I've moved.....

You may have noticed that I've not updated this Blog for ages - well, this is because I've moved to Twitter....

While the Blog was fun, to be honest I found it a bit of a pain to keep updated, so I've moved!

Follow me on Twitter @stevebrigden

You don't have to have a Twitter account to follow me, but you do if you are going to contribute to the debate! It's easy and free to sign up, so don't be scared!

The final number of visitors over the last year can be seen on the map below. I was really pleased to have so many of you follow me - hopefully you'll move across to Twitter with me!

Total number of visitors from Dec 2008 to Dec 2009 was 1,399, from pretty much everywhere around the world as you can see from the red dots.

See you there!

Steve

Twitter now ‘more popular than BBC’ online

Twitter now ‘more popular than BBC’ online — Welcome to Netimperative.com:
"Twitter has surpassed the 50 million monthly visitors mark for the first time, and is now one of the Top 50 most popular websites in the world, according to new data."

In July, the micro-blogging platform website attracted 51.6 million unique users, up 7.1 million from June, according to new research from comScore.

The increase in traffic puts Twitter ahead of the BBC and the popular US online classified website Craigslist, comScore said.

Significantly, the majority of new visitors are not coming from the US. International visitors now represent 59% of traffic, an increase of 4% on the previous month, comScore found.

Despite its soaring popularity, the Twitter audience is still just a quarter the size of its biggest rival Facebook, which is averaging over 200 million unique users every month.

Video appears in paper magazines

BBC NEWS Technology Video appears in paper magazines:
"The first-ever video advertisement will be published in a traditional paper magazine in September."

The video-in-print ads will appear in select copies of the US show business title Entertainment Weekly.

The slim-line screens - around the size of a mobile phone display - also have rechargeable batteries. The chip technology used to store the video - described as similar to that used in singing greeting cards - is activated when the page is turned. Each chip can hold up to 40 minutes of video.

The first clips will preview programmes from US TV network CBS and show adverts by the drinks company Pepsi.

They will appear in 18 September editions of the magazine distributed in Los Angeles and New York. It's believed the new technology will cost much more than normal print ads.

However, BBC correspondent Rajesh Mirchandani said that in an increasingly competitive market, advertisers have realised that it is more important than ever to create attention for their product.

He likened the technology to the Daily Prophet - a newspaper with moving pictures described in the Harry Potter books.

Tapeless Workflow: 'Scope the project right!'

Tapeless Workflow: 'Scope the project right!' - Rapid TV News:
"There are dozens of potential pitfalls in creating a Tapeless Workflow system and environment. A panel of industry experts delivered their to-level advice at a recent Rapid TV News Round Table on Tapeless Workflow. First up, agreed the panel, is to “really scope what the operation is all about and what they really want to do.”

Dimitris Papavasilliou, head of Digital Workflows (European Markets) at Cisco, agreed, but added that the broadcaster (or support company) must understand the collaborative approach of the project. “It enables new ways to work and you cannot really constrain these new ways of work and this is one challenge, a big challenge, a big challenge for the infrastructure as well. How to support unpredictable workflows, things that have not been designed by some, let's say, orchestrator, because users would tend to do their own thing and the moment they have the flexibility, the ability, to do new stuff, new creative stuff, new innovations, they will do that.”

Read (and watch) the complete Round Table by clicking here.

BBC iPlayer overtakes Myspace

Hitwise Intelligence - Robin Goad - UK - BBC iPlayer overtakes Myspace:
"BBC iPlayer has overtaken MySpace to become the 20th most visited website in the UK. The online video service has been ahead of the social network for three consecutive weeks now, and last week (w/e 11/07/09) it received 26% more UK Internet visits. iPlayer was joined in the top 20 last week by three other BBC properties: the BBC Homepage (8th), BBC News (11th) and BBC Sport (16th). iPlayer was also the second most popular video website in the UK last week, picking up 13.3% of visits to our online video category (which remains dominated by YouTube, with a 65.1% share)."

