F1 Coverage on BBC and Sky Sports F1

BBC F1 coverage for 2012 will be as follows:

•Extended highlights (90 mins) on BBC One and BBC One HD, 5pm for European time zone races and (120 mins) 2pm for early morning races

•

Qualifying: Extended highlights (75 mins) BBC One and BBC One HD, Saturdays at 5.30pm for European time zone races and 1pm for early morning races

 (Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying and highlights will be on BBC Two and BBC HD).

•Live BBC races – all live on-track sessions streamed live on Red Button and on the BBC Sport website. Interactive forum on Red Button for an hour after each live race.

Sky Sports will screen all races live, 10 of which will be exclusive to the satellite broadcaster, they are as follows (Live BBC coverage in bold) :

Australian GP – Sky
Malaysian GP – Sky
Chinese GP – BBC & Sky
Bahrain GP – Sky
Spanish GP – BBC & Sky
Monaco GP – BBC & Sky
Canadian GP – Sky
European GP – BBC & Sky
British GP – BBC & Sky
German GP – Sky
Hungarian GP – Sky
Belgian GP – BBC & Sky
Italian GP – Sky
Singapore GP – BBC & Sky
Japanese GP – Sky
Korean GP – BBC & Sky
Indian GP – Sky
Abu Dhabi GP – BBC & Sky
United States GP – Sky
Brazilian GP – BBC & Sky

Press TV removed from UK - no longer on Sky TV

Iran's Press TV loses UK licence
Ofcom revokes English-language channel's licence for breaching the Communications Act

Press TV, the Iranian state broadcaster's English-language outlet, has been forced off the air in the UK after Ofcom revoked its licence for breaching the Communications Act.

Ofcom found that Press TV's practice of running its editorial oversight from Tehran, Iran's capital, is in breach of broadcasting licence rules in the UK.

"Ofcom has decided to revoke the licence held by Press TV Limited with immediate effect," the media regulator said in a statement.

Ofcom wrote a letter to Press TV in November highlighting the issue and offered a choice of two remedies.

The first was to switch editorial control for Press TV's programming to the UK, the second to transfer the broadcasting licence to Iran.

"Broadcasting rules require that a licence is held by the person who is in general control of the TV service: that is, the person that chooses the programmes to be shown in the service and organises the programme schedule," Ofcom said.

"Ofcom gave Press TV the opportunity to apply to have its operations in Tehran correctly licensed by Ofcom and Ofcom offered to assist it to do so," said the regulator.

Ofcom said Press TV failed to respond to or implement either of these two options.

"Press TV was given the opportunity to make representations on Ofcom's 'minded to revoke' letter," the regulator said. "Press TV has failed to make the necessary application and Ofcom has therefore revoked Press TV's licence to broadcast in the UK."

The broadcaster was fined £100,000 last year after the channel aired an interview with Maziar Bahari, an imprisoned Newsweek journalist, that had been conducted under duress.

It emerged on Friday that Press TV has failed to meet the deadline for paying the fine, which was due in early January.

Ofcom said Press TV had been "unwilling and unable" to pay the fine and that it was "pursuing this".

Ofcom has contacted BSkyB, the satellite broadcaster that carries the Press TV channel, to have it removed from its broadcast schedule. Press TV is expected to be removed from the Sky satellite service by the end of Friday.

George Galloway, the former MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, is Press TV's best-known UK presenter. Galloway has previously been sanctioned by Ofcom for anti-Israeli bias in one of his Press TV shows.

Galloway, who infamously performed as a cat on Celebrity Big Brother, tweeted: "Champions of liberty the British govt have now taken Press TV off Sky. "Follow us at www.presstv.ir and other platforms."

Other regular contributors include Yvonne Ridley, the former Sunday Express journalist kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, who subsequently converted to Islam.

Former Press TV presenters include Ken Livingstone, the Labour London mayoral candidate, and Lauren Booth, sister of Cherie Blair.

The Press TV newsroom director, Hamid Emadi, said the channel had been taken off air in the UK for "for airing a 10-second news clip" of Bahari.

"He claims he has been interviewed under duress. Press TV has strongly rejected that," Emadi added.

"Press TV believes that Ofcom is the media tool of the British government – the same government that sent troops to Iraq and Afghanistan to participate in the killing of innocent civilians.

WikiLeaks cables say London and Washington have explored ways to limit the operations of Press TV in the UK. And here it comes; Press TV is removed from the Sky platform."

He added that Press TV is examining ways of continuing to broadcast into the UK.

"The British government and Ofcom will not be able to silence Press TV's voice in the UK. We will exhaust all possibilities and will try to stay in the UK as an active media player and an alternative voice," Emadi said.

