The BBC and ITV are joining forces to deliver programming via satellite to fill in black spots in terrestrial digital TV signals.

The BBC hopes that the public can continue to receive the programs they have already paid for via the TV license fee, without having to rely on programming being rebroadcasted by commercial satellite or cable operators. This is because about a quarter of UK viewers cannot receive the Freeview terrestrial service as the digital reception is too poor a quality.

Although no announcement has been made, it is expected that Freesat will offer high definition (HD) programming.

Reference for posting: http://www.itwire.com.au

Popworld, T4’s flagship music program, is not going to be recommissioned by Channel 4.

The music show has ran for more than six years and was first hosted by Simon Amstell and Miquita Oliver before being hosted by Alexa Zane and Alexa Chung. Simon Amstell has now taken over the role of host on Never Mind The Buzzcocks.

Popworld gained a cult following for its increasing use of surreal humor and the hosts ability to irritate their guests. The show will end in July, and it is understood that Channel 4 hopes to use the brand elsewhere.

Reference for posting: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk

The star of Torchwood, John Barrowman, has revealed that the second season of Torchwood will start shooting in Cardiff next week.

John Barrowman plays Captain Jack Harkness in the Doctor Who spin-off who leads a team against aliens who are up to no good on our fair planet. The actor confirmed the news on ITV chatshow Loose Women on Friday afternoon.

Barrowman recently reprised his role as former ‘Time Agent’ Harkness for the current series of Doctor Who, with his episodes due to be shown towards the end of the run.

Torchwood will be shown on BBC Two when it is screened in January 2008.

Reference for posting: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk

Martin Freeman, the actor made famous by playing Tim in the hit comedy, The Office, is set to star in a new comedy for Channel 4.

The show, which is currently in its pilot stage, sees Martin Freeman play a has-been magician who was a big name in his teens but is now struggling for success.

He has also forged a film career with roles in Love Actually and The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy as well as numerous smaller roles.

Reference for posting: http://www.prestontoday.net

ITV have a new comedy starring writer and actor Sanjeev Bhaskar, best known for his role in Kumars. The comedy which was previously entitled Hello, Delhi is set in a Mumbai call centre and sees Bhaskar star as Kenny, a British born Indian.

The show has been filmed in part in India with a local cast and independent producer Allan McKeown Presents has produced the pilot working with Indian company Grey Cells Entertainment.

Bhaskar has written the show with comedy writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran and the pilot will be broadcast later this year.

Reference for posting: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk

David Suchet, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Agatha Christie’s Poirot, is to play corrupt media tycoon Robert Maxwell in a new BBC2 drama.

The drama will look at the last months of Maxwell’s life, the scandal of his theft of £440 million from the paper’s pension fund and the mysterious circumstances of his death.

Suchet has revealed he only agreed to take the role with the approval of Maxwell’s widow Betty, who is played in the drama by Patricia Hodge.

Reference for posting: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk

Maybe it’s something in the air. Maybe they were just having a bad day. Or maybe it was the handful of painkillers they swallowed moments before going on air (right Paula?). But whatever the explanation, weird, awkward interviews seem to be occurring at an ever more frequent rate. The website Double Viking has gathered the top 10 most awkward interview moments of all time.

The list includes such gems as Barbra Walters asking Katherine Hepburn what kind of tree she’d be and Tom Cruise attacking Matt Lauer about Scientology. But by far, my favorite moment is when Vanilla Ice grabs a baseball bat, destroys part of a TV set and makes Jon Stewart crap his pants.

Want to watch these YouTube clips on your iPod? Then check out this tutorial: How to Copy Files Off YouTube and Convert them for your Video iPod

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barbra walters, baseball bat, ipod, jon stewart, katherine hepburn, matt lauer, painkillers, scientology, vanilla ice, youtube

Want to make it big as a music video director/editor? The band Modest Mouse wants help making a video for their new song “Missed the Boat.” With the help of Apple, Modest Mouse posted 12 high quality videos (each shot at a different angle) of them performing in front of a green screen.

The public is encouraged to download these video clips and edit them together into one final music video. Feel free to use your own footage and experiment the green screen.

Why is Apple generously providing massive amounts of bandwidth for people to download these giant high resolution video clips?

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apple, bandwidth, high resolution, modest mouse, music video director

Sci Fi.com and Sci Fi Magazine are asking Internet users if they should pick up a new sci-fi comedy called Outer Space Astronauts.

Visitors are given access to 5 vignettes from the show on the SCI FI Pulse Broadband Network and asked to fill out a survey explaining what they think. Sci Fi says it will also take traffic into account when deciding whether or not to pick up the show.

Think you know how to program the American Sci Fi Channel better than NBC Universal? After they started airing wrestling on the Sci Fi Channel… who doesn’t.

You can watch the Outer Space Astronauts clips here.

