The new Broadcasting Bill 2008 was published today which the Minister describes as significantly changing the broadcasting landscape in Ireland.
The main headlines are the scrapping of the BCI and BCC to establish a new single content regulator to be known as the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. Two new free-to-air television services, Oireachtas TV and an Irish movie channel, are to be established and it includes a “right of reply” mechanism for members of the public.
However, hidden away from the headlines are three sections of interest to us.
The first, Section …

The public presentations by candidates for Ireland’s DTT Multiplex Licence’s were held today at the Westbury Hotel, Dublin. The ladies above were not present, I just loved this picture from Flickr!
On with the synopsis starting with what all have in common;
All will use the RTÉ NL transmission system so coverage predictions were all similar 60%+ in 2009 to 90%+ in 2012 as were investment figures of approx €120m.
All made play on how “Irish” they were!
All will have small free offering but mainly subscriber based.
All have large marketing budgets for launch.
All …

Just reading an interesting note on DigitalSpy about DTT (Digital Terrestrial Television) in France.
The article makes comparative mention of the sales of DTT Freeview boxes in the UK and notes that since October 2002 27m Freeview boxes have been sold there. 27m – that’s a lot. Well after all it is TV and TV always bags the spotlight. That’s why Freeview in the UK is such a stellar success.
However, before we run away with ourselves, here is an interesting note of my own. In roughly the same period, the DAB …

Nice feeling today. In March we promised to deliver the most advanced radio website in Ireland by today May 5th. It’s just gone online, on time and on budget!
Why the most advanced? Take a look at some Irish radio websites and you’ll see they are very static affairs. Even finding basic information like schedule is like trying to uncover a state secret. The over-riding thing you’ll notice is that not one of them will give you detail about what is happening right now on air.
We believe if you are coming …

While the UK radio industry continue to the debate where they’re going with DAB, listeners keep buying new radio sets in their droves.
RAJAR numbers for Q1 2008 were released this week containing lots of good news for digital radio with Reach and Share both up. The big figure is the increase in ownership of DAB radios. 27% of the population now own a DAB set at home. As a friend of mine always says, that’s 14 million unsubsidised radios. Could Sky TV beat that? I don’t think so!
I put this …