As a 31st January 2012, Irans Press TV is available on other satellites on the following frequencies

Eutelsat W3A (7.0°E)
11186.00 V 2893 5/6

Hotbird 6 / Hotbird 8 / Hotbird 9 (13.0°E)
12015.00 H 27500 3/4
12437.00 H 27500 3/4

Astra 1H / Astra 1KR / Astra 1L / Astra 1M / Astra 2C (19.2°E)
12460.50 H 27500 3/4

Badr 4 / Badr 5 / Badr 6 (26.0°E)
12054.00 V 27500 3/4

Atlantic Bird 7 / Nilesat 101 / Nilesat 102 / Nilesat 201 (7.0°W)
10719.18 V 27500 3/4

Sky Anytime+ to offer BBC iPlayer and ITV Player

The BBC iPlayer and ITV Player TV catchup services are to be available to BSkyB subscribers for the first time via the Sky Anytime+ video-on-demand offering.

The catch-up TV services operated by the BBC and ITV will launch this year in Sky Anytime+, the video on-demand platform launched by Sky in 2011, which delivers content over an internet connection in Sky+ boxes rather than over satellite.

ITV shows such as Prime Suspect, Lewis and Cold Feet will be offered on Sky Anytime+ from tomorrow, Tuesday, 31 January, accessible through the main Sky Anytime+ menu, as well as a new dedicated ITV Player section.

The full ITV Player seven-day catchup service allowing access to the latest episodes of shows such as Coronation Street and Emmerdale will follow later in the year.

The BBC iPlayer will also be added to Sky Anytime+ later this year, giving Sky Anytime+ users access to the latest instalments of EastEnders. BBC archive content is already available on the VOD service via Sky's existing deal with UKTV.

Sky has been able to offer on-demand access to some BBC shows through its partnership with UKTV, the pay-TV joint venture between BBC Worldwide and US firm Scrips Networks interactive.

However, the broadcaster was unable to offer the full BBC iPlayer service due to a lack of agreement with the corporation over the process of syndication of on-demand content.

Sky is also extending the reach of Sky Anytime+ by making it available to all Sky+ HD homes with a broadband connection, across all internet service providers.

As a result more than 5 million Sky homes will soon be able to access the VoD service. Sky Anytime+ is currently available to 1.2 million Sky Broadband customers.

Notes for Spain:

Sky Anytime+ is only available on Sky+HD digiboxes.
Sky Anytime+ is not available for users using a Spanish IP internet address.
Sky Anytime+ is only available using a UK IP internet address.

ESPN Free Weekend February 2012

Premier League in your home for free for first time in 20 years as ESPN air Manchester City v Fulham on Freeview

Fans will be able to watch a Barclays Premier League match for free for the first time ever next month.

Broadcaster ESPN have announced that their flagship channel will be free-to-view over the weekend starting Friday, February 3.

As a result, people who just have basic Freeview, of which there around 10m in the United Kingdom, will be able to watch Fulham's trip to Manchester City on Saturday, February 4.

This will be the first time that a Premier League match has been made available for free.

Viewers will also be able to watch matches from Serie A and the Bundesliga, while basketball, tennis and UFC will also be screened during the four-day period.

"Millions of UK fans have already discovered the great range of great sport ESPN offers – from the Barclays Premier League to Serie A, to cricket, darts, motorsports and UFC," said ESPN vice president Jeroen Oerlemans.

"This is a great opportunity for us to introduce that to millions more and let them sample the programming ESPN has on offer."

The match will also be made available to BSkyB, BT Vision and Top Up TV customers, meaning that it has a potential audience of 20m. The game will be shown free to Virgin Media customers.

According to the Premier League, the previous record was 3.2m for last season’s game between Spurs and Manchester United. The highest recorded audience for a Premier League Match of the Day package was 5.49m in February last year, when viewers were drawn in by a record 41 goal haul that included Newcastle United’s 4-4 draw with Arsenal.

The game at the Etihad on Saturday 4 February will be the first Premier League game to be made available for viewing in homes with the basic Freeview package. But there is no guarantee of a bumper audience – many Freeview viewers have deliberately resisted the charms of the Premier League, which has been a key part of the BSkyB programming package.

The first live Premier League game was Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 win over Liverpool in August 1992. ESPN is broadcasting unencrypted for the whole of the first weekend in February, from Friday to Monday.

Nokia's new Lumia smart phone will sponsor the weekend.

ESPN FREE WEEKEND: HIGHLIGHTS

Friday 3rd February

Bundesliga - FC Nuremburg vs Borussia Dortmund - 7:30pm

NBA - New York Knicks @ Boston Celtics - 1:00am


Saturday 4th February

Barclays Premier League - Manchester City vs Fulham - 4:30pm

Serie A - Roma vs Inter Milan - 7:45pm

UFC 143 - Nick Diaz vs Carlos Condit - 3:00am


Sunday 5th February

Serie A - Genoa vs Lazio - 11:30am

Serie A - Fiorentina vs Udinese - 1:45pm

Bundesliga - FC Kaiserslautern vs FC Cologne - 4:15pm

Studio show - Talk of the Terrace - 6:45pm

Serie A - AC Milan vs Napoli - 7:15pm

Studio show - Pardon the Interruption - 10:00pm


This free weekend is not applicable to Virgin, UPC, Talk Talk, Freesat or Freesat from Sky platforms.

Warning of Microsoft ‘broken computer’ scam .

