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1449AM URB - news archive

This is an archive of news about 1449AM URB. Some links may no longer work, due to the transient nature of the internet.

Beijing plans trial Wi-Fi Internet access for Olympics
From Media Network Weblog. Posted June 27 2008, 11.47am
The first phase of Beijing’s wireless city programme has been put into operation enabling citizens and travelers to access the Internet in Beijing’s urban areas via a wireless network, reports the Chinatechnews.com website. So far Wi-Fi signals cover a total of 100 square kilometres of the city and extend out to its second ring road, [...] (more)

Contempt of Court media curbs in the dock
From Press Gazette. Posted June 20 2008, 12.00am
A human rights lawyer has called for stronger enforcement of the Contempt of Court Act, but the Society of Editors has warned that the current Act has become 'almost untenable' in the internet age. (more)

FRCN Zonal Director recommends shortwave during refurbishment
From Media Network Weblog. Posted June 3 2008, 9.46am
Ladan Salihu, FRCN Kaduna Zonal Director, says dismantling of the station’s  mediumwave transmitter for the next seven months is a sacrifice that would reposition the station. “It is a necessary sacrifice that we must make in order that we may smile tomorrow, Salihu told The Tide’s correspondent in Jaji, Kaduna State. “ Nobody wants to part with something [...] (more)

Price rises for New York suburban daily
From Press Gazette. Posted June 2 2008, 12.00am
A third company has entered the bidding for Newsday, the New York suburban daily (more)

RFE/RL says Kazakhstan blocking its websites
From Media Network Weblog. Posted May 21 2008, 10.23am
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) says that, for more than five weeks, Internet users in Kazakhstan have been unable to access the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Kazakh-language website despite repeated requests to the Kazakh government and KazTelecom to restore service. “This is very disturbing,” says RFE/RL President Jeffrey Gedmin. “We initially thought we had a technical problem [...] (more)

Urban spaceman: Trevor Beattie reveals the secrets of his success
From The Independent. Posted May 12 2008, 12.00am
As sunshine streams through the windows of his Covent Garden office, Trevor Beattie picks up a DVD and presses play. Up on his television screen, pictures appear of the most recognisable man in British advertising, strapped into a chair and wired up like Gordo, the squirrel monkey who was launched into space in a Jupiter rocket at Cape Canaveral half a century ago. (more)

BBC reporting curbed by Chinese torch clampdown
From Press Gazette. Posted May 6 2008, 12.00am
The decision to force a BBC team to leave Everest base camp when they attempted to report on the Olympic torch parade up the mountain was “part of massive Chinese pressure on Nepal” a BBC journalist has claimed (more)

Indian regulator seeking comment on permitting broadcasting by various bodies
From Media Network Weblog. Posted May 1 2008, 1.22pm
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released a consultation paper on the issue of opening up of broadcasting services for various bodies. According to the paper, it has suggested permitting state governments, urban and local bodies, three-tier Panchayati Raj bodies, public-funded bodies, political parties and religious institutions to enter into broadcasting activities which [...] (more)

He was the hub of the show, the urbane man surrounded by idiots
From Media Guardian. Posted April 26 2008, 11.02pm
'I'm Sorry' panellist Barry Cryer celebrates Humphrey Lyttelton, a friend and 'man of style' (more)

China?s rural Internet users up 128 per cent in 2007
From Media Network Weblog. Posted April 25 2008, 4.35pm
Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) [”China Rural Online Users up 128 Pct in 2007, Triple Urban Rise” - Xinhua headline] BEIJING, April 25 (Xinhua) - The online population in China’s rural areas grew 127.7 per cent last year, outpacing the 38.2 per cent urban expansion, according [...] (more)

