his performance as a distinctly unimpressed club secretary in Trevor Griffiths' Comedians in 1975. Comedians, which has been revived at the Lyric, Hammersmith, is a brilliant play about a night-school for comics, supervised by an old vaudevillian, played originally by Jimmy Jewel, and disrupted by the subversive performance of Jonathan Pryce as a skinhead version of the Swiss clown Grock. This happened in the middle act, where Joyce as a fussing emcee made it perfectly clear where his sympathies lay – with the paying customers anxious for the resumption of the bingo. Once he had worked out that his character had to dislike everything on the stage around him, the tiny role made sense and he won, he boasted, several laughs in his 17 lines. He had been in the Nottingham Playhouse company of Richard Eyre, who directed Comedians, since Eyre's arrival in 1973 as artistic director, appearing in five new plays in that first great season: Howard Brenton and David Hare's epic Brassneck, Brenton's The Churchill Play, a new Adrian Mitchell version of The Government Inspector, John McGrath's Soft Or a Girl and Campbell's Bendigo. The last of these was a local fable about a prizefighter, replete with mad stunts and escapades. The second Campbell play at Nottingham, co-written with Dave Hill and Andy Andrews, was Walking Like Geoffrey (1975), in which Joyce joined a group of townsfolk trying to evade paying taxes by walking like Sylvester McCoy's village idiot. When Campbell founded his Science Fiction Theatre of Liverpool soon afterwards, Joyce played Saul Goodman, the New York cop who talks faster than he thinks, in the nine-hour Illuminatus!, adapted by Campbell and Chris Langham from the sci-fi trilogy of Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, which opened the National's Cottesloe auditorium in March 1977. He featured prominently, too, in Campbell's even longer landmark epic, The Warp, based on the hippy memoirs of the poet Neil Oram, which played for a total of 22 hours at the ICA in 1979. He played many roles, coached the actors, organised rehearsals and helped keep the books. Joyce was an only child of humble origins in London. His Irish father was an alcoholic, his mother scrubbed floors, his aunt – obviously his fairy godmother – rescued him by paying his fees at Taunton school in Somerset. There he met his lifelong friend Alan Talbot, whose family sponsored him on the ?10 emigration scheme to Talbot's native Australia, where he settled in Melbourne. With Talbot, who became a chartered accountant, he took degrees in economics and the arts at Melbourne University and worked for ICI before returning to England in 1964. He had appeared in many productions with the Melbourne University theatre company, notably as a fine King Lear. Although he was Young Dogborough in Michael Blakemore's famous 1969 production of Bertolt Brecht's Arturo Ui, starring Leonard Rossiter, his career came into focus only when he joined McGrath's 7:84 fringe touring company in the early 1970s and zig-zagged round the country in plays by Griffiths, and John Arden and Margaretta D'Arcy. Ten years older than most of the other actors, he specialised in "dad" roles or senior trade unionists at a time when the fringe theatre was catching up with the lives of working-class people, even if that process was never really reciprocated. The Campbell connection seemed to liberate him in a new, creative direction, and he enjoyed the peripheral communal pleasures of soft drugs and drinking that were par for that course. He rode scooters and broke his collarbone when he drove down a hole in the road while drunk during the Illuminatus! period in Liverpool. On another occasion, he was ejected from a train bound for a German production of The Warp while warming up in character as a far-gone, foul-mouthed Billy McGuinness, the tramp orator of Hyde Park Corner. Joyce had a big success in Steven Berkoff's West at the Donmar Warehouse in 1983, but the work was drying up again. Over a flagon of wine in 1985, Campbell fired off a few joke job applications on behalf of his friend, including one to Eyre: "When I see your films, I get a funny nervous feeling inside… and suddenly, tonight, I know exactly what it is: I think I'm just about to come on. Carry on filming; love, while it all lasts, John Joyce." Ever available for whatever jaunt Campbell might propose, Joyce offered to be "on the book" for a Warp revival at Three Mills Island in Bromley-by-Bow in 1997, in which Alan Cox heroically faltered in the final stages of the monster main part. Campbell brought Joyce on for a curtain call and Joyce said, with tears welling, that he felt he was taking that call for all the unacknowledged prompters in the history of theatre. For the last 10 years of his life, he worked as a dummy patient in doctors' training in London hospitals, work he enjoyed and which paid the rent. He was unlucky in personal relationships and always lived alone, but he was much loved by many friends. • John Patrick Joyce, actor, born 4 June 1939; died 15 September 2009 Ken Campbell Bertolt Brecht Steven Berkoff Michael Coveney guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