And, floowing on from my last post (http://costablancasatellite.blogspot.com/2012/01/scam-from-callers-claiming-to-be-from.html) this is in this weeks Euro Weekly News about this caller claiming to be from Microsoft and saying your PC is broken and they can fix it...


[QUOTE]Warning of Microsoft ‘broken computer’ scam .

A NUMBER of readers from various parts of Spain have contacted EWN reporting a scam in which a person claiming to be from Microsoft calls to fix their computer.

Microsoft has a webpage dedicated to scams that use its name fraudulently, including this one.

While many people many people may not realise they are being scammed and part with their money thinking a service has been provided, for other’s alarm bells ring, but often too late.

This was the case for Peter Dunn from Velez Rubio in Almeria. The same day he had bought a new computer he received a call from a woman saying she was from Windows PC Support.

“She said that my computer has sent a serious error message to them and that there is a high risk that the computer will crash terminally very soon. She then asked me to start the computer and type in various codes. During this initial conversation I ask if she is from Microsoft and she said ‘yes’.”

He was later transferred to a ‘senior technician’, who asked Mr Dunn to type in several codes and stressed that the problem was ‘very serious’.

This man was even able to confirm Mr Dunn’s IP Address and Microsoft Key. All this took about 20 minutes.

“He then told me that my computer would terminally crash in 25 minutes and offered to correct and protect my computer for life, all for a single payment of €130,” said Mr Dunn, who declined the offer saying he would take the computer back to where he had bought it from.

“The technician got quite agitated saying it had nothing to do with the company that sold me the computer and that if I didn’t do the repair I would lose everything.”

Since Mr Dunn had only just bought the computer there was nothing for him to lose, but for many the fear of losing treasured photos would be a strong motivating factor to part with money to solve this problem.

“This scam has been around since 2010 and originates in India,” Cliff Dale, senior technician at Electronbox in Fuengirola told EWN.

“The calls are generally from landline numbers assigned to VOIP companies (like Skype and others) and they use these to link to a call centre in India.

They have already scammed several thousand people in the UK, Ireland, USA and Canada, some for as much as $4,200 (€3,225).

This scan is often successful because “most people have a PC these days and many already believe their computer is perhaps a bit slow,” said Mr Dale.

However, how these scammers get people’s information seems to be a mystery “as they are now targeting English speaking people here in Spain it suggests their data is already compromised somewhere.”

Anybody who has followed their instructions may have had their PCs security compromised. “In several cases Malware (virus files) have been installed on our client’s computers with the hope of gaining other personally identifiable information,” said Mr Dale.

“Microsoft does not make unsolicited calls to clients, particularly from an error report sent by your computer. Mr Dale advises that anybody who receives a call of this nature should tell the person it is not convenient to talk at the moment and get a number to call them back on.

Then report the scam to http://actionfraud.org.uk/ and give them the phone number.

They will collate the information and pass it on to various other law enforcement agencies for action.
[/QUOTE]

Scam from callers claiming to be from Microsoft

I have received a few calls from concerned people asking about the following scam.

A telephone call, from someone claiming to be from Microsoft, gets the unsuspecting person to believe that their computer is faulty. This person claims they can fix it....

Now here is the catch...you have to grant them access to your PC so they can fix it....!!!

DO NOT DO THIS AT ALL!!!

This is where you grant them access to your PC and they can get any data or install other SPY programs onto your PC without you knowing.

Sometimes, they create a problem on your PC, and say that for a sum of money they can fix it for you, otherwise "your computer is at risk and it may crash and you will lose everything."

This is just a scam.
A trick to get money and personal details from a computer.
If you say can you have their name and call them back, or if you can check this with someone working at Microsft they will claim that they are a "secret department" and no-one really knows they exist!
They get your details from a phone book or other public listing.

Be polite...and end the call as soon as possible.

Microsoft has found that thousands of people have received fraudulent phone calls from scammers claiming to be from the company. The fraud is said to cost each victim more than £500. [17 June 2011]

The scam works by criminals posing as computer security engineers and calling people at home to tell them they are at risk of a computer security threat. The scammers tell their victims they are providing free security checks and add authenticity by claiming to represent legitimate companies and using telephone directories to refer to their victims by name.

Once they have tricked their victims into believing they have a problem and that the caller can help, the scammers are believed to run through a range of deception techniques designed to steal money.

Microsoft reveals extent of phone scamTo establish the extent of this emerging form of Internet fraud, Microsoft surveyed 7,000 computer users in the U.K., Ireland, U.S. and Canada. The survey showed that across all four countries, 15% of people had received a call from scammers. In Ireland this rose to 26%.

Of those who received a call, 22%, or 3% of the total survey sample, were deceived into following the scammers’ instructions, which ranged from permitting remote access to their computer and downloading software code provided by the criminals to providing credit card information and making a purchase.

The vast majority (79%) of people deceived in this way suffered some sort of financial loss. Seventeen percent said they had money taken from their accounts, 19 percent reported compromised passwords and 17% were victims of identity fraud. More than half (53%) said they suffered subsequent computer problems.

The average cost of repairing damage caused to computers by the scammers was more than £1,000.