Channel Five's Dawn Airey confirms 25% cut in programming budget

Channel Five's Dawn Airey confirms 25% cut in programming budget Media guardian.co.uk:
"Channel Five has cut its programming budget by 25% this year – the biggest percentage reduction of any major UK broadcaster – as it battles declining advertising revenues.
The commercial broadcaster has a programme budget of £165m this calendar year, down from £220m last year – a fall of £55m.
Five's budget is now just ahead of Sky1's, which is understood to be about £140m, although executives at the BSkyB-owned channel have said it is due to rise slightly.
Channel 4's budget by comparison is just under £600m, although it is set to cut between £60m and £75m from it this year."

Arqiva understood to have paid about £8m for Project Kangaroo assets

Arqiva understood to have paid about £8m for Project Kangaroo assets Media guardian.co.uk:
"Arqiva is understood to have paid in the region of £8m to buy the assets of Project Kangaroo, the defunct video-on-demand venture developed by ITV, Channel Four and BBC Worldwide.
The broadcast transmission company has also acquired Project Kangaroo assets such as the brand name See Saw, which it has the option to use for its own proposed video-on-demand service that will launch in the coming months.
It is understood that Arqiva has also held conversations with Project Kangaroo's senior management about whether they will move to the new venture."

High-definition television forces BBC to fix its sets

High-definition television forces BBC to fix its sets - News, Gadgets & Tech - The Independent:
"Designers told to renovate amid fears that fake buildings and wear and tear will be exposed"

In Albert Square, the cornices of the Queen Vic pub are crumbling. The once-gleaming glass partitions in Lord Sugar's boardroom are scratched and tarnished.

The BBC is to spend thousands of pounds of licence fee payers' money upgrading the ageing sets of programmes so that they do not suddenly look shabby or fake when broadcast in high definition (HD).

The production designers of flagship BBC shows including The Apprentice, Dragons' Den and EastEnders told The Independent that the sets needed updating to stop fake facades or surface damage becoming visible to viewers.

Nik Callan, a production designer at Eye-catching Design, has worked on numerous BBC programmes including EastEnders and Dragons' Den, which was broadcast in HD for the first time on Monday.

He said he and his team had been forced to repaint the Dragons' Den set for this series. The show is filmed at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire and the set is designed to make it look like an old industrial warehouse with pretend bricks painted on.

"We've had to upgrade all of the set because of HD," he said. "Every brick you see on the Den is painted – we had to have every single one done. Realistically, it costs thousands of pounds to upgrade a set for HD, and productions have got to allow for it."

He said the EastEnders set at Elstree studios in Hertfordshire dated to 1985 and was not in good health: "All of the brickwork that you'll see on any of the buildings really needs to be replaced."

HD creates even greater problems for make-up artists and costume departments, as their work is seen in close-up shots. Beads of sweat, badly glued false moustaches and uneven stitches are plainly visible in HD.

Broadcasters 'should bid for fee'

BBC NEWS Entertainment Broadcasters 'should bid for fee':
"The BBC's licence fee should be removed and opened up to bids from other broadcasters, a report has recommended.

The paper concludes that the BBC spends most of the funding on entertainment shows and fails to fulfil its public service broadcasting (PSB) commitments."

It would allow the BBC to bid for the money, while recommending the sale of some channels including BBC One.

A spokesman for the BBC Trust said: "This is one of the many different contributions to the PSB debate."

"In recent years rather than encouraging competition on audience share, the Trust has used a basket of different measures including quality, originality, and value for money to measure the BBC's performance," he added.

The report, called Auntie's Dying: Long Live Public Service Broadcasting, also suggests the sale of BBC Three, Radio One and Radio Two.

It was written by Labour MP Frank Field.

Remaining services including BBC Two and Radio Four would still be financed entirely by public funds, it advocates.

