BBC SOAP DRAWS THOUSANDS OF COMPLAINTS

Thousands of fans of Britain’s long-running soap EastEnders have filed complaints with the BBC, which has carried it for 26 years, with OFCOM, the British TV watchdog, and on Facebook and Twitter, about its current storyline. On Friday, one of the principal characters discovers that her baby has died of sudden infant death syndrome and [...]

BRITISH CABINET MINISTER DECLARES WAR ON MURDOCH, RETREATS

Britain’s business secretary Vince Cable was under fire today (Wednesday) after he reportedly told two newspaper reporters posing as constituents that he had “declared war on [News Corp chairman Rupert] Murdoch and intended to block him from acquiring complete ownership of satellite operator BSkyB. Cable, the British cabinet officer who oversees broadcast watchdog OFCOM, told [...]

U.K. GOVERNMENT ENTERS FRAY OVER MURDOCH’S BSKYB GRAB

Amid growing complaints that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp is gaining far too much control over the British media, Vince Cable, a member of Prime Minister David Cameron’s government, has stepped in and ordered media regulator OFCOM to investigate the “plurality issues” raised by Murdoch’s efforts to buy the 61 percent of satellite operator BSkyB that [...]

BRITAIN’S MEDIA REGULATOR’S BUDGET IS SLASHED

As part of an overall austerity policy aimed at reducing the country’s massive debt, the British government will slash the budget of OFCOM, the U.K. television regulator by 28 percent. Plans announced on Thursday call for a 20-percent reduction of OFCOM’s payroll as 170 of its 870-member workforce are let go. In a message to [...]

IN U.K., TV HOLDS ITS OWN AGAINST THE WEB

Television viewing in the U.K. continues to rise despite competition from the Internet and home media, according to British broadcast regulator OFCOM. In a research paper published today (Thursday), OFCOM said TV viewing has expanded some 3 percent during the past year and now accounts for an average of 3 hours and 45 minutes per [...]

PRODUCT PLACEMENTS GAIN U.K. APPROVAL

TV producers in the U.K. will at last be allowed to include product-placement advertising in their programs under strict rules outlined on Monday by British regulator OFCOM. The ads would not be permitted at all in children’s, news, or religious programs and would also not be permitted on any program if they tout medicines, tobacco, [...]

BRITAIN RELAXING BROADCAST RULES ON INDECENT SPEECH

The British public has become “more willing to tolerate mild swearing and offensive language” on television any time during the day before 9:00 p.m., but several words, including the notorious f- and c-words should only be used after the watershed hour, the media watchdog OFCOM said today (Thursday). OFCOM said that it had commissioned research [...]

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