IDTV

Nadine Peck joins Farncombe Technology as Senior Consultant

Digital migration specialist Farncombe Technology has appointed Nadine Peck, until recently Project Leader at the BBC for the UK Digital Switchover Help Scheme, as Senior Consultant. Nadine oversaw the process according to which energy efficiency company eaga plc was recently contracted by the BBC to deliver the £500 million Help Scheme – which offers support to the elderly or disabled to help them switch to digital television.

Nadine joined the BBC in 2002 as Operations Manager for BBC Strategy & Distribution, before becoming a Senior Project Manager with BBC Operations managing its Digital Switchover Project. While in that role she managed a number of complex digital switchover projects, represented the Corporation on key switchover-related working groups, and worked alongside officials at the UK government’s Department of Media, Culture and Sport to develop Help Scheme policy.

Prior to joining the BBC, Nadine was Head of Coverage Services at ITV Digital, which she joined soon after it launched the world’s first commercial DTT service (as ONdigital) in 1998.

"Nadine has an unrivalled track-record managing the complex processes associated with digital switchover," said Farncombe’s founder, Andrew Glasspool. "She will play a key role in helping us to accelerate the rapid expansion of our digital migration business in Europe and beyond."

Nadine’s appointment follows that of digital watermarking specialist Lionel Tranchard, who joined Farncombe as Principal Consultant from Thomson STS at the beginning of the year.

Farncombe helping eaga deliver £500m Digital Switchover Help Scheme

Farncombe Technology is helping green support services company eaga deliver the £500m Digital Switchover Help Scheme (DSHS) on behalf of the BBC.

Under the DSHS, those over 75 years old, or who receive certain disability benefits, or who are registered blind or partially sighted, will qualify for support during the course of the digital switchover process. The DSHS is due to operate over a five-year period. Those eligible can get help with choosing the right digital television equipment and installing it in their home, and fitting a new aerial where necessary. A helpline will be provided when people are getting used to the equipment.

The BBC appointed eaga and finalised the contract on 25th February. Farncombe advised eaga in the run-up to the submission of its tender, and has now been retained by eaga to offer strategic advice and assistance on a variety of issues during the course of the BBC contract, including set-top box technology, and customer installation and call-centre procedures.

Implications of Ofcom revision

What does Ofcom's 'loss' of 700,000-odd Freeview-only homes signify for forecasts about DTT penetration, I wonder?

1.2 million boxes were sold in the last quarter, so sales aren't flagging; it's just that most are going to second and third TV sets. That means penetration of the Freeview platform - in the sense of the platform used for the main TV set - is slowing down.

Since Sky Digital growth is also decreasing, cable remains moribund, and IPTV has yet to take off, that suggests a hole could open up in digital TV coverage in the run-up to analogue switchover, since Freeview was supposed to be the platform that delivered the 95% digital TV penetration threshold.

Any gap could conceivably be filled by a re-invigorated NTL/Telewest cable offering under its new Virgin branding, or even IPTV, if BT ever gets its act together.

But I bet the Excel spreadsheets are humming at DCMS and the DTI in a frenetic effort to figure out what this latest mid-course correction might mean for the government's 2012 analogue switchoff plans.

Reuters misses the story

Whoever filed this Reuters snap (Digital TV sales top 1 mln per quarter -Ofcom | Technology | Internet | Reuters.co.uk) failed to read down to the bottom of Ofcom's release.

The real story is that Ofcom knocked 700,000 households off its figure for Freeview-only homes in the first quarter of the year, because it decided it had grossly under-estimated the number of already-digital homes buying Freeview boxes for second TV sets. Quite a mid-course correction, and the third major 'adjustment' Ofcom has had to make in its estimates since the platform launched.

For the real story, read what I posted on my website! Or, if you have the time, go to the source...