Broadcast
3 February 2012

View all stories from this issue.

1 Feb '12

“It is a bit Footballers’ Wives and a little bit Bad Girls.” Read on for the verdict on last night’s TV.
10 O'Clock Live, Channel 4

C4 and Zeppotron faced a steep learning curve last year with their risky live topical comedy. Execs open up to Paul Whitelaw about its flaws - and their hopes for a more ‘fluid’ series two.
2 Feb '12

“An intelligent, lively, detail-stuffed account”. Read on for the verdict on last night’s TV.
3 Feb '12

“A tense, knuckle-gnawing thriller.” Read on for the verdict on last night’s TV.
30 Jan '12

“Eddie Redmayne made a virtue of Morgan’s lacunae and played on his inarticulacy.” Read on for the verdict on the weekend’s TV.
31 Jan '12

“Prepare for grim compromises and a really big lump in the throat.” Read on for the verdict on last night’s TV.
5 Live told to cover more news and niche sports

BBC Radio 5 Live has been urged by the BBC Trust to ensure its discussions are led by a news agenda and to offer more coverage to minority sports.
Adam MacDonald, AETN

A+E Networks UK’s vice-president of programming says the group’s four channels have more in common than many people think – and he’s hoping to do some cross-pollination.
Age portrayal not a priority, viewers say

Entertaining programmes are far more important than accurate portrayal of the nation’s age demographics, a study by the Creative Diversity Network has found.
Alias adds new lenses

Alias Hire has taken delivery of a set of set of Ultra Prime lenses.
All3 starts search for chief exec after bumper year

All3Media has kicked off the hunt for a new chief executive and signalled plans to become more bullish with its programming rights after posting record earnings last year.
Apple updates Final Cut Pro

Apple has released an updated version of Final Cut Pro X, with multicam editing and export from FCP 7 now supported by the software.
Artists Studio to produce BBC2 Cubitt thriller

A psychological thriller based on parallel storylines of two hunters, written by Allan Cubitt, is set to be a BBC2 serial scheduled for 2013.
AXN Mystery in market for content to fill UK season

Japanese broadcaster AXN Mystery is running a seven-month season of UK programming as interest in Britain soars ahead of the London Olympics and Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
BBC 1Xtra tops million mark

RAJAR: BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra controller Ben Cooper has seen the black music station break the 1m listeners barrier for the first time as digital-only sister station 6Music also posted record figures.
BBC iPlayer and ITV Player to launch on Sky

Sky has signed major deals with the BBC and ITV to bring the two terrestrial broadcasters’ video on demand services to its platform.
BBC launches Human Race Olympics tie-in

The BBC’s international news services are launching a landmark season across all platforms that aims to examine “every aspect” of the human body.
BBC production faces streamlining for DQF

BBC management are mulling a major shake-up of the corporation’s in-house production arm, including the possible shedding of senior genre roles, it has emerged.
BBC Sport revamps with live focus

The BBC Sport website has been overhauled ahead of the Olympics, with a focus on beefing up its live coverage.
BBC1 secures comedy stars for Wodehouse

Timothy Spall and Jennifer Saunders are to star in a new BBC1 comedy series based on short stories by PG Wodehouse.
BBC3’s gay footballers doc nets 712k

MONDAY: An investigative documentary into the lack of openly gay professional footballers in Britain drew nearly a quarter of a million more viewers than BBC3’s usual audience.
BBC4 to explore Catholicism

BBC4 is to explore modern Catholicism in Britain in a three-part series from Wingspan Productions and Jerusalem Productions.
BBCW posts comedy channel on YouTube

BBC Worldwide has launched a YouTube channel featuring clips from comedy shows including The Office and Only Fools And Horses, in a bid to drive sales of DVDs.
Bectu: delay BBC Birmingham exit to 2013

Broadcast union Bectu has written to the BBC demanding it delays the exit of Birmingham by at least a year.
Being Human / Yunnan Adventure with Nigel Marven / We'll Take Manhattan