The following is Microsoft’s advice:

•Be suspicious of unsolicited calls related to a security problem, even if they claim to represent a respected company.
•Never provide personal information, such as credit card or bank details, to an unsolicited caller.
•Do not go to a website, type anything into a computer, install software or follow any other instruction from someone who calls out of the blue.
•Take the caller’s information down and pass it to the authorities.
•Use up-to-date versions of Windows and application software.
•Make sure security updates are installed regularly.
•Use a strong password and change it regularly.
•Make sure the firewall is turned on and that antivirus software is installed and up to date.
•Microsoft Security Essentials is a free antivirus product and is available at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security_essentials/default.aspx.
Microsoft advises anyone who thinks they may already have been a victim of a phone scam to do the following:

•Change their computer’s password, change the password on their main email account and change the password for any financial accounts, especially bank and credit cards.
•Scan their computer with the Microsoft Safety Scanner to find out if they have malware installed on their computer.
•Contact their bank and credit card companies.

Premier League in your home for free for first time in 20 years as ESPN air Manchester City v Fulham on Freeview

Premier League in your home for free for first time in 20 years as ESPN air Manchester City v Fulham on Freeview

Fans will be able to watch a Barclays Premier League match for free for the first time ever next month.

Broadcaster ESPN have announced that their flagship channel will be free-to-view over the weekend starting Friday, February 3.

As a result, people who just have basic Freeview, of which there around 10m in the United Kingdom, will be able to watch Fulham's trip to Manchester City on Saturday, February 4.

This will be the first time that a Premier League match has been made available for free.

Viewers will also be able to watch matches from Serie A and the Bundesliga, while basketball, tennis and UFC will also be screened during the four-day period.

"Millions of UK fans have already discovered the great range of great sport ESPN offers – from the Barclays Premier League to Serie A, to cricket, darts, motorsports and UFC," said ESPN vice president Jeroen Oerlemans.

"This is a great opportunity for us to introduce that to millions more and let them sample the programming ESPN has on offer."

Nokia's new Lumia smart phone will sponsor the weekend.

How to set your Sky+HD box to operate on a single feed mode using one cable.

A Sky+HD digibox is ideally to be used with two cable feeds from your satellite dish. This allows you to use the full potential of your Sky+HD box, and allows you to watch one channel and record another at the same time.

However, in some cases, especailly in community satellite installations, it may not be possible to have a seconds cable feeding your Sky+HD box.

Having only a single cable to your Sky+HD box can cause some problems, such as the "No satellite signal is being received" on screen error message, if you do not tell your Sky+HD box that you are only using a single cable.

This is the process to set your Sky+HD box into single feed / cable mode.



More information at:
How to set your Sky+HD box to operate on a single cable feed from the LNB

http://www.satandpcguy.com

Sky Default Transponder Frequency Setting for Sky HD boxes on the Costa Blanca Spain

"What to do if you receive the message "NO SATELLITE SIGNAL BEING RECEIVED" on a Sky HD digibox receiver?"

When a Sky HD digibox is turned on the first time the first thing the box tries to do is, amongst other things, to download approximately 6 hours of EPG information from a specific default frequency (or Transponder) from the satellite. The digibox must have this information to start to work. Unfortunately, the default frequency (transponder) that the decoder is initially set to look for (11778) is one of the weaker signals in Spain and the Costa Blanca, especially during the afternoons, even on a 2.4m satellite dish! So should you experience one of Spains frequent power cuts during this period, your digibox may be unable to find this frequency, fail to boot up, and display the on screen message "No Satellite Signal Being Received". Therefore, to assist the digibox to receive the bare minimum information it requires boot up the default frequency must be changed to another frequency to enable the initial information download.

This shows you how to change the default frequency to help the box boot up.



More information at:

Sky Default Transponder Frequency Setting for Sky HD boxes on the Costa Blanca Spain

Sky Default Transponder Frequency Setting for Sky boxes on the Costa Blanca Spain

"What to do if you receive the message "NO SATELLITE SIGNAL BEING RECEIVED" on a Sky digibox receiver?"

When a Sky digibox is turned on the first time the first thing the box tries to do is, amongst other things, to download approximately 6 hours of EPG information from a specific default frequency (or Transponder) from the satellite. The digibox must have this information to start to work. Unfortunately, the default frequency (transponder) that the decoder is initially set to look for (11778) is one of the weaker signals in Spain and the Costa Blanca, especially during the afternoons, even on a 2.4m satellite dish! So should you experience one of Spains frequent power cuts during this period, your digibox may be unable to find this frequency, fail to boot up, and display the on screen message "No Satellite Signal Being Received". Therefore, to assist the digibox to receive the bare minimum information it requires boot up the default frequency must be changed to another frequency to enable the initial information download.

This shows you how to change the default frequency to help the box boot up.



More information at:


Sky Default Transponder Frequency Setting for Sky boxes on the Costa Blanca Spain

MBC HD channels soon on Badr / Arabsat at 26 east

The MBC Group media company, based in the United Arab Emirates, has started test broadcasts on the Badr 6 satellite, which is located at 26 east.