sheets show us… NatMags: The Hearst-owned Esquire publisher made a pre-tax loss of ?42.8m in 2008 – compared with a ?10.8m profit in 2007, according to newly filed documents at Companies House (via FT.com). The loss is incurred due to a ?55.7m impairment charge, ?51.7m of which was written off as goodwill. Revenue down 3.5% at ?344m. NatMags' total circulation grew 26.6% due to its acquisition of the remaining half of Australian publisher ACP. Haymarket: The privately held Media Week and Management Today owner saw its pre-tax profits fall from ?8m in 2007 to ?4.5m in 2008, despite a revenue rise of 8.9% to ?269m. The company spent ?7.2m on restructuring costs and paid a hefty ?1.4m to close down Eve magazine. Haymarket laid off 50 jobs last November. Most consumer and business publishers have unsurprisingly lost profits and revenue in past two years, against a backdrop of falling readership: the ABC figures for the first half of 2009 show that readership declined 21.5% – a loss of 17.4m copies – compared with the equivalent period a year earlier. But what's the solution? Condé Nast International chairman Jonathan Newhouse told publishers at the Fipp magazine congress this year that, "if you love your readers, they will love you" – or, if you make your print brands better, the revenue will come. But that's not strictly true: both readers and advertisers are becoming too promiscuous to have their attention held by monthly or weekly titles – and business subscribers are struggling to justify discretionary spend on media. Still scared of cannibalising expensive print operations by publishing content online, magazine companies either need to publish online and find a way to charge for it, or become genuine multimedia online producers. If not, they may find someone else has beaten them to it. And here's how other magazine publishers are surviving the recession so far: Reed Business Information: Profits fell 47% in H109 to ?39m. UBM: In the first half of 2009, UBM's profits fell by more than a quarter year on year to ?48m. Centaur: First-half profits fell by 88% year on year to ?1.7m. Euromoney: The DMGT-owned publisher has said it will meet its 2008/09 profit target of ?57m for the year to 30 September. Future: For its H109, announced in May, Future saw its profits fall 70% to ?1.2m. Economist Group: For the year to March 31, operating profits were 26% higher year on year at ?56m. Digital media Consumer magazines Trade magazines Magazines Conde Nast Newspapers & magazines Patrick Smith paidContent guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Even if there wasn't a recession this year, 2009 was always going to be a crunch year for B2B and consumer magazine publishers, given the pull of online media and social networking on their readers. So how have they fared? Awkwardly, publishers' balance...

Related articles:

Magazines' profits hit by shift to web

suggest

whole article guardian.co.uk, showbiz

04.11.2009. 19:02h

How the Berlin Wall changed British theatre | Andrew Haydon

currently in Prague attending a festival of German theatre; and finding it strange to consider that 21 years ago this would have been Czechoslovakia. Had there been a similar festival back then, it would have shown only East German performances, all under the watchful eye of the USSR. Three entities that no longer exist. Sitting in Prague, it feels a bit parochial to be reflecting on how these enormous, almost unimaginable shifts have influenced British theatre. What question could be less important, given the impact these changes have had on Czech lives? And yet it's an interesting subject. The collapse of European communism had a profound effect on British theatremaking. Until 1989, it was possible for British theatremakers to affect a kind of ersatz revolutionary stance. Admittedly, it may have been a convenient position from which to grumble about the government, or capitalism. But it was a convenient position with proper back-up; there was a sense that idealism could be powerful, that it could have regime-changing consequences. As a result, after 1989, while eastern Europeans were celebrating their newfound freedom, in Britain it felt as if we'd lost any meaningful opposition to capitalism. A new age of powerlessness had begun, from which I believe we're yet to fully recover. While old leftist playwrights such as David Hare and David Edgar wrote about this changed political landscape (all the way from The Shape of the Table to Berlin, new dramatists began to examine the bleakness of life under unopposed capitalism). Change became personal at best, impossible at worst. Theatre started to look at ways for idealists to co-exist with capitalism. "We're all part of the system, so let's all try to be nice" seemed to be the new attitude. At the same time, the release of political prisoners from former communist regimes was underlining the horrors perpetrated in the name of communism, while the gruesome way in which Yugoslavia fell apart left us astonished at man's capacity for cruelty – inspiring perhaps the most significant play of the 1990s: Sarah Kane's Blasted. Zooming forward a decade, it's fascinating to see the recent failure of capitalism reflected in Shunt's Money, through Lucy Prebble's Enron, to Hare's The Power of Yes. We now live in a country where half of the banks are virtually state-owned – and there's no talk of an alternative. It feels very much like three generations watching the Berlin Wall being smashed also experienced the breaking of something much bigger. Theatre Berlin Wall David Hare David Edgar Andrew Haydon guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

