit their term of office to six years.

  • Raising the tone in daytime

    16-Jul-2008

    BBC daytime controller Liam Keelan plans to air a raft of hard-hitting current affairs shows and a Jimmy McGovern drama - but admits the UK didn't need another Aussie soap.

  • Phillips wants code to monitor diversity

    16-Jul-2008

    Trevor Phillips, chair of the UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission, is calling for broadcasters and the top 20 indies to set up a voluntary code to monitor diversity at a senior level.

  • ITV orders Horowitz crash drama

    16-Jul-2008

    ITV has commissioned a conspiracy drama by Anthony Horowitz that will feature what it claims is the largest TV crash ever filmed in the UK.

  • BBC daytime gets newsy makeover

    16-Jul-2008

    The BBC is shaking up its daytime schedules with a string of campaign-style shows on hard-hitting subjects from knife crime to the NHS.

  • Spin TV names new director

    16-Jul-2008

    Fledgling music indie Spin TV has poached executive producer Julie Jakobek from Done & Dusted.

  • Gavin and Stacey star to host radio show

    16-Jul-2008

    Ruth Jones, co-writer and star of Gavin and Stacey, has landed a deal to present her own Sunday morning chat show on BBC Radio Wales.

  • Prince's Trust signs with BBCW

    15-Jul-2008

    BBC Worldwide is to licence footage of Prince's Trust events such as Party in the Park and Fashion Rocks, under a new deal with the youth charity.

  • BBC teams with Salford Uni

    14-Jul-2008

    The BBC is to launch joint degree courses with the University of Salford as part of a partnership deal aimed at encouraging new talent in the regions.

  • Watch now: Exclusive interview with BBC2's Roly Keating

    11-Jul-2008

    VIDEO: Want to hear about the BBC2 controller's new autumn schedule, his programming highlights and future commissioning plans? Watch our exclusive interview now!

  • Dyke: Scrap the licence fee

    11-Jul-2008

    Greg Dyke, the former director general of the BBC, has called for the licence fee to be scrapped.

  • Deverell: children need ‘grittier' school stories

    9-Jul-2008

    BBC children's controller Richard Deverell has claimed the corporation should make room for gritty school dramas - less than six months after Grange Hill was dropped after being relaunched for a younger audience.

  • No senior heads will roll for£36m online overspend

    9-Jul-2008

    No BBC execs will lose their jobs over the£36m bbc.co.uk overspend, BBC director general Mark Thompson has said, despite claims that the error could set back the BBC's online offering by more than a year.

  • BBC Trust: judge shows on innovation

    9-Jul-2008

    The BBC should stop chasing ratings with celebrity and reality shows and judge programmes on their quality and distinctiveness instead, the BBC Trust has said.

  • Behind the news: Showcomotion

    9-Jul-2008

    Never mind the crisis - children's TV is feeling more upbeat than it has done in years. Katherine Rushton reports from a buoyant Showcomotion.

  • Bolton steps back from Flame

    9-Jul-2008

    Flame TV founder Roger Bolton is stepping down from the day-to-day running of the business and handing the reins to director of production Claire Featherstone and commercial director Julius O'Dowd.

  • BBCW boosts profits by 17%

    8-Jul-2008

    BBC Worldwide grew its profits by 17% to£117.7m in the 12 months to 31 March, despite worsening losses from the children's arm of its home entertainment unit.

  • BBC battles economic gloom

    8-Jul-2008

    The BBC is fighting to avoid a fresh wave of redundancies as the economic crisis begins to bite.

  • BBC bosses get£100,000 pay rise

    8-Jul-2008

    BBC executive directors were awarded pay rises of more than£100,000 last year, despite a spate of trust scandals and widespread cuts.

  • Deverell: BBC children's could learn lessons from Five

    4-Jul-2008

    Showcomotion: BBC children's controller Richard Deverell has sparked fury from indies after suggesting the corporation should take a more commercial focus.

  • Pickard calls for longer kids commissions

    4-Jul-2008

    Showcomotion: Nigel Pickard, director of family entertainment at RDF, has called on broadcasters to guarantee the longevity of series in order to help indies attract licensing deals.

  • C4 in talks over regional news service

    3-Jul-2008

    Channel 4 is considering a move into regional news in a fresh bid to assert its public service credentials.

  • CITV books first new UK order in 18 months

    3-Jul-2008

    CITV has made its first original UK kids commission for more than 18 months - ordering a show about a rock star dog who loves books.

  • BBC2 develops Street in city regeneration scheme

    3-Jul-2008

    BBC2 is to follow six people who are building wildly different homes on the same terrace of houses as part of an ambitious regeneration project in Manchester.

  • BBC2 show to explore future of family firms

    3-Jul-2008

    BBC2 is to take a fresh stab at the world of business with a formatted show about family-run companies.

  • BBC approaches more indies over MyCBBC

    3-Jul-2008

    The BBC is in talks with a range of indies about providing content for an expanded MyCBBC, the social networking site for kids developed by Twofour Digital.

  • Steven D Wright quits Shine after six years

    3-Jul-2008

    Steven D Wright, creative director of entertainment at Shine, is leaving the company after six years.

  • CBBC asks kids to make faces

    2-Jul-2008

    CBBC viewers will be able to appear in a new cartoon series after uploading photographs of themselves to its website.

  • Fogle and Cracknell to ski Antarctic for BBC2

    2-Jul-2008

    Adventurers Ben Fogle and James Cracknell are to swap their oars for skis in a new endurance challenge for BBC2.

  • Chambers quits C4 for BBC Wales

    2-Jul-2008

    Meredith Chambers, Channel 4's commissioning editor for documentaries, is to join BBC Wales as executive editor, factual and music.

  • EastEnders preparing child abuse storyline

    2-Jul-2008

    EastEnders is to tackle the sensitive issue of child sex abuse for the first time later this year, in a taboo-busting storyline centred on Bianca Jackson's 15-year old stepdaughter Whitney Dean.

  • Tranter denies US move

    1-Jul-2008

    BBC director of fiction Jane Tranter has insisted she is going nowhere - and that she wants to commission more comedy drama in her current role.

  • BBC axes Out of the Blue

    1-Jul-2008

    Out of the Blue, the Australian soap ordered by the BBC as a successor to Neighbours, is to be axed after just a single series.

  • Setback for TV Centre sell-off

    30-Jun-2008

    The BBC's£300m plan to sell-off Television Centre is facing a new setback after the English Heritage announced it is “strongly” urging the government to impose a Grade II listing on the building.

  • Downturn threatens BBC budget

    25-Jun-2008

    Spiralling inflation and plummeting property prices mean the BBC could have to make more redundancies.

  • BBC makes case for PSB plurality

    25-Jun-2008

    The BBC is trying to prevent the PSB debate from becoming a tug-of-war with Channel 4 by urging Ofcom to maintain “institutional plurality” in the new PSB landscape.

  • Sooty presenter buys rights to launch new TV format

    25-Jun-2008

    Sooty presenter Richard Caddell has bought the rights to the classic children's puppet show and is aiming to launch a television format that will revive the brand.

  • Simson leaves NHU as cuts start to bite

    25-Jun-2008

    The BBC's Natural History Unit is understood to have made around a quarter of its staff redundant in post-licence fee cuts, with key departures including former Wild strand editor Vyv Simson.

  • ITV2 and iTunes agree major ad-funded tie-up

    25-Jun-2008

    ITV2 is to strip an iTunes-branded music series across three weeks in one of the highest-profile advertiser-funded programming initiatives to date.

  • Ex-soldier goes back to nature for BBC2

    25-Jun-2008

    BBC2 is to send former SAS soldier Monty Halls to a remote Scottish idyll in an aspirational new series about “the ups and downs” of getting away from it all.

  • C4: Warm words from BBC not enough

    23-Jun-2008

    Channel 4 chief executive Andy Duncan has warned that the BBC's proposals to share its resources must amount to “more than warm words” and make a “material difference” to its funding model.

  • BBC in discussion to set IPTV standard

    23-Jun-2008

    The BBC is in talks with other public service broadcasters to agree a standard technology that would make IPTV content available on traditional television sets.

  • BBC proposals may change economics of broadcasting

    23-Jun-2008

    The BBC could “transform the economics of the entire [broadcasting] sector” with a raft of new proposals, director general Mark Thompson has claimed

  • Thompson resists BBCW profit share with C4

    23-Jun-2008

    BBC director general Mark Thompson has sent out his clearest signal yet that the corporation will try and resist any deal to siphon off a percentage of profits from BBC Worldwide to Channel 4.

  • BBC presents radical plan to share resources

    23-Jun-2008

    The BBC has made an unprecedented offer to share some of its resources with its commercial rivals in its submission to Ofcom for the regulator's report into the future of PSB in the UK.

  • Execs: timid broadcasters are ‘watering down' PSB shows

    18-Jun-2008

    Broadcasters are “watering down” public service content by being too risk-averse, leading producers have claimed.

  • Ruggie Media ceases trading

    18-Jun-2008

    Ruggie Media, the indie behind Sky One hit Nothing but the Truth, is understood to have ceased trading.

  • Lee Collins in line to host ITV2 chat show

    18-Jun-2008

    ITV2 is eyeing Justin Lee Collins as the host of his own Sunday-night chat show.

  • Thurman to star in BBC2 drama

    18-Jun-2008

    Uma Thurman is to play a recovering alcoholic adulteress in one of two celebrity-packed BBC2 play adaptations being co-produced with HBO.

