In The Frame – June ’15

Netflix march on, with news that they are targeting 70 million subscribers by the end of 2015. The UK’s five million subscribers make it the company’s second-largest region after the US.

Apple, meanwhile, might just have hinted that Apple TV apps are coming. An announcement had been expected to introduce a new version of Apple TV…but didn’t materialise.

Instead, Business Insider UK report, “it seems like the company has inadvertently confirmed that the next Apple TV will have something its predecessor doesn’t: an App Store.”

“The current Apple TV has app-like channels from a host of video providers, like Netflix, HBO, and YouTube, but allowing apps on the device would open up a whole world of possibilities that haven’t existed before. This means that third-party developers may be able to create apps and games specifically for the Apple TV like they’ve been doing for the iPhone and iPad for years.”

BBC News

The BBC’s recent announcement that it is to cut more than 1,000 jobs – which we’ll cover in more depth in the next edition of In The Frame… – was preceded by the news that it will no longer control the rights to the Olympics.

Discovery’s exclusive pan-European deal, worth 1.3bn euros (£922m), means the BBC could lose coverage of the Games in the UK from 2022, with Eurosport the principal broadcaster and in a position to lease back some of the rights to the BBC since Ofcom lists the Olympics as a category A event, which must have live coverage made available to free-to-air channels.

With the corporation looking to cut spending as well as jobs, the BBC Trust has approved the move of BBC3 to online-only as well as rejecting a proposal to launch a new BBC1+1 channel in its place because of its likely impact on commercial rivals including ITV and Channel 5.

BT News

BT Sport has confirmed that Ericsson will provide playout services for an interactive red button service and three new channels – BT Sport Europe, free-to-air service BT Sport Showcase, and BT Sport UHD, which will be the first ultra high definition channel to launch in Europe. Ericsson will also continue to transmit BT Sport 1 and 2 for an additional three years. BT will offer football and rugby matches in 4K quality from August, with the Community Shield the first broadcast.

Timeline TV has designed and created the first purpose-built Ultra HD 4K outside broadcast unit in Europe and has a four-year contract for the provision of Ultra HD 4K.

AMC, the channel that brought us Breaking Bad and Mad Men, is launching for the first time in the UK exclusively on BT in September with the UK premiere of Fear the Walking Dead. The channel “will also feature acclaimed films from the world’s most popular film libraries”.

And finally…

• After news that Britain’s Got Talent producers said sorry for switching the dogs in the final, it’s emerged that David Walliams is working on a new sitcom based on the show.
• A good month for Chris Evans saw not only the return of ’90s favourite TFI Friday, which returns for an eight-part run on Channel 4, but also his appointment as the new presenter of Top Gear.
• Former Top Gear presenter James May, meanwhile, returns with a new live car show, Building Cars Live, which will go behind the scenes at BMW’s Mini plant in Oxford.
• Another return announced in June was that of The Crystal Maze, albeit in a new format, a “live and immersive interactive experience”, no less.
• Fast Show and Cold Feet star John Thomson is to front a new stand-up show on Gold. An archive-focused series, Legends Of Stand-Up & Bernard Righton will go out later this year.

From the latest news to the latest positions – click here to see Frame 25’s most recent additions to its list of available TV jobs