The collapse of communism 20 years ago offered rich pickings for British playwrights. Are the tremors afflicting capitalism about to do the same? In case you somehow haven't noticed, next week is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I'm...

Related articles:

How the Berlin Wall changed British theatre | Andrew Haydon

suggest

whole article guardian.co.uk, showbiz

04.11.2009. 18:51h

PHOTO: Brad Pitt Wears Beads in his Beard

Halloween isn't over for the star, who arrives in Japan with jewelry dangling from his chin

Related articles:

PHOTO: Brad Pitt Wears Beads in his Beard

suggest

whole article people.com, showbiz

04.11.2009. 18:50h

Your web skills can help African radio

what is going on in Zimbabwe at the Activate09 conference, the Guardian technology team decided to be of some help. The aim was to come up with a range of solutions, which will help the radio station to increase its reach and output. Can you help from outside and far away? Yes, you can. Zimbabwe is a beautiful country that has been ruined by the political conflicts of the past 10 years – to catch a glimpse of the shocking things that are going on, watch the video of Jackson's presentation at Guardian's Activate09 conference. Media are suppressed. Journalists are persecuted. Citizens suspected of talking to the international press are tortured or even killed. It is estimated that 4 million to 5 million of the once 15 million residents flew out of the country. So how can you be of any help? Constantly fighting with the lack of money, radio station SW Radio Africa is trying to provide information for these people, as the information distributed inside is suppressed. Each day it broadcasts four or five news stories on short wave, as medium wave, which is much more often used inside Zimbabwe, was blocked until now. In addition they provide the news on podcasts, which are downloaded about 100,000 times a month. Since most of the people are well educated, and English is spoken widely in Zimbabwe, most content is in English. Three times a week they send out a selection of headlines to 30,000 people in Zimbabwe via SMS, as mobile phones are the most important communication devices in the country, much more important than the internet. While there is little broadband in Zimbabwe there is mobile phone coverage even in rural areas. The only problem: it is expensive. For example, the radio station is asked to provide news to as many as 100,000 phones, but can't afford it. So while Zimbabwe seems far away, today's information infrastructure is global. In rare cases the radio has even asked for direct action: for example, if it becomes known that a police chief is about to prosecute and beat up people, the radio publishes his mobile number for people to call him asking him to stop. But just providing information can be of a lot of help. There might be a lot of jokes about so-called "five-minute activism", but a quick bit of support or helping with knowledge can be quite effective. Especially if you are a nerd. Questions from the radio team made that clear: How can you get your stories ranked higher on Google? What is the best way to boost your community on Twitter or Facebook? Can you make podcasts more widely available via iTunes or other services? Is there a way so that the community can help in distributing or transcribing some data? Can you make use of collaborative tools such as Google Wave? The team also discussed ways to send out text messages in three different waves to reach more people. If you have more ideas or want to help, please contact the team here. Donations are also welcome. SW Radio Africa - Donations, Lloyds TSB, sort code: 30-98- 07, account no: 04117360. Digital media Radio Zimbabwe Mercedes Bunz guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

