UK free-to-air broadcaster Channel 4 are reportedly close to launching a new channel that would help them to extend the life of some of their shows, as they plan the ‘on-demand’ broadcast channel for a summer release.

The new network would be created with the intention of offering viewers a further chance to catch up on the main channel’s most popular series, including Big Fat Gypsy Weddings, Come Dine With Me, Comedy Lab, and New Girl.

Being made as a complement to the network’s current ‘catch-up’ offerings of Channel 4+1, and online service 4oD, the new service has been said to already have been booked in as a future channel number on digital terrestrial platform Freeview and satellite broadcaster Sky, while plans are also in place to attempt a carriage deal with Virgin Media.

A source close to the project (which is currently internally dubbed ‘Project Shuffle’) claimed that the new channel would be operated with Sky’s in-system ’Anytime’ service as a slight template, suggesting that Channel 4 will select their best shows for extra broadcast, but then placed into an actual schedule, as opposed to Sky Anytime’s full ‘on-demand’ offering.

While the brand name of Channel 4 is almost certain to be used in the channel’s name, suffixes (similar to the ‘+1′ channel) are said to be in discussion by executives, with the name thought to be selected from the options of ‘Shuffle’, ‘Too’, ‘Squared’, and ‘Plus Two’.

Channel 4 is thought to believe that the Shuffle project could help it offer more advertising inventory around popular new shows, as well as ensure it maximises audience share for programmes. A Channel 4 source reported the plans and their motivation for launching the channel, saying: “If there is something like a Sherlock [BBC One] or a major show on a commercial rival then Channel 4 takes a big hit. If light viewers miss an episode, especially the first, they tend to go away so this is a clever idea to keep them engaged in the prime window after first broadcast and it shouldn’t cannibalise the main channel.”

Another source added: “Advertisers are genuinely pleased with the opportunity, there is certainly demand for it. Too quickly, too often this stuff falls off our screens. This gives an opportunity to re-engage with the big stuff that people want to watch on a TV screen. It gives two or three more bites at the electronic programme guide.”

While it seems to be a format that has not been used too often before, some critics might claim that it is a step back from the moves online that most major networks (including Channel 4 themselves) have made over the past few years. Can Project Shuffle manage to tempt online viewers back into traditional viewing methods?

Following their huge-money deal to prise a majority of the rights away from previous UK holder BBC, Sky Sports seem to be planning to dedicate plenty of coverage to their new acquisition of Formula 1 motor racing, as they revealed their race weekend plans are effectively lasting for a week at a time.

This broadcasting effort will be led by a dedicated new channel (Sky Sports F1 HD), but will be supplemented by the Sky Sports News channel, who have confirmed their plans to provide subscribers with ‘the ultimate news service’ to the pinnacle of world motorsport.

Backed by an endless level of funding, Sky will maintain a presence at each Grand Prix (mainly through the News and F1 channels) for no less than 6 days per race, almost double the coverage span offered by previous broadcasters of the events.

It has also been revealed recently that the Sky Sports F1 HD channel (the network’s first station dedicated entirely to a single sport) will premiere on 9 March on Sky channel #408, just over a week before their first race broadcast (the 2012 Australian GP), with every practice, qualifying, and race session being shown by the dedicated channel through to 2018.

The Sky Sports News segment of the network’s coverage will be offered as a ‘back-up’ to the main channel’s with hired F1 news presenters Rachel Brookes & Craig Slater set to offer live on-site headlines, analysis, and behind-the-scenes footage. This coverage will be in effect for all 20 of 2012′s Grand Prix in the F1 season, with on-site coverage beginning the Tuesday prior to the race with extensive build-up and most likely ending on the Sunday evening with headlines and reaction from the race itself.

News highlights and live coverage is expected to also be offered to users ‘on-the-go’, via a recently-launched ‘Sky Sports News’ app for iPad, which features an F1-only section.

Andy Cairns, executive director at Sky Sports News, said of the plans for coverage on his channel: “This is the ultimate news service for F1. Our reporters will be trackside and in the Sky Sports News HD studio ensuring viewers are always up to date with what’s happening on and off the track. And viewers with iPads will be able to follow our F1 coverage wherever they happen to be via the new Sky Sports News app which features on-demand video, the latest news and interviews, data as well as Sky Sports News itself.”