The tests are for the soon to be launched HD channels, MBC HD, MBC 2 HD, HD MBC 4, MBC Action HD Max HD MBC, MBC Drama HD and Al Arabiya HD.

Unlike their standard definition channels, these MBC HD channels will be encoded and will require a smart card and a subscription, and a compatiable receiver.

Technical parameters / frequrency:

Badr 6 (26 ° E)
frequency 12.437 GHz, pol V, SR 27500, FEC 5 / 6, DVB-S2/QPSK

It is possible to receive some Badr 6 frequencies in Spain.

MBC Group also broadcasts the same programs on satellites Nilesat 201 (7 ° W).

Formula One Grand Prix races on BBC in 2012

Ten races will be shown live on BBC One in 2012, including the British, Monaco and Brazilian grands prix.

The 10 races shown live on BBC One and BBC HD will be: China (15 April), Spain (13 May), Monaco (27 May), Europe (24 June), Britain (8 July), Belgium (2 September), Singapore (23 September), Korea (14 October), Abu Dhabi (4 November) and Brazil (25 November).

There will be extended highlights programmes on BBC One of the other 10, of either 90-minute or two-hour duration depending on the location of the race.

Races in the Far Eastern time zone will have highlights broadcast on BBC One at 2pm, with those in the European time zone getting 90 minutes at 5.30pm.

The BBC's coverage of all the live races will be as extensive as ever, with all the action on and off the track across TV, radio, online, red button and mobile.

There will be full live coverage of both qualifying and race on BBC One, BBC One HD and the BBC Sport website, plus a one-hour evening highlights programme on BBC Three and BBC HD.

For these live BBC races, all three practice sessions will be shown live on the red button and the website.

The F1 Forum will continue on the red button for about an hour of comment and analysis after the programme. It will also be available on the red button and the website after the non-live races.

The presentation team will be at all the races, including those that are not being broadcast live on BBC television.

All 20 grands prix will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 5 live or 5 live sports extra.

The full narrative of every grand prix weekend, including live text and 5 live audio commentary of all on-track sessions as well as news, interviews, pictures and highlights, will also be available on the BBC Sport website.

The BBC Sport website and red button will broadcast live coverage of every second of on-track action for all the races that are live on BBC One and will have highlights of the others.

Unprotected joints in satellite cable

I recently visited a satellite dish installation on an urbanisation in Orba, near Denia. The 2.4m satellite dish and Sky digibox had been installed by an installer who lived near the town.

The client had recently been experiencing loss of channels and signals. They had contacted their local installer, who, without even looking at the satellite dish or without using a signal meter, diagnosed the signal reception problems down to a poor Sky digibox (which they had supplied). They advised the client that they would require a new Sky digibox, which would cure their problems of no satellite signal.

The client was unsure of this and contacted me, The Sat and PC Guy, for a second opinion on their problems. A few minutes at the satellite dish determined that the signal was OK at the dishes "head end" and there were no problems with the Invacom LNB on the satellite dish. But there was no signal at the receiver.

A quick check on the roof, and the problem was found.

There was a join in the satellite cable. Not unusual, but the join had not been waterproofed by using good quality "rubber" tape, instead just using insulation tape. This insulation tape is not good at all, is not waterproof, and easily "disintegrates" in the Spanish sun.

Taking away the insulation tape and looking at the join inthe cable, the problem of no satellite signal being receive by the Sky digibox became Crystal Clear.

As the join in the cable had not been waterproof, it was Crystal Clear that rainwater had managed to get into the join. AS the cable is powered, by the Sky digibox, the connection had burnt away, resulting in no connection between the two parts of cable, and hence the loss of signal.

After repairing the cable (as replacing the whole cable was not an option due to the way the cable entered the house to get to the TV area), with a new cable join and waterproof tape, the satellite signal returned to the Sky digibox.

So if this local "installer" had done his job correctly and used a small bit of thought and intelligence, he would have found the problem. But instead tried to sell a new Sky digibox which was totally unnecessary.

Have filmgoers seen through the 3D hype? Movie fans fed up with inflated cinema prices opt for traditional 2D screenings

It was hailed as the next big thing in cinema but it seems Britain’s 3D boom may be over before it really even began.

Film fans fed up with inflated prices and disillusioned by the lack of added value from watching many movies in the format, opted to stick with traditional 2D showings instead.

Little over a fifth of box office sales were for 3D films in 2011, compared to 27.5 per cent in 2010, according to new figures from global industry analysts Rentrak EDI.

It had been expected the 3D trend would soar after the success of James Cameron’ s epic Avatar, which made £615 million worldwide, with 90 per cent of the audience watching in HD, and the huge popularity of Toy Story 3.

But after an initial burst of interest it appears British cinema-goers don’t feel it represents value for money for every film.

The major cinema groups charge customers of 3D films up to 41 per cent more than those seeing standard films and many charge an additional £1 for the special glasses.

This means families of four face paying nearly £11 more to watch a film in 3D.

‘It is too early to say but it seems that people are being more discerning and making decisions on individual films, rather than simply watching everything in 3D,’ a spokesman for the BFI said.