struggling commercially-funded public service broadcasters. Giving evidence to the House of Lords communications committee's inquiry into the British film and TV industries, Duncan pointed to the corporation's failure to achieve agreements on regional news, BBC Worldwide and Project Marquee. "When you look at their income, which in absolute terms is very high and in relative terms is unbelievable now – the billion-pound gap between the licence fee and commercial revenues – I'm disappointed they have not managed to develop some of these partnerships more successfully as an organisation," he told peers. Although he said he was a "massive fan" of the BBC, having worked there as director of marketing before he joined Channel 4 in 2004, he added that it tended to act in its own interests. "It's a self-sufficient organisation that likes to control things and be in charge of things," he said, warning that the BBC could end up being "cut down to size". "I fear they will have their resources cut, rather than using these to productively partner others in the industry that would have kept those resources in the system," Duncan added. Channel 4 has given up hope of concluding a major joint venture deal with BBC Worldwide, Duncan admitted today. However, Duncan said negotiations continued over a possible deal between Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide, the corporation's commercial arm, concerning areas such as DVD distribution and advertising sales. Earlier this week he told the Daily Telegraph that even these agreements would not be concluded this year. The debate about the licence fee, which the BBC is determined not to see "top-sliced" to fund other broadcasters, and the approach of the general election had affected the BBC Worldwide discussions, Duncan suggested. "Ultimately they decided they would stick it out, perhaps looking to an election coming up. They thought they would bide their time and live to fight another day," he said. Duncan, who had hoped to close a deal to help secure Channel 4's future funding before he leaves the broadcaster before the end of the year, added that the negotiations had been complicated by the "tripartite" nature of the corporation, with BBC Worldwide, the main public service arm led by director general Mark Thompson, and the BBC Trust to deal with. Talks with BBC Worldwide earlier this year were aimed at creating a joint venture encompassing assets including UKTV's channels, Channel 4's own digital services such as E4, and possibly 2Entertain, the DVD distributor in which the corporation's commercial arm owns 60%. John Smith, the BBC Worldwide chief executive, told the Lords communications committee in May that the proposed joint venture with Channel 4 would have an annual turnover of ?800m and generate ?200m profit. This profit would be ploughed back into subsidising BBC and Channel 4 public service content. Today Duncan also questioned the BBC's position in the acquisition market, given that Channel 4 has slashed its costs on acquired film and drama from ?130m to between ?95m and ?100m. "There's no commercial imperative and all of that content would find its way on to UK TV screens in some way," he said. Duncan added that while Channel 4 was not in danger of going bust, it would be forced to continue cutting expensive public service broadcasting to make ends meet, and he warned this could have dire consequences for British broadcasting. "If nothing happens over the next three years you might get to the point where [public service broadcasting] is so diminished that people might think Channel 4's not that different from what you get in the market, so why not privatise it." He said if the BBC had a monopoly of public service broadcasting, it could then be denied resources, leaving then country with "a diminished BBC and that's it". • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". Andy Duncan Channel 4 ITV BBC Television industry Public service broadcasting Chris Tryhorn guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Andy Duncan criticises BBC for not doing more to help commercially funded public service broadcasters Outgoing Channel 4 chief executive Andy Duncan criticised the BBC today for failing to deliver on its promises to strike deals to that would have helped...

Related articles:

Duncan: BBC should have helped more

suggest

whole article guardian.co.uk, showbiz

04.11.2009. 17:17h

Corrie's Kym Marsh reveals she's back together with Jamie Lomas as she wins Celebrity Mum Of The Year

Mother-of-two has reunited with Hollyoaks actor a month after they split.

Related articles:

Corrie's Kym Marsh reveals she's back together with Jamie Lomas as she wins Celebrity Mum Of The Year

suggest

whole article dailymail.co.uk, showbiz

04.11.2009. 17:10h

Valerie Bertinelli Reveals Her Bikini Body Fitness Secrets

"You don’t need to have weights, you don't need fancy equipment. You can just do a lot of squats," she says

Related articles:

Valerie Bertinelli Reveals Her Bikini Body Fitness Secrets

suggest

whole article people.com, showbiz

04.11.2009. 16:50h

Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin are new Oscar hosts

Somewhere in the fashion void that lies between ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons and Captain Jack Sparrow, Brad Pitt now rests comfortably -- challenging us to scoff at his sassy beard beads. Pitt shows off his new accessorized goatee at the Tokyo premiere of 'Inglorious...

