MUMBAI: People in the UK are more concerned with the portrayal of age on TV than on other platforms. Age is considered much less of an issue on radio, as participants could not readily tell the age of contributors and would choose a radio station that reflects their needs and interests.

Younger people are most concerned with how they are portrayed on TV, and many feel they are portrayed negatively. This view was also shared by some older people.

The Creative Diversity Network (CDN) has published the findings of its research in portrayal of age in the media, ?Serving All Ages?. The research was commissioned by the BBC as current chair of the CDN.

The CDN is a partnership of media companies made up of ITV, Channel 4, Sky, S4/C, Pact, MTV, Media Trust, Turner and Bafta, which exists to improve diversity across the industry.

The key findings are:

- Older people are less concerned with portrayal on TV, but some expressed a feeling of invisibility. This was particularly the case for middle aged and older women and more so in some genres (news and factual) than others

- Audiences wanted television in particular to reflect reality and wanted to avoid stereotyping and see a focus on accurate portrayal of all ages

- Industry experts focused on the need to find imaginative and creative ways to challenge existing stereotypes without being formulaic and stressed the importance of tracking and reviewing progress

BBC DG and CDN chair Mark Thompson said, ?There are lessons here for the BBC and the rest of Britain?s broadcasters. It is young people who are most concerned with the way they are portrayed and we need to look at this. But we should also note the concern, expressed by older people generally, about the need for greater visibility for older women. While of course there are many older women presenters and actors across our airwaves, this is something that needs to be addressed.?

MUMBAI: BBC has exceeded its target of a 25 per cent reduction to the senior management pay bill and 20 per cent reduction in headcount.

This is part of the commitment the BBC Trust had made in October 2009 to accept the Executive?s recommendations for reducing the senior management pay bill by 25 per cent and headcount by 20 per cent by July 2013. These targets were subsequently brought forward to the end of 2011.

Figures released show that by 31 December 2011 the reductions achieved are as follows:

BBC director business operations Lucy Adams said, ?Keeping salary costs under control is hugely important to us. The reductions we have achieved in this area reflect our commitment to ensuring we are delivering value for money in difficult economic times. We will continue to keep a close eye on these costs reducing them still further where we can.?

The BBC chairman Lord Patten has since recommended a further reduction to senior management numbers to a total of 1 per cent of the total workforce by 2015 at the latest.

MUMBAI: Alan Yentob, BBC?s Creative Director, will join the board of BBC Studios and Post Production as a non-executive director.

A commercial subsidiary of the BBC, the company offers world-class studios, post production and digital media services to the media industry.

Based at London?s Television Centre, Elstree and Bristol, it works in partnership with media companies creating and managing content across all genres for a variety of broadcasters including ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky and the BBC.
 

Yentob said, ?I am delighted to be joining the BBC Studios and Post Production Board as it continues to build on recent strong performance. I look forward to working with colleagues on the board to further develop a successful business model for the future.?

BBC Studios and Post Production chairman John Tate said, "I am delighted that Alan is joining the BBC Studios and Post Production Board. He brings a wealth of experience from the UK creative sector, and I?m very much looking forward to working with him and building a strong future for the business."

As the BBC?s Creative Director, he is at the creative helm of the BBC and has oversight across the BBC?s services in all media. He is BBC Films chairman and is the focal point for talent management across the whole of the organisation.

Previously BBC One andBBC Two controller, he became director of programmes in production in 1997 before becoming Director of Television with responsibility for BBC Television?s terrestrial and digital channels. Alan has held his current post since 2004.

His other responsibilities have included membership of the boards of The South Bank and the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and Chairmanship of the Institute of Contemporary Art. He is currently Chairman of children?s charity Kids Company.

Under CEO Mark Thomas, BBC Studios and Post Production is the largest studios and post facilities provider in the UK. Last year it worked with over 250 media companies and other customers. The business has just completed its best ever year with the highest profitability since it was formed in 1998.
 

MUMBAI: Uefa has announced the appointment of the BBC and ITV as the official broadcasters of Uefa Euro 2012 in the UK.

All 31 matches will be transmitted live across BBC and ITV. The broadcasters will further exploit all 31 matches via their respective internet and mobile platforms.

A daily highlights programme will also be shown on each match day during the tournament and the BBC has the right to provide extensive coverage of the competition across its radio channels.

Uefa Events marketing director Guy-Laurent Epstein said, "Uefa is delighted to continue its relationship with the BBC and ITV, our traditional broadcast partners for the UEFA European Championships.

"We look forward to working with the UK?s leading free-to-air broadcasters and are convinced that they will provide fans in the UK with an exceptional depth of coverage of the tournament across all media platforms."

The BBC and ITV also confirmed the full split of matches between the two broadcasters across the tournament.

The broadcasters will show a total of 16 matches each including the final, which will be broadcast by both ITV and the BBC.

ITV controller of sport Niall Sloane said, "Major events such as the Euro 2012 Championships have huge significance for our viewers and attract some of the biggest audiences on television. I?m delighted that ITV has secured an outstanding selection of games through the tournament which includes England?s opening game against France as well as a potential peak time group decider against hosts Ukraine.

"ITV1 will also be the home of some terrific clashes between the top teams in Europe including Spain v Ireland, Spain v Italy, Portugal v Holland and Ireland v Croatia."

BBC Head of TV Sport Philip Bernie said, "The BBC is delighted to be showing the UEFA European Football Championship, a huge football event, which, along with the London Olympics, should ensure a fantastic sporting summer for BBC viewers.

"We are happy with the live matches on BBC One, as they give us a strong climax to the event, with both semi-finals, as well as England?s quarter-final if they progress. We also have some very appetising group games, including England?s second match, against Sweden, in peak time, Ireland?s final match, against Italy, and heavyweight clashes between Holland and Germany and Germany and Portugal."

MUMBAI: The documentary team behind ?Planet Earth? and the co-production partners of ?Life? will present ?Frozen Planet? in March 2012 on Discovery Channel in the US. The series will be narrated by actor Alec Baldwin.

Discovery Channel, TLC group president Eileen O?Neill said, "Discovery Channel is very excited to have someone as passionate and talented as Alec Baldwin to lend his voice to such an important landmark television event."

A Discovery Channel/BBC co-production four years in the making, the show aims to provide the ultimate portrait of earth?s polar regions, where the scale and beauty of the scenery and sheer power of the natural elements are unlike anywhere else on the planet. The show will reveal a world filled with creatures, variety, colour and spectacle including the birth of an iceberg bigger than the largest building on earth, a caterpillar with antifreeze in its veins, the greatest concentration of sea birds on the planet, and tiny baby polar bears, who at birth are 25 per cent smaller than human babies. Never-before-filmed sequences will include the growth of a saltwater icicle (brinicle) that freezes everything it touches and orca whales working as a team to create killer waves that wash seals off ice floes.

To capture nature?s majestic power - as well as its ultimate fragility the filmmakers utilised the latest cinematographic techniques and technology to capture groundbreaking imagery both above and below the ice in some of the most extreme and remote regions of our planet. Combined, the team filmed in every nation inside the Arctic and Antarctic circles during a record 2,356 days in the field, 1 1/2 years at sea, more than 6 months on the sea ice and 134 hours beneath that ice, filming in the polar oceans.

MUMBAI: UK pubcaster The BBC has announced that its charity initiative BBC Children in Need has raised ?26.3 million the highest on-the-night total ever.

Celebrating its 32nd Appeal, the show marked the crescendo of this year?s activities through family entertainment in order to help raise money for disadvantaged children and young people right here in the UK.

At the helm was Sir Terry Wogan who was joined by TV stars Tess Daly, Fearne Cotton and Alesha Dixon to present the seven-hour entertainment marathon live from London?s BBC Television Centre.

The stage came to life with top musical stars including One Direction, The Saturdays, Westlife, Steps, Olly Murs with Rizzle Kicks, Will Young, Matt Cardle, Ed Sheeran and The Collective.

The extravaganza also featured the small screen and the West End who came together to show their spots to help raise money. The cats ?EastEnders? did Queen, Hollyoaks belted out ?Forget You? and the BBC Newsreaders did ?Strictly?.

Radio 2?s fundraising this year was once again led by Sir Terry Wogan and Chris Evans. And tonight they announced that their fundraising contributed a phenomenal ?2,032,642 to the 2011 Appeal.

Matt Baker?s phenomenal Rickshaw Challenge also helped drive the total even higher with an amazing ?1,263,272 raised.

BBC Children in Need David Ramsden said, "It is amazing that people across the UK have come together to raise the highest ever Appeal Night Total. Thank you so much for helping to change thousands of young lives across the UK."