Avatar and Toy Story 3 were huge hits in the format in the UK in 2010, grossing 67million and 73.8 million respectively.

By contrast the only standout 3D hit last year was the final film in the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, which was the final film in the franchise and grossed 73 million.
The rest of the 3D top five for 2011, which included Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, grossed under £30 million.

The research also showed that cinema firms, including Odeon and Cineworld, charge up to £1 per person on top of the ticket price to pay for 3D glasses.

A recent YouGov poll found that almost half of Britons thought the format was 'over-hyped and just a phase.'
Another reason for the slump in interest, is that 2011 saw a rise in the popularity of character-led films in Britain such as The Kings Speech, which made £45.7 million, and Bridesmaids, which made £23 million, and these do not need the special technology.

Daily Mail film critic Chris Tookey said that consumers have also wised up to the fact that sum of the '3D films' are simply a rip off.

He has said: ‘Hollywood has jumped on the 3D bandwagon and is driving it hell-for-leather.

The irony is that many of the 3D movies that cinema-goers are paying over the odds for aren’t really in 3D at all.’

He pointed to Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never Again, which actually on featured just 30 minutes of his concert in that format.

An additional problem is that some people feel unwell when watching in this format.

Around 10 per cent of the UK population has poor binocular vision, which means it is difficult for them to see 3D effects in movies and video games.

Instead, they see a blurry image, and will suffer headaches, eye strain and even nausea as a result.
Experts do not recommend allowing children under eight to regularly use 3D glasses because their eye muscles are still developing.

There are also question marks over whether 3D television will really take off, with some industry figures insisting that until a 'glasses-free, affordable' option is available it is unlikey to.

Some electronics manufacturers have issued disclaimers to protect themselves from legal claims warning that viewing 3D TV may cause ‘motion sickness’, ‘disorientation’ and ‘eye strain’.

Last year, Sir David Attenborough warned 3D television would not take off in Britain.

The veteran, whose documentary for Sky - Flying Monsters - was made in the format, insisted it would not become the norm for viewers because it was ‘too isolating’.

Instead Sir David said consumers would opt to watch ‘big events’ in 3D such as World Cup football matches, the forthcoming Royal Wedding, or ground-breaking new nature or history shows.


source: dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2086535/Movie-fans-fed-3D-cinema-prices-opt-traditional-2D-screenings.html

C4 planning repeats channel

Channel 4 looks set to launch a new station that would show the last seven days most popular programmes.

The plan is thought to be called ‘Project Shuffle’ and, according to sources close to the channel, it is an attempt to increase the broadcaster’s portfolio share.

The main channel’s content would be made available for the next seven days in a linear broadcast fashion.

The example one source gave was: an episode of Location, Location, Location premiering on a Wednesday would be played out in the same slot on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Films and acquired series are likely to be exempt from the shuffle due to rights issues.

A C4 spokesman said: “We are always looking at ways of innovating our offering to viewers,” but otherwise declined to comment.

The C4 network currently comprises of four channels: C4, E4, More 4 and Film 4.

More 4 is being rebranded and overhauled to become more of a lifestyle channel. A digital scrapbook, will be launched in April, which will align the channel more closely to channel4.com.

The overhaul will see More 4 repeating programmes such as One Born Every Minute and Come Dine With Me from the main channel.

BBC idea to charge for iPlayer by extending archive and availability of programmes

The BBC has been accused of trying to bring in a 'two tier' licence fee after it was revealed the corporation is looking into a pay-per-view scheme for its vast archive.

Under the controversial plan, viewers would pay a small, but yet to be disclosed, charge if they wanted to watch a BBC programme from its huge back catalogue.

At the moment many favourites can be seen for free soon after broadcast via the online iPlayer service but for a limited period

The new scheme would let them see programmes at any time, either to watch once or, possibly, to download - though this, too, may turn out to be for a limited period.

According to trade journal Broadcast, insiders say the plan will not be for a profitable venture but one which charges to cover its costs. The service could cost millions to set up and operate, say industry experts.

A BBC spokesman admitted: 'Careful modelling will be required but it's something we're looking at.

'This is one of a series of ideas we are considering.'

Problems that need to be ironed out include what to pay independent production companies who own the content rights on many BBC shows made since 2003.

Then there is the conflict with the DVD/Blu-Ray sales of BBC series and how the service could affect profits.

To counter this, the pay per view service will not offer previews, interviews or any of the extras to be found on a typical series DVD or Blu-Ray box set.

The BBC spokesman added: 'We need to talk to the industry to ensure we are doing it in a way that works for everyone, so it is not imminent but it is something we are looking at.'

In previous interviews, BBC director general Mark Thompson compared the pay per view idea as like having a BBC library where 'shelves are cleared every seven days.'