In addition to extensive additional race coverage, Sky Sports News are reportedly going to keep themselves busy in the off-season by showing preparatory action from all 12 teams, with features, testing, and car/driver launches thought to be amongst the items that could be covered. It could become a level of in-depth coverage that would rival some of the most extensive in the world (such as for America’s major professional sports leagues), but will high detail help those involved in F1 have a good relationship with their newest broadcasting partner?

This year’s version of one of the most popular multi-national annual TV broadcasts got a step closer last night, as event organisers unveiled a number of key details relating to the Eurovision Song Contest 2012, which is being staged in Baku (Azerbaijan).

The singing competition is open to entries from all eligible member nations of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), an organisation that allows national public broadcasters to reach common goals and innovations in TV technology.

The main outlet of this is Eurovision, which has been ongoing since 1956 and broadcast free-to-air through all members (as well as online), and was last year won by Azerbaijani duet Ell & Nikki in Dusseldorf (Germany), with their country’s prize being to host the next edition.

With the final of the contest exactly 4 months away now (26 May), yesterday saw Azerbaijani network Ictmai TV (iTV) produce a live broadcast (from the ‘Buta Palace’) designed mainly for online viewers, showing the official announcements of the contest’s logo and ‘visual identity’, the venue that will be used (the soon-to-be-completed ‘Baku Crystal Hall’), and for the nations that have not been automatically placed in the final, when they will be singing for a chance to get there.

The ‘semi-final allocation draw’, hosted by local TV presenters Leyla Alieva and Nazim Huseynov, saw event officials draw the names of 37 of the 43 participating nations into large groups of two semi-finals (to be held on 22 & 24 May), from which the top 10 of each will make it into the final alongside the hosts (Azerbaijan) and European broadcasting’s long-designated ‘Big 5′ financial contributors (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK), completing a line-up of 26 finalists.

The draw was made partially on a geographical basis to ensure a more even spread throughout the competition, as well as reviewing voting patterns from previous editions, moves which only scratch the surface of the reportedly complex rules of the yearly sing-off. Also drawn was the way that the competition is voted for (with half of the finalists and one semi-final block voting for the opposite semi-final), though the line-up is currently only partially complete, as the draw was only for what ‘part’ of each semi-final the participants would find themselves in (with full line-ups being decided in March).

With some of the key administrative items out of the way, what will be the next developments (namely the singers being chosen) from the big musical names and European nations hoping to conquer in Baku come May 2012?

The current line-up for the Eurovision semi-finals can be seen below:

Semi-Final 1 (22 May)
1st half of show
Albania
Belgium
Finland
Greece
Iceland
Latvia
Montenegro
Romania
Switzerland

2nd half of show
Austria
Cyprus
Denmark
Hungary
Ireland
Israel
Moldova
Russia
San Marino

Semi-Final 2 (24 May)
1st half of show
Armenia [participation uncertain]
Belarus
Bulgaria
Macedonia
Malta
Netherlands
Portugal
Serbia
Ukraine

2nd half of show
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Croatia
Estonia
Georgia
Lithuania
Norway
Slovakia
Slovenia
Sweden
Turkey

Final (26 May)
Azerbaijan [votes in semi 1]
France [semi 2]
Italy [semi 1]
Germany [semi 2]
Spain [semi 1]
UK [semi 2]
Top 10 entrants from Semi-Final 1
Top 10 entrants from Semi-Final 2

It seems as though Simon Cowell’s collection of ‘new show ideas’ is not running dry any time soon, as he revealed that he is set to launch another new reality TV contest format, this time by working with actor/rapper Will Smith and his wife Jada in a search for ‘the world’s greatest DJs.

Cowell’s Syco Entertainment line will be co-producers of the live ‘international’ TV format with the Smiths’ Overbrook Entertainment division, though little other information is currently known about the plans, such as judges, competition format, or even the networks that would broadcast the show.