EXCLUSIVE: Full Sky Digital EPG listings after reshuffle
From Biz Asia. Posted April 24 2008, 11.52am
BizAsia.co.uk brings you the full Sky Digital channel listings as they will appear after the reshuffle. There are no changes planned for following EPG categories Documentaries, Sports, Adult and Radio. Sky plans to implement a marketing campaign through a number of different media prior to the changes taking place in order to inform viewers of the changes. The new channel line up is currently scheduled to be implemented on a genre by genre basis between 05:00 and 08:00 on the dates specified below. Entertainment 101 BBC1 / RTE1 102 BBC2 / RTE2 103 ITV1 / UTV / TV3 104 Channel 4 / TG4 / S4C 105 Five 106 Sky One 107 Sky Two 108 Sky Three 109 UKTV Gold 110 UKTV Gold +1 111 Dave 112 LIVING 113 LIVING +1 114 LIVING2 115 BBC THREE 116 BBC FOUR 117 Channel 4 (Wales) 118 ITV2 119 ITV3 120 ITV4 121 Virgin1 122 Virgin1+1 123 Bravo 124 Bravo+1 125 Challenge 126 ParaComedy 1 127 ParaComedy +1 128 ParaComedy 2 129 SCI FI 130 SCI FI +1 131 ITV2+1 132 UKTV Drama 133 UKTV Drama+1 134 S4C 135 Channel 4+1 / Channel 4 136 E4 / Channel 4+1 137 E4+1 / E4 EIRE 138 More4 / E4+1 (ROI) 139 More4+1 / More4 (ROI) 140 Channel 4 HD / More4+1 (ROI) 141 BBC1 NI (ROI Only) 142 BBC2 NI (ROI Only) 143 BBC HD 144 DMAX 145 DMAX+1 146 Zone Reality 147 Zone Reality +1 148 Zone Reality X 149 Zone Romantica 150 Hallmark 151 E! Entertainm 152 Challenge+1 153 Bravo2 154 DMAX+2 155 Hollywood TV 156 Biography 157 Film24 158 Dave +1 159 ParaComedy2+ 160 MTV 161 RTE1 (NI) 162 RTE2 (NI) 163 TG4 (NI) 164 FX 165 FX+ 166 Information TV 167 Info TV2 168 Passion TV 169 Raj TV 170 Sky One HD 171 My Channel 172 Trouble 173 Trouble +1 174 Five US 175 Five US +1 176 Five Life 177 Five Life +1 178 Men & Motors 179 ITV3+1 180 Red 181 fame TV 182 Channel 6 (only avail ROI) 183 Current TV 184 BEN 185 Ape TV 186 Life One 187 AIT Int'l 188 AnimeCentral 189 Open Access 2 190 Open Access 3 191 Urban TV 192 OBE 193 FX+1 194 Sumo TV 195 propeller 196 Nuts TV 197 Pulse 198 BET 199 200 201 202 203 Channel M 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 Lifestyle & Culture 240 Disc.RealTime 241 Disc.RT Extra 242 Disc.H&Health 243 Sky Real Lives 244 SkyRealLive+1 245 SkyRealLives2 246 UKTV Style 247 UKTV Style +1 248 UKTV Gardens 249 UKTV Food 250 UKTV Food +1 251 Travel Channel 252 Travel Ch +1 253 254 Disc.RT +1 255 Disc.H&H +1 256 Sky Arts 257 Sky Arts HD 258 UKTV Style 2 259 Performance 260 Mainstreet 261 Fashion TV 262 Real Estate TV 263 264 Wine TV 265 Disc.Travel&L 266 Wedding TV 267 Wedding TV+1 268 Africa Channel 269 Diva TV 270 SA Direct 271 Luxe TV 272 Baby Channel 273 Luxe TV HD 274 O'seasproperty 275 276 277 278 279 280 Horse&Country 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 Movies 301 Sky Premiere 302 Sky Prem+1 303 Sky Comedy 304 Sky Action 305 Sky Family 306 Sky Drama 307 Sky ScFi/Horror 308 Sky Classics 309 Sky Mdn Greats 310 Sky Indie 311 SkyScreen 1 312 SkyScreen 2 313 Sky PremiereHD 314 SkyScreen 1HD 315 Film4 316 Film4 +1 317 TCM 318 TCM 2 319 Zone Horror 320 Zone Thriller 321 True Movies 322 True Movies 2 323 movies4men 324 movies4men+1 325 movies4men 2 326 327 movies24 328 movies24+ 329 Nollywood 330 AIT 332 SkyScreen 2HD 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 347 348 349 Music 350 MTV ONE 351 MTV ONE+1 352 MTV BASE 353 MTV HITS 354 MTV DANCE 355 MTV TWO 356 VH1 357 VH1 Classic 358 TMF 359 The Box 360 The Hits 361 KISS 362 Smash Hits! 363 Magic 364 Q 365 Chart Show TV 366 The Vault 367 Flava 368 Kerrang! 369 oMusic TV 370 Channel U 371 Fizz 372 Bliss 373 374 Scuzz 375 376 Flaunt 377 378 ROCKWORLDTV 379 Bubble Hits 380 Musflash TV 381 Bedroom TV 382 NME TV 383 Clubland 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 Music Choice 396 Music Choice 397 398 399 400 Sports 401 Sky Sports 1 402 Sky Sports 2 403 Sky Sports 3 404 Sky Spts Xtra 405 Sky Spts News 406 MUTV 407 408 Sky Sports HD1 409 Sky Sports HD2 410 Eurosport UK 411 Eurosport2 UK 412 413 Motors TV 414 415 At The Races 416 417 NASN 418 Setanta Golf 419 Extreme Sports 420 421 Chelsea TV 422 423 Arsenal TV 424 Arsenal Replay 425 426 427 Fight Network 428 429 Setanta Sports1 430 Setanta Sports2 432 Racing UK 433 Racing World 434 Setanta Ireland (Not NI) 435 Setanta News 436 Celtic TV 437 438 Rangers TV 439 Setanta Sports (ROI) 440 441 442 ESPN Classic 443 444 445 RealmadridTV 446 447 448 LiverpoolFCTV 449 450 Sky Sports HD3 451 452 Rush HD 453 454 455 456 457 458 459 460 461 462 463 464 465 466 467 468 469 470 471 472 473 474 475 476 477 478 479 PPV 480 481 482 483 484 485 486 487 488 489 490 491 492 493 494 495 496 497 498 499 500 News 501 Sky News 502 Bloomberg 503 BBC NEWS 504 BBC PARL'MNT 505 CNBC 506 CNN 507 S4C2 508 EuroNews 509 FOX News 510 CCTV-9 511 NDTV 24x7 512 Russia Today 513 France 24 514 Al Jazeera Eng 515 516 517 518 519 Documentaries 520 Discovery 521 Discovery+1 522 Disc.Knowldge 523 Disc. Turbo 524 Disc. Science 525 Animal Planet 526 Nat Geo 527 Nat Geo+ 1hr 528 Nat Geo Wild 529 History 530 History+1hour 531 Crime 532 UKTV Docs 533 UKTV Docs+1 534 UKTV People 535 Animal Plnt+1 536 Discovery HD 537 UKTV History 538 UKTV H'tory+1 539 CommunityChnl 540 541 542 543 Nat Geo HD 544 545 History HD 546 547 Business Chn'l 548 549 Disc.Sci+1 550 551 552 553 554 555 556 557 558 559 560 561 562 563 564 565 566 567 568 569 570 571 572 573 574 575 576 577 578 579 Religion 580 GOD Channel 581 GOD Europe 582 Wonderful 583 TBN Europe 584 DAYSTAR 585 revelation 586 UCB TV 587 Inspiration 588 LOVEWORLD TV 589 EWTN 590 Gospel Channel 591 Word Network 592 Genesis 593 Faith 594 KICC TV 595 596 597 598 599 600 Kids 601 Cartoon Netwrk 602 CN Too 603 Boomerang 604 Nickelodeon 605 Nick Replay 606 Nicktoons 607 Jetix 608 Jetix +1 609 Disney Chnl 610 Disney Chnl+1 611 Play Disney 612 Play Disney+ 613 CBBC Channel 614 CBeebies 615 Nick Jr. 616 POP 617 Tiny Pop 618 Boomerang +1 619 Cartoonito 620 Nick Jr. 2 621 CITV 622 Disney Cine 623 BabyTV 624 BabyFirst 625 Tiny Pop +1 626 PopGirl 627 Pop +1 628 Disney Cine+1 629 630 631 632 633 634 635 636 637 638 639 Shopping 640 QVC 641 JML 642 JML Lifestyle 643 TV SHOP 644 Ideal World 645 price-drop tv 646 Pitch TV 647 Thomson TV 648 JJB Sports 649 Best Direct 650 Jewellery Ch. 651 Simply Ideas 652 TV Warehouse1 653 TV Warehouse 654 bid tv 655 Thomas Cook 656 Gems TV 657 Pitch World 658 Best Direct+ 659 Shop on TV 660 Thane Direct 661 TVW Select 662 JML Choice 663 Stop + Shop 664 Price Crash 665 speedauctiontv 666 JML Innovation 667 JML Solutions 668 Vitality 669 Sky Travel 670 Gems TV 2 671 Create & Craft 672 Teletext Hols 673 Vinappris 674 JJB Golf 675 Max TV 676 U Save.TV 677 CelebrityShop 678 Price Crash 2 679 Home&Travel 680 Screenshop2 681 682 Entrepreneur 683 684 685 686 687 688 689 690 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 Movies PPV 700 Sky Box Office 701 Sky Box Office 702 Sky Box Office 703 Sky Box Office 704 Sky Box Office 705 Sky Box Office 706 Sky Box Office 707 Sky Box Office 708 Sky Box Office 709 Sky Box Office 710 Sky Box Office 711 Sky Box Office 712 Sky Box Office 713 Sky Box Office 714 Sky Box Office 715 Sky Box Office 716 Sky Box Office 717 Sky Box Office 718 Sky Box Office 719 Sky Box Office 720 Sky Box Office 721 Sky Box Office 722 Sky Box Office 723 Sky Box Office 724 Sky Box Office 725 Sky Box Office 726 Sky Box Office 727 Sky Box Office 728 Sky Box Office 729 Sky Box Office 730 Sky Box Office 731 Sky Box Office 732 Sky Box Office 733 Sky Box Office 734 Sky Box Office 735 Sky Box Office 736 Sky Box Office 737 Sky Box Office 738 Sky Box Office 739 Sky Box Office 740 Sky Box Office 741 Sky Box Office 742 Sky Box Office 743 Sky Box Office 744 Sky Box Office 745 Sky Box Office 746 Sky Box Office 747 Sky Box Office 748 Sky Box Office 749 Sky Box Office 750 Sky Box Office 751 Sky Box Office 752 SBO HD1 753 SBO HD2 754 755 756 757 758 759 760 761 762 763 764 765 766 767 768 769 770 771 772 773 774 775 776 777 778 779 International 780 B4U Movies 781 B4U Music 782 Sony TV Asia 783 STAR One 784 STAR Plus 785 PCNE Chinese 786 Bangla TV 787 mta-muslim tv 788 Zee TV 789 Zee Music 790 Zee Cinema 791 ARY Digital 792 PTV Prime 793 MATV National 794 DW-TV 795 TVEi 796 Abu Dhabi TV 797 SouthForYou 798 AlphaEtcPun 799 TV5 800 MAX 801 Record TV 802 DM Digital 803 DM Gold 804 ARY QTV 805 Venus TV 806 ARY Oneworld 807 Aastha TV 808 STAR News 809 STAR Gold 810 PTV Global 811 Zee Gujarati 812 Mana Telugu 813 Islam Channel 814 Channel 'S' 815 GEO UK 816 Sahara Filmy 817 Sahara One 818 AAJ TAK 819 Noor TV 820 Peace TV 821 Channel Punjab 822 Music India 823 jazeerachildren 824 AAG 825 GEO News 826 Channel S NTV 827 ATN 828 DD-News 829 DD-India 830 Sunrise TV 831 NDTV Imagine 832 Glory TV 833 Brit Asia TV 834 835 836 837 838 839 840 841 842 843 844 845 846 847 848 849 850 851 852 853 854 855 856 857 858 859 Gaming 860 i Play TV 861 Gala TV 862 Pitch Gaming 863 YouPlay TV 864 Sky Vegas 865 SkyPoker.com 866 Live Roulette 867 Pitchgaming2 868 YouPlay TV2 869 SmartLive 870 871 872 873 874 Dating 875 Dating Channel 876 Gay Date TV 877 Gay Network 878 Chat Box 879 Specialist 880 Teachers TV 881 Pub Channel 882 Sky Venue 883 Open Access 884 Audi Channel 885 SupremrMastr 886 Psychic TV 887 888 889 890 891 892 893 894 895 896 897 898 899 Sky Cust Ch Adult 900 Playboy TV 901 Adult Channel 902 Spice Extreme 903 Television X 904 Television X2 905 Television X3 906 Babestation 907 FriendlyTV 908 Babeworld.tv 909 Get Lucky TV 910 Lucky Star 911 Playboy One 912 Tease Me 913 Television X4 914 Over 18 TV 915 Climax3 - 1 916 Climax3 - 2 917 Climax3 - 3 918 SportxxxBabes 919 redhot amateur 920 redhot 40 + 921 redhot just 18 922 redhot dd 923 redhot fetish 924 redhot girl girl 925 redhot raw 926 redhot viewers 927 XPLICITXXX 928 Playboy TV 929 Adult Channel 930 Spice Extreme 931 Hustler TV UK 932 100% Babes 933 XXX TV 934 Amateur Babes 935 Gay TV 936 SportxxxGirls 937 SportxxxWives 938 18 Plus Movies 939 18 Plus Movies 940 18 Plus Movies 941 18 Plus Movies 942 18 Plus Movies 943 18 Plus Movies 944 18 Plus Movies 945 Gay Prowler TV 946 Fantasy 1 947 Fantasy 2 948 Tease Me 2 949 House Of Fun 950 LivexxxBabes 951 Blue Kiss TV 952 The Other Side 953 954 Northern Birds 955 Essex Babes 956 HappyHourGirls 957 LiveXXX 958 959 960 961 962 963 964 965 966 967 968 969 Entertainment 970 Sky Cust Ch 971 BBC 1 Scotland 972 BBC 1 Wales 973 BBC 1 NI 974 BBC 1 London 975 BBC 1 NE & C 976 BBC 1 Yorks 977 BBC 1 Yrks&Lin 978 BBC 1 N West 979 BBC 1 W Mids 980 BBC 1 E Mids 981 BBC 1 East (E) 982 BBC 1 East (W) 983 BBC 1 S East 984 BBC 1 South 985 BBC 1 Oxford 986 BBC 1 West 987 BBC 1 S West 988 BBC 1 Cl 989 BBC 2 England 990 BBC 2 Scotland 991 BBC 2W 992 BBC 2 NI 993 ITV1 (AD) 994 Channel 4 (AD) 995 HD Retail Info (Ret Only)/ Channel 4+1 (AD) 996 Chl Line-up 997 Retail Info (Ret Only) 998 Sky 999 Sky Cust Ch Radio 0101 BBC R1 0102 BBC R2 0103 BBC R3 0104 BBC R4 FM 0105 BBC R5 Live 0106 Classic FM 0107 Virgin Radio 0108 talkSPORT 0109 Capital 0110 Planet Rock 0111 XFM 0112 FUN Radio 0113 theJazz 0114 Choice FM 0115 BBC WS 0116 BBC R Scot. 0117 BBC R Wales 0118 BBC R Ulster 0119 BBC Asian N 0120 BBC 6 Music 0121 Gold 0122 WRN Europe 0123 Premier 0124 Heart 0125 UCB UK 0126 0127 0128 smooth fm 0129 Solar Radio 0130 Panjab Radio 0131 BBC 7 0132 0133 Sunrise 0134 UCB Bible 0135 UCB Talk 0136 UCB Insp 0137 1Xtra BBC 0138 TWR 0139 BBC R n Gael 0140 0141 Raaj Radio 0142 RTE R1 Extra 0143 BBC R4 LW 0144 BBC 5LSport 0145 Club Asia 0146 Real Radio 0147 EWTN 0148 0149 0150 Sukh Sagar 0151 Asian Gold 0152 BBC London 0153 0154 BBC R Cymru 0155 0156 CC Radio 0157 0158 Gaydarradio 0159 Family Radio 0160 RTE Radio 1 0161 ArrwRock 0162 0163 0164 RTE 2FM 0165 RTE Lyric fm 0166 RTE RnaG 0167 0168 Akash Radio 0169 Desi Radio 0170 The Hits 0171 Galaxy 0172 Smash Hits 0173 Kismat 0174 0175 0176 Amrit Bani 0177 LBC 97.3 0178 Kiss 0179 Heat 0180 Magic 0181 Q 0182 MOJO 0183 Kerrang 0184 Radio 0185 Spectrum 1 0186 Liberty 0187 Yarr 0188 InsightRadio 0189 0190 big L 1395 0191 0192 0193 0194 Colourful 0195 RTI Radio 0196 0197 0198 0199 Caroline 0200 VirginXtrme 0201 VirginCRock 0202 VirginGrve 0203 Virgin 105.8 0204 0205 DutchIntSv 0206 Recordbrazil 0207 Rainbow 0208 0209 Yorkshire R 0210 Newstalk 0211 BFBS Radio 0212 Hot 0213 0214 0215 0216 0217 0218 0219 0220 0221 0222 0223 0224 0225 0226 0227 0228 0229 0230 0231 0232 0233 0234 0235 0236 0237 0238 0239 0240 Related links: EXCLUSIVE: Asian channels Sky EPG listings Sky EPG resuffle to affect Asian channels New EPG numbers for Asian channels on Sky Asian channels set for EPG reshuffle on Sky (more)

Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica to go islandwide by October
From Media Network Weblog. Posted April 19 2008, 10.09am
The Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica (PBC-J) will become available to viewers islandwide come October this year. Currently, the station, which is up and running 24 hours per day, seven days a week, is accessible across 60 per cent of the island, covering most of the Corporate Area and other urban centres including Spanish Town, [...] (more)

Fire hits BBC production of Tess of the d'Urbervilles
From Media Guardian. Posted April 16 2008, 12.30pm
A BBC production of Tess of the d'Urbervilles has been hit by a suspected arson attack that has damaged thousands of pounds' worth of costumes. By Tara Conlan (more)

Pakistan government set to undo Musharraf media curbs
From Media Network Weblog. Posted April 11 2008, 1.11pm
Pakistan’s new government today moved to lift harsh restrictions on the media that were imposed by President Pervez Musharraf under a state of emergency in November, a minister said. Information minister Sherry Rehman introduced a parliamentary bill proposing an end to curbs on live broadcasts and punishments for journalists ranging from heavy fines to imprisonment and [...] (more)

Photographers lobby parliament over police curbs
From Press Gazette. Posted April 11 2008, 12.00am
Labour MP Austin Mitchell is planning to take a delegation of photographers to the Home Office to protest about the growing number of cases in which police officers and others try to stop professional and amateur photographers taking pictures... (more)

Radio Nepal told to ?enhance its popularity?
From Media Network Weblog. Posted April 5 2008, 11.29am
Chief Secretary of the Government of Nepal, Bhojraj Ghimire has stressed that Radio Nepal should enhance its popularity by upgrading its programmes. In a programme,organized on the occasion of the 58th anniversary of the establishment of Radio Nepal, Chief Secretary Ghimire, said Radio Nepal has been losing its credibility in urban areas in comparison to rural [...] (more)

This week's blog: Steve Coogan on Curb
From Media Guardian. Posted April 3 2008, 12.07am
Paul MacInnes: Dr Bright might have fitted into an episode of Seinfeld, but Curb has moved things on - and Coogan looked as though he was struggling to catch up (more)

‘Johnston Press share price dip won’t curb investment’
From Press Gazette. Posted March 18 2008, 12.00am
As Johnston Press’s share price plunged further this week, chief executive Tim Bowdler has insisted the dip will not harm investment in content. (more)

Bond girl Arterton to star in BBC's Tess of the D'Urbervilles
From The Stage. Posted March 17 2008, 6.10pm
(more)

Cuba eases curb on sale of TVs and computers
From Media Guardian. Posted March 14 2008, 12.18am
Cuba has eased restrictions on the sale of computers, DVD players and other electrical goods. By Rory Carroll (more)

Radio programme looks at history of Asians in police force
From Biz Asia. Posted March 11 2008, 9.55pm
A programme on BBC Radio Scotland will chart the history of Asian and BME (Black and Ethinc Minority) officers in the Scottish Police Forces. Producer and presenter Ravi Sagoo looks at 40 years since Dilawer Singh joined Strathclyde Police Force in 1968 making him Scotland's first Asian police officer. The programme will show that joining as an Asian was a challenge in being accepted after he was questioned by a superior about wearing a turban, alongside racism in the line of duty. Ravi Sagoo is a former BBC new talent winner and has been a regular presenter on BBC Radio Scotland across music and sport and also on The BBC Asian Network. He also has the third series of the Asian Urban music programme â Ravi Sagoo & Tigerstyle Presentsâ ¦â airing this summer on BBC Radio Scotland. Related links: BBC Scotland launches new Asian show Asian Network reveal winner of talent hunt (more)

ITV results reveal broadcaster has already curbed regional programmes
From Press Gazette. Posted March 5 2008, 12.00am
ITV has already cut its regional budget by almost five per cent ahead of a drastic reorganisation of its news output over the next two years, the broadcaster revealed today. (more)