With the licence fee placed in the hands of a new independent commissioning body, broadcasters would pitch ideas for public service programmes and gain funding accordingly.

Public service broadcasting entails programmes that a broadcaster would probably not make if they were only concerned with getting big audiences and making profit.

These include news, children's broadcasting, arts and religious output.

In government proposals outlined last month, ITV could gain a share of the BBC licence fee, while the corporation has warned this could damage output.

BBC carries on licence fee fight in front of select committee MPs

BBC carries on licence fee fight in front of select committee MPs Media guardian.co.uk:
"The BBC today fought on in its battle not to share the licence fee with other broadcasters, as MPs criticised the stance taken by BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons and director general Mark Thompson.

John Whittingdale, the chairman of the House of Commons culture, media and sport select committee, asked if it was right of the BBC to reject government plans in the Digital Britain report which would see about £130m or 3.5% of the £3.6bn licence fee used as a 'contestability fund' for regional news on ITV and children's programming.
But Lyons said it would not be clear if the plan was government policy until after the consultation period ended in September."

"It is entirely appropriate that the BBC Trust makes it clear that top-slicing is not in the interests of licence fee payers," he told the committee.

Lyons conceded it was a decision for parliament to make, but said sharing the licence fee with other broadcasters would be a momentous change.

BBC Worldwide/Channel 4 deal to be signed 'within weeks'

BBC Worldwide/Channel 4 deal to be signed 'within weeks' Media guardian.co.uk:
"The BBC Worldwide chief executive, John Smith, is confident a deal to form a joint venture with Channel 4 will be signed within weeks following the tabling of a new streamlined proposal that he claims has gained traction with both parties."

Both broadcasters have been locked in at times fraught discussions to thrash out a commercial partnership deal to secure the future of Channel, 4 which claims it faces a funding gap of as much as £150m from 2012.

Smith, who would not elaborate on specific stumbling blocks, said the new proposition would pull in parts of Channel 4's operation, including ad sales as well as using its strong heritage in genres such as gardening, property and food.

"[I feel we are] weeks away from being able to agree – longer for a legally binding contract – a term sheet [document outlining main points of the deal]. I'd like to think we will do it irrespective of politics. If it makes commercial sense I always believe we should do it."

British Mobile Users Crave BBC iPlayer

British Mobile Users Crave BBC iPlayer - BusinessWeek:
"A new research study finds that the mobile feature most desired by young users in Britain is access to the BBC's popular iPlayer streaming video service"

The BBC's iPlayer, the corporation's online on-demand TV service, came out as the most desired mobile service in research by analyst house CCS Insight, with almost a third (28 per cent) of users saying they would most like to get access to the Beeb's TV and radio programmes on their phone.

iPlayer is currently available on a dozen models of mobile phones, according to the BBC, including five Sony Ericsson devices, three Nokias and the iPhone.

The results underline how mobile internet consumption is being driven by 'free stuff' with just a few consumers prepared to pay for content on their phones, according to CCS Insight.

According to the analyst, the thirst for free is evident in users' preference for the iPlayer's gratis content over other services that have a cost associated with them.

"The iPlayer looks poised to have a similar impact on mobile networks as it has in the fixed-line world," the CCS Insight report adds. "The application may be an exciting prospect for viewers but the implications of serving BBC video content over cellular networks will fill operators with dread."

Other findings from the report include a preference for Facebook over Twitter among mobile social networkers – with more than 90 per cent of this group visiting Facebook on their phones, compared to 14 per cent who visit Twitter, the next most popular site in the survey. All the social networks in the survey draw the majority of their support from the under-25s with the exception of Twitter which is more popular with older social networkers, aged 25 to 35.

The survey also found that gender informs hardware choice, with Samsung mobiles being twice as popular with women than men – but the reverse being true for the iPhone and BlackBerry.

The survey examined the mobile internet usage habits of more than 1,000 16- to 35-year-olds in the UK.