Related articles:

Brad Pitt's beard beads: Love 'em or hate 'em?

suggest

whole article washingtonpost.com, showbiz

04.11.2009. 16:31h

its 12-part fifth series with 1.8 million viewers, an 8% share of the audience between 9pm and 10pm. Another 212,000 viewers who saw the show on timeshift service Channel 4 +1. Ramsay's show was beaten by BBC2's science strand Horizon, which last night looked at black holes and had 1.9 million viewers, and Channel Five's CSI: Miami, which had 2.7 million viewers, an 11% share, according to unofficial overnight figures. The TV chef also lost out to the last of ITV1's celebrity documentary series Seven Days on the Breadline, which finished with 3.2 million viewers, 13% of the audience, while BBC1's Around the World in 80 Days had 4.1 million viewers, a 17% share, also on at 9pm. On BBC2 the second of James May's Toy Stories had 3.1 million viewers, a 13% share, between 8pm and 9pm. The show beat Channel 4'sd How To Look Good Naked, which had 1.6 million viewers, a 7% share, and another 135,000 on Channel 4+1. But the Gok Wan show beat Five documentary Nature Shock, which had 1.3 million viewers, 5% of the audience. The slot was won by BBC1's Holby City, with 5.8 million viewers, a 24% share, eclipsing ITV1's Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, which had 3.4 million viewers, a 14% share. The second part of Channel 4's two-part documentary Bleach, Nip, Tuck: the White Beauty Myth, had 900,000 viewers, a 5% share, between 10pm and 11pm, with another 105,000 on Channel 4+1. Channel 4's documentary was narrowly beaten by BBC2's Late Live ... with Jools Holland, which featured rapper Jay-Z and had 1 million viewers, also a 5% share, between 10pm and 10.30pm. The BBC News at 10pm on BBC1 had 4.4 million viewers, a 22% share, beating ITV1's News at Ten, which had 2.4 million viewers, 12% of the audience, for the second outing of the revamped bulletin. BBC1's EastEnders had the biggest audience of the night with 8.7 million viewers, a 39% share, between 7.30pm and 8pm, beating ITV1's docusoap Grimefighters, which had 2.8 million viewers, 13% of the audience. ITV1 soap Emmerdale had 6.7 million viewers, a 32% share, between 7pm and 7.30pm, ahead of BBC1's The One Show, which had 5 million viewers. The fifth part of BBC4 panel show It's Only A Theory, fronted by Andy Hamilton and Reginald D Hunter, had 221,000 viewers, a 1.2% share in multichannel homes, between 10pm and 10.30pm. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". TV ratings Gordon Ramsay Television industry John Plunkett guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Chef's return with the F Word attracts lowest audience in its time slot Gordon Ramsay's F Word returned to Channel 4 with fewer than 2 million viewers, beaten into fifth place among the five main channels last night, Tuesday 3 November. The F Word began...

Related articles:

F is for fifth as Gordon Ramsay takes ratings hammering | TV ratings – 3 November