Foreign investment curbs for Indian FM radio may be eased
From Media Network Weblog. Posted February 11 2008, 1.10pm
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is likely to recommend an increase in the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) limit for FM radio broadcasters, The Business Standard reports. TRAI is also expected to recommend that they be allowed entry into news and current affairs. These are both long-standing demands of FM radio broadcasters. At present, the [...] (more)

All India Radio to expand News on Phone service
From Media Network Weblog. Posted January 28 2008, 10.40am
The Guwahati Station of All India Radio (AIR) will start the ‘News on Phone’ (NOP) service from today. Talking to an Assam Tribune correspondent, a senior official of the station said, “The taste of the listeners both in urban and rural areas have, no doubt, changed and we are aware of it. We need to keep improving [...] (more)

ITU to consider allowing Azerbaijan to launch its own satellite
From Media Network Weblog. Posted January 14 2008, 9.57am
 The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will consider, in the first half of 2008, giving a licence to Azerbaijan for launching its own satellite, the country’s Ministry of Communication and Information announced. According to Gurban Abdullayev, an official at the ministry, Azerbaijan officially appealed to the ITU last year. He said only 25 or 30 countries throughout [...] (more)

Il Sole unperturbed by its Milan debut
From Financial Times. Posted December 7 2007, 3.53am
The disappointing initial public offering of Italy's leading business newspaper nonetheless marks an important advancement in the evolution of the country's capital markets (more)

Alpha ETC Punjabi lines up live Gurpurb specials
From Biz Asia. Posted November 24 2007, 9.58pm
ZEE Network's Punjabi channel Alpha ETC Punjabi has lined up a week long of special shows to coincide with Guru Nanak Ji's Gurpurb. The coverage will be relayed from Pakistan's Vibe TV into the UK on the ZEE channel from 11:00 - 12:00 (midday). The itinerary of telecast will be as follow: 25th November 2007 - Arival of 3000 Idian Sikh Yatrees at Wagha Railway Station 26th-27th November 2007 - Departure for Gurdwara Panja Sahib, Hassanabdal and their stay at Gurdwara Panja Sahib and return. 27th November 2007 - Departure for Gurdwara Dera Sahib, Lahore. 28th-30th November 2007 - Stay at Gurdwara Dera Sahib, Lahore. 29th November 2007 - Visit to Gurdwara Rorri Sahib, Eminabad and return. 30th November 2007 - Departure of the Yatris for India by special trains and the departure from Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore. Apart from this five-day celebration marking Gurpurb, viewers can also watch Gurbani from the Golden Temple every morning only on Alpha ETC Punjabi. (more)

Journalists protest against Musharraf curbs
From Financial Times. Posted November 23 2007, 1.55am
Pakistani police have this week beaten and arrested scores of protesting journalists who are angry about the curbs on media freedoms on the four main private TV stations (more)

URB 1149 AM winning marketing campaign
From UTalk Marketing. Posted November 20 2007, 11.45am
Student Radio Awards winner (more)

1449 AM URB winning marketing campaign
From UTalk Marketing. Posted November 20 2007, 11.45am
Student Radio Awards winner (more)

New ad curbs would 'slash' TV income
From Daily Telegraph. Posted November 18 2007, 12.01am
Broadcasters could lose over £250m a year if the Government responds to pressure to impose a 9pm watershed on all alcohol and junk food advertising. (more)

Pakistan curbs import of satellite equipment
From Media Network Weblog. Posted November 13 2007, 2.11pm
Pakistani authorities today effectively banned the import of satellite television equipment, placing a further curb on coverage of the country’s raging political crisis. An order issued by the commerce ministry said satellite dishes, decoders, recording and reception equipment could now only be imported into the country with the specific permission of Pakistan’s electronic media regulatory body. It [...] (more)

KSHE95 Opens up "Real Rock Museum" Online
From radio.about.com. Posted November 13 2007, 5.14am
From Fred Jacobs blog, jacoBLOG, comes this blurb about a new online Rock museum: "...yesterday's debut of KSHE's virtual "Real Rock Museum" is such an important breakthrough. It is... (more)

Two new radio stations launch on Midlands DAB
From Biz Asia. Posted October 26 2007, 8.23pm
The West Midlands today have two new Asian radio stations on DAB, both of which are from the same umbrella group - Panjab Radio. It signed a contract with MXR digital to be a service provider on their West Midlands multiplex earlier this year. The successful religious and entertainment station Panjab Radio has been available in London digitally for the past seven years. It can also be picked up on DAB in West Yorkshire. This is the first time Panjab Radio has branched into the Midlands to tap into the highly populated Panjabi market. Not snubbing its non-Panjabi audiences, Panjab Radio has also launched a new general Asian entertainment station steering towards the youth tentatively called Q Asia (previously known as Urban Asia). The station officially begins broadcasting (with presenters) at the start of 2008, until then it hopes to generate enough noise around the new addition as a direct commercial competitor to Radio XL, Sunrise Radio and its Punjabi Radio. Q Asia will be announcing its official name and programme line-up in the coming days, keep it with BizAsia.co.uk for the exclusive news break. Previously, Surjit Singh Ghuman Managing Director of Panjab Radio said, "My four years of hard work and determination to get on to West Midlands on DAB has finally paid off and feels like a dream coming true, but in reality the very hard task of getting the message to the Panjabi community will start now and our listeners will be over the moon as they will not be confined to a TV and instead listen to us on DAB digital radio anywhere in the home, work or whilst on the move." Diane Wray, Managing Director MXR Digital said, "I am really delighted that Panjab Radio are joining the rosta of stations broadcast by MXR in the West Midlands and look forward to working with the team to promote DAB in the area." Panjab Radio is replacing the slot left vacant by Jazzfm, with its 128kbps capacity being split into two 64kbps - one for Panjab Radio and the other for Q Asia. Related links: Panjab Radio to launch in the West Midlands Biz Asia Industry Whispers - Issue 74 Panjab Radio all set to celebrate seven years Biz Exec: Surjit Ghuman - Panjab Radio (more)

Govt ditches plans to curb FOI and restrict coroners' court access
From Hold the Front Page. Posted October 26 2007, 12.00am
Raft of pledges to open up government and information in "liberty" speech by Gordon Brown (more)

Gordon Brown scraps curbs on Freedom of Information and media access to Coroners' Courts
From Press Gazette. Posted October 25 2007, 12.00am
The Government today announced that it will not be tightening the charging regime for Freedom of Information requests or access to coroners courts as it had perviously proposed. (more)

Brown scraps curbs on FoI and media access to coroners' courts
From Press Gazette. Posted October 25 2007, 12.00am
The Government today announced that it will not be tightening the charging regime for Freedom of Information requests or access to coroners' courts as it had previously proposed. (more)

World financial market turbulence helps lift FT sales
From Media Guardian. Posted October 22 2007, 1.00am
Turbulence in the world's financial markets helped lift sales of the Financial Times by 8% between January and September. By Jemima Kiss. (more)

Emap’s Construction News undergoes refurbishment
From Press Gazette. Posted October 19 2007, 12.00am
Emap’s Construction News has been extensively revamped for the first time in 15 years under new editor Nick Edwards. (more)

Army enters NTV and Radio Nepal studios; media groups concerned
From Media Network Weblog. Posted October 5 2007, 10.30am
In a surprising development, a Nepal Army squad comprising about 60 personnel entered the premises of the state-owned Nepal Television (NTV) and Radio Nepal located inside the Singha Durbar compound, the seat of the government, on Thursday morning to “securitize the location”, which they said was necessitated by the increasing security concerns. Reports said that, while [...] (more)

RNW ?shouts via short wave? as Myanmar curbs Internet
From Media Network Weblog. Posted September 28 2007, 3.20pm
Hundreds of people have been smuggling out pictures and eyewitness reports of the protests in Myanmar this week. Thanks to the Internet and mobile phones they’ve been able to break the military government’s monopoly on information. Now the junta has realised just how important these “citizen journalists” are. From today, Internet access in Myanmar has [...] (more)

RNW “shouts via short wave” as Myanmar curbs Internet
From Media Network Weblog. Posted September 28 2007, 1.26pm
Hundreds of people have been smuggling out pictures and eyewitness reports of the protests in Myanmar this week. Thanks to the Internet and mobile phones they’ve been able to break the military government’s monopoly on information. Now the junta has realised just how important these “citizen journalists” are. From today, Internet access in Myanmar has [...] (more)