  • BBC3's Cohen savages Lily Allen critics

    18-Jun-2008

    BBC3 controller Danny Cohen has launched a robust attack on critics of Lily Allen and Friends, arguing that the show is exactly in line with the channel's efforts to bring on new talent.

  • Five plays Top Trumps with super machines

    18-Jun-2008

    Five is planning a series based on the classic card game Top Trumps, which will pitch the world's super-machines against each other in a battle of credentials.

  • Darlow probes The Brain for History US

    18-Jun-2008

    Darlow Smithson Productions US is to examine whether people are born evil in a two-hour special about the mind for the History Channel US.

  • Andrew Neil consortium buys PFD for£4m

    18-Jun-2008

    Update: A consortium led by journalist and broadcaster Andrew Neil has acquired PFD for£4m - the same sum as its rebel agents reportedly offered last year in a blocked management buyout.

  • BBC regional newsrooms holding back best stories

    17-Jun-2008

    The BBC's news teams in the nations and regions are holding back the best stories for their local bulletins instead of handing them to the national network, director general Mark Thompson has said.

  • Seven Stones wins Eden order

    17-Jun-2008

    Cornwall-based indie Seven Stones Media is to challenge local people to build their own gardens at the Eden Project, in one of two new series for ITV's regional services.

  • Detective drama in the pipeline at ITVP

    16-Jun-2008

    ITV Productions is developing a new detective drama set in Brighton, led by a police sergeant obsessed with the disappearance of his own wife.

  • Russell T awarded OBE

    16-Jun-2008

    Russell T Davies, the show runner who breathed new life into Doctor Who for the BBC, has won an OBE for his services to drama in the Queen's Birthday honours.

  • Edmonds tackling 'broken Britain' for Sky One

    16-Jun-2008

    Sky One has signed Noel Edmonds to revive the feeling of Noel's House Party in a new format pitched as an antidote to “broken Britain”.

  • FilmOn signs Cirque deal

    13-Jun-2008

    FilmOn.com, the video on demand service backed by entrepreneur Alki David, has signed an exclusive deal to showcase the full back catalogue of Cirque de Soleil.

  • Boomerang acquires Derek

    13-Jun-2008

    Turner Broadcasting has acquired a fourth series of the live-action comedy Life with Derek, to broadcast on Boomerang in 2009.

  • BBC to launch next generation iPlayer

    13-Jun-2008

    The BBC is preparing to launch an “all new iPlayer” that will include radio and television content on a single interface and a personalised recommendation feature.

  • BBCW launches ‘unbranded' networking site

    11-Jun-2008

    BBC Worldwide is launching a new social networking application for teens that plays down the BBC brand.

  • Prospect wins£3m of factual

    11-Jun-2008

    Prospect Pictures has won£3m of serious factual business since the arrival of Todd Austin, the Bafta-winning former BBC One Life strand editor, seven months ago.

  • Tigress makes ‘biog' of Titus the gorilla

    11-Jun-2008

    Tigress Productions is to tell the story of an extraordinary Rwandan mountain gorilla in a special “animal biography” for BBC2's Natural World strand and US broadcaster WNET.

  • BBC criticised over news coverage of the regions

    11-Jun-2008

    The BBC's news coverage of the nations and region is lacking in “clarity, precision and balance”, the BBC Trust has found.

  • Gavin and Stacey edges closer to BBC1

    10-Jun-2008

    BBC Vision director Jana Bannett has given the clearest signal yet that sitcom Gavin and Stacey will transfer to BBC1 this Christmas.

  • Hat Trick on the case with new ITV crime drama

    9-Jun-2008

    Hat Trick Productions has signed a deal with ITV to develop a new crime drama populated by strong women in peril.

  • Time Out calls for BBCW probe

    9-Jun-2008

    Time Out is urging the Office of Fair Trading to launch a probe into BBC Worldwide's acquisition of travel guide publisher Lonely Planet.

  • Kidnapped BBC journalist found dead

    9-Jun-2008

    BBC journalist Abdul Samad Rohani was yesterday found dead in Afghanistan, one day after he was abducted from Laskar Gah in the southern province of Helmand. He had been shot in the head.

  • Horrid Henry to become stage show

    6-Jun-2008

    Novel Entertainment is to launch Horrid Henry as a stage show following ITV's decision to commission a second run.

  • BT Vision to charge for on-demand BBC content

    5-Jun-2008

    BT Vision customers are being asked to pay for on-demand BBC content, despite it being freely available on the iPlayer.

  • Sky to give Snow White comic twist for Christmas

    4-Jun-2008

    Sky One is planning a comic version of the classic fairytale Snow White as its big “event” drama for Christmas 2009.

  • First for Torchwood as it moves to BBC1

    4-Jun-2008

    Torchwood will become the first drama series to move from BBC3 to BBC2 and then transfer to BBC1 when the third series goes out next year.

  • Hammond launches indie with£2m show

    4-Jun-2008

    Richard Hammond is launching his own indie and will jointly produce a£2m kids science show for CBBC with September Films.

  • Style icon has designs on Apprentice success

    4-Jun-2008

    Uber-designer Philippe Starck is set to take the Alan Sugar role in an Apprentice-style show set in the world of design.

  • Chapman to open in-house production arm

    4-Jun-2008

    Chapman Entertainment will take production of flagship shows Roary the Racing Car and Fifi and the Flowertots in-house after setting up its own production arm, writes Katherine Rushton.

  • Ofcom fines MTV Europe£255,000

    4-Jun-2008

    Ofcom has fined MTV Networks Europe£255,000 for repeatedly broadcasting “highly offensive” language and material before 9pm.

  • Growth of BBC talent fees could decrease

    3-Jun-2008

    The BBC Trust has warned there could be a slow down in the growth of talent fees, and even a decline for lesser-known talent.

  • Rich get richer at BBC

    2-Jun-2008

    The pay packets of a few top stars are swelling at a “significantly” faster rate than smaller name stars, according to a new BBC Trust report.

  • Blog: BBC fails to reveal all

    2-Jun-2008

    Broadcast's BBC correspondent Katherine Rushton criticises the BBC Trust's report on talent costs for keeping too much out of the public eye.

  • ITN slams BBC website

    30-May-2008

    ITN has criticised the scale and ambition of bbc.co.uk, claiming it poses “a real threat” to plurality in the media landscape.

  • BBC agrees first-look comedy deal with Horgan

    29-May-2008

    The BBC has agreed an exclusive deal with Sharon Horgan, the co-creator and star of BBC3's dark comedy series Pulling.

  • BBC ‘misallocates'£25m of funds

    29-May-2008

    The BBC Trust has told the BBC to tighten its financial procedures after the corporation “misallocated” nearly£25m of bbc.co.uk funding to other divisions.

  • What the Papers Say faces axe after 52 years

    28-May-2008

    The BBC has dropped What the Papers Say, putting the show's 52-year history in jeopardy.

  • Hat Trick plans period crime for ITV

    28-May-2008

    Hat Trick Productions has won a development deal from ITV to dramatise a non-fiction thriller about a child murder in 1860 that became a national obsession.

  • Fry returns with US travelogue follow-up

    28-May-2008

    Stephen Fry is to return to BBC4, with a spin-off series to his BBC1 travelogue Stephen Fry in America.

  • CBBC revives Bamzooki as TV show

    28-May-2008

    CBBC gameshow Bamzooki is set to return to television in the new guise of Bamzooki Streetwars.

  • BBC agrees first-look comedy deal with Horgan

    28-May-2008

    The BBC has agreed an exclusive deal with Sharon Horgan, the co-creator and star of BBC3's dark comedy series Pulling.

  • Bryson tackles litter for Panorama

    28-May-2008

    Bill Bryson is to scrub the chewing gum off the streets of Liverpool and rage against fly-tippers in a Panorama polemic against the rising tide of litter on British streets.

  • ITV1 to reveal stars who found fame in The Bill

    28-May-2008

    ITV is to mark the 25th anniversary of The Bill with a one-hour special on the celebrities who started their careers on the soap.

  • Listeners attack BBC for 'over publicising' Blair book

    28-May-2008

    The BBC has come under fire from listeners for acting as a “publicity machine” for Cherie Blair's memoirs.

  • New youth channel unveiled

    28-May-2008

    CSC Media Group has launched a new digital channel targeted at young boys with the “desire to be cool”.

  • Five's Brookman confirms BBC Vision move

    22-May-2008

    Five controller of acquisitions Vanessa Brookman has confirmed that she is leaving the broadcaster to scout for third-party production funding for BBC Vision.

  • ITV job cuts in Manchester and Leeds

    21-May-2008

    ITV is planning to make 89 staff redundant from its offices in Manchester and Leeds, it is understood.

  • Tinopolis in talks to buy US sports giant

    21-May-2008

    Welsh super-indie Tinopolis is aiming to double in size with the take-over of the biggest independent sports producer in the US, worth£40m.

  • Call Girl wins third series

    21-May-2008

    ITV2 has ordered a third series of Secret Diary of a Call Girl before the second run has aired.

  • Is the BBC losing the PSB battle?

    21-May-2008

    The BBC has brought out its big beasts to bang the drum for a publicly backed corporation. But even these veteran stars can't agree on the way forward.

  • BBC1 calls for Motorway Cops series

    21-May-2008

    BBC1 has commissioned Folio to make its Motorway Cops specials into a series.