The BBC is hoping to the system will be in place within three years and already established by the time its Charter is renewed in 2016.


source: dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2085744

FA Cup 3rd Round Replay and 4th Round Matches on ITV and ESPN

Tuesday 17th January
FA Cup 3rd Round Replay

Leicester City vs Nottingham Forest - 1930 - ESPN, ESPN HD
Wrexham vs Brighton - 1945 - S4C
QPR vs MK Dons - 2000 - ITV4, Setanta Ireland

Wednesday 18th January
FA Cup 3rd Round Replay
Wolves vs Birmingham - 2000 - ITV1, ITV1HD, Setanta Ireland



Friday 27th January
FA Cup 4th Round
Everton vs Fulham - 2000 - ESPN, ESPN HD

Saturday 28th January
FA Cup 4th Round
Liverpool vs Manchester United - 1245 - ITV1, ITV1HD,

Sunday 29th January
FA Cup 4th Round
Sunderland vs Middlesbrough - 1330 - ITV1, ITV1HD,


http://www.satandpcguy.com/forum/showthread.php?70968-Live-English-Football-matches-on-Satellite-TV-(Sky-ESPN-ADMC)-in-Spain-2011-12

LG ships largest LCD TV this summer

LG's pre-CES teaser release already confirmed the company's plans to ship a massive 84-inch 4K resolution LCD TV this year, but now we know when, and can speculate whether it will provide "lossless" passive 3D images.

The LG 84LM9600 will be the largest LCD confirmed for U.S. shipping this year, outdoing the 80-inch Sharp. LG has shown the screen size before but this is the first time it has promised a U.S. ship date: June or July of this year, according to the company rep we spoke to, price TBD.

The TV will have a resolution of 3,840x2,160 pixels, aka 4K, since it's four times the number of pixels employed by garden-variety 1080p TVs (1,920x1,080). For its part, LG calls the resolution "UD" for "ultra-definition," making this a (wait for it) "UDTV." We asked a company rep whether that improved resolution would help with reproduction of passive 3D and while he was quick to assure us that current passive 3D by LG is superb in every way, he did mention the potential for "lossless" resolution.

Current passive 3D TVs by LG, Vizio, and Toshiba use a film pattern retarder (FPR) system that essentially sends half of the 1080p resolution to each eye, which can cause some jagged line artifacts and visible line structure in our experience. A 4K TV like the 84LM9600 has double the vertical resolution, so it's capable of sending full 1080p to each eye even with an FPR system. We're curious to see how it works since this system comes closest to the ideal of passive glasses with full resolution to each eye (more info).

We don't expect the extra resolution to have much impact for 2D material since native 4K content is basically nonexistent.

Although it shares a series name with the 2012 LM9600 Nano line of full-array local dimming LED TVs, we don't know for sure what kind of LED backlight technology the 84-incher uses. We do know that it shares those models' feature sets, including the four-way Magic Motion remote with voice control and LG's redesigned Smart TV suite.

LG 84LM9600 features:


84-inch LED-based LCD
3,840x2,160 native resolution (4K)
passive 3D compatible
Smart TV with Magic Motion remote


source: cnet.com/8301-33379_1-57354791/lg-ships-largest-lcd-tv-this-summer-will-its-4k-rez-help-passive-3d

US pressured Spain to implement online piracy law, leaked files shows

The US ambassador in Madrid threatened Spain with "retaliation actions" if the country did not pass tough new internet piracy laws, according to leaked documents.

The latest revelation comes amid a fierce debate over America's own plans to pass online piracy legislation that critics claim will damage the infrastructure of the internet and restrict free speech.

In a letter dated 12 December and obtained by Spanish newspaper El Pais, US ambassador Alan Solomont wrote to the outgoing Spanish prime minister expressing his concern about the lack of movement on a online piracy bill, known as the Sinde law.

"The government has unfortunately failed to finish the job for political reasons, to the detriment of the reputation and economy of Spain," reads the letter to José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. The letter was also sent to minister of culture Ángeles González-Sinde, after whom the law is named.

Spain would go on to pass Sinde at the start of this year.

In his letter, Solomont issued veiled threats, reminding its recipients that Spain is on the Special 301, the US trade representatives' list of countries that do not provide "adequate and effective" protection of intellectual property rights. Spain risks having its position on the list "degraded", and could join the real blacklist of "the worst violators of global intellectual property rights."

Spain was among 28 countries put on 2011's Special 301 list, including Belarus, Greece, Italy and Ukraine. Countries deemed the worst offenders are put on a "priority watchlist" and can be subject to "retaliation actions" including the elimination of tariff agreements and a referral to the World Trade Organisation. Last year's priority list included China, India, Israel and Russia.

"The government of Spain made commitments to the rights owners and to the US government. Spain can not afford to see their credibility questioned on this issue," Solomont wrote.

"The rampant Internet piracy hurts the economy of Spain and cultural industries," he added.

The law creates a government body with powers to force internet service providers to block sites alleged to have infringed copyright. Copyright holders can lobby the government body to close down sites.

The Spanish legislation is similar to Protect IP and Sopa, the stop online piracy act, two pieces of anti-piracy legislation now being discussed in the US Congress.

