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ITN Chief
Executive Steps Down
ITN chief executive Mark Wood is to step down after nearly
six years.
Wood will leave early next year to "pursue opportunities outside the
company" although he will remain in his dual role of ITN chairman "for a
period", the broadcaster said today.
In a statement, Wood said he was "proud" that "ITN is now flourishing as a
diversified multi-media company".
A spokesman for ITN's shareholders, which include ITV plc,
Daily Mail and General Trust, Thomson Reuters and United Business Media,
said: "ITN's new businesses are achieving double-digit growth this year and
Mark has put in place a strong new commercial team which has shown it can
sustain this pace.
"We intend to build on those successes and give every support to continuing
a strategy aimed at growing profitable areas of business and creating
shareholder value.
22:01
September
29 2008 - waveguide.co.uk
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Sky Loses Appeal
BSkyB has lost an appeal to keep hold of its 17.9 per cent
stake in ITV.
The broadcaster had challenged a ruling made earlier this year by the
Competition Commission and secretary of state John Hutton to reduce the
stake to below 7.5 per cent because the purchase was deemed to be bad for
competition.
But the Competition Appeal Tribunal, which had the power to quash part or
all of the previous findings and to send the case back to the Competition
Commission for further consideration, today dismissed the appeal.
BSkyB bought the stake in 2006 for £940 million. At the time, it was
criticised by some as a move designed to stop cable group NTL - now Virgin
Media - from buying ITV.
Responding today, ITV said: ” We welcome today’s judgement by the
Competition Appeal Tribunal dismissing in full BSkyB’s appeal against the
decisions of the Competition Commission and the Secretary of State in
relation to the acquisition of Sky’s 17.9 per cent interest in ITV.”
BSkyB said it would be reviewing the judgement carefully and that it would
decide on its next steps in due course.
18:30
September
29 2008 - waveguide.co.uk
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Inside Soap Awards
EastEnders has won nine prizes at this year's Inside Soap
awards - including best soap.
The show took back the top prize from Coronation Street which won it last
year for the first time in a decade.
EastEnder Lacey Turner won three awards, including best actress while
colleague Robert Kazinsky won best actor.
As well as best actress, Turner - who plays Stacey Branning -
also won the award for best couple, along with on-screen husband Bradley
Branning, played by Charlie Clements.
It was the third year running that the pair have won the
award.
Turner's Christmas storyline, in which Stacey had an affair with Bradley's
father, Max - played by Jake Wood - won best plot.
Kazinsky, who plays Stacey's brother Sean Slater, won both best actor and
sexiest actor.
Fellow EastEnder Kara Tointon, who plays Dawn Swann, was named sexiest
actress for the second time.
EastEnders also won in the categories of best newcomer - Rita Simons as Roxy
Slater - and funniest performance - Cheryl Fergison as Heather Trott.
Coronation Street won both "best bad boy" and "best bitch" thanks to Jack P
Shepherd, who plays David Platt, and Alison King, who plays Carla Connor.
Chris Chittell, Eric Pollard in ITV1's Emmerdale, won the outstanding
achievement award in recognition of his 22 years in the soap.
Aside from best bad boy and best bitch, Coronation Street took one other
award with Kym Marsh, who plays Michelle Connor, taking the best-dressed
soap star gong.
Hollyoaks' only award of the night was for Ellis Hollins, who won best young
actor for his portrayal of Tom Cunningham for the second time.
The Bill was named best drama for the third year running.
18:24
September
29 2008 - waveguide.co.uk
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Freesat Sales Top
100,000
Sales of Freesat boxes have reached 100,000 within five
months of the launch of the BBC-ITV digital satellite joint venture.
Sales have been helped by events such as Euro 2008,
Wimbledon, the Olympics and the UEFA Champions League.
The figures are published today ahead of the launch of digital television
recorder Freesat+ in November.
The organisation is in talks with more manufacturers and retailers and plans
to add further channels to the 130 currently available.