  • Discovery doc shows dark side of Cleopatra

    21-May-2008

    Lion TV and Brave New Media are promising to cast Cleopatra in a macabre new light in a two-hour primetime documentary for Discovery US.

  • Salmon quits Blue Peter

    20-May-2008

    Blue Peter is to lose its second presenter in as many months, with the departure of Zoë Salmon to present a new CBBC game show.

  • Moffat replaces Russell T on Doctor Who

    20-May-2008

    Coupling creator Steven Moffat will replace Russell T Davies as lead writer and executive producer of Doctor Who, the BBC has confirmed.

  • BBC making Proops biopic

    20-May-2008

    The BBC is developing a biopic of the former Daily Mirror agony aunt Marje Proops who worked until she died aged 85.

  • Hutton floats levy for C4

    14-May-2008

    Will Hutton, the Observer columnist and former Newsnight economics correspondent, has called for an additional levy to fund Channel 4 after digital switch-over.

  • Panorama to trail docs with web minisodes

    14-May-2008

    The BBC is planning to plant Panorama “minisodes” on the web ahead of each weekly edition in a bid to boost TV audiences and reach younger viewers.

  • BBC1 and BBC2 series to tackle climate change

    14-May-2008

    The BBC is planning a “definitive” look at climate change in two major linked commissions across its terrestrial channels.

  • BBC3 hopes to lure teens with afternoon opening

    14-May-2008

    The BBC has petitioned the Trust to extend BBC3's hours into the afternoon, and is planning to give some of the extra space to its teen strand Switch.

  • Cohen: lessons to be learned from 360-degree commissions

    14-May-2008

    BBC3 controller Danny Cohen has admitted that Upstaged, one of the channel's major multiplatform commissions, did not work and has called for more distinctive web content in programme pitches.

  • Interview: Jana Bennett

    14-May-2008

    After her annus horribilis, BBC director of Vision Jana Bennett tells Katherine Rushton about her commitment to factual programming, why the licence fee must not be shared and how the saga of Queengate is firmly in the past.

  • Lyons: Publicly-funded C4 would be 'BBC5'

    14-May-2008

    Sir Michael Lyons, chairman of the BBC Trust, has attacked proposals to publicly-fund Channel 4 - warning that such a move would simply reduce it to “BBC5”.

  • CBBC orders 'deadly' wildlife show

    13-May-2008

    CBBC is to focus on the world's most deadly animals, in what is billed as its most ambitious presenter-led natural history series to date.

  • Fry defends BBC

    8-May-2008

    Stephen Fry last night launched a robust defence of the BBC, warning that “a diminution of any part of its great whole” would damage Britain.

  • Tiger Aspect wins teen diary rights

    7-May-2008

    Tiger Aspect is to develop a six-part comedy drama billed as a real-life female Adrian Mole.

  • Five launches spin-offs to bolster Milkshake! Strand

    7-May-2008

    Five is looking to beef up its children's strand Milkshake! with the launch of further spin-off series, and has also unveiled plans to commission a Tracey Beaker-style drama series aimed at four to seven year-olds.

  • BBC pledges£8m a year for factual

    7-May-2008

    The BBC has said it will invest at least£8m a year in landmark factual content over the next five years, in a fresh bid to shore up its public service credentials.

  • Casualty move comes under fire

    7-May-2008

    South West Screen and unions Bectu and Equity have hit out at BBC proposals to move Casualty to Cardiff.

  • BBC adds serials to academy expertise

    7-May-2008

    The BBC is extending its successful drama academy to serials, with a special focus on crime drama.

  • Hammond to investigate mega-structures

    7-May-2008

    Top Gear star Richard Hammond is to examine the stories behind some of the world's most ambitious structures in a new series for National Geographic US and NGI.

  • BBC issues warning over titles

    6-May-2008

    The BBC has warned staff to inform contributors about any changes to the titles of their programmes, after Ofcom upheld a complaint over The Bulls**t Detective.

  • New BBC sitcom for Meera Syal

    6-May-2008

    BBC2 has greenlit Meera Syal's first comedy project since The Kumars at No 42.

  • Attenborough: BBC should be only PSB

    1-May-2008

    Sir David Attenborough has launched a forceful attack on licence fee top-slicing, warning that PSB strands on commercial broadcasters would become the “pariahs” of the schedules.

  • ITV chased whole One Show team

    30-Apr-2008

    ITV not only attempted to poach The One Show host Adrian Chiles but also approached co-presenter Christine Bleakley and its editor Doug Carnegie as well.

  • World Service relocations raise fears over integrity

    30-Apr-2008

    The BBC World Service has been accused of compromising its editorial integrity with plans to relocate its foreign-language services to the countries they serve.

  • Pupils turn teachers for CBBC quiz

    30-Apr-2008

    CBBC will challenge pupils to teach their teachers in a 20 x 60-minute gameshow that turns the traditional school relationship on its head.

  • BBC: EastEnders cuts will curb ambitions

    30-Apr-2008

    The BBC has said it will have to scale back its ambitions for EastEnders because of a budget cut at the soap.

  • BBC1 plans high-tech look at human body

    30-Apr-2008

    BBC1 is planning a landmark series about the human body, harnessing the new technologies that have been developed since Robert Winston fronted its last in-depth look, The Human Body, in 1998.

  • BBC iPlayer on all TV platforms by 2009

    30-Apr-2008

    The BBC has said it will launch iPlayer on all possible TV platforms by the end of the year as it makes it debut today on Virgin Media.

  • Behind the news: Science-fiction comeback

    29-Apr-2008

    It's hard to move these days for shows about space, time-travel and superpowers as sci-fi enjoys a full-throttle comeback after years in the wilderness. How did it happen?

  • Nesbitt: TV cheats audience

    29-Apr-2008

    James Nesbitt has accused the TV industry of “cheating the audience” as broadcasters battle against each other to win the ratings war.

  • BBC2 accepts Dave Gorman's Genius

    28-Apr-2008

    BBC2 is readying itself for a slew of crackpot inventions in a TV version of Dave Gorman's hit Radio 4 show Genius.

  • Doctor Who sweeps Welsh Baftas

    28-Apr-2008

    Doctor Who scooped six awards at the Bafta Cymru awards last night, making it the biggest single winner for the third year running.

  • Talent hires BBC producer

    25-Apr-2008

    Talent Television has bolstered its entertainment team with the addition of Dinah Gray as development executive for factual entertainment.

  • Speculation mounts over RDF backers

    24-Apr-2008

    All3Media and Cyrte Investments, the investment vehicle owned by John De Mol, are being tipped as the most likely backers for the RDF management buy out bid.

  • MBO offer for RDF

    24-Apr-2008

    RDF, the indie behind hit Channel 4 show Wife Swap, may be taken private after a consortium including its management team made an indicative cash proposal for all of the company's shares.

  • BBC3 orders body double doc

    23-Apr-2008

    Prospect Pictures is to produce a revealing portrait of the world of body doubles in a new one-off ob doc for BBC3.

  • C4 funding dilemma splits TV industry

    23-Apr-2008

    Broadcast readers strongly believe Channel 4 should have to provide public service broadcast programming in the digital era - but are divided over whether it should get more access to public funds than its commercial rivals.

  • BBC factual chief joins new Disney nature unit

    23-Apr-2008

    BBC factual boss Keith Scholey is leaving the corporation to make natural history feature films - starting with a project for Disney.

  • Comedy duo aims to be new Morecambe and Wise

    23-Apr-2008

    James Corden and Mathew Horne are hoping to become the next Morecambe and Wise in a new sketch show for BBC3 that will be directed by Kathy Burke.

  • Hi-5 to be reworked for UK audiences

    23-Apr-2008

    Hit Australian kids show Hi-5 is to be remade for the UK and will air on GMTV next year.

  • Presentable to make BBC4 quiz

    23-Apr-2008

    RDF-owned indie Presentable is to make a University Challenge-style quiz show for BBC4 and a third Oz and James show that has a British twist.

  • One Foot star Wilson hits the road for BBC4

    23-Apr-2008

    Twofour has signed One Foot in the Grave actor Richard Wilson to front a BBC4 series showcasing Britain's best-loved drives.

  • BBC3 re-orders Two Pints

    23-Apr-2008

    BBC3 has recommissioned Susan Nickson's long-running sitcoms Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps and Grownups for additional series.

  • BBC fills daytime slots with Reef shows

    23-Apr-2008

    The BBC has commissioned two major daytime shows from Reef Television, as well as another series of Angela Rippon's Sun, Sea and Bargain Spotting.

  • C4 follows economist in world trading doc

    23-Apr-2008

    Channel 4 is reacting to recession gloom with a series about a City boy who travels the world trading in local goods.

  • Disney planning factual arm

    22-Apr-2008

    Disney has unveiled plans for a new subsidiary studio specialising in environmental and nature films.

  • BBC1 comedy drama for Coogan

    21-Apr-2008

    BBC1 has signed Steve Coogan to star as a family man with a gambling addiction in the new “bittersweet” comedy, Sunshine.

  • BBC factual boss quits

    21-Apr-2008

    Keith Scholey, controller of BBC factual production and deputy chief creative officer of BBC Vision, is to leave the corporation after 25 years.

  • Glazier makes a UK return for Talent job

    16-Apr-2008

    Former Fox World UK head of production and development Jonathan Glazier is returning to the UK to replace John Kaye Cooper at Talent Television.