New three-language Turkmen radio channel to broadcast via satellite
From Media Network Weblog. Posted September 26 2007, 10.59am
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov signed a decree on creating a new Ovaz (Melody) radio channel of the General Directorate of the Turkmen TV.  According to the document, the radio channel will start broadcasting in Turkmen, Russian and English. The decree approves the staff list of the new radio channel. The Ministry of Communications of Turkmenistan [...] (more)

Jay Sean & Raghav new music airs on A Network
From Biz Asia. Posted September 11 2007, 9.53am
RnB artist Jay Sean will exclusively perform songs from his new album 'My Own Way' on the BBC Asian Network's Uni Tour '07. After the success of the 2006 Uni Tour, Asian Network announces another ten date tour which will see its unique sound taken to Universities up and down the UK . The tour kicks off Friday 28th September at University of Hertfordshire where Jay Sean will headline with support from H.Dhami and Mumzy, Swami and Asian Network DJs Bobby Friction, DJ Kayper and Sonny Ji who will play throughout the tour with appearances also from Panjabi Hit Squad. Jay Sean had UK Chart success with his debut album, 'Me Against Myself' in 2004 as well as his singles like "Eyes on You" and "Stolen" which reached the Top 10. Jay Sean is also a big hit overseas in India where his first album sold over 2 million copies. The Kings College date - Thursday 25th October will see Jay Sean perform a special LIVE album preview. The Tour will see exclusive plays of much anticipated new material from Raghav who has seen widespread international chart success with Top 10 hits like "Can't Get Enough" and "Angel Eyes" as well as female urban artist Hard Kaur who is returning with a new album later this year entitled 'Supawoman'. Lyrical pioneers Swami will showcase new material including their hit single "Hey Hey" which is getting major MySpace attention as well as heavy radio play. Their anticipated album 'Equalize' takes influences from North African and French hip-hop to the rap of the American East Coast. Ones to watch this time around include British Asian Hip Hop acts Sona Family whose music is supported by Radio DJs Bobby Friction and Nihal, Bhangra artist Imran Khan and the Rishi Rich Showcase featuring H.Dhami and Mumzy. Rishi Rich is a pioneering producer famous for his mix of bhangra, Bollywood and urban beats. He has produced albums on the British-Asian music scene and has also made a mark on the mainstream charts, producing and remixing hits for Madonna, Britney Spears, Mary J Blige and Craig David. Uni Tour 07 takes in Hertfordshire, Leeds, Middlesex, Surrey, Manchester, London, Leicester, Warwick, Kent and Sheffield. Full details of artists appearing is shown below. Mark Strippel, BBC Asian Network Head of Music said: "Asian Network is proud to really support and nurture the British-Asian music scene. Asian Network is where you'll find the hottest DJs and artists and new British Asian material - first. That's why artists choose to work with us exclusively. We’re especially excited to have the first exclusive access to Jay Sean’s new album". Bobby Friction, Asian Network's flagship specialist DJ said: "I'm so revved about the Uni Tour because it's grown substantially this year and we're covering length breadth of UK. The tour musically is going to be Asian beats heaven, with a mix from the established order dropping exclusives and performing with us, PLUS what's really got me hot under the collar is the new generation of acts who'll be using this tour to break through. British Universities are actually on the cutting edge when it comes to live Asian music and creativity." (more)

Free mag launched for urban, affluent young professionals
From Hold the Front Page. Posted August 24 2007, 12.00am
Plus: press columnist suffers alleged assault, online development for Archant, and more news in brief (more)

Virgin Radio float 'on track' despite private equity talk
From Media Guardian. Posted August 21 2007, 1.00am
The new chairman of Virgin Radio said the station's stock market float was on track despite financial market turbulence. By Katie Allen. (more)

Animal Planet and Discovery Turbo go mobile
From Digital Spy. Posted August 6 2007, 12.08pm
Newly rebranded mobile TV platforms give on demand access to the network's factual content. (more)

Asian DJ gets prominent slot on Kiss 100
From Biz Asia. Posted July 11 2007, 8.59am
The popular voice of Kiss 100 DJ Neev has been given a prominent slot on London's 'hip and happening' urban station Kiss 100. She will be taking over the weekday 12-3pm slot. The young, brassy and confident presenter has been part of the Kiss 100 family since 2004, not only presenting but also producing and not to mention being the voice of Kiss by doing most of the voiceovers for the commercial station. Neev began her radio career at the tender age of 18 at her local radio station Reading 107FM, working across the station as the traffic & travel girl and quickly moving onto co-presenting and producing shows. Since then, she has gone from strength to strength, producing and presenting regularly on BBC Asian Network (for 4 years) and Star 106.6FM under the alias Tara K (for 3 years). After a recent stint of presenting the daily 3-6am slot on Kiss which she describes as her 'dream station' and impressing listeners and superiors alike, Neev is delighted to be the new daily host of the lunchtime slot from 12-3pm daily on Kiss 100FM. Andy Roberts, Group Programme Director at Kiss, said " Neev has done great work on building Kiss's early morning audience over the last few months and now I feel its time for her to step up and host Kiss London's new lunchtime show." Still only 25, her aspirations of having a daily radio show have arrived and her dreams are now a reality. Neev said:"I couldn't be happier with my move to daytime...I grew up listening to Kiss and it truly is a privileged to be part of the station... I think lunchtimes will be awesome". Music producer Rishi Rich was also a part of Kiss 100, he fronted his own music show with pals Juggy D and Jay Sean on Friday nights. (more)

IBB to permanently close Munich relay station
From Media Network Weblog. Posted July 3 2007, 7.01pm
The United States International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) has announced the closure of the Ismaning Transmitting Station in Germany, one of the oldest of IBB’s overseas facilities. Located in a suburb of Munich, the station began beaming Voice of America programmes in December 1946. Over the years, the station broadcast mediumwave, longwave and shortwave programmes to [...] (more)

BBC Scotland launches new Asian show
From Biz Asia. Posted July 3 2007, 1.41pm
BBC Scotland is launching a month-long Asian orientated show with ex-BBC Asian Network presenter Ravi Sagoo. Last summer, BBC Scotland aired a 'Tigerstyle Presents...' programme, which proved immensely popular. The new programme will be a follow-up to last year's show with a focus on Asian Urban music. The Bhangra duo Tigerstyle (Raj and Pops) will guest on the show as weekly guest contributors / session artists. Ravi Sagoo went on to win the BBC’s New Talent Radio Presenter Search 2005/06, which lead him to front the Asian Network's Chart Show. His contract came to an end earlier this year and the programme was relaunched last month with former Club Asia presenter Noreen Khan. 'Ravi Sagoo and Tigerstyle Present...' will air between Tuesday 3rd July to Tuesday 7th August at 20:00 on BBC Scotland. Related links: Asian Network reveal winner of talent hunt Club Asia DJ to defect to BBC Asian Network? (more)

