Asian TV channels ZEE TV and ZEE Cinema are expected to close at the end of the year. Both are currently available on Sky (satellite) and Virgin Media (cable).
The move is subject to the renegotiation of commercial contracts, as these don’t expire until 2021. Zee had already closed its other services, including ZEE TV HD and ZEE Punjabi
Like Disney with Disney+, ZEE is focussing its efforts on its online streaming platform, in this case ZEE5.
With Covid-19 still forcing matches to be played behind closed doors, it has been confirmed that all September Premier League football matches will be shown live on TV.
Sky and BT Sport had already selected to show 17 matches, with a further 11 to also now be shown. Of these, Sky will show a further six, BT Sport will show a further three, with Amazon Prime and the BBC to show one each.
The BBC have confirmed that they will be showing Leicester City’s home fixture against Burnley, on 20th September (2020) with kick-off at 7pm.
It has not been confirmed if more Championship, League 1, and League 2 games will be televised.
Virgin Media has added YouTube Kids to its V6 TV platform, allowing a child friendly platform for streaming Youtube videos.
The app can be set for different age groups, allowing parents to customise the experience so it is appropriate to their children.
The app is available to Virgin Media subscribers with the newer V6 box. Users of the previous generation Tivo box will not have access to the app at this time.
American football league National Football League (NFL), and ViacomCBS have agreed a three year deal that will see NFL coverage on ViacomCBS owned Channel 5. Coverage will launch on the 13th September.
The deal sees the return of Monday Night Football live on free-to-air TV. A new Sunday morning magazine programme called NFL End Zone will also air at 11.30am each Sunday, and will be filmed in a different US location each week.
The deal will also see NFL content air across MTVs digital platforms in the UK, with MTV also being owned by ViacomCBS.
Channel 5 was previously an NFL broadcaster from 1998 to 2009.
The Football Association (FA) has lifted the Saturday afternoon 3pm blackout for the upcoming football season, due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.
The blackout was introduced in 1980s, preventing games with a 3pm kick-off from being shown live on TV. This is to encourage fans to attend matches, and promote participation at grassroots level.
The move should mean that all Premier League matches will be available on TV, although the platforms showing the additional matches are yet to be confirmed.
Games are still being played behind closed doors, although it is planned that limited numbers of fans will be allowed to attend from the end of October.
Sky Two is expected to re-brand on the 3rd September (2020) to Sky Replay. It is unclear what, if any programme changes will be made, but it would appear the channel will be used for repeats of programmes on other Sky owned channels.
Sky Two is currently available on Sky’s satellite platform, and Virgin Media’s cable platform, and is expected to continue on both platforms.
Steve Carson has been appointed the new director of BBC Scotland, and will replace Donalda MacKinnon when she steps down later this year.
Steve Carson is currently the Head of Multi-Platform Commissioning for BBC Scotland, and is known for both content making and commissioning.
In his new position which he will take up in the Autumn, he will be responsible for leading 1100 staff who produce content across TV, radio, and digital platforms, in both Gaelic and English.
The final of the FA Cup football tournament on August 1st (2020) between Arsenal and Chelsea was the most watched match of the season.
BARB data shows a peak of 8.2 million viewers watch the BBC’s coverage across all platforms, surpassing the 7.3 million for the semi-final match between Chelsea and Manchester United.
The top five most viewed football matches across the 2019-2020 season were all FA Cup games, and all were shown on the BBC.
Additionally, BT Sport also showed the FA Cup final between Arsenal and Chelsea, and as the viewing figures are only for the BBC’s coverage, the actual number of viewers of the match will be even higher.
On 31st July (2020) Channel 4 showed an exclusive ad break, during Cats Does Countdown on Channel 4, which saw airtime donated to six independent businesses:
American Express, Bought by Many, Coca-Cola, Lloyds Bank, and Rightmove each donated 30 seconds of airtime, with the remainder donated by Channel 4. The ad break was also shown on E4, Film4, More4, 4Music and catch-up service All4.
The aim of the ‘The Great High Street Comeback’ campaign was to help support independent businesses impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and show that the high street is open for business again
The BBC is to make a further 70 job cuts in its news service, increasing to 520 from the 450 job losses announced earlier this year.
The increase in the job losses are a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, which has increased the financial pressures on the BBC. The jobs cuts include senior management positions.
Most of the BBC News output is being retained, but more content is to be shared amongst programmes both locally and nationally.
However, some high profile shows including the Victoria Derbyshire programme have been axed, although Victoria does remain as a BBC News presenter.