  • ITV3 looks to radio for first original drama

    16-Apr-2008

    Maureen Lipman and Anne Reid are to star in ITV3's first-ever original drama - a TV version of BBC Radio 4 play Ladies of Letters.

  • BBC tightens compliance rules for indie contracts

    16-Apr-2008

    All production staff - from executive producers to assistant researchers - will be contractually obliged to complete the BBC Safeguarding Trust course under the corporation's new standard contracts with indies.

  • DCD and Boomerang merger talks collapse at last minute

    16-Apr-2008

    DCD Media's merger with Welsh producer Boomerang Plus has been called off at the 11th hour after months of talks.

  • DCD and Boomerang merger talks collapse at last minute

    16-Apr-2008

    DCD Media's merger with Welsh producer Boomerang Plus has been called off at the 11th hour after months of talks.

  • First United Agents victory in PFD tribunal

    16-Apr-2008

    TV agent Duncan Hayes - whose clients include Ricky Gervais - has won his bitter tribunal battle against his former employers Peters, Fraser and Dunlop (PFD).

  • Henbest exit sees Pioneer restructure for overseas plan

    16-Apr-2008

    Pioneer Productions co-founder Nigel Henbest is leaving the indie and has sold his 25% stake back to the company.

  • BBC ring fences£15m for kids multiplatform projects

    16-Apr-2008

    The BBC has ring fenced£15m to pour into children's multimedia projects over the next five years.

  • BBC escapes swearing rap

    14-Apr-2008

    Ofcom has cleared the BBC for airing a Catherine Tate Christmas special that prompted 42 viewers to complain about swearing and stereotyping of the Irish.

  • Highfield to run Kangaroo

    14-Apr-2008

    BBC director of future media and technology Ashley Highfield is leaving the corporation to run the pan-broadcaster VoD project, Kangaroo.

  • Save Kids TV attacks Ofcom

    11-Apr-2008

    The Save Kids TV campaign has laid into Ofcom for “subsuming” its short-term proposals for children's public service broadcasting television into the wider PSB review.

  • Wombles join Pact to save British Kids TV

    10-Apr-2008

    Pact has relocated The Wombles to New York, for a new viral campaign to save British kids' TV.

  • BBC clashes with ISPs

    10-Apr-2008

    The BBC has clashed with internet service providers (ISPs) over who should foot the bill for the extra strain BBC iPlayer is placing on the web.

  • Ofcom: BBC must not be the sole provider of children's TV

    9-Apr-2008

    The BBC is in danger of “extending its scope too far” if it remains the sole provider of public service children's programming, Ofcom has warned.

  • BBC staff seek option to ballot on a strike

    9-Apr-2008

    The BBC is still facing the threat of staff strikes - despite being set to make fewer than 55 compulsory redundancies across News and Vision.

  • GMTV restructure sees senior job cuts

    9-Apr-2008

    GMTV has cut five senior executive jobs since January as part of a wider restructure.

  • Robinson fronts C4 psychic show

    9-Apr-2008

    Time Team and Blackadder star Tony Robinson is to continue his fascination with history in a Channel 4 series in which he is hypnotised and quizzed about his past lives.

  • BBC rapped over Live Earth swearing

    9-Apr-2008

    Ofcom has ordered the BBC to formally apologise to viewers after it repeatedly broadcast the word “fuck” during its coverage of the Live Earth concerts.

  • Concern grows over missing presenter

    9-Apr-2008

    Fears are growing for Mark Speight, the BBC children's television presenter, after he was reported missing on Tuesday morning three months after the death of his fiancé Natasha Collins.

  • Gethin to leave Blue Peter

    8-Apr-2008

    Blue Peter presenter Gethin Jones is to leave the programme at the end of the current series to pursue “the next stage in his career”, he has confirmed to viewers today.

  • New tech review for BBC kids

    8-Apr-2008

    The BBC Trust is to examine how the BBC should update its children's services in the light of technological developments in the wider kids' market, it confirmed today.

  • Robinson boob draws complaints

    8-Apr-2008

    Viewers have complained to the BBC after Anne Robinson invited a contestant to touch her breasts on a teatime broadcast of The Weakest Link.

  • This Life star returns in BBC murder mystery

    7-Apr-2008

    This Life actor Daniela Nardini is set to return to the BBC, playing the part of a ruthless estate agent in the one-off murder mystery Purves & Pekkala.

  • Whizz Kid to make ITV New Year show

    7-Apr-2008

    ITV has recommissioned Whizz Kid Entertainment to produce its “high energy, concert-driven” New Year show Countdown To Midnight.

  • C4 in talks with the Jacksons

    3-Apr-2008

    Channel 4 is in talks with Michael Jackson and his family to star in an Osbournes-style reality TV show.

  • HD Freeview ready in 2009

    3-Apr-2008

    High definition (HD) TV channels will launch on Freeview in some parts of the country from as early as next year, media regulator Ofcom has said.

  • BBC lines up Strictly star for celeb cook-off

    2-Apr-2008

    The BBC has lined up Strictly Come Dancing star Anton du Beke to host a new daytime cookery show.

  • ITV orders ex-con drama Unforgiven

    2-Apr-2008

    ITV has greenlit a new drama by Sally Wainwright, about a killer trying to rebuild her life after prison.

  • Lark Rise writer sets Zola novel in Newcastle

    2-Apr-2008

    The BBC is planning to relocate Emile Zola's classic Paris novel The Ladies' Paradise to Newcastle for a major drama adaptation.

  • CBBC panel to judge value of kids shows

    2-Apr-2008

    CBBC is using weekly feedback from a panel of 1,000 children to help it measure its shows' success based on value, instead of ratings or share.

  • Behind the news: can the show-runner concept work in the UK?

    2-Apr-2008

    Putting one person in charge of a series' entire vision is an idea from US TV that some argue should be adopted here. It worked on Doctor Who - but can it work for other UK shows?

  • Ben Elton: BBC too 'scared' to tell Muslim jokes

    2-Apr-2008

    Comedian Ben Elton has lambasted the BBC for being too “scared” to allow jokes about Islam.

  • PFD rival UA sets up TV division

    2-Apr-2008

    The agents who revolted against changes at PFD and left to form rival start up United Agents (UA) have identified TV as it biggest growth area and launched a specialist TV arm.

  • BBC backs Night Garden move

    2-Apr-2008

    The BBC has defended a decision to pull In The Night Garden from CBBC's Bedtime Hour despite complaints from upset parents who relied on the programme to send their children to sleep.

  • Spacey's problem with Auntie

    31-Mar-2008

    Hollywood actor and Old Vic boss Kevin Spacey reckons the BBC is giving 'unfair' amounts of promotion to certain West End productions. Katherine Rushton agrees and believes the corporation has crossed the line.

  • Kevin Spacey attacks BBC

    31-Mar-2008

    Actor and theatre director Kevin Spacey has laid into the BBC for “unfairly” promoting certain musicals through talent search shows like I'd Do Anything.

  • Indie considers legal action over death claims

    28-Mar-2008

    Cicada Films, the production company accused of triggering four deaths in Peru, is considering legal action against the human rights group that publicised the claims.

  • Co-pro money available to 'flexible' drama producers

    28-Mar-2008

    Drama producers must learn to be more flexible about editorial control if they want to attract co-production investment, according to a leading drama-documentary producer.

  • BBC's ‘Strictly Speaking' to unearth UK's young orators

    27-Mar-2008

    BBC2 is to apply the Strictly Come Dancing formula to public speaking, in a new 8 x 60-minute primetime series planned for 2009.

  • Blue Planet mastermind to start own indie

    26-Mar-2008

    Planet Earth and Blue Planet creator Alastair Fothergill is to strike out on his own after securing an annual six-month sabbatical from the BBC.

  • Nuts TV overhaul ends ETV contract

    26-Mar-2008

    Nuts TV is being overhauled after Turner Broadcasting Systems ended ETV's contract to produce all its live programming.

  • BBC renews Wimbledon deal

    26-Mar-2008

    The BBC has secured the rights to broadcast Wimbledon for a further five years, after signing a new contract with the All England Club.

  • ITV orders Beadle tribute

    26-Mar-2008

    Talent Television has won a commission from ITV1 to make a tribute to Jeremy Beadle, who died in January.

  • BBC defends EastEnders burial

    26-Mar-2008

    The BBC has robustly defended EastEnders scenes which showed a man being buried alive - despite being flooded with complaints from viewers.

  • BBC unveils first footage from 'Trunkcam'

    25-Mar-2008

    The BBC has revealed extraordinary footage of a tiger licking its cubs clean - in the first ever wildlife documentary to be shot by elephants.

  • BBC4 cursed over new drama

    25-Mar-2008

    BBC4's flagship drama season, The Curse of Comedy, has become mired in controversy after claims of underhand methods and “defamatory” errors by those closest to its subjects.

  • BBC names political reporters

    25-Mar-2008

    BBC News has named Iain Watson and Ben Wright as its new political correspondents, replacing James Hardy and Guto Harri as they move into PR.

  • CBBC reaps relaunch rewards

    20-Mar-2008

    The CBBC channel has grown its reach by nearly a third in the first six month of its relaunch.

  • BBC to air Minghella interview

    20-Mar-2008

    The BBC is to screen an archive interview with director/writer Anthony Minghella on Easter Sunday, following the TV premier of his final film, The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency.