Cowell said of the idea, which like last year’s Red or Black gameshow announcement seems to have appeared to the public out of nowhere: “We have been working on this show for over a year and we wanted to partner with the right people. As soon as I met Jada and Miguel from Overbrook, I knew they would be our ideal partners. DJs are the new rock stars, it feels like the right time to make this show.”

Sony Pictures Television are also thought to be involved (namely in the international distribution part of the show), with international production president Andrea Wong saying of the opportunity: “We are thrilled to be working with Simon Cowell and our partners at Overbrook on what we know will be a tremendously successful global format.”

Jada Pinkett-Smith added: “This show will comb the world to find a new breed of talent. I am happy to be creating it alongside Simon Cowell, the Sony team, and my partner Miguel Melendez, on behalf of the Overbrook family.”

Other details of the upcoming series remain under wraps for now it seems, but the last time Cowell strayed too far from the formats he knows best (with even his prized singing shows losing viewers), it did not turn out well ratings-wise. Will this new format bring DJ-ing into the spotlight, or could this be an ambitious idea too far for those involved?

Boxee have announced the official release of their latest product, the ‘Boxee Live TV’ dongle, a online streaming add-on, with owners of the company’s range of set-top boxes receiving a free software update to bring the general user interface in line with their latest design.

Unveiled in November, the memory stick-shaped device (which connects to the Boxee Box) is priced at $49 each (currently available from the company’s website), and offers users a chance to stream live from major networks such as Fox, ABC, NBC, and CBS, amongst others.

It is thought of by its creators as a product which could help steer users away from traditional TV viewing platforms, with the official announcement blog post from Boxee reading: “Let the cord cutting begin!”

Boxee CEO Avner Ronen had in December given his intial hopes for the Boxee Live TV platform, stating: “Rather than pay $80 per month for cable TV, and pay a lot of money for stuff they don’t watch, Boxee TV is a different setup, where they have much more control over what they pay for. We think it’s very similar to the transition that happened in the music business. Historically, you had a couple of songs that you really like, but you still buy the whole album. As music became digital, users revolted against that type of bundling, and I think the same is happening with video. We don’t think Boxee TV is necessarily for 100 percent of households, but I think for a good numbers of Americans, it could be a real alternative.”

The company who have stopped development of the Boxee software on PC, claim that their target market is users who generally view one-off or specialised TV broadcasts (such as a sports game or an annual awards ceremony), who would often be unable to watch online without paying a subscription to the channel as a whole. Ronen said of this feature, and its aims: “If you’re watching more and more on your laptop or your iPad, then I think you’d like what Boxee is doing. If you’re coming home and you’re watching TV for six hours and you watch a lot of ESPN, we’re probably not the right solution for you.”

Set to be sold only in the USA and Canada, Boxee Live TV will be compatiable only with other Boxee products, and though the device is set up mainly for live streaming broadcasts, Ronen claims that the Boxee Box is capable of performing DVR functions for a user who sets it up in that way. A ‘selective’ online TV platform sounds like a good progressive product, but will the initial promise be reflected in the sales figures?

A survey from UK researcher YouGov claims that consumers in the region are not welcoming smart TV with open arms, with only a small increase of owners following Christmas.

The number of smart TV owners in the UK has been reported as increasing by just 1% during December, after separate results from November claimed that 10% of people surveyed owned a connected TV.

Further results show that 15% of respondents have firm intentions of purchasing a smart TV in 2012, while an additional 16% were open to the possibility of doing so.

The latest survey claims that the level of people that ‘might’ buy a connected set is now at 25%, and that 16% are now set to buy one ‘for certain’, meaning that while potential consumers are warming to the idea of a smart TV (with a total of around 52% currently showing an ‘active interest’ (owning or at least some intent to buy) in the format), sellers could be worried that it is happening at a slower rate than previously anticipated.

YouGov also discovered that games console owner numbers naturally ’saw a big uplift’ during the Christmas period, a medium which they note also provides a form of internet-connected TV services, claiming that this shows the online TV market as a whole is on the rise. Total figures for flat-screen TV sets were also on the increase, with ownership levels reaching 59% of those surveyed, which could be considered as under numbers that some people might estimate.

While it seems as though more alternative TV viewing methods are being looked into by consumers, how fast will the newer and more interactive approaches be taken up by the majority of viewers?