Exclusive Review: Asian Network's Love Bollywood
From Biz Asia. Posted June 17 2007, 1.30pm
As part of its programming changes, the BBC Asian Network unveiled a series of new shows, the most ambitious one being 'Love Bollywood', which launched on Saturday 16th June and Sunday 17th June. I had a listen to the eight-hour marathon over the two days and spoke to key industry and media insiders, representatives from the listening community and of course his own mind, to critique the shows, which clearly left a lot to be desired! "Is it wrong to buy pirate CDs and DVDs?" (Yawn!) This age-old issue isn't even a debate anymore - the answer is a foregone conclusion. But 'Love Bollywood' (replacing the hugely popular 'Film Cafe') believes this is a hot topic to discuss for a full hour on its Sunday edition. Worse still, on its Saturday edition, the presenters were devoting precious airtime to vapid brain-dead issues such as "Kissing In Bollywood", linking kissing to potential progression of the Indian film industry (for Chrissake!). What followed was a string of Joe Blogs calling the hotline to express random amateurish viewpoints (all in the guise of interactivity), nothing you haven't heard before or don't know about. [If this lot is keen to get this in-depth, why not get artistes and filmmakers who are notorious/famous for kissing to talk (if at all) and debate with credible culture crusaders? But heyho, that's hard work!] The precise problem with 'Love Bollywood' is that it fully and heartlessly takes out the entertainment and fun quotient from Bollywood to give it a falsely and superficially serious edge, that is far from welcome on weekend mornings. The razzle dazzle, glamour, gossip and excitement associated with the industry have gone for a toss only to be replaced by topics, points and facts that reflect a serious non-understanding of the Indian film industry and what it stands for. There is nothing time-specific about this programme either - you can play it anytime of the day and it will fit in! So why have it replace 'Breakfast'? Alright, so on the odd occasion we are lucky to have an intelligent commercial product or an aesthetic one from parallel cinema ('Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi', 'Sardari Begum', 'Omkara', 'The Legend Of Bhagat Singh', to name a few) but let's get real- on the whole, Bollywood cinema is predominantly commercial cinema, known the world over for its escapism and grandeur - why completely intellectualise it with casual verbal diarrohea that's far from stimulating or thought-provoking? More amusingly, why do that, when the presenters (two self-proclaimed 'it' boys, a fun-filled madcap and a shreeky political correspondent - none of whom match the intended character of the revised programme) quite evidently suffer from a pronounced lack of domain knowledge and expertise? (leave aside the floundering oratory and miserable pronounciations!) More pertinently, what is all this debate eventually leading to? Does 'Love Bollywood' have serious recommendations or solutions to curb piracy or was it a debate for the sake of a debate to kill an hour? The stunning Lara Dutta sat pretty in BBC's Mumbai studio on Saturday answering bog-standard PR questions about her new release....'Love Bollywood' obviously believes she's big enough to have back, considering she featured on 'Film Cafe' only last week! An over-saturated Amitabh Bachchan was used as a 15-minute filler, talking about the usual "honour" and "privilege" that it was to be felicitated by BAFTA and the IIFA Awards (for which he is the brand ambassador) being "the best". What else were the producers and presenters expecting him to say? Let's tread the originality path now.....The Maestro feature (featuring Asha Bhonsle on Sunday) is an obvious rehash of 'Musical Genius', that was previously on Sunday Soundtrack. The Lurve Bollywood feature (where a listener talks about a song to do with his/her love life or something like that!) is reminiscent of 'Undercover Lover' on Sonia Deol's show. The concept of interactivity and phoning in is a lame attempt to ape 'Phone-In by Nihal'? (At least, he does a good job of it!) So much for an all-new 'Love Bollywood'! Finally, according to the maiden episode of this programme, the Chopras' 'Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge' was a defining moment in Bollywood. What does 'defining moment' mean? And whose opinion is that? The presenters'? The producers'? Or was their result drawn out of an online customer survey or a research scanning the annals of Bollywood history? Does it take a runaway hit at the box-office (like 'DDLJ') to define or redefine Bollywood? We don't think so! If 'DDLJ' redefined Bollywood, in recent years, what about RAAZ (which made the horror genre fashionable in Bollywood all over again), 'Jism' and 'Murder' (which brought in a wave of sensuousness), 'Dil Chahta Hai' (which introduced new-age youth culture), 'Don' (which popularised remakes), 'Krrish' (which gave Bollywood its first superhero), 'Lagaan' (which brought in sport), 'Rang De Basanti', 'Black Friday' and 'Parzania' (which brought in political awareness and consciousness) and 'Khosla Ka Ghosla', 'Honeymoon Travels...' and 'Bheja Fry' (which introduced unconventional budget cinema to the box-office)? Sorry guys, these films redefined Bollywood! (Heard of them?) I can't, for the life of me, understand why anyone with two grey cells would want to surface at 8am on weekends to endure four boring hours of pseudo-analytical gibberish interspersed with the odd song! Lazing around in your duvet, cooking some tidy breakfast, gardening....or perhaps.....tuning into the telly might be saner alternatives! What do you think of BBC Asian Network's new weekend programming, email us at raj@media247.co.uk. (more)

ABC-Australia to investigate breast cancer among employees
From Media Network Weblog. Posted June 13 2007, 9.54am
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation plans to conduct investigations into the frequency of breast cancer among women in all of its studio complexes across the country. The move follows today’s release of a final report into the high rate of breast cancer cases at the ABC studios in the western Brisbane suburb of Toowong. All staff at [...] (more)

Pakistan backs down on media curbs
From Media Network Weblog. Posted June 8 2007, 11.00am
The Pakistani government has suspended the introduction of tight restrictions on broadcasters, following an uproar at home and criticism abroad, officials said yesterday. President Pervez Musharrraf issued a decree on Monday giving the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) extra powers after the media criticised his suspension of the country’s chief justice. The move sparked pandemonium [...] (more)

Isolated Musharraf suspends media curbs as anger grows
From Media Guardian. Posted June 8 2007, 1.00am
Pakistan's government has overturned a decree empowering the closure of television stations. By Declan Walsh in Islamabad. (more)

Editors pledge to fight 'crippling' African press freedom curbs
From Press Gazette. Posted June 4 2007, 12.00am
Leading global media figures have described the need for African governments to abolish curbs on press freedom as a “matter of urgency”. (more)

World Telecommunication and Information Society Day: ITU makes three major announcements
From Media Network Weblog. Posted May 17 2007, 11.42am
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has today made three major announcements to mark World Telecommunication and Information Society Day. The first is an ambitious two-year plan to curb cybercrime. Cybercrime takes several forms, from breaching network security, financial fraud, invasion of privacy and identity theft to virus attacks, spam or online child pornography. With schools, hospitals, [...] (more)

BBC's Newshour on Florence's Novaradio Citta Futura
From Merry Media. Posted May 9 2007, 11.08pm
BBC World Service has teamed up with Novaradio Citta Futura to bring its flagship news and current affairs programme to English-speaking audiences in Florence and its suburbs.. (more)

Scooped: Radio station websites lack updates
From Biz Asia. Posted April 1 2007, 11.24pm
This week BizAsia.co.uk's sleuths scooped down on the websites of a few Asian radio stations in the UK and were appalled to see how most of them have not been updated in weeks, months, and even, years! These discoveries were correct as of 19:00 on Sunday 01st April 2007: Sunrise Radio: -An hour before the event is about to reach its end, a banner advert on the homepage still invites exhibitors to book their stand for the Asian Lifestyle Show in Birmingham, which it says is "Coming Back"! -No one has reviewed any Bollywood movie ever since the release of the dud 'Zindaggi Rocks', almost eight months back! -The presenters' page does not have any profiles for nearly half a dozen presenters. -The Entertainment section has a solo snippet on Ram Gopal Varma being criticised for trying to remake 'Sholay' - a news item that is more than six months old! -The Celeb Files section features only Hrithik Roshan, who has been there for nearly half a year now. -The news snippets in the Bollywood section vary from being three to six months old! -The Events page is still busy celebrating the Diwali 2006 occasion at the Square in London! Club Asia: -The Playlist C has no tracks! -The Essential 20 Chart features only 19 tracks! What happened to No.20? -The little box on the 'Highest New Entry' features an image of the film 'Dil Apna Punjabi', released last year. -The Urban Session Playlist hasn't been updated since 01/10/2006. Asian Sound Radio: -After more than a year, the website continues to state 'The Asian Sound Radio website is currently being updated'. Radio XL: -The page with the Schedule has been missing for over two years! -The links for Daily Bollywood Top Ten and Bollywood News take you nowhere. Ditto for the links for News & Weather, Asian Love & Message Board. The only sites that seem almost fully updated belong to Sabras Radio and BBC Asian Network. If you've spotted any unusual or strangely funny items on Asian TV, radio or in print, please contact BizAsia.co.uk today and we will publish the best goof ups on the website. (more)

Gary Burbank to Leave Radio at Year's End
From radio.about.com. Posted March 9 2007, 12.00am
From news.enquirer.com: "Gary Burbank, WLW-AM�s longest current on-air personality, says he�ll retire when his contract expires Dec. 31. Burbank, who turns 66 in July, has talked about quitting radio since... (more)

Coogan lands cameo in 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'
From Digital Spy. Posted March 8 2007, 3.12pm
Steve Coogan is to play a psychiatrist in a new episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. (more)

DJ swaps breakfast for boozer
From Radio Today. Posted February 22 2007, 7.12pm
Cliff Brooks, until recently the breakfast presenter and programme controller at East Lancashire's 2BR, is quitting radio to start his own pub company. "Brooksy" says he has plans to open a new wine bar in Burnley as well as refurbish an existing pub. (more)

Discovery Turbo gears up for Sky launch
From SkyDigi Online. Posted February 12 2007, 8.13pm
A new motoring channel targeted at adult men is to be launched by Discovery Networks next month. Discovery Turbo will launch on 1st March replacing Discovery Wings on Sky EPG 524. The channel will be offering programs featuring the most exciting new vehicles including cars, trucks, motorbike, planes and trains. Dan Brooke, general manager at Discovery Networks in the UK, said: "Discovery Turbo will provide an unprecedented viewing experience for men aged 18 – 54 who are passionate about speed and motors. The unique proposition offered by Discovery Turbo also provides advertisers with a valuable and high quality environment for products and services targeted to this valuable demographic." (more)

