A round-up of the week’s stories and observations.
- MON 16TH JAN (4PM)
BBC One Oxford and BBC One East (W) removed from Freesat - TUE 17TH JAN (1.45PM)
More BBC changes on satellite - TUE 17TH JAN (5PM)
BBC World News programme airs in domestic news slot on BBC News Channel - WED 18TH JAN (11.15AM)
BBC and ITV changes on Sky - WED 18TH JAN (6PM)
Sky Kids launches on 13th February - THU 19TH JAN (10.45AM)
Channel 5 renews 5 News/Jeremy Vine contract with ITN - THU 19TH JAN (9.30PM)
Poor choice of ident for ITV’s Britain’s Notorious Prisons - FRI 20TH JAN (11.30AM)
BBC satellite changes formally launch next week - FRI 20TH JAN (6.15PM)
Lighting issues cause BBC News at Six/BBC London to move studio - FRI 20TH JAN (6.30PM)
Provision for extra stream on Freeview - SAT 21ST JAN (6.30PM)
BBC Look North (Hull) moves to temporary set - SAT 21ST JAN (9.25PM)
Death is announced of ITV cameraman Rob Milburn - SAT 21ST JAN (9.35PM)
Channel 4 drops network premiere of Infinite due to “technical difficulties” - SUN 22ND JAN (7.40PM)
BBC Reporting Scotland moving to temporary set soon
Monday 16th January
4pm BBC One Oxford and BBC One East (W) removed from Freesat
BBC One Oxford and BBC One East (W) were removed from Freesat in the last hour.
That means channels 954 and 958 on Freesat are gone, and BBC One viewers in the affected regions have been migrated to their new BBC One regional service on channel 101 – in SD, for now.
Courtesy @a516digital.
Tuesday 17th January
1.45pm More BBC changes on satellite
BBC One East (W) and BBC One Oxford have now been delisted from Sky, leaving channels 962 and 965 unallocated.
The former BBC One East (W) feed on Astra 2E has, as expected, switched to BBC One South West. Effectively the feed will now serve St Ives in Cornwall instead of St Ives in Cambridgeshire! This will allow the first SD transponder to be emptied and converted to HD.
Next steps:
- BBC Northern Ireland becomes the first HD-only nation on satellite.
- BBC One South HD officially launches, replacing BBC One South SD.
- CBBC SD/BBC Three SD and BBC News SD move to 12422H for older sat receivers.
- BBC One Nightlight goes live in the South and Northern Ireland for old satellite receivers,
- 10818V is then free of SD services. It will then be populated with the next batch of new BBC HD channels, meaning more of England will lose the BBC One HD red slate in mid-February.
Courtesy @a516digital.
5pm BBC World News programme airs in domestic news slot on BBC News Channel
The BBC News Channel was simulcasting BBC World News’ Global, 4pm – 5pm.
It’s unclear if this was due to technical problems or if it’s the beginning of a phased introduction of more BBC World News content, ahead of the full merger of the two channels in April.
UPDATE: this is believed to have been a one-off.
Wednesday 18th January
11.15am BBC and ITV changes on Sky
BBC One South West SD on Sky has just migrated from 10818V to 10773H. Most Sky receivers will adjust automatically.
ITV 2 HD, ITV 3 HD and ITV 4 HD are now autoswapping on Sky. This means you’ll now see the HD versions of the channels on 118, 119 and 120 even without a relevant subscription. This has been an anomaly since the HD channels went free-to-air last year.
Courtesy @a516digital.
6pm Sky Kids launches on 13th February
Sky has confirmed that its new linear children’s channel, Sky Kids, will launch on 13th February on channel 609.
“Packed with Sky Kids Originals including Morph, Pip and Posy, Obki and Ama’s Story, as well as franchise favourites such as Where’s Wally, Miffy and Clifford The Big Red Dog for children and families alike to enjoy; programming is scheduled to move with you through the rhythm of the day.
“From singing and dancing, to making, doing and learning. Have a scroll through this fantastic line-up of shows suitable for under 7s and pre-school, set to hit Sky Kids screens, with all content also available on demand.