Skins writer Georgia Lester and FremantleMedia’s Ana Garanito on an unholy trinity, rare beasts and 60s icons.
Best Children’s Programme

Grizzly Tales
Best Comedy Programme

The Inbetweeners
Best Daytime Programme

The Indian Doctor
Best Documentary Programme

Panorama - Undercover Care: The Abuse Exposed
Best Documentary Series

Our War
Best Drama Series or Serial

Downton Abbey
Best Entertainment Programme

Dynamo: Magician Impossible
Best Independent Production Company

Carnival Film & Television
Best International Programme Sales

Big Fat Gypsy Weddings
Best Multichannel Programme

Our War
Best Music Programme

Frankenstein’s Wedding
Best New Programme

The Trip
Best News Programme

The Fall Of Tripoli
Best Popular Factual Programme

Hugh’s Fish Fight
Best Post-Production House

Molinare
Best Pre-school Programme

Rastamouse
Best Single Drama

Appropriate Adult
Best Soap and Continuing Drama

Coronation Street
Best Sports Programme

F1: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Black Mirror tops C4 complaints

Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror sparked 253 complaints, making it Channel 4’s most-criticised programme in December.
Britcoms can still work in the land of opportunity

Struggling to sell finished sitcoms to US networks? Go local, says Don Taffner Jr.
Broadcast Awards 2012: winners and finalists

Who came out on top at the Broadcast Awards 2012? Browse the winners and finalists here.
BSC Expo heads to Elstree

The British Society of Cinematographers (BSC) Expo will take place at Elstree Studios this week.
C4 hires Panorama exec for Dispatches role

Panorama deputy editor Daniel Pearl has been appointed as Channel 4 Dispatches commissioning editor.
C4 lines up Micky Flanagan pilot

Channel 4 has handed Micky Flanagan his first comedy panel show pilot since signing the cockney comedian last year.
C4 to refurbish heroes homes

Community heroes who have let their houses fall into disrepair will have their homes transformed by people whose lives they have affected for Channel 4 daytime.
C4’s Concordia doc draws 2.9m

TUESDAY: Channel 4’s fast turnaround documentary about the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster drew nearly 3m viewers - beating struggling ITV1 game show The Exit List and BBC2’s new series with former Hotel Inspector Alex Polizzi.
C5 seeking girls for new Bachelor

Channel 5 has kicked off a hunt for contestants to appear in The Bachelor ahead of the anticipated commission of a second series.
Call for more action on equality

Speakers at Equality Act event say industry is still not doing enough about on-screen diversity.
Call the Midwife

Create titles that place the BBC drama in the 1950s and link it to the memoirs of Jennifer Worth
Call the Midwife swells to 10.5m

CONSOLIDATED: Call the Midwife delivered nearly 10.5m viewers on its second episode, beating its own record-breaking debut.
CBB final peaks with 3.5m

FRIDAY: The Celebrity Big Brother final peaked with more than 3.5m viewers as Denise Welch was named winner - beat last year’s concluding episode.
CBBC partners with ZDF on Wolfblood

CBBC is teaming up with German broadcaster ZDF to produce a werewolf drama.
Channel of the Year

Sky 1
Crewing Company in Olympic deal

The Crewing Company has signed a deal with Caribbean broadcaster SportsMax to supply camera crews and editors for the London Olympics.
Cup scores but Top Gear wins

BBC2’s coverage of the League Cup Semi-Final, plus the return of those petrol fiends, gave BBC2 a decent week, while C5 closed the CBB house once more.
DAB radios break 200m hours of radio

RAJAR: Listening to the radio via DAB sets broke the 200m hour barrier for the first time, as total digital radio listening remained above the 300m hour mark.
David Tennant wins BBC Audio Drama Award

David Tennant and Sherlock star Andrew Scott were among the winners of the inaugural BBC Audio Drama Awards.
DDL boosts capacity in £4m refit

Deluxe Digital London (DDL) will spend £4m revamping its Meard Street base, with investments in additional storage and increased connectivity.
Demographic Focus