suggest

whole article guardian.co.uk, showbiz

04.11.2009. 15:17h

NewsNow hits back in newspaper battle

action from several publishers, which it answered with a prominently placed open letter on its homepage, clicked now over 60,000 times according to their own account. Obvioulsy the interest in this issue is still alive and kicking. NewsNow.co.uk has been aggregating links since it was founded in 1997 and has a 20% market share, second only to Google. It attracts more than 2 million users and more than 100m page views a month. However, the publishers of several newspapers – among them the Times, the Sun, the Daily Mail, the Daily Mirror, the Daily Telegraph, the Independent, the Daily Express and the Guardian – are putting increasing pressure on the company for linking to their content for free and are demanding compensation. News International, which publishes the Sun, the Times and the News of the World, wants NewsNow.co.uk to stop its linking completely, with Rupert Murdoch calling news aggregators "content kleptomaniacs". The NewsNow managing director and chairman, Struan Bartlett, responded with an open letter to the publishers saying: "We don't redistribute your web pages to anyone. We operate within the law, and we don't do you any harm." NewsNow.co.uk is arguing that there are no explicit statutory protections for the operations of intermediary hyperlink providers under UK law, and that NewsNow's business is in enabling people to find others' content, not in reselling it. "We deliver you traffic and drive you revenues you otherwise wouldn't have received," the open latter states. "The idea that we are undermining your businesses is incorrect. It is fanciful to imagine that, if it weren't for link aggregators, you would have more traffic or revenues. We provide a service that you do not: a means for readers to find your content more readily, via continuously updating links to a diversity of websites." Both sides have their point. Indeed, it is hard to say exactly where "news" as a product starts and where it stops. Aggregators deliver traffic to news sites, but they also deliver an overview of the current news by aggregating the headlines – a service traditionally provided by newspapers and other news sources. Digital media Charging for content Newspapers Rupert Murdoch Mercedes Bunz guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Media regulator Ofcom is expected to announce the new Channel 4 chairman this week, possibly as early as today. Burns, whose nickname is "Lord Fixit", is understood to be the favourite to take the job in government circles. Other contenders for the post have included Richard Eyre, a former chief executive of ITV, and Lord Alli, the Labour peer and co-founder of production company Planet 24. It is thought that Ofcom wanted to appoint a woman to the post, but a series of high-profile female candidates, including Dianne Thompson, the chief executive of lottery operator Camelot, have quietly ruled themselves out of the running. Ofcom declined to comment. Burns has been chairman of Abbey National, now owned by Spanish banking giant Santander, since February 2002. He is best known in the media industry for leading a review of the BBC's role for former culture secretary Tessa Jowell in the runup to the renewal of the corporation's 10-year royal charter in late 2006. Burns was regarded as a heavyweight candidate for the top job at Ofcom when it was created in 2003 and was also in the running for the chairmanship of the BBC in 2001, when Sir Christopher Bland stood down. The job went to Gavyn Davies. He also chaired the government's inquiry into hunting with dogs, memorably concluding that the practice "seriously compromises the welfare of the fox". Burns has also been chairman of the National Lottery Commission, which licenses and regulates the lottery; and led a review of the way the FA, football's governing body, was run in 2004 after it was hit by a string of scandals. In Whitehall circles, the former grammar school boy from the north-east is also known as "Teflon Terry" because of his ability to ride out scandals. If he is appointed at Channel 4, he will face a series of strategic challenges, including how to engineer a joint venture with BBC Worldwide, the corporation's commercial arm. That is crucial to securing the broadcaster's future after its plea for public money was rejected by government. Burns's first major task will be choosing the next chief executive, after Andy Duncan leaves before the end of the year. The new management team are also likely to have to deal with a Conservative government that has promised to crack down on Channel 4 and BBC executive salaries if the Tories win the election next year, as seems likely. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". Channel 4 Television industry James Robinson Mark Sweney guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Former permanent secretary to the Treasury could be announced as Luke Johnson's replacement as early as today Lord Burns, the former permanent secretary to the Treasury, is set to replace Luke Johnson as Channel 4 chairman, MediaGuardian.co.uk can reveal....

Related articles:

Lord Burns set to be named Channel 4 chairman

suggest

whole article guardian.co.uk, showbiz

04.11.2009. 14:25h

I'm A Celebrity winner Joe Swash declared bankrupt after failing to pay ?20,000 tax bill

Ex-EastEnders actor, who is currently in Australia, insisted he wasn't in financial difficulty.

Related articles:

I'm A Celebrity winner Joe Swash declared bankrupt after failing to pay ?20,000 tax bill