Torquay editor urges mayors to oppose FOI curbs
From Press Gazette. Posted February 8 2007, 4.03pm
Andy Phelan has urged elected mayors to oppose the Government's proposals to curb the Freedom of Information Act (more)

Minister blames journalists' 'unfocused' questions for FOI curbs
From Press Gazette. Posted February 8 2007, 12.54pm
Vera Baird stoked the row over Freedom of Information curbs by blaming journalists for asking too many "unfocused" questions. (more)

VOA, RFE/RL Azerbaijani radio broadcasts debut on FM in Baku
From Media Network Weblog. Posted January 26 2007, 9.55am
On Jan. 1, 2007, the Azerbaijani-language services of both the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (which is known locally as Radio Azadliq) launched a new 24/7 FM broadcast stream to the Azerbaijani capital of Baku. The new station, known as Baku 101.7 FM, is heard in Baku and its suburbs, which comprise [...] (more)

Ofcom may curb BBC internet broadcasting ambitions
From The Stage. Posted January 23 2007, 4.30pm
(more)

Eastern Daily Press: It's our duty to fight FoI curbs
From Press Gazette. Posted January 18 2007, 1.35pm
EDP assistant editor: every regional newspaper editor has a duty to get their local MPs to oppose the proposals. (more)

Kerrang masturbation jibe is libel - court rules
From Press Gazette. Posted January 18 2007, 11.25am
11.30am: High Court jury rules it was libellous to accuse a band's tour manager of "pleasuring himself" and awards him £40k damages. (more)

Government to curb firms selling debt write-offs
From Media Guardian. Posted January 17 2007, 12.00am
The Office of Fair Trading is to get tough on TV ads that promise viewers they can walk free from their debts. By Patrick Collinson. (more)

Tour manager sues Kerrang magazine over masturbation claim
From Press Gazette. Posted January 15 2007, 4.24pm
4.30pm: A tour manager has launched a High Court libel action over a claim he was caught masturbating when he should have been at work. (more)

Hazlitt linked with a return to Capital Radio
From Brand Republic. Posted January 10 2007, 11.01am
LONDON - Fru Hazlitt, the former chief executive of Virgin Radio who resigned this week, is understood to have been approached to head up GCap Media's portfolio of London radio stations, including flagship station Capital Radio, Xfm and urban music station Choice. (more)

Journalism facing massive new privacy curb
From Press Gazette. Posted January 4 2007, 12.52am
Legal experts have warned that journalism will have to change profoundly this year as a result of a recent Appeal Court case. (more)

TV's digital hope to curb ads move online
From Media Guardian. Posted January 4 2007, 12.00am
This may be the year TV companies ditch their reliance on videotapes for advertisement delivery and go digital. By Katie Allen. (more)

Afghanistan launches spectrum mobile monitoring station
From Media Network Weblog. Posted December 22 2006, 1.31pm
Afghanistan’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ATRA) has acquired a new radio spectrum monitor to curb illegal radio usage in the country. Funded by the World Bank at a cost of US$1 million, the country’s Minister of Communications Amirzai Sangin said the launching of the mobile spectrum station will allow Afghanistan to monitor illegal frequency users and [...] (more)

New French 24-hour news channel launches this evening
From Media Network Weblog. Posted December 6 2006, 3.39pm
The launch of France 24 - a round-the-clock network in French and English with a brief to broadcast news on world events with a French perspective - takes place this evening. Parallel channels in the two languages will start transmitting from the station’s headquarters in the Paris suburbs at 1930 UTC via the station’s website. [...] (more)

TV junk food ad ban 'may also apply to radio'
From Breaking Radio. Posted November 11 2006, 1.30pm
Ofcom's plans to curb TV advertising of junk food to children could also apply to radio. How hard would it affect your station's revenue? (more)

Junk food ad ban 'could apply to radio'
From thenoise.co.uk. Posted November 10 2006, 11.30pm
Much is being made of Ofcom's plans to curb the TV advertising of junk food to children.An Ofcom spokesman has told the Daily Mail: "It is clearly a given that there are going to be new restrictions. The case has been made that something has to be done."More worrying for the commercial radio industry is the suggestion in Ofcom's consultation document (published in March this year) that any rules on TV junk food advertising may also be introduced to radio. This could starve the industry (excuse the pun) of up to £36m in annual ad revenue.Here's an extract from a Radio Magazine piece I wrote earlier this year:Ofcom says it will "investigate whether and what action may need to be taken in relation to radio advertising". Figures from Nielsen Media Research suggest advertisers spent £36m last year promoting junk food on the radio.Dedicated children's channels could be prevented from broadcasting any adverts for junk food. Other broadcasters could be limited to just 30 seconds per clock hour at time of the day when children are most likely to be listening.Gregory Watson, chief executive of children's station Fun Radio, said: "If they banned advertising or sponsorship in a programme that a child might listen to, that won't just hurt children's stations — it'll hurt the whole industry."Former Disney Channel managing director and Capital Disney consultant Paul Robinson added: "An outright ban would be very bad news for consumers. Applying the same rules to radio as TV would be nonsense. Ofcom have got to be very careful." (more)

Japan: Group for missing Japanese ?disturbed? by government radio plan
From Media Network Weblog. Posted November 6 2006, 4.27pm
Text of report in English by Japanese news agency Kyodo Tokyo, 6 November: A private group that runs a radio broadcast service in hopes of finding missing Japanese in North Korea on Monday [6 November] criticized the government’s plan to order Japan Broadcasting Corp, the country’s public broadcaster better known as NHK, to feature the abduction [...] (more)

NYTimes.com launches daily Urbanite email
From Journalism.co.uk. Posted November 2 2006, 4.00pm
Culture and style �what's-on� newsletter to give the low-down on the day's best events in the Big Apple (more)

GBN announce launch of UK football programme for China National Radio
From Media Network Weblog. Posted November 1 2006, 2.41pm
Global Broadcast Networks (GBN), the international media content provider, is providing UK football content, sponsorship and advertisements exclusively to a new UK football show broadcast to 168 million urban listeners across China, called “UK Soccer Review/Yingchao Fengyunlu”. The new show is broadcast by China National Radio (CNR), the world’s most listened-to radio station, on their flagship [...] (more)

Liberian president asks China for help with LBS refurbishment
From Media Network Weblog. Posted October 27 2006, 10.33am
The Analyst reports that Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is on a visit to China, along with Heads of State of 40 other African countries, to attend a two-day Africa-China Cooperation Forum. The newspaper says that the President hopes to get Chinese assistance with several projects, one of which is a refurbishment of the Liberia Broadcasting System [...] (more)

Last night's TV: Tim Marlow On ... Turbine Hall | Imagine ... Vel�zquez, The Painter's Painter
From Media Guardian. Posted October 25 2006, 1.00am
Sam Wollaston on Tim Marlow On ... Turbine Hall | Imagine ... Vel�zquez, The Painter's Painter (more)

Editors to protest Government plans for FoI curbs
From Press Gazette. Posted October 17 2006, 1.42pm
1.45pm: Editors are to press the Government to think again about controversial plans to curb Freedom of Information. (more)

Urban chart show is Somethin' Else
From Digital Spy. Posted October 16 2006, 4.18pm
Independent production company Somethin' Else is producing Fresh 40, a radio chart show focusing on urban and dance music. (more)

Fresh 40 chart launches with Frank sponsorship
From Brand Republic. Posted October 16 2006, 11.10am
LONDON - Commercial radio will launch urban and dance music chart Fresh 40 next Sunday after securing a nine-month sponsorship deal from Frank, the national drugs information and advice service. (more)

China blogging leaps 30-fold in four years
From Media Network Weblog. Posted September 26 2006, 9.52am
The number of blog sites in China reached 34 million last month, a 30-fold increase from four years ago, state media said today despite a series of curbs on media and dissent. China has more than 17 million people writing blogs and more than 75 million people reading them, Xinhua news agency said. Authors of personal blogs choose [...] (more)

Protest pressures Ofcom to curb radio regulation
From Brand Republic. Posted September 22 2006, 11.09am
LONDON - Commercial radio company UKRD is protesting about the burden of regulation on small radio stations by making the unexpected move of handing back a radio licence to Ofcom. (more)

Everett's sex talk is too much for Ross
From Media Guardian. Posted September 17 2006, 1.00am
Jonathan Ross was in a spot of bother again after actor Rupert Everett talked about 'masturbating as a Catholic' on his Radio 2 show. By Rowan Walker. (more)

