United Kingdom

UK: Top Gear cause new Beeb controversy

Comments about truck drivers by Jeremy Clarkson in the series premiere of Top Gear on Sunday night are expected to provide further controversy for the BBC as it attempts to recover from “Sachsgate”.
Over 200 people have complained directly to the BBC, while trucking groups have written to the BBC’s director general to complain about the […]

UK: Jonathan Ross stands down from awards role

It’s been a major media controversy in the UK over the last few days, and has resulted in the suspension of one of the BBC’s leading stars of radio and television, Jonathan Ross. Now, Ross has stood down from his role as host of the British Comedy Awards over what has been dubbed “Sachsgate” - […]

UK: Radio 2 Controller becomes casualty of Brand/Ross prank

Controller of BBC Radio 2 Lesley Douglas has resigned from the broadcaster over a prank played by British radio presenters Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross on former Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs.
Ross was a guest on Brand’s pre-recorded October 18 show where the pair left a series of inappropriate messages regarding Sachs’ grand-daughter on the […]

UK: ITV to cut jobs, BSkyB set to be told “play nice”

A downturn in advertising revenue is set to see British broadcaster ITV reduce their workforce by 1000 jobs, over one-fifth of their current workforce.   Over 400 jobs will be in regional newsrooms as ITV wind back regional news offerings.
Media Regulator Ofcom last week approved the reduction in regional news services, ITV will also reduce the […]

UK fans leaving the neighbourhood

The move of Aussie soap Neighbours from BBC to commercial network Five in the United Kingdom has seen the series’ audience figures drop considerably.
After Five entered into a long-term deal worth £300 million (around $A657 million) to take over the rights to the long-running series, it is now recording audience figures of around 2.2 million […]

BBC ready to take on the ABC at home

The BBC are shaping up to compete directly with the ABC, with plans to further establish the BBC brand in Australia accelerating.
Last week, Beeb announced that it would be taking control of their joint venture subscription channel UKTV from Foxtel and would be launching two new channels, BBC Knowledge and Cbeebies.   This will extend the […]

Presenters for Top Gear Australia announced

Motorsport commentator Charlie Cox, cartoonist Warren Brown and driving instructor Steve Pizzati have won the highly sought-after job to host Australian Top Gear.
After months of interviews, the three were revealed Wednesday night as the hosts of the Australian version of the hit BBC TV program at a function in Sydney.
Cox, Brown and Pizzati beat more […]

UK: ITV fined for phone-in scam

British broadcaster ITV have been fined $11.76 million (AU) last week after industry regulator Ofcom found that the network mislead viewers of two Ant & Dec shows with premium rate phone-in services.   Ofcom have said in a statement that ITV have been found guilty of some of the most serious breaches in the phone-in scams that have embroiled British broadcasters […]