  • Speight cleared of drugs charge

    20-Mar-2008

    CBBC presenter Mark Speight will not face any charges following the death of his fiancee Natasha Collins.

  • BBC reclaims Formula One

    20-Mar-2008

    Formula One is to return to the BBC after 12 years following a decision by ITV to drop the championship.

  • Prof Winston back on BBC1 to reveal heroes of medicine

    19-Mar-2008

    Professor Robert Winston is to return to BBC1 in a three-part documentary looking at medical pioneers.

  • BBC asks children to test new sites

    19-Mar-2008

    The BBC is to launch a website that will allow kids to test and give feedback on pilot multi-media projects.

  • Five to focus on fathers and sons

    18-Mar-2008

    Five is to turn bestseller The Dangerous Book for Boys into a TV series featuring celebrity dads on old-fashioned adventures with their sons.

  • BBC1 scores a hat trick with star comedy trio

    18-Mar-2008

    Jimmy Nail, Caroline Quentin and Roger Lloyd-Pack are to return to BBC1 in a trio of major new sitcom series.

  • ITV to halve team of regional MDs

    18-Mar-2008

    ITV is halving its team of regional managing directors and scaling back their remit to only cover news.

  • CBBC to remake Horrible Histories with live action

    18-Mar-2008

    The BBC is planning a live action kids show based on the Horrible Histories books, six years after ITV's animated version came to an end.

  • Monkey series recreates cartoon stunts

    18-Mar-2008

    Scientists will recreate cartoon stunts in a new Monkey series for US cable channel TruTV.

  • BBC Trust to examine WoCC

    18-Mar-2008

    The BBC Trust is to examine if there is real competition under the WoCC (Window of Creative Competition), as well as the scale and regional spread of indies who win commissions under the system.

  • BBC2 gets cooking

    17-Mar-2008

    BBC2 has lined up two new primetime cookery shows focused on seasonal cooking and healthy Chinese cuisine.

  • Police investigate Basil Brush racism claims

    17-Mar-2008

    Police are investigating allegations of racism against the BBC after Basil Brush joked about a fortune teller stealing his wallet.

  • BBC1 to recall war diaries of the ‘Polish Anne Frank'

    13-Mar-2008

    BBC1 is to tell the story of a Polish war victim dubbed 'the forgotten Anne Frank'.

  • BBC Switch to take on teen problems

    13-Mar-2008

    The BBC is to tackle controversial issues facing young people in a current affairs show that will form part of its teen strand Switch.

  • Salmon: commission with profit in mind

    13-Mar-2008

    BBC Vision Productions boss Peter Salmon has urged the corporation's commissioners to consider the extra revenue the BBC can generate from in-house content as opposed to indie shows when making commissioning decisions.

  • BBCW takes Top Gear on the road

    12-Mar-2008

    BBC Worldwide is to launch Top Gear as an international live event as part of plans to beef up its roster of touring shows.

  • BBC popularity among indies dives

    12-Mar-2008

    The BBC handed indies almost£100m more in commissioning cash last year than it did in 2006, but its popularity with the sector still nosedived over the period.

  • Salmon: commission with profit in mind

    12-Mar-2008

    BBC Vision Productions boss Peter Salmon has urged the corporation's commissioners to consider the extra revenue the BBC can generate from in-house content as opposed to indie shows when making commissioning decisions.

  • 'Trunkcam' films rare tiger footage for BBC1

    12-Mar-2008

    The BBC has enlisted the help of some unlikely cameramen to shoot its latest nature doc - a herd of Indian elephants.

  • BBC to train producers of the future

    12-Mar-2008

    The BBC is to launch a new entry-level training scheme in production, replacing the graduate scheme that was axed in 2002.

  • Behind the news: The Window of Creative Competition

    11-Mar-2008

    BBC Vision performed poorly in the first year of the WoCC as fiercely competitive indies took£100m more business. Now it is promising to fight back - but can it?

  • PM backs BBC news project

    11-Mar-2008

    The prime minister has invited school children to 10 Downing Street as part of a BBC initiative to get children interested in news.

  • BBC3 to domesticate virgin cooks

    10-Mar-2008

    BBC3 will put teens who cannot even boil an egg in charge of the family cooking, in a bid to transform them into “domestic gods and goddesses”.

  • C4 orders music/reality series

    10-Mar-2008

    Whizz Kid Entertainment has been commissioned to make a new music/reality show for Channel 4, to be co-funded by the broadcaster and mobile phone company Nokia.

  • BBC sponsorship packages under fire

    7-Mar-2008

    The BBC has come under fire for selling commercial companies “verbal credits” on charity programmes like Children in Need and live events on Radio 2.

  • Indies winning battle for BBC WoCC commissions

    6-Mar-2008

    The indie sector is winning the battle with BBC in-house production for WoCC (Window of Creative Competition) commissions.

  • Original to film psychic hit squads for Living

    5-Mar-2008

    Original Productions UK will send a Swat team of psychics to restore order in Britain's most haunted homes in a new 8 x 60-minute series for Living.

  • Question Time signs new editor

    5-Mar-2008

    ITV political producer Gill Penlington is to return to the BBC as editor of BBC1's Question Time with effect from May.

  • BBC2 hails British style

    5-Mar-2008

    BBC2 will turn the spotlight on the UK fashion industry this autumn, with a 5 x 60-minute documentary series on the evolution of British style.

  • BBC Switch

    5-Mar-2008

    BBC Switch

  • BBCW in Red first-look drama deal

    5-Mar-2008

    Red Production Company, the Manchester indie behind Queer As Folk, has signed a first-look deal with BBC Worldwide.

  • Asian growth sees BBC mull China Showcase

    5-Mar-2008

    BBC Worldwide is mulling the launch of a BBC Showcase event in China in line with plans to expand its Asian presence.

  • BBC3 orders disabled model hunt

    5-Mar-2008

    BBC3 will attempt to launch a disabled woman as a mainstream fashion model in a new twist on an established format.

  • BBC Arabic to be 'more international'

    4-Mar-2008

    The BBC has revealed that its new Arabic service will adopt a 'more international' stance than other Arabic news channels in a bid to distinguish itself in the crowded market.

  • CSC ties web to new R'n'B channel

    3-Mar-2008

    CSC Media Group is to launch a new R'n'B channel and is beefing up its presence online with a raft of music-based social networking sites.

  • GCap knocks back second Global offer

    29-Feb-2008

    GCap Media has rejected an improved 202p per share offer from Global Radio, saying it is still too low.

  • Speight quits CBBC's Smart

    28-Feb-2008

    CBBC presenter Mark Speight is to quit his television show SMart following the death of his fiancee Natasha Collins.

  • DCD to launch music download websites

    28-Feb-2008

    DCD Media is taking a second stab at making money from music content online with the launch of two new download websites.

  • BBC Worldwide and DRG quit Pact after fee hike

    27-Feb-2008

    Pact is facing a fresh membership crisis after it emerged that distributors BBC Worldwide and the Digital Rights Group have both left the trade body.

  • Prentice to head comedy at TwoFour

    27-Feb-2008

    TwoFour has hired Never Mind the Buzzcocks producer Warren Prentice to oversee a move into comedy.

  • Shearman made BBC factual commissioner

    27-Feb-2008

    The BBC has completed its factual commissioning team with the appointment of Nick Shearman as in-house commissioning editor for factual formats and features.

  • BBC4 to examine Mali's past

    27-Feb-2008

    BBC4 is to take a look at the changes in Mali through the lens of celebrated Malian photographer Malick Sidibé.

  • Interview: Mark Freeland

    27-Feb-2008

    The BBC's head of comedy speaks to Katherine Rushton about why he's so pleased to be back at the corporation and leading the hunt to find tomorrow's talent.

  • BBCW teams with Asia on Beijing doc

    26-Feb-2008

    BBC Worldwide has signed a three-way agreement with Asian production companies to make a “landmark” doc on Beijing for its Global Channels business.

  • Mark Bell wins BBC factual role

    22-Feb-2008

    The BBC has named Mark Bell as commissioning editor, specialist factual for indies.

  • BBC3 pulls teen suicide drama

    21-Feb-2008

    The BBC has pulled a drama about teen suicide after the string of teen suicides at Bridgend in south Wales.

  • BBC4 makes Tibet doc

    20-Feb-2008

    A Tibetan monastery has allowed access to a film crew for the first time for a BBC4 documentary series.

  • Des Lynam returns to BBC with ‘sporting Mastermind'

    20-Feb-2008

    Des Lynam will host a Mastermind spin-off this summer in his first TV series for the BBC since his controversial defection to ITV in 1999.

  • Silver River nets Brown for creative role

    20-Feb-2008

    Silver River has poached Alan Brown from the BBC to become its second creative director.

  • Storyville relaunches with six-doc seasons

    20-Feb-2008

    Storyville will relaunch this autumn with seasons of six complementary programmes instead of single ad hoc docs.

  • BBC pilots weekday Kitchen spin-off

    20-Feb-2008

    The BBC is piloting a new format for Saturday Kitchen that could turn it into a stripped weekday show.

  • Fry to trace first printing press

    20-Feb-2008

    Stephen Fry will examine the story behind the Western world's first printing press in a one-off doc for a BBC4 medieval season this April.

  • Indie sector revenues top£2bn

    20-Feb-2008

    The independent production sector grew revenues by nearly 10% last year topping£2bn for the first time.