Freesat managing director Emma Scott said the focus now was on educating
people that simply owning an HD-ready TV did not enable them to watch HD
programming.
"Without an HD digital receiver connected to an HD Ready TV or an integrated
TV with Freesat HD built in you can't watch an HD TV programme," she said.
"For those people that already have a satellite dish installed, they may
simply be able to take their Freesat digital box or integrated TV home and
plug it straight in."
15:24
September
29 2008 - waveguide.co.uk
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BBC Sorry For
Football Swearing
The BBC issued a public apology after Newcastle United
manager Joe Kinnear swore during a live interview on BBC One at lunchtime on
Saturday's Football Focus.
The interim boss of the Tyneside club used the word 'sh*t'
while speaking on the show ahead of his club's 2-1 defeat at home to
Blackburn Rovers.
Speaking about Newcastle owner Mike Ashley on video link from the studio to
the club's stadium, St James' Park, Kinnear told presenter Manish Bhasin:
"He's the one who's cleared the debts; he's the one who's put the money in.
He's the one who's got Newcastle out of the sh*t."
Bhasin immediately interrupted Kinnear to issue an on-air apology.
"Whilst we make every effort to avoid broadcasting bad language this
unfortunately cannot be avoided during a live interview," said a BBC
spokesman.
"We apologise for any offence caused."
12:53
September
29 2008 - waveguide.co.uk
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ITV Warned Over
Taggart
Media regulator Ofcom has reprimanded ITV for showing
"harrowing and brutal scenes" - including a murder committed with a
blowtorch - during the afternoon in a series of repeats of its Scottish
drama series Taggart.
Scenes from the six repeats, first shown on ITV1 at 21:00 and reshown at
15:30 in May and June, showed characters being set alight, self immolation,
a man being shot in the head at close range, a bottle smashed in a man's
face and bleach forced down a struggling victim's throat.
The regfulator estimated that about 15,000 children younger than 15 watched
each of these repeats, the regulator said.
Other scenes in the episodes, which attracted 13 viewer complaints, included
the blowtorch murder, a heavily charred face shown after the attack and
scenes where characters were stabbed and wounded with a knife.
The regulator found ITV1 in breach of its rules on violence, protecting
children and meeting audience expectation. The broadcaster has been filling
its afternoon schedule with dramas since it decided 2006 to stop weekday
children's programming.
"Whilst Ofcom notes the desire of ITV1 to move away from children's
programming in some of its afternoon timeslots towards crime drama,
audiences do not expect inappropriate material to be shown at this time,"
the regulator said.
"We acknowledge that [the producers of the drama] STV [Scottish Television]
made some edits to the episodes complained of.
"Its argument - that some inappropriate sequences were not edited out
completely because this would have interrupted the continuity of the
programme - but that nonetheless the relevant episode was suitable for
broadcast, is not acceptable.
"Such an episode in Ofcom's view may simply not be appropriate for broadcast
in the afternoon."
In its initial response to Ofcom's inquiries, STV said it had to provide the
episodes for an afternoon transmission "at short notice" to fill gaps in the
schedule brought about by ITV's decision to air drama repeats in the
afternoon.
STV argued that the audience would be largely aware of the format and style
of Taggart, in that every episode contains at least one murder, and parents'
expectations would be informed by the programme title itself.
12:33
September
29 2008 - waveguide.co.uk
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Taliban Fire At
And and Dec
Ant and Dec had to dodge a missile attack during a surprise
visit to Afghanistan, it emerged last night.
The Geordie presenters were forced to dive for cover at Kandahar airport
when a Taliban fighter fired a rocket-propelled grenade.
Ant, 32, said: “It was pretty hairy — not something I’d like
to experience again.
“All the guys around us were pulling on body armour. We couldn’t believe how
close we were to being hit.
“It just goes to show what our troops go through every day.”
Dec, 33, said: “One minute everything was calm and the next the sirens were
wailing.”
The Britain’s Got Talent hosts were about to catch a flight when the Taliban
attacked.
04:56
September
29 2008 - waveguide.co.uk
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