Latest Television in the United Kingdom Stories

By RUSSELL LEADBETTER and JAMES WATT A NEW digital TV channel could be offered to Scottish viewers alongside such familiar names as BBC, STV, C4, Five and Sky. It will look at domestic and international events from a Scottish perspective, will dedicate itself to coverage of Scots affairs, and will reportedly offer a mix of new programmes and repeats of such favourites as Still Game. According to reports, the new station could also be used to pilot a Scottish six o'clock news bulletin....

Text of report by Zeljko Rogosic: "Forty new TV channels in Republic of Croatia", published by privately-owned independent weekly Nacional on 26 August "Come down from the roof and join the digital age," that is the basic message of the one-minute video that all three national television houses will begin to air on 1 September 2008. Actor Filip Rados from Split will thus become the important figure who will open the informative and educational campaign of the Central State Office for...

By Stephen McGinty BBC Scotland revealed its licence to make the nation laugh yesterday, unveiling three new comedy pilots as part of its autumn schedules. The programmes are One Star, a 3D animated show set in the year 2050, when space tourism is booming; Burnistoun, a sketch show featuring the strange residents of a fictional Scottish town; and No Holds Bard, a 60-minute comedy drama celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns. Yesterday Donalda MacKinnon, head of...

By Steve Coogan BARRY-BASED sitcom Gavin and Stacey has won a glowing comedy accolade as Alan Partridge legend Steve Coogan has admitted he is jealous of its success. Coogan, whose company Baby Cow produced the show, said: "The simple answer to Gavin and Stacey is that I'm mostly pleased but a tiny bit envious. "I'm able to stand back and see that it's absolutely ridiculous. "I also know that the company we run enabled them to have that success." The funnyman is set to appear at...

MODELS Sarah and Louise Kavanagh saw an opportunity yesterday to have some fun with magician Keith Barry. The bikini-clad pair were publicising the launch of Bulmers International Comedy Festival at Dublin's Olympia Theatre. Over the next three weeks laugh fans will enjoy the likes of US stand-up Chris Rock, BBC sitcom stars The Mighty Boosh, Police Academy's Michael Winslow and Ricky Tomlinson from The Royle Family. Picture: GARETH CHANEY (c) 2008 Daily Mirror. Provided by ProQuest LLC....

By Anonymous More than half of UK consumers with broadband have accessed video content online in the past year, according to research from Starcom MediaVest Group. The BBC's iPlayer is believed to have been a key driver, with 56% of those surveyed saying they had watched non- subscription video content online in the past 12 months. Improved image quality also played its part, with 73% saying they were satisfied with it. Channel 4's 4oD service was cited as offering the best quality....

BOTH the BBC and ITV have launched a subscription-free digital satellite TV service which will be available across Scotland. Freesat will initially feature more than 80 TV and radio channels, a number which is expected to rise to 200 by the end of the year. Viewers will be able to watch high-definition programming with no subscription. Freesat will be available to 98-per cent of UK homes, including those who currently cannot receive Freeview, which is broadcast via terrestrial...

By Raymond Snoddy ON BROADCASTING Two commercial broadcasting minnows from the Celtic fringe, SMG and UTV, have just reported financial results, and guess what? They have done much better than their old mother ship ITV plc in recessionary times. SMG's core television business, home of Taggart these 25 years, managed flat revenues of 56m but produced a 26 per cent rise in operating profit at 4.9m. Of particular note though was the company's 14 per cent increase in regional advertiser...

By HARRIET SHAWCROSS THE man who brought Fr Ted to the small screen has died in a road accident, it was announced yesterday. Former BBC head of comedy Geoffrey Perkins, 55, was killed at around 9.30am on Friday morning when he was hit by a flatbed van in Marylebone High Street, London, police said. Mr Perkins also produced the radio series of the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, the first BBC Radio comedy in stereo. As BBC TV head of comedy he oversaw shows including the Royle Family,...

The BBC isn't commenting about reports that one of the British broadcaster's top executives may be heading up a division in the United States. While BBC officials have remained quiet about the possibility of executive Jane Tratner heading up a BBC Worldwide West Coast drama production division in Los Angeles, the highly regarded TV executive is said to be negotiating for such a position, The Hollywood Reporter said Friday. Tratner has earned a reputation for popular dramatic shows while with...