Explore the ratings breakdown demographically across the main terrestrial and multichannel broadcasters for 23-29 January.
Docs doc and Essex appeal

What is it about Essex, junior doctors, detectives and dancing? Who knows, but this week they made their presence felt.
DRG hires BBCW exec

Distributor DRG has appointed Charlotte Hargreaves as senior vice president of marketing and business development in a bid to expand its rights management business.
E4 recommissions Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy

Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy had been recommissioned just one episode into the first series.
Edinburgh to start a day early

The Edinburgh International TV Festival will take place from Thursday to Saturday, for the first time.
Egerton joins Bubble & Squeak

Former Avid marketing manager Dawn Egerton has joined Bubble & Squeak.
Encompass recruits tech chief

Encompass Digital Media has recruited former BBC DMI technical director James Crossland to the newly created role of chief technology officer.
Endemol Sport closes as directors exit

Endemol has dismantled its sports division following the departure of managing directors Gregg Oldfield and Lawrence Duffy - but remains committed to the genre.
Eyeheight goes 3D

Eyeheight has launched a multirate stereoscopic 3D colour corrector.
Fighting the corner for women

The campaign to get more female experts on TV starts here.
First Cut back for 12-part run

The financial value of the human body, the practical process of launching a fertility lottery and the dream of marrying Prince Harry will all feature in the next run of Channel 4’s First Cut strand.
Gallery: Broadcast Awards 2012

Browse pictures of the winners and hosts from the night.
Genre Overview

Browse the top ten children’s, factual, drama, entertainment, sport and current affairs programmes from 23-29 January.
Geordie Shore returns with 259k

TUESDAY: MTV reality show Geordie Shore returned for a second series – but could not match the pull of the first run.
Get the Look

Produce titles and in-programme graphics that reflect the look and style of the show
Gravity Rd goes behind scenes at Grazia

Gravity Road has won its first commission to produce an online documentary series for Grazia, which will go behind the scenes at the magazine as it prepares its London Fashion Week collector’s issue.
Gray makes commentary box return

Andy Gray, the former Sky Sports pundit sacked in the wake of a sexism scandal last year, is being primed for a return to football commentary with TalkSport.
Gypsy Blood complaints top 1,000

More than 1,000 complaints have been made about Channel 4 True Stories film Gypsy Blood.
Hire for Video Europe

Hire company Video Europe has appointed Terry Millard as business development director.
Hit Entertainment boss exits

Hit Entertainment president and chief executive Jeffrey Dunn and chief operating officer Sangeeta Desai are leaving the company after being bought out by Mattel.
HotCam offers archiving

HotCam has launched a service it claims could save production companies “thousands of pounds” by archiving footage so that solid-state discs can be reused.
Hustle snatches top spot from Law & Order

CONSOLIDATED: BBC1 drama Hustle blagged more than 1m viewers on catch up, snatching the slot crown from ITV1 competitor Law & Order.
IABM appoints new board

Axon Digital Design’s Jan Eveleens has been appointed chairman of the IABM’s (International Association of Broadcasting Manufacturers) new board.
Ianiro relocates HQ to Redditch

Lighting and grip supplier Ianiro is shifting the bulk of its business from Rome to Redditch, with management, sales and marketing and customer service moving from Italy to the UK.
Ideas? It doesn’t take a genius…

Why spend time creating something new when you’ve got the internet, asks Steven D Wright.
Inside Men clinches 4.5m

THURSDAY: BBC1’s new four-part heist drama Inside Men tracked down an audience of more than 4.5m, thrashing the penultimate Eternal Law.
ITV cuts football commentators

ITV will not renew the contracts of two of its most senior football commentators after moving its Uefa Champions League coverage to Tuesdays.
ITVS eyes Atomic Kitten for Steps-style doc

After reuniting pop band Steps for a Sky Living documentary last year, ITV Studios could now perform the same trick for girl group Atomic Kitten.
ITVS to explore British burial culture for History

The culture of burial and death throughout Britain’s past is to be investigated in an ob doc series for History.
Liverpool victory nets 6.2m

