None of this really matters one jot if the quality of the programmes being made continues to deteriorate.

This article titled “The YouView revolution will not be televised just yet” was written by Steve Hewlett on YouView, for The Guardian on Monday 28th February 2011 07.00 UTC There’s a lot riding on YouView. BBC director general Mark Thompson has described it as nothing less than the “battle for the living room” – pitching YouView as an “open” platform based around the legacy free-to-air public service broadcasters, against the barbarians of the pay-TV world and their “closed” platforms. You can see what he means. YouView – and the on-demand functionality it offers (such as an EPG that allows you to go back in time as well as forwards, to deliver iPlayer-style catchup on your TV) – will “change the way you view TV for ever”, it’s claimed. If that were to happen and consumers come to expect and then demand such services, the legacy PSBs would be seriously disadvantaged without their own platform. Or so the argument goes. Actually underlying those arguments is a pretty straightforward attempt to find an upgrade path for Freeview. Freeview is already falling behind cable and satellite services because limited bandwidth means it can’t deliver anything like as much HD TV. As Virgin and Sky pour investment into next generation internet-enhanced TV, the fear is that without YouView Freeview will fall even further behind. What does that matter to the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5? Because they get substantially higher viewing shares in Freeview homes than in Sky or Virgin households. So you can see why, irrespective of whether it really does revolutionise viewing habits, they see YouView as quite so significant. For the other key shareholders – principally the internet service providers BT and TalkTalk – there is almost as much at stake. BT has spent a reported £800m on BT Vision, and it does now work and thanks to Ofcom does now have premium sport – but to say it has failed to meet expectations rather understates the case. BT desperately needs a good TV offering if it is to ward off the threat posed by Sky and Virgin, which can already offer customers so called “triple play” (TV, telephone and internet). For BT and TalkTalk, YouView – with all its high-quality BBC, Channel 4 and ITV content plus other on-demand options – is their fast track to a compelling “triple play” offer. Which makes the fact that as you read this there is not (and never has been) a working YouView box something of a worry. Originally set to launch early in 2010, then promised to be in the shops by Christmas, then first quarter 2011, then second half 2011 and as of two weeks ago “sometime” in 2012, YouView has become an embarrassment for the BBC – which has done most of the technical development work – and a real concern for all the shareholders who fear losing what could have been a Freeview-style market position in online TV. Commercial shareholders have been irked by what they perceive to be a lack of “commercial acumen” on the BBC’s part. The tendency to over-specify the potential capabilities of the system has led to huge technical problems – which ultimately explain why it doesn’t yet work. A picture emerges of a project run by BBC boffins (who, according to one insider, have no concept of the kind of consumer marketing focus that commercial operations depend on) spending huge amounts of money trying to create an all-singing, all-dancing box that would win its creators significant recognition in the digital media world outside. When all the shareholders really wanted was an enhanced TV catchup service with some extra on-demand and pay TV services thrown in.   All the talk now is of “de-specifying” the box in an effort to make it work and get it to market for the Olympics in 2012. In the meantime Richard Desmond has sent his friend Lord Sugar in to “kick the tyres” of the unfunctioning box; the “drop dead” clause in the shareholders’ agreement (allowing them to walk away from the project if it is not launched by then) is due to run out at the end of 2011 and is being hastily renegotiated; and YouView’s popular chief executive Richard Halton is surviving, but under pressure. In normal circumstances this might look like a project on the verge of collapse, but that is very unlikely to happen. Why? Because the UK’s internet infrastructure is not yet capable of delivering YouView-like services as widely as would be necessary to make real market impact – for YouView or anybody else. And because evidence so far suggests relatively limited consumer demand for internet-enabled TV. In other words, the delay to YouView’s launch probably won’t be as damaging as it might have been. More by luck than judgment.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.