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broadband network, nbc, sci fi channel, sci fi magazine, space astronauts, wrestling

Recently Bob Garfield, from AdAge, got to interview Bill Gates during the Corbis Creativity 2.0 panel in Manhattan. Garfield asked Gates about a number of topics from Vista to IPTV. He also tried to get Gates to comment on a very sensitive topic… Apple’s “Get a Mac” advertising campaign. The campaign features actor/author John Hodgman who looks like Bill Gates and personifies a PC.

As you can imagine, Bill Gates is not amused by the ads. Here’s the portion of the interview transcript where Garfield asks Gates about the ads. Enjoy:

GARFIELD: I want to ask you one more thing: Those Mac ads — how do you feel about the John Hodgman character?

GATES: I can’t comment on someone else’s ad.

GARFIELD: OK … but he’s you.

GATES: Yeah, I’m not gonna comment on someone else’s ad.

GARFIELD: OK, well, Bill Gates, thank you so much for joining us.

(Silence)

GARFIELD: Can I just have a clean goodbye?

(Silence)

GARFIELD: OK, can you just say goodbye? Thank you or goodbye or something like that?

GATES: Goodbye.

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Last week Apple sent out an email (screenshot courtesy of TechCrunch.com) to video podcasters asking them to increase the quality of their productions and start formatting their videos for the big screen. Since the launch of the Apple TV (full review here) in March, Apple TVs have been selling like hotcakes and video podcast subscription numbers have skyrocketed.

Apple TV owners, who don’t necessarily want to spend lots of money in the iTunes Store, are gobbling up video podcasts like never before. Even though there currently isn’t any HD quality videos for sale in the iTunes Store, the Apple TV is capable of HD video playback. So several popular video podcasters, including The Washington Post, TWIT (MacBreak), Revision3 (Diggnation) and Vintage Tooncast, have decided to fill the void of HD content by distributing their podcasts in HD or hi res quality.

Why hasn’t everyone started distributing their video podcasts in HD? Money. Not only does producing an HD podcasts require extra hard drive space (roughly 4 times more), special cameras and editing software, but just hosting these giant video files on the Internet can be enough to bankrupt your entire production. For example, the iPod Video version of MacBreak episode 63 is 21 MBs. The HD version is 93 MBs. To help alleviate increased HD production costs, many podcasters have reached out to HD television manufacturers like Samsung and Panasonic to get them to sponsor their new HD podcasts.

For video podcasters who are still producing content at 320×240 but want to do something to increase quality, there is an intermediary step before going HD. Podcasters can start by migrating their productions to 640×480, or even 640×360 (letterbox). This way their video files will still be compatible with portable media players like the Zune and iPod, but will also work on the Apple TV. If the material is carefully encoded, it will look as good or better than typical TV.

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apple, apple tv, itunes, podcasting

Here is MSNBC.com’s list of the top 5 American TV shows that should be canceled. I have a feeling that a lot of people aren’t going to agree with the top three.

Let the fireworks begin…

Disagree? Want to talk about it? You’re not alone. Head over to the MSNBC.com Message Boards and join in the discussion.

“The Simpson’s stopped being funny years ago.” ~ Ghazi

“Lost needs to start getting down to business. It’s losing it’s appeal. Start answering questions outright already and get to the damn point.” ~ primehifi

You can see the MSNBC.com list here: Top 5 TV Shows that Should be Canceled

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24, er, lost, msnbc, simpsons, tv shows

Here’s a photo comparison of fast food items and their advertising images. Each item was purchased, taken home, and photographed immediately. Nothing was tampered with, run over by a car, or anything of the sort. It is an accurate representation in every case. Shiny, neon-orange, liquefied pump-cheese, and all…

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cheese, digg, fast food, neon orange, photo comparison

According to the Daily Mail, producers have shortlisted Thandie Newton, whose recent credits include Crash and The Pursuit of Happiness, to star in the sequel series to Life on Mars, Ashes To Ashes.

The coveted role of DCI Gene Hunt’s new sidekick, DI Alex Drake is said to be down to three potential candidates including New Street Law’s Lisa Faulkner and Liz May Brice, from Bad Girls. The paper added that Newton is tipped to win the role.

“I don’t think there’s an agent in the country that hasn’t been pushing their clients,” explained a BBC source. “Life On Mars was such a success that everyone wants to be involved.”

Filming on the new series, which shifts to London in the 1980s, is due to start in July.

Reference for posting: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk

Five has renewed licensing agreements for some of its key acquisitions, despite strong competition from rival broadcasters essentially keeping all of the good stuff that the channel has to offer.

The broadcaster has signed a new contract with NBCU for medical drama House worth an estimated £500,000 per episode which was sought after by ITV.

Also covered are the three series in the Law & Order franchise. They will also be screened on Five US and Five Life.

Separately, Five has signed a deal giving it the UK terrestrial rights to season three of Grey’s Anatomy.

Reference for posting: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk