Ofcom outlined the decision back in January and approved it on a provisional status in March that will remove the rule that forces networks to sell ad minutes after fears that PSB broadcasters would hold slots in an effort to raise the prices.

PSBs can run about seven minutes of ads every hour and now they could change the price they charge advertisers for that time period by drastically reducing how many ads they show.

The impact of the strategy however has been reduced dramatically by the introduction of digital television channels.

Channel 4 and Channel Five could still reap the benefits of the ruling by millions of pounds every year as they gain more control over the way they choose to sell television ads.

ITV on the other hand will have less room to do the same as contract rights renewal procedures will keep their advertising rates set to their current levels working against the broadcaster if they tried to reduce the amount of advertising airtime they allowed.

In addition to the new regulation removal, Ofcom also announced that conditional selling which includes selling airtime from several different channels at once in a package will also be allowed for the first time.

Most sources from media agencies do not believe that the regulation changes will cause any market abuse problems because television ad sales already face pressure from CRR incentives and conditional sales.  Ofcom will continue to review the evolving market to assess if the change in regulation has had a negative or positive effect.

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Fry stated that it has been a secret that he will be working on the five part series, but language is really his passion, which makes him quite interested in the series.  He also hinted at the series content, stating that he will be headed to Beijing to interview the man who invented a piece of the Chinese language.

In an interview with Radio Times he explained that he has not seen much documentary work done about where language comes from, the different variations of language, how it is spoken, and if certain languages are starting to die out.

Fry already was declared the most intelligent man in 2006 by readers of RT and stated that his favorite words have an Anglo-Saxon origin and are ‘like bundle.’  He also is known for some other more colorful phrases on his Twitter account treating followers of his account to words such as ‘selfspank,’ ‘brokenated,’ and ‘wowser.’

In terms of language, he also has worked on a two series presentation on Radio 4 about Oscar Wilde warning that language often can limit and shape people’s ambitions because people think of themselves as nouns and thus cannot know what they are doing next, but if they think of themselves as active verbs will experience more freedom.

Fry added that programmes and series are only effective if they are important to you because audiences are smart and they know when a chosen presenter is faking.

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On Twitter he stated that he decided that after his shows wrap up in three weeks he can take time for a gap year, in which he will be working on other projects and of course keeping up with his fans via Tweets.

Ross, aged 49, stepped away from the screen first in 1995 not as the result of any of the usual suspects, which include high pay or lewd faux pas, but instead decided to take some time to simply rest and reflect.

However, television producer Daisy Goodwin stated that after his struggle he could not wait to get back into the limelight, but it was hard to get back because even after his prior exposure he could not get work.

Ross however soon jumped back running Channel X, which shook up the entertainment business in television terms bringing the chat show atmosphere of America to late night television in Britain, with a sharper British edge that had pundits stating satire was back.

With his new leave from the BBC and late night after a decade at the top of his game, his departure will mark the end of an era on the airwaves.

Ironically, Ross took over at Channel X at the last moment when there was no other host available to take on the show.

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The actor who most recently was seen in the BBC’s Lennon Naked, as John Lennon, will be starring alongside fellow cast members Sir Antony Sher, Chiwetel Ejiofer, and Stephen Rea.

The dark thriller will be presented in six parts and shows the impact of an underworld figure on six different lives. Produced, written, and directed by Hugo Blick, the series will be shot in the Isle of Man and is due to be screened in 2011.

Other cast members include Kierston Wareing from Fish Tank, Rafe Spall from Desperate Romantics, and Lesley Sharp from Playing the Field.

According to the BBC casting announcement, each will play one of an array of individuals whose very different lives become intertwined after drug baron Harvey Wratten is murdered.

BBC controller for drama commissioning, Ben Stephenson, stated that he is thrilled to have gotten such grade A talent to bring Hugo Blick’s scripts to life.  He also stated that Chris and Chiwetel are two of the best actors and they could not be more thrilled to have them on board along with the rest of the cast.

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Also slated to star in the drama is Celia Imrie as Doris Speed who portrayed Annie Walker on Coronation Street and Lynda Baron as Violet Carson who took on the role of Ena Sharples. The drama will be made in Manchester and air on BBC Four towards the end of 2010.

The plot will focus on how creator of Coronation Street, Tony Warren (portrayed by David Dawson) first launched his characters on television back in the year of 1960.  Warren worked on the drama as a consultant along with writer Daran Little who also has worked as a writer for the soap opera for the last two decades.

Margaret Morris, the casting director for the show during its birth, will be played by Jane Horrocks while John Tompson is also slated to appear in an unknown role.

Keeping it in the family, Bill Roache who has been on the cast of Coronation Street since the first episode will be played by his son. Bill first showed up on the show as student Ken Barlow and a mere five decades later is now a retired grandfather on the popular soap.

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The three leading companies in the UK have the bulk of the control in the UK mobile industry, and are testing out technology that would allow them to broadcast TV across the 3G mobile spectrum.  In order to do this, they have teamed up with Streamezzo, Ericsson, and IPWireless on a three month trial of IMB technology in Slough and West London.

Currently, each of these UK mobile phone companies offer mobile TV services on their 3G networks, but there is a great deal of congestion across the networks if more than a few customers use the service within the same general location.  The new IMB technology however can utilize airwaves from the 3G spectrum so that lines remain uncongested.

The spectrum is great for television broadcasting since it is not able to receive and send signals, which means it does not to interfere with mobile phone calls.  Plus, since it is already a part of the spectrum that already exists, it is easy to bill customers for the use, which is available across 60 countries from 150 different operators.

The trial which begins this coming October, is the second attempt at the technology, which Orange and T-Mobile tested out in 2008.

Head of technology research and development at the Vodafone Group, Luke Ibbestson, stated that with the growth of data traffic across 3G networks and the increase in support of broadcast technology across the mobile industry the time has never been better to push the IMB initiative.

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At the moment, this seems a little true as Stephen Fry attacked the standards of many of the television programs currently airing, stating that they are made for adults in the UK who exhibit infantile thinking.

Fry called them ‘chicken nuggets’ implying while these types of programming can be enjoyed from time to time, they are not great and fulfilling choices on a regular basis.

It is hard to debate his point given the fact that a large percentage of peak viewing time programmes can be considered adult centric, with even BBC2 schedules stocked full of reality shows about DIY, cooking, games shows, and fashion.  On the flip side, ITV and BBC1 continue to air shows that almost always are dramas that are either thrillers or heartbreaks making everything a bit of escapist fun that airs today.

In fact, it is almost possible to say that mainstream television is now designed to be enjoyed while doing other activities, but not for those who simply want to seriously sit down and enjoy a show due to the lack of current stimulation in the programming.

This thought only becomes stronger when you take a look at Doctor Who in his latest episode goes back in time to see Van Gogh encouraging children to take a different view of art history.

In theory it was a great idea, but although adults may have enjoyed watching the educational, creative, and entertaining show; its intellectual level was aimed at children more than adults, making it just another show that fails to fully captivate the adult viewing audience.

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Chairman of the Bafta TV committee, John Willis, called Cowell “one of the most brilliant entertainment producers of our time”.  Willis cited the role Mr. Cowell played in bringing new and exciting talent to the attention of the British public, and his major contribution to TV entertainment on Saturday nights.

Since rising to fame in Britain with his role as a judge on ‘Pop Idol’ and in the U.S. with ‘American Idol’, the TV mogul has made his fortune by giving unknown performers a chance at celebrity, and his sometimes biting but always entertaining commentary on their performances.  Now he says he wants to enlarge his participant base as well as his audience by taking on the other 65 countries that have bought his format.  His new show would have the winners from each country competing for global fame.

The winner of Saturday night’s finale of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ was a group of acrobats called Spelbound, and members of the troupe told reporters that they had offers to perform in Las Vegas, and dreams of performing in the 2016 Olympics due to recognition on the show.

There is no question that Simon Cowell knows how to attract and hold an audience.  His current shows are the most watched in all of British television, and there’s no reason to think a global approach will not be just as popular.

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Homer is best known for eating and drinking beer, which surprisingly enough was all it took for him to beat out Harry Potter for the top slot.

Matt Groening, the creator of Homer’s character, stated that people enjoy Homer because secretly they can relate to his desires, which most people are too embarrassed to admit while he gets to enjoy them out in the open.

In third place was Buffy the Vampire Slayer portrayed by Sarah Michelle Geller and in fourth place was Tony Soprano from of course, The Sopranos.  Rounding out the top five was The Joker from The Dark Knight instalment of the Batman trilogy played by the late Heath Ledger.

Also ranking in the top ten were Hannibal Lector played by Anthony Hopkins, Rachel from Friends played by Jennifer Anniston, and Edward Scissorhands played by Johnny Depp.

In ninth and tenth place finishing off the top ten list was the child favourite Spongebob Squarepants and Carrie Bradshaw from Sex & the City played by Sarah Jessica Parker.

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New minister for media and arts, Ed Vaizey, stated in his first interview that the BBC will be treated in a very firm fashion by the coalition government, but it will still be fair, and went as far as to say that BBC 6 Music, which was to be cancelled should be saved.

Last year, the Conservatives were not able to win the vote in parliament to freeze the licensing fee, but now that they have taken office they have not made plans to block a three pound annual increase of the fee coming up in April of 2011 and 2012.

Vaizey stated they only reason they attempted to freeze it last year was because the inflation rate was flat.

Outside of their stance on freezing the license fee, the Tories have also lightened up when it comes to forcing the media group to publish the salaries of its top celebrities.  Vaizey addressed this fact, as well stating that the Tories are still considering whether this should be forced or not.

He did state however that there should be more transparency when it comes to the salaries of top BBC managers.  In fact, the Government wants any top person from a publicly funded organization to be allotted a salary that is no more than 20 times the amount that the same company’s lowest paid employee earns.

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