SATURDAY: Liverpool’s FA Cup clash with Manchester United peaked with more than 6.2m for ITV1 - but the commercial broadcaster was nearly beaten by BBC2 in primetime.
MacLeod’s loud farewell

Peter Fincham’s press honcho, James MacLeod, didn’t leave ITV quietly last week, with what seemed like half of the company (including Peter Fincham) snapped clasping giant farewell messages, which were then plastered on the wall of MacLeod’s leaving drinks venue.
Midsomer reboots with 6m

WEDNESDAY: The first series of Midsomer Murders without Brian True-May at the helm launched with nearly 5.9m viewers.
Misfits tops 4oD for second month

E4 superhero drama Misfits topped the 4oD chart for the second consecutive month.
Molinare scoops Best Post House at Broadcast Awards

Molinare picked up the award for Best Post Production House at last night’s Broadcast Awards 2012.
Moz Dee, TalkSport

Hiring Richard Keys and Andy Gray in the middle of a media storm showed that TalkSport’s programme director is not afraid to take a gamble – and it’s paying off.
MPs seek SIS payment

MPs have called for the organisers of the India 2010 Commonwealth Games to settle the “millions” of pounds yet to be paid to SIS LIVE, which provided OB facilities for the event.
North One wins US order for Gadget Show pilot

US cable network G4 has commissioned a pilot episode of North One Television’s long-running technology entertainment show The Gadget Show, marking the indie’s first venture into the country.
Object Matrix Interconnect v1.2

An update to Object Matrix’s integration of its disk-based archive system Matrix Store
Ofcom ‘inconsistent’ over Press TV licence

Last week, Ofcom revoked the licence of Press TV, the state-run Iranian English-language news channel, partly for ‘serious breaches’ of the broadcasting code.
Only Fools and Horses set for US remake

Classic comedy Only Fools and Horses is being adapted for the US by the team behind sitcom Scrubs.
Onsight in Sky 3D build

Production facilities company Onsight has teamed up with Sony to build and operate a flypack for three 3D camera rigs for Sky.
Parthenon to Light the Ocean for Nat Geo

Parthenon Entertainment has been commissioned to produce documentary special Light The Ocean, which will air on National Geographic channels in the US, UK and around the world.
Poppy Cat scampers into France

Coolabi’s animated pre-school series Poppy Cat has been picked up by France Televisions.
Preparing freelancers for radio’s brave new world

Radio Fast Train may only be one day of training, but it’s a start, says Donna Taberer.
River Monsters, ITV1

Turning a simple tale about river fishing into a returnable “murder mystery” brand has proved quite a challenge, says ITV1’s River Monsters executive producer Harry Marshall.
Room with 4m viewers

BBC1’s revamped Room 101 maintains audience and ITV1’s Above Suspicion bows out on a high.
Roughcut works with Widebeam to build Mr T app

Roughcut TV has teamed up with Widebeam Digital to develop an app around the legendary A Team actor Mr T.
S4C chief lobbies for change in online role

The new chief executive of S4C is lobbying government to widen its digital remit, enabling investment in online-only content for the first time.
Sheffield DocFest gets Creative England cash

Sheffield DocFest has been awarded £40,000 by Creative England in the first round of Film Culture Fund Lottery grants.
Should a similar body to Ofcom regulate the press?

95% said Yes / 5% said No
Singing Detective arrests 300k

THURSDAY: The highly-anticipated repeat of The Singing Detective, marking its 25th anniversary, topped BBC4’s slot average by around 100k viewers.
Sky 1 named Broadcast channel of the year

Sky 1 picked up the coveted channel of the year prize at last night’s Broadcast Awards – as ITV drama stole the show.
Sky Atlantic looks at ad mavericks for Mad Men tie-in

Ridley Scott’s RSA Productions is to lift the lid on the men behind the British advertising industry to tie in with the launch of Mad Men on Sky Atlantic.
Sky profits top £600m

Sky has reported operating profit of £601m for the six months to the 31 December - with more than 4m subscribers now signed up to HD TV.
Sky to launch Netflix rival