“The new channel is ad-free and available at no extra cost to existing Sky Kids customers. Sky customers can upgrade to the Sky Kids package for just £6 a month and members of the streaming service NOW will also be able to access the new channel as part of its £9.99 Entertainment Membership.”
Sky
Thursday 19th January
10.45am Channel 5 renews 5 News/Jeremy Vine contract with ITN
ITN has announced a new five-year deal with Channel 5 to produce 5 News and Jeremy Vine. The deal will enable Channel 5 to deliver 280 hours of news each calendar year – in line with its existing Ofcom commitment.
“Our teams at 5 News and Jeremy Vine are at the top of their game, with distinctive journalism and a fresh take on the stories that matter most to our audience.
Rachel Corp, ITN CEO
“From the cost-of-living crisis to long covid, and studio debates on Ukraine and strikes, this investment from Channel 5 means they will continue to offer unique and important public service programming.”
“I am so proud of everything 5 News has achieved in the past few years, and our expanded hour-long programme now means we’re able to tell even more of the stories from around the UK that we know aren’t covered elsewhere.
Cait FitzSimons, editor 5 News
“The 5 Phone, our live on-air engagement feature via Whatsapp has been a great success, creating an intimate connection between our presenters and viewers, who trust us to tell their stories each day on air.”
ITN has also agreed a new two-year deal with Channel 5 to supply entertainment news bulletins. This is a further extension of an arrangement that has been in place for the last eight years.
9.30pm Poor choice of ident for ITV’s Britain’s Notorious Prisons
The choice of ident leading into a programme is not something most people would give a moment’s thought to. Until, perhaps, the tone of the ident is completely out of kilter with the programme.
And that’s what we had in the 9pm junction on ITV 1 this evening. The announcer’s link makes it clear that something pretty grim is coming, yet the ident suggests we’re heading into something fun/frivolous.
Friday 20th January
11.30am BBC satellite changes formally launch next week
The first stage of the BBC’s transition to HD-only broadcasting on satellite begins next Tuesday.
- BBC One South HD launches.
- BBC One Northern Ireland and BBC Two Northern Ireland go HD-only.
- BBC One Nightlight will appear on channel 101 on older, SD-only satellite receivers in South England and Northern Ireland. This is an SD-only version of BBC One, with no local programming.
- BBC News SD, CBBC SD and BBC Three SD will migrate to 12422H.
EXTERNAL LINK: BBC HD Satellite Upgrade.
6.15pm Lighting issues cause BBC News at Six/BBC London to move studio
Problems with the lighting in BBC News’ Studio B meant the BBC News at Six was broadcast from Studio E this evening.
BBC London moved to Studio D for its 6.30pm programme.
The BBC News at Ten and the late edition of BBC London were in Studio B.
6.30pm Provision for extra stream on Freeview
ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 are a little more compressed on Freeview. Space is being made for an extra stream.
In the Midlands, the change happened last week. Other regions followed this week.
It’s unclear what service will fill the extra capacity in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
In Wales, the extra stream was configured at the end of 2022 and is used to broadcast E4 to all viewers in Wales (the previous limited availability of E4 was a result of S4C being broadcast in Wales).
Courtesy @a516digital.
Saturday 21st January
6.30pm BBC Look North (Hull) moves to temporary set
As reported on Clean Feed last autumn, BBC Look North (Hull) is next in line for a set upgrade. The programme came from a temporary set this evening, allowing work on the build of the new set to get under way.
9.25pm Death is announced of ITV cameraman Rob Milburn
We are saddened to learn of the death last night of ITV cameraman Rob Milburn.
TV archive/presentation enthusiasts will be familiar with Rob’s work at Channel Archive.
There have been many tributes to Rob online. Here are just a few of them.
9.35pm Channel 4 drops network premiere of Infinite due to “technical difficulties”
The much-trailed network premiere of the sci-fi film, Infinite, starring Mark Wahlberg has been postponed at the last minute by Channel 4 this evening.
The reason: “technical difficulties”.
Well, we can’t say the VT machine chewed the tape these days, can we?!
Sunday 22nd January
7.40pm BBC Reporting Scotland moving to temporary set soon
Studio C at Pacific Quay is getting a full refit and BBC Reporting Scotland will get a new set.
The programme will be decamping to temporary accommodation soon.
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Acknowledgements
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