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MEDIA organisations are finally taking larger strides towards keeping up with a fast paced industry that will wait for no-one.

Snooker Final Draws Massive Audience

LAST Night's World Championship Snooker final drew a massive average audience of 2.5 million over the marathon five hours of coverage on the BBC.

The final is always a popular event on the BBC and last night's figures were in fact fewer than last year’s 3 million average, although the final session was only an hour long. John Higgins won last year’s final with an 18-9 frames victory over Shaun Murphy.

The Australian Neil Robertson won the title last night against former champion Graeme Dott in an 18-13 frames victory. The highlight of the session was an incredible 48 minute frame, which was eventually won by the Australian, giving him a 15 frames to 12 lead and an advantage from which Dott never recovered. Victory saw the Australian become World Champion for the first time at the age of just 28.

The snooker drew a massive audience for a Monday night, with the network doubling the average share achieved over the last three months on a Monday. The World Championships has been televised on the BBC since 1976 and has continued to draw vast audiences, especially with the final. The BBC will continue to televise the championships until at least 2011.

Peter Kay back in John Smiths adverts

PETER Kay has returned to our television screens after a four year absence. Kay became an advertising sensation around eight years ago as the comedian became the front man for John Smith's with catchphrases such as "top bombing" and "two lamb bhunas". John Smith's have brought Kay back with the view for him to appear in three more TV adverts.

The first advert was released during the Premier League clash between Liverpool and Chelsea at 1:30 pm last Sunday. The advert has been accepted with praise throughout the UK and Kent as John Smith's adverts once again seem to be the topic of conversation.

Peter Kay's official Facebook group posted a clip of the advert today and the clip already has 1,141 people 'liking' the video.

Karen Cox from Sevenoaks, Kent commented on the link, saying: "love it, glad your back in the Ads".

The ad campaign is set to run for six weeks and this particular advert has Kay creating an awkward moment in a restraunt with his TV wife". Four weeks of political campaigning is bound to have taken its toll on the Great British public," said Gareth Turner, senior brand manager at John Smith's owner Heineken UK. "They are in need of some no nonsense and a decent dose of light relief and Peter is the perfect man to deliver both." The ad was directed by Danny Kleinman, who was behind the original adverts which aired from 2002 to 2005.

Click here to view the latest Peter Kay sensation that looks set to cause a stir over the next few weeks and people across the country are already looking forward to the next one.

Is the love affair over?

WITH the news that Premier League football could be available on digital and terrestrial television by the start of the new season in August, could it be the end of the 18 year old love affair between Sky and The Premier League. The deal that saw BSkyB gain the rights to the matches in 1992 was the first real coup for the fairly young company that has gone on to become a leading light in British broadcasting.

BSkyB recently struck a deal with three rival pay-TV operators meaning that the three companies will be provided with discounted deals for Sky Sports one and two, the two channels that carry the rights for The Premier League matches.

The three companies that will get the exclusive discounted offer are BT Vision, Virgin Media and Top Up TV.

As mentioned, BSkyB was first showing Premier League matches in 1992 at the time, this was a radical decision by the Premier League, but one that has paid off. Pay television was an almost untested proposition in the UK market, as was charging fans to watch live televised football however, the Premier League's TV rights have sky rocketed ever since! This could be because of the apetite that the British public have for the game, or the Sky's strategy and it could even be due to to the quality of the football that has blessed the League for the last two decades.

The Premier League sells its television rights on a collective basis. This is in contrast to some European Leagues, including La Liga and Serie A, in which each club sells its rights individually, leading to a much higher share of the total income going to the top few and the most successful clubs. The money is divided into three parts. Half is divided equally between the clubs; one quarter is awarded on a merit basis based on final league position, the top club getting twenty times as much as the bottom club, and equal steps all the way down the table; the final quarter is paid out as facilities fees for games that are shown on television, with the top clubs subsequently receiving the largest shares of the money.

The deal that BSkyB signed back in 1992 was for five seasons and was worth £304 million. This deal therefore ran out in 1997 for the 1997/1998 season. The next contract was for four seasons and rose to a stagerring £670 million, a phenominal increase since the first deal five years earlier. The third contract was for a further three seasons and once again saw a massive rise in the price, with the contract worth a massive £1.024 billion.

Sky's monopoly of the Premier League was dented in 2006, when Setanta Sports was awarded a third of the packages of matches available at the time. Three years later, due to the financial difficulties, Setanta Sports had to give up their 46 matches to ESPN, who remain Sky's fierces competitors over the rights.

