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UK

BBC turns to World War II for latest VR experience

The BBC’s VR Hub for virtual reality experiences has launched a new interactive VR experience based on World War II bombing raids on Berlin. BBC Northern Ireland teamed up with VR production outfit Immersive VR to stage 1943: Berlin Blitz, based on BBC sound archive recorded during war on a Lancaster bomber raid over Berlin. […]

Discovery’s Quest launches on Freeview in HD

Discovery-owned factual channel Quest has launched in high definition on the UK’s Freeview free-to-view platform, featuring a range of shows and sports events. Quest will continue to be available in standard definition on the platform. Quest’s programming line-up includes English Football League (EFL) highlights on Saturday evenings from 21:00 along with a midweek show. EFL […]

IHS: linear TV viewing down as online time increases

Linear TV viewing time declined year-on-year across the top five European markets in 2017 as the share of viewing time for online platforms increased, according to IHS Markit. The research firm noted that video consumption is changing across the leading five European markets – the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain – with time-shifted viewing […]

Virgin Media introduces download feature on Virgin TV Go app

Liberty Global-owned Virgin Media has introduced a new download feature to its Virgin TV Go app. Users of the app will have the ability to download about 2,000 episodes of catch-up and on-demand box-sets from content providers including Fox, ABC and Comedy Central, as well as Virgin TV’s collection of exclusive box-sets such as Kingdom, […]

Eleven Sports agrees UK deal with Facebook ahead of streaming service launch

Sports broadcaster Eleven Sports has teamed up with Facebook to make the social media platforms its free-to-air partner in the UK and Ireland. The partnership is the latest extension to Eleven’s various collaborations with Facebook and comes ahead of the planned launch of its own online streaming service in the UK and Ireland, expected later […]

New chief economist for Ofcom

UK media and telecom regulator Ofcom has named Luisa Affuso as its new chief economist. Affuso joins the regulator from PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she is a director in the economics group leading the competition economics team. She has advised on a number of high-profile competition policy matters, covering UK and international markets and including cases relevant to the sectors Ofcom regulates, […]

Parrot Analytics: Orange is the New Black tops UK in-demand list

Netflix’s Orange is the New Black topped Parrot Analytics’ list of the top 10 most ‘in-demand’ digital originals in the UK market for the week ending July 29. Parrot Analytics analyses the demand for recent popular digital titles across international markets, based on the application of artificial intelligence to expressions of demand across social media, fan […]

Ofcom: risks of structural decline in TV industry appear to be growing

TV viewing in the UK has been falling since 2010 but saw a steeper decline in 2017, with the risks of structural decline in the industry appearing to be growing. This was one of the findings of Ofcom’s Communications Market Report, a major study on how communications services are changing in the UK, which shines […]

Comedy Central Play app launches in the UK

Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) has launched its Comedy Central Play mobile streaming app in the UK. The service will offer Comedy Central’s back catalogue of short-form content. Virgin TV customers in the UK who subscribe to Comedy Central channels will also be able to access full-length episodes of programmes like The Daily Show, Inside Amy Schumer and Most […]

Viacom taps Red Bee for Paramount Network UK launch

Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) has tapped Red Bee Media for the launch of Paramount Network in the UK. Paramount Network, which launched in the UK market earlier this month, is being scheduled and programmed by the Channel 5 editorial team under the direction of Ben Frow, director of programmes at Viacom-owned Channel 5. The […]