  • BBC4 keeps rolling with the punches

    19-Feb-2008

    BBC budget cuts have hit BBC4 harder than anyone but the digital channel is determined not to scale down its big ideas

  • BBC mulling Worldwide sale

    18-Feb-2008

    The BBC is looking at fresh plans for the partial sale or flotation of BBC Worldwide by 2012.

  • 5 Live football series transfers to TV

    13-Feb-2008

    The BBC is turning its Radio 5 Live football phone-in 606 into an interactive TV programme.

  • News 24 halves strand editors to reduce costs

    13-Feb-2008

    The BBC is halving the number of News 24 strand editors from six to three in a bid to safeguard production staff in the channel's newsroom.

  • Sutherland tipped for BBC post

    13-Feb-2008

    Former Five factual commissioning editor Alex Sutherland is the favourite to become specialist factual commissioning editor for indies at the BBC.

  • Kidnapped reporter set for release

    13-Feb-2008

    The British CBS journalist and Iraqi interpreter kidnapped in Basra will be released this afternoon, according to news wire reports.

  • Call for BBC to get serious over minorities

    13-Feb-2008

    The BBC must “put in place some serious enforcements” to get more people from ethnic minorities into senior roles, a member of the corporation's executive board has said.

  • TwoFour hires Maverick producer

    12-Feb-2008

    TwoFour has recruited Maverick TV's Ben Stoll as development producer for drama.

  • BBC orders pre-school quiz

    12-Feb-2008

    The BBC is lining up the first ever game show aimed at pre-schoolers that will see youngsters answer questions and predict the outcome of CGI races.

  • History Channel unearths the original SAS

    12-Feb-2008

    The History Channel has unearthed unseen interviews with the first SAS pilots for a new series on the unit's history.

  • News 24 lines up entertainment show

    11-Feb-2008

    Strictly Come Dancing star and Blue Peter presenter Gethin Jones is to front a new 15-minute entertainment show on News 24.

  • BBC stays faithful to DAB

    11-Feb-2008

    The BBC has underscored its commitment to digital radio, following GCap's announcement earlier today that it is withdrawing from DAB altogether.

  • BBC cautions staff over internet images

    11-Feb-2008

    The BBC has cautioned editorial staff over the use of photographs lifted from social networking sites.

  • BBC award switchover contract to eaga

    11-Feb-2008

    The BBC has appointed green support services company eaga to manage the digital switchover Help Scheme.

  • Burnham shares top slicing vision

    11-Feb-2008

    New culture secretary Andy Burnham has made a veiled indication that he will back radical proposals to share out the BBC licence fee, sharing the vision of his predecessor James Purnell.

  • Grange Hill creator slams BBC

    8-Feb-2008

    Phil Redmond has hit out at the BBC for “mercurial” editorial practices, saying it looks after itself more than licence fee payers.

  • BBC3 reveals news anchors

    8-Feb-2008

    BBC3 has recruited Five presenter Tasmin Lucia Khan and radio correspondent Andy May to front its revamped 60seconds news bulletin.

  • Gates close on Grange Hill after 30 years

    7-Feb-2008

    Grange Hill was effectively axed by the BBC because it did not fit in with the corporation's move towards age-targeted children's channels.

  • Gates close on Grange Hill after 30 years

    7-Feb-2008

    Grange Hill was effectively axed by the BBC because it did not fit in with the corporation's move towards age-targeted children's channels.

  • Gates close on Grange Hill after 30-year run

    7-Feb-2008

    Grange Hill was effectively axed by the BBC because it did not fit in with the corporation's move towards age-targeted children's channels.

  • Gates close on Grange Hill after 30-year run

    7-Feb-2008

    Grange Hill was effectively axed by the BBC because it did not fit in with the corporation's move towards age-targeted children's channels.

  • ITV in talks to lay off regional affairs staff

    6-Feb-2008

    ITV has axed all its regional affairs staff as the latest step in its rationalisation in the regions.

  • BBC plans comedy writing college

    6-Feb-2008

    The BBC is planning to launch a “comedy college” in a bid to develop new sitcom and sketch writing talent.

  • Eight-part BBC doc reveals the real lives of London nurses

    6-Feb-2008

    BBC1 is to go inside one of London's busiest hospitals in a “life affirming” documentary series.

  • BBC4 ‘Black Power' doc

    6-Feb-2008

    BBC4 is to tell the story behind the iconic “Black Power salute” given by athletes at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico.

  • Jeanette Winterson to pen BBC kids drama

    6-Feb-2008

    Jeanette Winterson has signed a deal with the BBC to develop a new children's series with Lime Pictures.

  • Living seeks to talk to dead serial killers

    6-Feb-2008

    Living is planning to make spiritual contact with dead serial killers in the latest addition to its line-up of paranormal programmes.

  • Kids indies get BBC boost

    6-Feb-2008

    The BBC is backing the kids indie sector with a trio of drama commissions, among a raft of new and repeat series on order for 2009.

  • BBC rings final bell for Grange Hill

    6-Feb-2008

    The BBC is axing Grange Hill after 30 years, despite efforts to revamp the programme for a younger audience.

  • US channel picks up Wills love life doc

    5-Feb-2008

    Female-skewing US channel Women's Entertainment Network has picked up a one-off documentary on Prince William's love life from UK indie Twofour

  • IMG hires global programming chief

    4-Feb-2008

    IMG Global Media has recruited Rob Lee as head of programming, based in the company's Los Angeles office and reporting to IMG Global Media president Chris Albrecht.

  • Night Garden spin-offs make£10.8m

    4-Feb-2008

    In the Night Garden was BBC Worldwide's best performing licence property of 2007 - even though its toy and game spin offs only hit the market in July.

  • BBC in presenter race row

    4-Feb-2008

    The BBC has launched an investigation after it allegedly broke race discrimination laws in the hunt for a new presenter.

  • Doctor Who producer to head new BBC drama unit

    1-Feb-2008

    The BBC is forging ahead with plans to make more programmes outside London by appointing Doctor Who producer Phil Collinson to head a new Manchester drama division.

  • ITV lines up Beadle tribute

    1-Feb-2008

    ITV will air a half-hour special honouring Jeremy Beadle on Monday evening, following his sudden death earlier this week.

  • Editors added to Volvo Ocean Race crews

    31-Jan-2008

    Yachts competing in the Volvo Ocean Race will allow be allowed a media specialist crew member for the first time in 2008-09 - in line with plans to film the race fully in HD.

  • Laid-off Vision staff to get first pick of BBC jobs

    30-Jan-2008

    BBC Vision staff who are made redundant will be put on a list of “preferred suppliers” so that they get first refusal on freelance work at the corporation.

  • Tinopolis: BBC has ‘moral duty' to Jam fallout firms

    30-Jan-2008

    Tinopolis has called on the BBC to honour its “moral debt” to suppliers damaged by the collapse of BBC Jam as the corporation weighs up a replacement for the online education service.

  • Minority sports coverage facing axe after BBC cuts

    30-Jan-2008

    Sporting body UK Sport has spoken of its fear for minority sports after budget cuts at the BBC.

  • Storyville makes BBC2 comeback

    30-Jan-2008

    BBC2 will examine the bloody world of brain surgery in one of seven Storyville documentaries lined up on the channel over the next six months.

  • BBC sells Aussie soap to the Aussies

    29-Jan-2008

    In a classic case of carrying coals to Newscastle, the BBC has sold its own Australian soap back to Aussie broadcaster Network Ten.

  • Mentorn reduces losses

    29-Jan-2008

    Mentorn has narrowed its losses and is “on schedule” to pull into profit at the end of this year, Ron Jones, chief executive of parent company Tinopolis, has confirmed.

  • BBC Gaelic service moves closer

    28-Jan-2008

    The BBC Trust has given the BBC the green light for a new Gaelic Digital Service (GDS), but has halved the cost to the licence fee payer by blocking a Freeview launch.

  • BBC Worldwide mines pop archive

    28-Jan-2008

    BBC Worldwide has bolstered its Audio & Music team as part of a five-year strategy to make more money from the BBC's pop archive.

  • End in sight for Neighbours on BBC1

    28-Jan-2008

    The BBC will air its last episode of Neighbours on 8 February, going right up to the wire before the soap transfers to Five.

  • Blog: Facebook for kids

    25-Jan-2008

    Broadcast chief reporter Katherine Rushton reacts to the Daily Mail's dismissive remarks about the BBC setting up a 'Facebook for kids'.

  • BBC owns up to more deception

    25-Jan-2008

    The BBC has admitted to faking two more phone-ins, this time on radio shows hosted by Jo Whiley and Russell Brand.

  • BBC to air the Super Bowl live

    25-Jan-2008

    The BBC is to broadcast the Super Bowl live for the first time this year, with a late Sunday night showing on BBC2.

  • Complaints over Eastenders knife attack

    24-Jan-2008

    More than 200 people have complained after EastEnders showed a violent knife attack on a 13-year-old boy before the 9pm watershed.

  • BBC strikes averted

    23-Jan-2008

    The BBC has averted the prospect of imminent strikes after overnight talks with unions.

  • BBC sets 2016 date to correct London bias...

    23-Jan-2008

    The BBC will source half of its programmes from outside London by 2016, in a renewed drive to redress its bias towards the capital.

  • BBC3 selects key viewers to inform multiplatform future

    23-Jan-2008

    BBC3 used selected viewers to help develop its programme strategy in a new scheme which the corporation may roll out to other channels.