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The final straw for Ustream came when I couldn’t get the broadcasting service to begin recording anything for podcast episode 16 last night. I was logged in and broadcasting live, but when I pressed the record button after a few seconds it came u with a ‘failed recording’ message repeatedly. Clearly there was no choice, the time had come to switch over to an alternative service and the one I had lined up as most promising to try next is Livestream.com andyroberts - live streaming video powered by Livestream So here’s the new bookmark for the Andy Roberts Podcast Live Show every Tuesday at 7.00pm : http://www.livestream.com/andyroberts The multiple interfaces for broadcasting are a little more complicated than I had been used to ( but anyway, Ustream made it more difficult recently) so I’m not up to speed yet and was definitely a little thrown out last night, but it won’t take too long to get the hang of it.
If you only ever listen to the downloaded podcasts in your own time then you shouldn’t notice any difference at all really, but you may like to try turning up to the live event once in a while, to see what it’s like. Apparently you don’t even need to register an account in order to join in the text chat there. On the performance itself, you will find a medley of Beatles songs and one Lennon solo sandwiched between a couple of original songs. Here’s the links and shownotes for podcast episode 16 then:

Subscribe to the podcast RSS or get it from iTunes Download MP3 to save – 25Mb in size, playtime 27 minutes 27 seconds :- 16 Andy Roberts Podcast Episode 16.mp3 Andy Roberts Podcast Episode 16 Show Notes

Standing By – Andy Roberts original song I feel Fine – Beatles Every Little Thing – Beatles Eleanor Rigby – Beatles Working Class Hero – Lennon Winter in Andalucia – Andy Roberts original

I just found out about the Bambuser platform for live streaming video and audio fro a mobile phone or webcam. As such it could be considered a possible alternative to Ustream that I’ve been using for the live show on Tuesdays over the past year or so. There is a facility to download saved broadcasts, so that would work for stripping out the audio for podcasts, and for editing out songs for uploading to youTube. There’s also a chat facility but I haven’t tested that yet. The sound quality seems acceptable, and there’s a much shorter lag between broadcast and feedback.

Following on from the Podcast idea a few weeks back I promised to post again telling you how to subscribe in iTunes or get the podcast automatically delivered to the podcast player of your choice. We’ve had four podcast prototypes broadcast and published already and the show is ready to go live on Tuesday July 6th, at 7.00pm UK time so this is quite short notice for anybody who didn’t manage to keep up over at ustream

subscribe in iTunes

RSVP on Facebook at facebook.com/event.php?eid=131126593587441 The website hosting the podcasts is over at andyroberts.me and there’s a post about the official opening night which says:

After 4 weeks of prototyping, the music podcast goes LIVE in July and we’re celebrating with an official opening night on Tuesday July 6th. So come along to the ustream page promptly for 7.00pm UK time to get your requests in, hang out with other podcast listeners and be part of my opening night recorded for posterity here at http://andyroberts.me/

Podcast Launch

Building the Opening Night It would be nice to have a bit of a crowd along for the opening night just to get the regular weekly podcasting off to a good start so I’ve created a facebook Event for this particular show which you can invite people to. I’ll also be making a post over on my long established blog site at DARnet Andy Roberts and one or two other places if I can think of them. The podcast opening night will also be part of the Cafe Noodle July Ustream Festival, a great music community organised by Matt Stevens Loop. I think it should be possible to embed the ustream show here on this site – so that’s something I’ll be having a go at too.

Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogPodcast Live

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Following on from the Podcast idea a few weeks back I promised to post again telling you how to subscribe in iTunes or get the podcast automatically delivered to the podcast player of your choice. We’ve had four podcast prototypes broadcast and published already and the show is ready to go live on Tuesday July 6th, at 7.00pm UK time so this is quite short notice for anybody who didn’t manage to keep up over at ustream

subscribe in iTunes

RSVP on Facebook at facebook.com/event.php?eid=131126593587441 The website hosting the podcasts is over at andyroberts.me and there’s a post about the official opening night which says:

After 4 weeks of prototyping, the music podcast goes LIVE in July and we’re celebrating with an official opening night on Tuesday July 6th. So come along to the ustream page promptly for 7.00pm UK time to get your requests in, hang out with other podcast listeners and be part of my opening night recorded for posterity here at http://andyroberts.me/

Podcast Launch

Building the Opening Night It would be nice to have a bit of a crowd along for the opening night just to get the regular weekly podcasting off to a good start so I’ve created a facebook Event for this particular show which you can invite people to. I’ll also be making a post over on my long established blog site at DARnet Andy Roberts and one or two other places if I can think of them. The podcast opening night will also be part of the Cafe Noodle July Ustream Festival, a great music community organised by Matt Stevens Loop. I think it should be possible to embed the ustream show here on this site – so that’s something I’ll be having a go at too.

Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogPodcast Live

Related posts:Podcast Ustream.tv Tuesday Nights Andy Roberts Music 7.00pm Gordon Brown Never a Frown

Well I’m surprised how quickly 4 weeks have passed, I even made a mistake during the recording and referred to it as prototype 3 but this is in fact the 4th and final podcast prototype in the series. Next week’s edition will be the official opening night of the Andy Roberts Podcast – episode 1. I ought to make an event out of that on the facebook page really, and invite people. Anyway, here’s the podcast player for listening online to my Andy Roberts podcast prototype number 4:

. . Subscribe in iTunes to the podcast feed using the url

http://andyroberts.me/?feed=podcast You can also download the MP3 audio file which is around 25Mb in size and just under 29minutes in duration from this link Andy Roberts Podcast Prototype 4.mp3 If you must, the full video file of the broadcast is available over at Ustream.tv where the live podcasting event takes place on Tuesdays at 7.00pm UK time Podcast Prototype No 4 Video Podcast Prototype 4 Show Notes Show notes and information for prototype 4 broadcast and recorded on June 29th 2010. There were 3 songs performed during this show, two using the plain 12string acoustic guitar and the others on the Chinese Lute or Ruan. The Dream Is Over Title: “The Dream is Over” Music and Lyrics by Andy Roberts, first released on The Andy Roberts Tapes Here’s the same song performed last week at Havering Folk Club

Mike Silver – Lady You’re On Fire Title: Not really sure about this Music and Lyrics by Mike Silver, badly remembered and interpreted by Andy Roberts Yangtse Gorges Title: “Yangtse Gorges” Chinese Lute Music by Andy Roberts Big Eyed Beans From Venus – Captain Beefheart Title: “Big Eyed Beans From Venus” Music and Lyrics by Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart), loosely interpreted by Andy Roberts on the Chinese Lute Chinese Lute Picture Chinese Lute or Ruan

Subscribe in iTunes to the podcast feed using the url

http://andyroberts.me/?feed=podcast Here’s the podcast player for listening online to my Andy Roberts podcast prototype number 2:

You can also download the MP3 audio file which is around 26Mb in size and just under 30 minutes in duration from this link AndyRobertsPodcastprototype2.mp3 The full video file of the show is available over at Ustream.tv where the live podcasting event takes place on Tuesdays at 7.00pm UK time Podcast Prototype No 2 Video Podcast Prototype 2 Show Notes Show notes and information for prototype 2 broadcast and recorded on June 15th 2010. There were five songs performed during this show, including one instrumental, all using the 12 string guitar. Waiting Title: “Waiting” Music and Lyrics by Andy Roberts, first released on The Andy Roberts Tapes

The Nutmeg Tree Title: “The Nutmeg Tree” Music and Lyrics by Andy Roberts, first released on Album 1

Mazet Title: “Mazet” Music and Lyrics by Andy Roberts, first released on The Andy Roberts Tapes

Instrumental Title: “Intrumental” Music by Andy Roberts, first released on The Andy Roberts Tapes

I Shall Be Released Title: “I Shall Be Released” Song and Lyrics by Bob Dylan 1967 Interpretation Andy Roberts