Latest Television in the United Kingdom Stories

Slumdog Millionaire was named best film of 2008 and took seven prizes overall at the Orange British Academy Film Awards in London Sunday night. The story about an uneducated young man's extraordinary winning streak on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? beat out The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk and The Reader for the best picture honor. Slumdog Millionaire also won BAFTAs for director Danny Boyle and for Simon Beaufoy's adapted screenplay, as well as...

Slumdog Millionaire is a heavy favorite to take home a British Academy of Film and Television Arts best film award this year, oddsmakers say. The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday the movie by British director Danny Boyle has been deemed the 1-6 favorite at the BAFTA awards show Sunday in London. Meanwhile, The Dark Knight" actor Heath Ledger, who died in January 2008, has been tabbed a prohibitive favorite -- 1-25 -- to win a best supporting actor award. Actress Kate Winslet is the favorite...

Historic Event Yields Level 3 Internet Network Traffic Record BROOMFIELD, Colo., Jan. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Level 3 Communications, Inc. (Nasdaq: LVLT) today announced that the company delivered live television broadcast video and online streaming of Barack Obama's presidential inauguration ceremony for Sky News on January 20. The historic event marked a number of milestones, including the first live simulcast for Level 3 in Europe and the largest one-day spike in global Internet...

Company Adds eight New HD Channels to digital line up HERNDON, Va., Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Cox Communications announced that it's adding nine high-definition (HD) channels to its lineup today, brining the total HD offering to 61 channels. New HD channels include MLB, Fox Business, Biography, Cartoon, E!, Comedy, WE, IFC, etc. Cox has added more than 40 HD channels in the last year alone. With the added networks, Cox now offers HD customers over 350 HD choices, including free and...

British actress Kate Winslet says she is working on a BAFTA speech so she will appear calm and composed if she snags an award at the upcoming event. After her surprise double win at the recent Golden Globes ceremony left her clearly emotional, Winslet said she wants to be prepared if she wins an Orange British Academy Film Award or BAFTA, which is known as the British Oscar, next month. As with the Globes, Winslet has been nominated for her work in both Revolutionary Road and The Reader....

Actor Jud Charlton says he was fired from a West End production because he couldn't get along with Chris Langham, who was brought in to rewrite the show. Langham was required to register as a sex offender after he was convicted of downloading child pornography in 2007 and sentenced to 10 months in jail. He was freed after 3 1/2 months. Another charge claiming he sexually abused a 14-year-old girl was dropped. The Daily Mail said the comedian was quietly brought in to help writer/director...

According to new research from regulator Ofcom, the average speed of a broadband connection in the U.K. is 3.6 megabits per second (Mbps).Ofcom considers this test speed, "one of the most sophisticated and thorough" tests ever done.Ofcom said that the average speed is still significantly slower than that which many broadband packages promise.On average, Internet users receive 45% of the advertised headline speed.Ofcom introduced a new code last month that requires all ISPs...

LONDON and REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Microsoft Corp. and BSkyB announce that Microsoft Silverlight and PlayReady technologies are enabling Sky Player TV, Sky's online TV service. Launched today, the service offers access to a range of leading pay TV entertainment as part of an online-only subscription. The new version of Sky Player TV, which in addition continues to be offered on a bonus basis to Sky's DTH (direct-to-home) customers, now delivers live linear...

In Britain, digital television is spreading faster than France, Canada, the U.S., Germany, Italy and Japan, according to UK communications regulator Ofcom.Research found that 86% of homes in Britain can now receive digital on their main set, 30% have digital video recorders.Ofcom says British consumers pay less than other countries for TV, mobile phones and broadband.Also, the report found that people in Ireland send the most text messages.Last year, the Irish sent nearly twice as many text...

BBC Worldwide Channels announced Wednesday it has established its first wholly owned, Spanish-language channel in the United States. CBeebies, the BBC-branded channel dedicated to pre-schoolers, will be available through DISH Network, which is available in 13.8 million homes in the United States. The pay-TV provider will make CBeebies accessible to all subscribers of its DishLATINO package and newly launched DishMEXICO package on Channel 848. The channel will be a live feed of BBC...