  • BBC to launch safe ‘kids Facebook' site

    23-Jan-2008

    The BBC is launching a “Facebook for kids” - a safe social networking site that aims to push its public service credentials on the web harder than ever.

  • Living swoops on hit US vampire thriller

    23-Jan-2008

    Living has added another supernatural thriller to its roster by acquiring the UK rights to US vampire drama Moonlight.

  • Taking a slice of the action

    22-Jan-2008

    The licence fee is under threat and top-slicing is back on the government's agenda. Katherine Rushton looks at what this might mean for the BBC - and what the alternatives are.

  • BBC makes major regional pledge

    22-Jan-2008

    The BBC is planning to make half of all programming outside of London and base half of its programming staff outside the capital by 2016, director general Mark Thompson has revealed.

  • Cohen demands multiplatform pitches for BBC3

    22-Jan-2008

    Every programme pitch to BBC3 must from now on be embedded in a wider, multimedia proposition, in line with ambitions by the channel to close the gap between television and the internet.

  • BBC3 launches multi-platform rebirth

    22-Jan-2008

    BBC3 will simulcast all its programmes on the web and host regular primetime slots for user-generated content as part of a “multi-platform rebirth” unveiled today.

  • BBC adapting Hardy classic

    21-Jan-2008

    BBC1 is continuing its spate of lavish costume dramas with a four-part adaptation of Tess of the D'Urbervilles this autumn.

  • Purnell rejects 'Arts Council of the air'

    18-Jan-2008

    The culture secretary has poured cold water on proposals for an 'Arts Council of the air', warning that “posh” programmes would be marginalised under the scheme.

  • Weakest Link to replace Neighbours

    18-Jan-2008

    Neighbours is to be replaced by The Weakest Link when the long running soap moves from BBC1 to Five.

  • BBC3 show to scare unhealthy teens

    16-Jan-2008

    BBC3 will perform “live autopsies” on hedonistic youngsters in an 8 x 60-minute series by TwoFour.

  • Unions urge Trust to extend pay study

    16-Jan-2008

    Unions have called on the BBC Trust to broaden its study of BBC on-screen talent costs to include pay levels for the corporation's top executives.

  • Scottish pair rise to 101 challenges for T4

    16-Jan-2008

    Two Scottish brothers are travelling the world taking on weird tasks set by the public, in a new 8 x 60-minute series planned for Channel 4.

  • Done and Dusted makes a date with BBC Switch

    16-Jan-2008

    DCD-owned indie Done and Dusted is poised to make a series of three-minute dating shows for the website of the BBC's teen strand Switch.

  • BBC Scotland looks for compulsory redundancies

    16-Jan-2008

    BBC Scotland is thought to be planning eight compulsory redundancies after too few staff came forward to meet its Value for Money cuts.

  • BBC launches trust initiatives

    15-Jan-2008

    BBC director general Mark Thompson will today pledge to take the “first step” towards improving the relationship between politicians and the media, and towards both parties regaining the trust of the public.

  • BBC bodged McFly competition

    14-Jan-2008

    BBC has come under fire from Ofcom after the latest example of it mis-handling a Comic Relief competition.

  • BBC orders women-on-the-run Shed drama

    14-Jan-2008

    BBC1 has commissioned Shed Productions to make an eight-part drama about a group of female ex-convicts hiding out in a remote Scottish village.

  • BBC slides back on ethnic target

    9-Jan-2008

    The BBC has fewer black and minority ethnic (BME) staff on its senior management team than it did four years ago, despite setting voluntary targets to boost diversity.

  • BBC drops second week of SMart repeats

    9-Jan-2008

    The BBC has pulled repeats of SMart and SMarteenies for a second week following confusion over the death of presenter Mark Speight's fiancé.

  • BBC apologises for Bhutto interview edit

    7-Jan-2008

    The BBC has apologised for editing an interview on its website with Benazir Bhutto after it deleted her astonishing claim that Osama Bin Laden had been murdered.

  • BBC mulls licence fee overhaul

    7-Jan-2008

    The BBC is considering plans to reserve its licence fee funding for a small core of output and run the rest of its operations as a commercial enterprise.

  • BBC pulls Smart and SMarteenies repeats

    4-Jan-2008

    The BBC has pulled repeats of the children's art programmes SMart and SMarteenies after presenter Mark Speight was arrested over the death of his fiancé Natasha Collins.

  • BBC strike deadline pushed back

    4-Jan-2008

    Broadcasting unions have extended the deadline for their BBC strike ballot by two weeks to allow for a fresh round of negotiations over job cuts and staff allowances.

  • BBC poised to set green targets

    4-Jan-2008

    The BBC is to set new targets for cutting waste in a bid to boost its green credentials.

  • BBC presenter released after girlfriend death

    4-Jan-2008

    A man believed to be BBC children's television presenter Mark Speight has been released after being arrested over the death of his girlfriend - understood to be former co-presenter Natasha Collins.

  • Luckwell to chair IMAC

    3-Jan-2008

    Media investor Mike Luckwell is to replace ex-Sky boss Tony Ball as chairman of the listed Ingenious Media Active Capital (IMAC) fund.

  • BBC1 to search for the next Oliver

    21-Dec-2007

    The BBC is wheeling out its ‘search for a musical star’ to find the next Oliver.

  • BBC brings back Swap Shop - boom, boom

    21-Dec-2007

    The BBC is dusting off the 1970’s classic Swap Shop with a new version presented by Basil Brush.

  • Bennett vows to safeguard quality of kids TV

    19-Dec-2007

    BBC Vision director Jana Bennett has vowed to safeguard the quality and range of the BBC’s children’s output - but has admitted it may not always have a place on BBC1

  • Threat of 96-hour strike looms after early BBC staff talks

    19-Dec-2007

    BBC staff have given an early indication that they are prepared to strike for as long as 96 hours in January.

  • Rock School star Lil’ Chris returns to C4 with celebrity chat show

    19-Dec-2007

    Channel 4 has commissioned Connected Pictures to make a pilot of a new chat show fronted by teen rocker Lil’ Chris.

  • BBC defends Salford relocation package

    19-Dec-2007

    The BBC has robustly defended its relocation package for staff moving to Salford following a shower of criticism in the press this morning.

  • STV to axe 45 staff

    19-Dec-2007

    Scottish regional broadcaster STV is expected to make 45 staff redundant as it plans for the end of its contract with Setanta to air Scottish Premier League highlights.

  • Celebs hit the slopes for Ski Sunday relaunch

    18-Dec-2007

    BBC2 is to bring back Ski Sunday in a higher profile evening slot, and with a new celebrity element added to the mix.

  • BBC viewers slam 'derivative' shows

    18-Dec-2007

    TV audiences want the BBC to cut down on makeover programmes, reality shows, and 'derivative' spin offs, the chairman of BBC Trust has claimed.

  • Bragg and Puttnam head Teachers TV bid

    17-Dec-2007

    Channel 4, Mentorn Media, the Guardian and the Institute of Education have put together a “dream team” to bid for the contract to operate Teachers TV.

  • BUPA chief to join BBC board

    17-Dec-2007

    The BBC has recruited BUPA chief executive Val Gooding as its sixth non-executive director, with effect from January 2008.

  • Repeats up over festive period

    14-Dec-2007

    The number of TV repeats aired over Christmas has risen by more than a quarter since 2006 to make up nearly half of all programming.

  • Last chance for RTS Sports Awards rejected

    12-Dec-2007

    The Royal Television Society is to drop all specialist awards for sports programmes next year, after its sports council rejected proposals to wrap them into the main programming awards.

  • BBC News: We will hold our nerve at 10 O’Clock

    12-Dec-2007

    BBC News has pledged to “hold its nerve” and resist making editorial changes to the Ten O’Clock News in the face of competition from the returning News at Ten on ITV.

  • BBC2 cooks up fresh Masterchef

    12-Dec-2007

    BBC2 will air a Masterchef spin-off for working chefs and move the amateur contest to primetime.

  • Sawalha in ‘eating travelogue’

    12-Dec-2007

    Celebrity Masterchef winner Nadia Sawalha is to star in a new BBC “eating travelogue show” commissioned from her production company, Dog House Media.

  • US Idol’s Seacrest options Make Me a Baby

    12-Dec-2007

    American Idol host Ryan Seacrest has optioned the rights to make a US version of Mentorn Media’s Make Me a Baby format.

  • Sunset + Vine wins African Nations BBC coverage

    12-Dec-2007

    Sunset + Vine is to produce the BBC’s coverage of the 2008 African Cup of Nations, taking the tournament over from TWI.

  • Rachel Stevens gets animated for BBC1

    12-Dec-2007

    A nine-inch plasticine model of Rachel Stevens will be the centrepiece of a new animated comedy set to air on BBC1 Scotland.

  • Redundancies confirmed at BBC Scotland

    11-Dec-2007

    BBC Scotland has confirmed targets to make 14 staff redundant by next April with a further 100 jobs to be axed by April 2009.

  • Mentorn to film Iraq debate

    10-Dec-2007

    Mentorn is to film an Intelligence Squared debate for the first time this week, marking the beginning of what the production company hopes will be a new regular strand for the BBC.

  • BBC's Silverton gets wider remit

    7-Dec-2007

    Kate Silverton is to expand her brief across the BBC TV News, with a number of new presenting and reporting roles.