Sky who have now had to grant discounted prices to organisations such as Virgin media still dominate the sporting world, especially with coverage of the world's greatest football league...The Premier League.

Sky, despite the opposition, will continue to hold a massive majority when it comes to the number of football matches they show in the upcoming 2010/2011 season. This means that with the high level of demand for live coverage of Premier League matches, consumers will still be looking to Sky for their football.

Anthony Hallet, a Sky and Sky Sports subscriber from Deal, Kent would not look to any other organization for his live sport, he said: "Sky is the only company i'd use to watch football. I only started using the package last year, but already I cannot imagine my life without it".

Therefore Sky's love affair with the Premier League, which has undoubtedly gone a long way towards making Sky the dominant force that it is today looks set to continue for a good few years to come.

Tennis pro from Kent fails to beat Telegraph

A PROFESSIONAL tennis player from Kent has lost his legal battle against The Daily Telegraph. Robert Dee from Bexley sued the national newspaper for labelling him the 'world's worst tennis pro'. Dee has previously earned over 30 apologies and tens of thousands of pounds worth of damages from media organizations that all made similarly disparaging allegations about his sporting capabilities. Media organizations that have been found guilty of libel offenses against the 21 year old include the Sun, the Daily Mail and the BBC. Dee though failed to count on the stubbornness of The Daily Telegraph who stood to lose over pounds in £500,000 costs alone if the publication lost out at the High Court.

The High Court judge Mrs Justice Sharp ruled that the newspaper had provided strong enough evidence to support the term 'world's worst'. The allegations came after Dee suffered a run of 54 straight-set losses on the international professional circuit.
With such a poor record on the tennis courts, Dee has had a great deal more success in the other courts, winning substantially more money through damages than any prize money he has received in his career to date.

The BBC
The article appeared on the BBC Sport website on the 22nd April 2008 and stated that Dee had finally won at the 55th attempt and after three years of trying. The BBC apologized on the 19th of May 2009, stating that the article was incorrect and they were happy to point out that Dee won 20 matches between April 2007 and March 2008 and reached the final of a tournament in Almeria. The BBC then stated that they accept that the matches were professional and that they form part of Mr Dee's professional record and that the article was therefore inaccurate. The BBC then apologized to Mr Dee.
Dee received £12,500 in damages from the BBC and then costs of £28,000. In total, Robert Dee received a figure of £40,500 form the British Broadcasting Corporation.

The Daily Mail
The report by the Daily Mail was published on 22nd April 2008 suggested that Dee was the ‘world’s worst tennis player. The apology, which appeared on the Mail online on the 22nd of December 2008, admitted that Dee had won 22 professional matches in Spain during the period and formally apologized to Dee. For this article alone, Robert Dee received £15,000 in damages.

The Sun
On July, 11 2008 The Sun formally apologized to Dee for an article published on April, 23. The apology stated: "On April 23 we reported that tennis player Robert Dee lost 54 matches in a row over three years. We now accept he won many other professional games in this period and is not the world's worst tennis pro. We apologize for any embarrassment".

The Daily Star
On January 29, 2009 The Daily Star printed an apology in their publication to Robert Dee for an article published on the April 23, 2008. The apology read: "In an article published on April 23, 2008 we described Robert Dee as 'the world's worst tennis player'. We accept that this damaging description of Robert Dee has no foundation whatsoever and we apologise to Mr Dee for the hurt, distress, embarrassment and damage it caused. Mr Dee is a hard-working and continually improving young tennis professional. We are happy to set the record straight and have paid damages to Mr Dee".
The exact sum of the damages is not known but it is likely to be a similar amount that The Sun paid Dee as the issue was settled out of court and the content was similar.

There are over 30 examples of apologies from news publications and companies who were all force to pay damages to Mr Dee for claims against his tennis ability and poor form. Dee's form has though improved recently with three consecutive straight sets wins. Dee beat Adrian Cabrera 6-0 6-0 at the II Open National De Tenis Villa De Redovan tournament at the Villa De Redovan. Dee followed the win with further straight sets wins against Jose Maria Arroniz and Jose Escudero Soler on the hard courts.
There is an appreciative group on Facebook with up to date news about Dee's performances and match reports. To find the page click here. Robert Dee continues to fight against form records at his Spanish base and will continue to fight any defamatory comments about his tennis ability. But with tens of thousands of pounds won in damages, he can afford to continue to push for his dream as a tennis professional.

A new dimension of newspaper

NATIONAL newspaper The Sun is set to publish a one off 3D issue on June 5 next month.

The Sun readers will receive a pair of 3D glasses with their purchase of the publication in order to get the full experience of the 3d content. The content will include a World Cup fixtures wall chart and naturally the globally famous page will also be in 3d. Importantly adverts will be included in the 3 dimensional content and The Sun will be charging a significantly higher fee than usual in order to advertise in this particular issue of the daily newspaper.

The news has generated massive interest for Britain's largest selling newspaper with thousands expected to sample the new idea just one week before the World Cup kicks off in South Africa. With such vast interest in the issue, Alex Baker a student from Kent University said; "I don't usually buy The Sun, because I prefer to read the Daily Mail, but I will definitely buy that one and I cannot wait to see page 3".

The Sun has announced that they will be printing thousands of copies over their daily figure in order to cope with the high demand. With the Times and Sunday Times recently announcing plans to have subscriptions for their online content it is refreshing to see another publication pressing forward and keeping up to date with such a changing modern world.

The media is turning the Prime Minister Presidential

IN THE build-up to this year’s general election there is a common belief, mainly amongst critics that the media is creating a presidential feel to the Prime ministerial role of Great Britain. Media in America is unlike any other nation and the live television debates are part and parcel with the elections in the States and something that is the deciding factor for many voters.

Maybe the newly televised debates will give this election a presidential feel, but the media also has much more subtle roles in this augment. The coverage of individual politicians and their wives, along with the impact that the media can have on people's perception of politics is having a dramatic effect on the view of the Prime minister. The widely publicised and new live television debates have brought about much controversy, but have also had a positive impact on the view of politics across the country.

Simon Bryant from Deal in Kent thinks that the live broadcasts have helped the general public's understanding of politics and have helped many people decide who to vote for this time around. Mr Bryant said "I think the live debates have helped people really. I mean most people don't understand what goes on in politics and probably just vote for whom their parents have voted for, but the televised debates have helped people get a better understanding of what and who they are voting for".

Throughout recent years it has been the Prime minister that has received much of the coverage in the press, not the party as a whole. He is the figurehead of that party and should rightly accept blame and praise where it is due, but again it is important to remember that he is the first among equals in his party and sometimes it is too easy to forget that there is in fact a party behind him, influencing the decisions. The fact that the Prime minister is seen almost as an individual leader is very presidential.

The president of the United States is a standalone figure running the country and with the media's concentration on just the Prime minister, it puts more emphasis on the individual and therefore could potentially give a presidential feel to the role. With such coverage of the three major candidates, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg it seems very much that the public are voting not for the party they want to be in office, but the individual.

The first lady is a term that is common in the USA. The wife of the president, such as Michelle Obama receives a great deal of coverage in the media and her actions reflect greatly among the popularity of candidates in the election. This coverage seems to be more apparent during this year’s general election in the UK. The most obvious example is the wife of conservative leader David Cameron, Samantha, who has been in the media's spotlight for the entire build up and coverage of the election. Her pregnancy was announced in mid March and since then; she has developed a strong bond with the general public of Britain.

The media, as we know plays a strong part in influencing opinions op people in all walks of life, but particularly politicians. Prime Minister Gordon Brown is constantly on the front pages and many of these stories are negative. This means that the only perception that the general public get of the Prime minister is that he is not having a positive impact as Prime minister. With this in mind it plays firmly into the hands of the conservatives and the liberal democrats who can only profit from the bad press that is associated with Gordon Brown and his party.

Gary Miller from Folkestone said: "I think that the press have a massive impact on public perception and if they wanted someone to become Prime minister it is probably within their power to make it happen".

Whatever the outcome of this year’s election, there can be no doubt that it has been a staggering tale of twists and turns with new angles that could alter the election for the future and maybe in a way help the public’s understanding of politics. With the media having such a massive impact on the lives of the public, it is clear that there could be concerns that our Prime minister is seemingly presidential but that all depends on what way the situation is viewed and how the media cover it. For the next week up until the voting on May, 6 the media will undoubtedly influence the overall verdict, especially with the live debates, all that is left to do is watch the drama unfold. Please click here to download a postal voting form for this year’s election, or follow the links below if you would like to view and catch-up on the final Prime Ministerial debate on the BBC iPlayer. Click here to view the final Prime Ministerial debate.