Troi "Star" Torain Sues Clear Channel For $10 Million
From radio.about.com. Posted September 15 2006, 1.01am
According to Radio & Records: "Troi 'Star' Torain, the Clear Channel urban WWPR (Power 105.1)/New York morning man fired in May for sexual on-air comments and threats made against a... (more)

Earth storms lead to space storms, scientists say
From Media Network Weblog. Posted September 13 2006, 10.22am
Thunderstorms on Earth can lead to storms in the outer reaches of the atmosphere that disrupt radio transmissions and other electronic communications, US researchers said yesterday. The discovery could lead to more reliable global-positioning satellite (GPS) navigation and shortwave radio transmissions by improving forecasts of high-altitude disturbances that can disrupt them, said University of California-Berkeley [...] (more)

News Letter editor sets sights on urban readers
From Press Gazette. Posted August 6 2006, 11.00pm
Templeton wants to attract younger audience from the city centre, while holding on to loyal rural-based readers. (more)

New Flagship Station For Air America Radio in New York City
From radio.about.com. Posted August 2 2006, 7.33pm
Air America Radio will begin broadcasting on WWRL 1600 AM ("New York's Urban Talk") beginning September 1, 2006. WWRL will become the flagship station for the Air America Radio network.... (more)

Choice FM signs Notting Hill deal with Viacom Outdoor
From Brand Republic. Posted July 31 2006, 11.07am
LONDON - GCap Media's urban radio station Choice FM has signed a six-figure deal with Viacom Outdoor to promote the station at London's Notting Hill Carnival, Europe's largest street festival, unveiling a new identity and logo for the station as part of the activity. (more)

Urban music magazine Touch has a new editor.
From Press Gazette. Posted July 26 2006, 12.09pm
Paul McKenzie is the new editor of Touch, the urban music magazine which started as a street fanzine 15 years old. (more)

US Official expresses concern over loss of VOA, Radio Liberty broadcast outlets in Russia
From Media Network Weblog. Posted July 8 2006, 11.41am
A top US broadcasting official is expressing concern over the decision by a number of Russian radio stations to stop broadcasting Voice of America and US-financed Radio Liberty programmes. The communications coordinator, Larry Hart, of the US Broadcasting Board of Governors that oversees such broadcasts, told VOA that the cancellations are “a disturbing trend.” He [...] (more)

Station hit by lightning
From Radio Today. Posted June 14 2006, 12.45am
107.2 The Wyre, the radio station serving Kidderminster, Bewdley, Stourport & Stourbridge lost transmission for around five hours yesterday (Monday 12th June 2006) due to lightning which made a direct hit on the station's transmitter mast. Emergency engineers worked hard to install new equipment and a full service returned to the airwaves at 11:00am. At least they won't have tha problem again, as lightning doesn't strike in the same place twice. Does it? (more)

Take a Break sued over 'suburban harem' story
From Press Gazette. Posted June 1 2006, 11.41am
A Newquay man is suing Take a Break for libel damages over allegations about his harem. (more)

New schedule for Asian Network
From Radio Today. Posted May 15 2006, 10.45pm
Nina Wadia, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and Gordon Ramsay are all set to feature as guests in the first week of the BBC Asian Network's revamped new schedule. The Asian Network's brand new weekday schedule is fully in place from today. The new breakfast show Sonia Deol on the BBC Asian Network and the mid-morning phone in Anita Rani on the BBC Asian Network went on air a few weeks ago. From today the station offers listeners daily news programme The Wrap a fast paced news programme offering the day's top stories to an urban listenership. And new arts, entertainment and culture show Nikki Bedi on the BBC Asian Network starts this week, focusing on the best of British and world Asian culture in the arts and entertainment world. (more)

Where next for Capital?
From Radio Today. Posted May 1 2006, 4.15pm
As the dust settles following perhaps the most turbulent fornight in recent history, the industry is wondering what happens next at Capital Radio. GCap appointed Scott Muller as the new Programme Director of Capital, just four days after the departure of MD Keith Pringle and PD Nick Goodman on April 20th. The departure of Pringle and Goodman brings to an close what GCap are now referring to as stage one of the station's relaunch, which begun in January with a new music mix, schedule changes and a new advertising policy of no more than two ads in a row. (more)

Print plant costs curb profit at News Corp's UK papers
From The Times. Posted April 29 2006, 12.00am
NEWS Corporation's British newspapers, including The Times and The Sun , suffered an 8 per cent fall in pre-tax profits last year, after increased costs in developing new printing facilities. The publications generated �159.... (more)

Choice FM gets new MD
From Media Guardian. Posted April 27 2006, 6.44pm
GCap Media has appointed a new managing director for its London urban music station Choice FM after the defection of its head of music to MTV. By Julia Day. (more)

Broadcasting House re-opened
From Radio Today. Posted April 20 2006, 3.45pm
Her Majesty The Queen today visited BBC Broadcasting House to mark the 80th anniversary of the granting of the Corporation's Royal Charter. The Queen officially re-opened the original Broadcasting House in Portland Place, which had recently been refurbished as a part of a redevelopment of the site. (more)

Chris Moyles to meet The Queen
From Radio Today. Posted April 13 2006, 4.30pm
Chris Moyles is just one of the BBC breakfast presenters who will meet The Queen when she visits Broadcasting House on Thursday 20 April 2006 to mark the 80th anniversary of the granting of the Corporation's Royal Charter. The news comes on the same day that The Sun newspaper reports Moyles is earning �630,000 per year - three times more than his colleagues. The Queen will officially re-open the original Broadcasting House in Portland Place, London, which has recently been refurbished as a part of a redevelopment of the site. (more)

Ofcom dithers over curbs on junk food adverts
From The Independent. Posted March 29 2006, 12.00am
The television regulator Ofcom has infuriated health campaigners by failing to announce a ban on advertising junk food to children. (more)

Media Diary: Snow finds his voice; D�j� vu at the 'FT'; Mystery man at Radio 4; Don't read all about it; Lost in translation; Critic finds a new stage
From The Independent. Posted March 19 2006, 12.00am
*** Happy 30th anniversary at ITN to Jon Snow, the Channel 4 newsreader. In his regular Snowmail email missive, he recalls that, at his screen test, he appeared as "a long and floppy- haired man with a purple shirt with collars that dip down below his chest and a voice that seems to have just stepped out of Eton (I went to Scarborough Polytechnic)". In his Who's Who entry, he makes no mention of Scarborough but boasts "Liverpool University (no degree, sent down following political disturbances)". His professed surprise at the poshness of his voice is also odd. True, Snow didn't go to Eton but he did go to another public school, St Edward's in Oxford, whose other old boys included Laurence Olivier. Hats off to Comrade Snow for his efforts in adopting a proletarian accent in later years. (more)

Dee writes BBC's answer to 'Curb Your Enthusiasm'
From The Independent. Posted January 26 2006, 12.00am
A comedian walks into a dry-cleaner's; the man behind the counter starts telling him how much he admires his work, but all the comic is concerned about is why the "invisible mending" on the coat he is collecting is, in fact, highly visible. (more)

Hate broadcasts spurring Ivory Coast attacks - UN
From Media Network Weblog. Posted January 19 2006, 9.31am
Ivory Coast radio stations are inciting people to arm themselves and attack the United Nations, the world body said yesterday, calling on the government to immediately halt the hate broadcasts. "This is unacceptable and must cease immediately," UN chief spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, calling the broadcasts "particularly disturbing" as a wave of attacks on UN peacekeepers went into a third (more)

Nepal's independent broadcasters protest proposed licence fee hike
From Media Network Weblog. Posted January 15 2006, 11.27am
Independent radio broadcasters in Nepal have protested against the government's proposed broadcasting authority ordinance saying it is an attempt the curb the country's independent radio stations. A joint press statement issued by the Broadcasting Association of Nepal, Kathmandu Valley Broadcasting Forum and Community Radio Broadcasting Association said the government has prepared a draft (more)

NUJ bid to curb job losses at ITV News Channel
From Press Gazette. Posted December 20 2005, 5.10pm
The NUJ has met ITN management in a bid to win improved conditions for ITV News Channel staff facing the sack. (more)

Sky steps in after Burberry pulls plug on Bafta awards
From The Independent. Posted January 1 1970, 12.59am
Sky TV has stepped in to sponsor a Bafta awards reception after the threat of demonstrations by redundant workers prompted Burberry to pull its backing of the event. (more)