suggest

whole article dailymail.co.uk, showbiz

04.11.2009. 14:15h

On-demand TV service Project Canvas to cost ?115m in its first four years

more than ?115m in its first four years of operation. The figures, provided by BBC management to the BBC Trust, show that cash-strapped ITV and Five may have to find as much as ?25m each to back Project Canvas in its first four years from launch. According to the BBC, the total cost of Project Canvas will be ?115.6m, including development, launch, and to the end of the first four years it is running. During this time the BBC estimates that Project Canvas will be have a marketing budget ?48.4m. However, by the end of the period the BBC reckons that there will have been ?17m in "cost recovery" - revenues the service brings in - meaning the partners will be left with a bill of ?98.6m. Project Canvas has four partners, leaving each with a bill of ?24.7m. But BBC management is confident it can sign up two more partners, making the cost ?16.4m for each of the partners. In addition the BBC has already spent ?715,140 on its submissions to the trust about Project Canvas. The re-evaluation of Project Canvas's costs forms part of more detailed proposals about how the on-demand platform would work, including governance, that the partners were asked to submit to the BBC Trust, which is assessing whether to give the venture the green light. A key revision by BBC management is to allow non-public service broadcasters to become partners, a U-turn on the original plans. Project Canvas was conceived as one of the BBC's "partnership proposals" to help cash-strapped PSBs, allowing other players such as BSkyB to offer services on the platform - but not as a joint-venture partner. Sky has been critical of the BBC Trust's decision not to conduct a full market impact assessment for Project Canvas, arguing that the corporation's proposals for the initiative are not clear enough for a proper consultation. A market impact assessment would entail Ofcom conducting a study of its affect on commercial rivals. The satellite broadcaster has also called on the BBC Trust to assess the risk of the project falling foul of European Union state aid rules before deciding whether to go ahead. In May Sky also said it believed Project Canvas was "likely to qualify" for an investigation by the Office of Fair Trading as a "relevant merger situation". The new governance model will give each partner an equal share of the venture and equal voting rights. Despite the change in governance the BBC has attempted to maintain the original idea that the service will benefit PSBs by adding several clauses that all partners must adhere to. "Without a guaranteed PSB majority there is concern that the free-to-air and open principles of Canvas, which are central to the rationale for BBC involvement, will no longer have adequate protection," said the BBC in its revised proposal. "The venture will enshrine these principles within the objects of the venture in the articles of association of the joint venture company." • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". Project Canvas Television industry Digital switchover BBC Channel Five ITV BT BT Media business Mark Sweney guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

BBC Trust reveals bill for joint digital TV venture between BBC, ITV, Channel Five and BT Project Canvas, the joint venture from the BBC, ITV, Channel Five and BT to bring on-demand programming to digital TV viewers with Freeview and Freesat, will cost...

Related articles:

On-demand TV service Project Canvas to cost ?115m in its first four years

suggest

whole article guardian.co.uk, showbiz

04.11.2009. 14:11h

'Sesame Street's' been swept, but the magic of show remains

In the early days of "Sesame Street" -- that is, B.E. (Before Elmo) -- Sesame Street was a pretty grimy place.

Related articles:

'Sesame Street's' been swept, but the magic of show remains

suggest

whole article cnn.com, showbiz

04.11.2009. 14:10h

Loving Spooks

Ridley and Tony Scott. Marshall, who was responsible for all drama output at Channel 4, becomes head of Scott Free UK. She is the second recent high-profile departure from Channel 4's commissioning team for the independent production sector, following head of comedy and entertainment Andrew Newman's exit to join Peep Show producer Objective Productions. Los Angeles-based Scott Free's credits include the big-screen remake of The A-Team and a new version of Robin Hood, starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett. The company's BBC and HBO co-production Into The Storm, a Winston Churchill biopic starring Brendan Gleeson and Janet McTeer, aired on BBC2 on Monday. "At a time of uncertainty in many areas of the business, and in particular in the specialty film sector in the US, we believe it is an opportune time to step up our commitment to European film-making" said Ridley Scott. "Liza's appointment enables us to offer a real home for creative talent and help them navigate the new business models which will be needed to get films made." Marshall's Channel 4 credits include Boy A, The Mark of Cain, The Shooting of Thomas Hurndall and Red Riding, based on the David Peace crime novels, which Scott Free is turning into a film. "I have loved my time at Channel 4 where I've had the privilege of working with some incredible people and made a range of films and drama that I'm very proud of," said Marshall. "When Ridley and Tony approached me with the idea of expanding Scott Free in the UK, I was immediately attracted to the idea of joining a company that instinctively understands the ambitions of creative talent and has their best interests at heart. "I am looking forward to making Scott Free a place where British writers and directors can flourish and are empowered to do their very best work." Marshall was previously a producer and executive producer at the BBC, where she was responsible for dramas including The Long Firm and The Sins. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication". Channel 4 Television industry John Plunkett guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

DON'T miss The Daily Telegraph on Saturday November 7 to collect your fantastic The Twilight Saga: New Moon glossy poster.

Related articles:

Collect your great glossy Twilight poster

suggest

whole article news.com.au, showbiz

04.11.2009. 02:12h