  • Freeview plans 'best of the week'

    6-Dec-2007

    Freeview has revealed plans to take its offering to the next stage by adding a new “best of the week” edited catch-up service.

  • Questions over BBC risk management

    6-Dec-2007

    The BBC is facing renewed pressure to expose itself to full Parliamentary scrutiny after managerial failings were blamed for the Blue Peter phone-in fiasco.

  • BBC rejects union talks after ballot

    5-Dec-2007

    The BBC has responded to the National Union of Journalists, Bectu and Unite’s decision to ballot for strike action by refusing to meet them at a national level.

  • Industry hails ‘popular’ Hunt as BBC1 controller

    5-Dec-2007

    BBC staff and indie producers hailed Jay Hunt’s popular tastes and decisive commissioning style after the Five director of programmes was named BBC1 controller.

  • BBC retires in-house horse-racing coverage

    5-Dec-2007

    The BBC will no longer have an in-house team for horse-racing coverage, following a decision to outsource coverage of the Grand National to indie Sunset + Vine.

  • BBC hunts new breed of doc makers

    5-Dec-2007

    BBC New Talent has launched a competition to find three emerging documentary film makers for its BBC3 new talent strand, Fresh.

  • BBC doc to follow Olympic hopefuls

    5-Dec-2007

    The BBC will transfer its A Child of Our Time format to a group of young athletes preparing for the 2012 London Olympics, revisiting them in a series of documentaries each year until the games.

  • Pact elects new council

    5-Dec-2007

    Twofour chief executive Charles Wace has been elected as council chair at indie trade body Pact.

  • One in four BBC staff have taken 'trust' course

    4-Dec-2007

    Some 4,500 BBC staff have already taken the Safeguarding Trust workshop set up in the wake of the trust scandal that erupted this summer.

  • Giant leap for VoD project

    4-Dec-2007

    Broadcasters have taken a significant step to secure their online future. But how much will Project Kangaroo benefit content producers?

  • Torchwood censored for young viewers

    4-Dec-2007

    BBC2 is to specially edit repeats of the new series of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood to make it suitable for younger viewers.

  • BBC fills factual commissioning teams

    3-Dec-2007

    BBC Vision has named the factual commissioning editors who will sit in two separate teams dealing exclusively with in-house or outsourced production.

  • Hunt's road to the top of BBC1

    3-Dec-2007

    Cookery, quiz shows and accessible news are the ingredients that have paved Jay Hunt’s way to the top job at BBC1.

  • BBC confirms Keelan start date

    3-Dec-2007

    The BBC has confirmed that Liam Keelan will start as the new controller of daytime on 1 February, ending more than six months of gardening leave from ITV.

  • Hunt is new boss of BBC1

    3-Dec-2007

    Jay Hunt has been named the new controller of BBC1, just three months after becoming director of programmes at Five.

  • Elderly viewers 'confused' over digital switchover

    3-Dec-2007

    The Ofcom Consumer Panel has called for Digital UK to better target the elderly and people without technical confidence with information about the digital switchover.

  • BBC HD prepares for launch

    30-Nov-2007

    The BBC is to launch the first free-to-air high definition channel tomorrow (1 December), following formal approval by the BBC Trust last week and Ofcom in September.

  • BBC finds Neighbours replacement

    30-Nov-2007

    The BBC is to replace Neighbours with a new daytime soap, commissioned from an Australian production company and overseen by a former producer of Home & Away.

  • FA fights to protect broadcast revenues

    30-Nov-2007

    The High Court is considering whether to allow a publican to bypass BSkyB and use a foreign broadcaster to show FA Premier League football games.

  • BBC launches stars pay review

    30-Nov-2007

    The BBC Trust has launched its review of the cost of on-screen and on-air talent across the corporation.

  • BBC Trust to be more open with viewers

    29-Nov-2007

    The BBC Trust has pledged to make it easier for audiences to express their views about the BBC and to hear what steps have been taken in response to complaints.

  • Child of Our Time exec quits BBC

    29-Nov-2007

    Tessa Livingstone, the executive producer of the documentary series Child of Our Time, is to leave the BBC early next summer after taking voluntary redundancy.

  • Kangaroo spells end for 4oD platform

    28-Nov-2007

    Channel 4’s online video-on-demand service 4oD is to cease as a stand-alone platform when the broadcaster folds content into the new VoD offensive planned jointly with BBC Worldwide and ITV next year.

  • BBC3 signs 'angelic' Ellison

    28-Nov-2007

    BBC3 has lined-up Jennifer Ellison to play an angel in a contemporary version of the Christmas story.

  • Sky One opts for big drama events

    28-Nov-2007

    Sky One has abandoned its search for a replacement for long-running football drama Dream Team and is now looking for “noisy, glorious” drama events.

  • BBC outsources Grand National coverage

    27-Nov-2007

    Sunset+Vine is to produce the BBC’s coverage of the Grand National from 2008, marking the first time that the horse race has been outsourced in nearly 50 years.

  • BBC bolsters London factual team

    27-Nov-2007

    The BBC has named 14 specialist executive producers who will sit under Karen O’Connor in the new London Factual division.

  • Edwards upped to BBC current affairs

    27-Nov-2007

    Clive Edwards, editor of The Money Programme, has been appointed as executive editor and commissioning editor for BBC TV current affairs.

  • Endemol eyeing UK indies

    27-Nov-2007

    Endemol is actively seeking to acquire UK indie production companies in line with plans to double its profits in the next five years.

  • BBC signs new media rights agreement

    26-Nov-2007

    The BBC has signed an agreement with the independent producers’ trade body Pact, which will allow interactive content producers to retain the rights for their online and mobile ideas for the first time.

  • New BBC series takes to the air

    26-Nov-2007

    The BBC is to examine the workings of Britain from the air, in a new 'landmark' strand set for broacast next summer.

  • BBC defends McCann special

    26-Nov-2007

    The BBC has defended a Panorama special on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann as “thorough and responsible”, after a stinging attack by the programme’s producer David Mills.

  • BBC strike vote in January

    23-Nov-2007

    BBC workers will vote on whether to strike by 9 January, and could stop working between seven and 28 days after that, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has confirmed.

  • Discovery on the hunt for history

    23-Nov-2007

    Discovery Networks UK is looking to bolster its historical programming, in a bid to win back loyalty from older viewers.

  • BBC to lift competition ban

    21-Nov-2007

    Phone-in competitions are set to return to the BBC before Christmas, in line with a new set of guidelines from the broadcaster.

  • Hundreds of volunteers for BBC News cuts

    21-Nov-2007

    More BBC News staff have expressed interest in taking voluntary redundancy than the level of cuts the department needs to make in the first year.

  • ITV’s Lupton leaves to join BBC comedy commissioners

    21-Nov-2007

    The BBC has beefed up its comedy commissioning team with the appointment of ITV Productions development editor for comedy, Simon Lupton.

  • BBC drafts in Osman replacement

    21-Nov-2007

    The BBC has recruited Ed Williams to replace Sally Osman as head of corporate communications.

  • BBC2 orders war comedy

    21-Nov-2007

    A comedy about “a small African war” as seen through the eyes of journalists will be aired by BBC2, as part of its winter/spring 2008 schedule.

  • War comedy tops new BBC2 season

    21-Nov-2007

    A comedy about 'a small African war' as seen through the eyes of journalists will air as part of BBC2's winter/spring 2008 schedule.

  • War comedy tops new BBC2 season

    21-Nov-2007

    A comedy about 'a small African war' as seen through the eyes of journalists will air as part of BBC2's winter/spring 2008 schedule.

  • 303 BBC staffers volunteer for redundancy

    20-Nov-2007

    The BBC Vision Productions division is understood to have had 303 people register their interest in voluntary redundancy.

  • 'War comedy' tops new BBC2 season

    20-Nov-2007

    A comedy about 'a small African war' as seen through the eyes of journalists will be aired by BBC2, as part of its winter/spring 2008 schedule.

  • BBC2 unveils White season

    20-Nov-2007

    BBC2 is to focus on white working class Britain in a season of “unflinching” programmes looking at why some sections of that community “feel increasingly marginalised”.

  • Entwistle to head BBC Knowledge

    20-Nov-2007

    Acting BBC4 controller George Entwistle will succeed Glenwyn Benson as BBC Knowledge controller.

  • BBC2 to tackle white working class

    20-Nov-2007

    BBC2 will focus on white working class Britain this autumn/winter, with a raft of “unflinching” programmes looking at why some sections of that community “feel increasingly marginalised”.

  • Benson moves to policy and strategy

    20-Nov-2007

    BBC Knowledge controller Glenwyn Benson is moving away from programming to take up a newly created senior role within the BBC’s Policy and Strategy division.

  • Freeview tops 14 million

    20-Nov-2007

    More than 14 million UK homes are now using Freeview, the company confirmed today.
Subscribe to magazine for more newsletters - find out more

Job of the week

Twig

Senior Factual Producer

Competitive

Jobs

Reversioning Manager

Band 5

Playout and Technical Support in South East

Competitive

PRODUCTION MANAGER/ STUDIO CO-ORDINATOR

Dependant on experience

Facilities Manager

Competitive

Broadcast Projects Engineer

£Competitive + bonus + comprehensive benefits (please see below)

Production/ Broadcasting Vacancies

Competitive

Start your new career today

Search

Commissioning

Check out the latest commissions

More

Ratings

Up-to-date ratings analysis

More