Art Brodsky, director for Public Knowledge, a Washington-based public interest group that has campaigned against Sopa, said: "It appears as if the US government has been pressuring the Spanish government for at least three years on the copyright issue

"It is unfortunate that the US ambassador is again issuing threats to the new Spanish government over the implementation of a law similar to one that is generating quite a bit of controversy in the US and has brought forth opposition from all sides of the political spectrum."

In 2010 El Paid published WikiLeaks cables that showed the US government has consistently pushed for Spain to tighten up its online piracy legislation and threatened to put the country on its 301 watch list.

In one 2008 cable, US officials wrote: "We propose to tell the new government that Spain will appear on the Watch List if it does not do three things by October 2008. First, issue a [Government of Spain] announcement stating that internet piracy is illegal, and that the copyright levy system does not compensate creators for copyrighted material acquired through peer-to-peer file sharing. Second, amend the 2006 'circular' that is widely interpreted in Spain as saying that peer-to-peer file sharing is legal. Third, announce that the GoS will adopt measures along the lines of the French and/or UK proposals aimed at curbing Internet piracy by the summer of 2009."

• This article was corrected on 6 January 2012 because it described José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero as a former Spanish president, instead of prime minister.

source: guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jan/05/us-pressured-spain-online-piracy

Discovery Max: New channel to TDT in Spain 12th January 2012

Discovery Max: New channel to TDT in Spain 12th January 2012

Discovery Networks will launch "Discovery Max" on the 12th January 2012, as 1745.

Discovery Max will be available for free, on Spains TDT Digital TV service.

Discovery Max replaces the current channel of Veo.

Discovery Max will will include content from Discovery Networks channels, including American Chopper, Born Survivor with Bear Grylls, Mythbusters, Deadliest Catch, Ink Inc, Destroyed in Seconds and more.

As many of these channels originalted in the USA or the UK, it can be expected that many of these programmes will be offered with the original English audio soundtrack.

The new Discovery Max channel is currently available, prior to launch, but is showing test transmission using a showreel of the programmes it will be showing.

Sky Arts and other channel number changes for Sky in 2012

Sky will be having a small channel reshuffle in the enar future. Possible dates for these changes are either Tuesday 24th January 2012 or Tuesday 21st February.

Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts 1 HD move from 243 and 244 to 129
Sky Arts 2 and Sky Arts 2 HD move from 245 and 256 to 130
Sky 2 moves from 129 to 121
Sky Living Loves closes down
Sky 3D moves from 217 to 170
Sky Living +1 moves from 121 to 123

Fox Movies and Fox Series on Nilesat and Arabsat Frequencies

Nilesat and Arabsat are satellites that offer a range of free to air channels to the Middle East. They show a range of UK and USA imported TV shows. Many of these are broadcast in English, although they do tend to have hard coded Arabic subtitles.

Fox Movies is available on the following satellite frequencies:

Arabsat / Badr 4/6 (26 east)
Frequency 11843
Polarisation H
Symbol Rate 27500
FEC 3/4

Nilesat 101 / 102 (7 West)
Frequency 11296
Polarisation H
Symbol Rate 27500
FEC 2/3

more information on Fox Movies, including a programme guide, is available at Fox Movies TV Guide - Arabsat Nilesat - English Language TV - Frequencies


Fox Series is available on the following satellite frequencies:

Arabsat / Badr 4/6 (26 east)
Frequency 11843
Polarisation H
Symbol Rate 27500
FEC 3/4

Nilesat 101 / 102 (7 West)
Frequency 11296
Polarisation H
Symbol Rate 27500
FEC 2/3

more information on Fox Series, including a programme guide, is available at Fox Series TV Guide - Fox Arabic - Arabsat Nilesat Frequencies - English Language TV

Spanish government to rethink RTVE funding

The recently elected Government of the PP in Spain is on the verge of announcing a reduction of the budget of state broadcaster RTVE by €200 million.

The news was announced by Cristobal Montoro, Minister of Finance and Public Administration and the €200 million cut back will fall within the total €442 million that the ministry intends to cut.

Following budget cuts of €200 million, the Spanish government has said it is now reviewing the financial situation of the state broadcaster RTVE.

The situation of the broadcaster is ‘serious’ and the government is considering re-introducing selling commercial airtime as a serious option.

The current model of financing the broadcaster was introduced by the former socialist government and is based an a special tax of 0.9% slapped on the turnover of telecom companies and private broadcasters. This type of tax, which Spain introduced after France pioneered the idea, has come under heavy criticism from Brussels.

In addition to swingeing cuts to its budget, as decreed by Spain's new conservative government, it now seems inevitable that national public broadcaster Corporación RTV is to lose a number of channels.

As reported yesterday in Rapid TV News, TVE’s budget is to be reduced by €200 million and now in a futher indignity TVE may be forced toi decide between cutting channels or return to including commercial advertising on its programming.

Other avenues that the Corporation could take include having to sell some of its sporting rights such as the crown jewels of the UEFA Champions League's rights or even the ones pertaining to the London Olympics.

sources: rapidtvnews.com/index.php/2012010418475/rtve-may-reduce-channels-sell-rights-or-accept-ads.html and broadbandtvnews.com/2012/01/04/spanish-government-to-rethink-rtve-funding/