Sky has unveiled plans for a new IPTV service featuring access to Sky Sports, movies and its entertainment channels in a bid to acquire new subscribers.
Sparking creativity: expert tips

Hazel Marshall of the BBC Academy’s creativity and special projects team asks five leading creatives for their tips on generating ideas and allowing inspiration to flourish.
Spun Gold goes wild for BBC2

Spun Gold TV is to move into wildlife programming with a Ben Fogle series on crocodiles for BBC2.
Stand Up For the Week gets fourth order

Stand Up For The Week is returning for a fourth series on Channel 4 with Andrew Lawrence replacing Rich Hall.
Strictly Soulmates

Complete full post on the series, which examines how young people from different religions find their partners
Submarine Patrol, Nat Geo/C5

Spending 50 days filming with the crew of HMS Turbulent was cramped and difficult – but we had the adventure of a lifetime, says Geoff Small.
Take 2 gets Alexa Studio

Take 2 is the first rental house in the UK to receive Arri’s Alexa Studio camera.
Talkback Thames rebrand unveiled

Talkback Thames will cease to exist from today following the launch of a rebrand.
The River gets UK debut on iTunes

US paranormal thriller series The River will debut on iTunes in the UK just one day after its US premiere.
Time for C4 to do the Shuffle

Service should benefit viewers and boost revenue, says Kate Bulkley.
Top 100 network programmes

Find out who topped the ratings league table for network programming from 23-29 January and browse the top 100
Top 30 BBC2, Channel 4, Channel 5

Find out the top 30 programmes on BBC2, Channel 4 and Channel 5 from 23-29 January as well as the performance of all the terrestrials across week 4.
Top 30 multichannel programmes

Find out the top 30 multichannel programmes for 23-29 January as well as the share of viewing across digital homes.
Top consolidated programmes

Find out which programmes gained the biggest audience through recording from 16-22 January and browse the top titles.
Top Gear returns with 5.12m

SUNDAY: Top Gear returned with its lowest series debut in 18 months, as Call the Midwife delivered another series high for BBC1.
TOWIE director joins Made in Chelsea

A former director on The Only Way is Essex has been named series producer on Made in Chelsea following Sharyn Mills defection to Britain’s Got Talent.
TOWIE tops 1m on return

SUNDAY: The Only Way Is Essex returned for a fourth run on ITV2 but drew its lowest series launch since its debut in 2010.
UK Screen: cut payment times

Trade body UK Screen Association is lobbying broadcasters to cut the amount of time they take to pay suppliers to 30 days.
UKTV conjures up more Dynamo; sees off ITV/C4

UKTV has fought off fierce competition from terrestrial broadcasters to sign an exclusive talent deal with magician Dynamo, which will see him appear in two new series for Watch this year.
UTV appoints news chief

UTV has appointed Darwin Templeton, editor of the unionist-leaning Belfast paper the News Letter, as its executive editor of news.
Victory hires DeHaney to lead factual push

Victory Television is aiming to bolster its popular factual slate and has hired David DeHaney to spearhead the plans.
Virgin Media talks with Premier Sports stall

Talks between Virgin Media and sports TV channel Premier Sports to secure content including NRL, Championship Rugby League and NHL Ice Hockey have broken down due to a disagreement over payment models.
Waiting for the Midwife

Without Sherlock’s brooding presence, Call The Midwife takes top spot this week as once again and, as usual, drama takes the plaudits in the recording stakes.
What next for All3Media?

All3Media may have sounded the firing gun on its hunt for a new chief executive, but Steve Morrison is not hanging up his hat just yet.
Whitechapel returns with 6.2m

MONDAY: ITV1’s copycat killer drama Whitechapel returned with its best overnight ratings since its first series in 2009.
Yanobox Moods

A colour correction plug-in tool
Zodiak ties with Kennedys indie

Zodiak Rights has signed a two-year development deal with Asylum Entertainment, the US producer behind miniseries The Kennedys.

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Broadcast3 February 2012

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3 February 2012