ITV has been given a £220,000 fine by media regulator Ofcom, or £20,000 each for the 11 ITV regions owned by ITV plc that encompass Wales and England, for failing to meet out-of-London programme production as part of their public service licenses.

Also fined by Ofcom were STV, the license owner of two regions that broadcast in Scotland, was fined for £10,000 - £5,000 each of the regions; and UTV, the license owner of the Northern Ireland region, and Channel TV, the owner of the ITV channels in the Channel Islands, was both fined £5,000.

STV, UTV and Channel TV were fined because they broadcast network programming from ITV plc, like Emmerdale and Coronation Street.

While ITV1 managed to meet the minimum 50% of out-of-London quota in broadcasting – achieving 50% in 2006 and 53% in 2007; it failed on production spending – spending 45.6% in 2006, and spending 44.3% in 2007.

This fine comes as ITV waits to find out if it has been successful in reducing its license obligations – including the out-of-London quota system.

Source: The Guardian

A US Airways plane has crashed into the Hudson River in New York City on Thursday after striking birds disabled the two engines on the plane, sending 148 passengers and 5 or 5 crew members, according to MSNBC, on board being scrambled into rescue boats. No deaths or serious injuries have been reported.

US Airways Flight 1549 had taken off from LaGuardia Airport enroute to Charlotte, N.C., when it crashed in the river. The plane, an Airbus 320, is said to have hit one or more birds.

Live Video from MSNBC Below.

ABC’s popular comedy show, “The Chaser’s War on Everything” – now broadcasting a third season on the ABC on 2009, will join another ABC show, "Summer Heights High” to be broadcast in American soil. The show has been picked up by Comcast’s G4 network, which also broadcast off-network repeats of Heroes and Lost, among having original programming like X-Play and Attack of the Show.

The show, dubbed being “Australia’s Most Controversial Show”, is set to premiere on January 28 with episodes from the first season, broadcast in 2006.

According to unofficial figures, the BBC has trounced rival ITV in the ratings war on Christmas Day after its specially commissioned 30 minute episode Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death, got the highest rating of any television show all year, by getting 14.3 million, or a 53.3% share of the audience, last night.

In fact, nine BBC1 programmes managed to get into the top 10 shows on the night, with ITV’s hour-long Coronation Special was the only ITV programme to get a placing on the top 10, attracting 7.4 million viewers. However, it was beaten by Strictly Come Dancing, which attracted 8.6 million.

EastEnders also bet Coronation Street, attracting 9.9 million on its first of the two Christmas episodes. The second instalment, airing at 9pm, picked up 11.5 million viewers.

An average of 11.7 million watched the Doctor Who Christmas Special, The Next Doctor, at 6pm. However, this is lower than last year’s special, which attracted 12.2 million.

The Queen’s Speech was seen by 6.4 million on BBC1, with another 1.8 million tuning on ITV; and the movie Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, beaten ITV’s afternoon movie of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

In all, the BBC managed to secure 34.2% throughout the day on BBC1, with ITV managed to get 16.9%. However, its biggest share happened to be during peak time (also known as primetime), which had BBC1 getting 43.7%, compared to the 21.6% share from ITV1.

Source: The Guardian

After BHP Billiton pulled out of a $100 billion takeover bid last month, Rio Tinto has announced that it will axe 14,000 jobs, increase asset sales and reduce spending, but its dividend will hold steady; all to help the company cut $10 billion in its $38.9 billion debt by the end of 2009.

As well, it will consolidate several offices around the world, including one in London.

Source: Business Day

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The Rudd Government has announced that it will set up a special $2 billion fund, starting from January 1, to keep the car dealers in Australia from going under in the already decreasing industry. The fund, according to The Age, was set up after being consulted by Australia’s biggest banks.

”The automotive industry plays a vital role in Australia’s economy, supporting many thousands of Australian jobs, and today’s announcement will support a stable and viable future for the industry, in the face of very difficult global conditions,’ Treasurer Wayne Swan said in a statement today/

This comes on top of an additional $6.2 billion pledged by the government to keep manufacturers alive. While parent companies for both Holden and Ford are also asking money from Washington, Toyota says that, though it is in better shape, its sales are decreasing.

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Ten’s hit show for 2007, Thank God You’re Here, has defected to the Seven Network; creating a bleak future for Ten after struggling to gain ratings after the huge hit of So You Think You Can Dance Australia, after it is battling the ABC for third place.

The fourth season of Thank God You’re Here will allow host Shane Bourne to continue his role on the network’s drama City Homicide.

The show had an average audience of 1.86 million in 2007, behind Kath and Kim, who had an average of 2.12 million after defecting from the ABC to Seven.

Source: The Australian

AT&T has announced that it would buy Centennial Communications for $944 million on Friday (US Eastern Time), giving the company an additional 1.1 million customers to its 74.9 million customers, and will improve the coverage of AT&T in the Midwest, Southeast, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

The deal, announced after the markets were closed, would see Centennial stockholders getting $8.50 a share, a premium of 121 percent over the closing price of $3.84 – with shares jumping to $7.90 in after hours trading. The deal is expected to close in second-quarter of next year.

The deal is seen as a response to the acquisition of Alltel by Verizon Wireless, which was recently approved by the government.

Source: NY Times

Originally written in TECHGEEK.com.au.

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has conceded defeat in the New Zealand election, and will step down as the leader of the Labour Party. Her opponent, John Key from the centre-right National Party, won 45% of the vote, according to preliminary results. Labour has managed to get 34%.

Since New Zealand introduced a proportional voting in 1996, no party has managed to get a majority of the 120 seats in parliament. According to official results, the Nationals has 59 seats, Labour has 43, the Greens have 8, Act has 5 seats, Maori has 5, and both Progressive and United Future have 1.

The Nationals are also looking to seek a partnership with the Maori Party to help stabilise the hung parliament. Either way, this brings an end to the nine-year reign of Helen Clark, who has been re-elected as the representative for her electorate.

"My job as leader of the Labour Party is complete. I will be standing down and I will be expecting my Labour Party colleagues to elect a new leader before Christmas," she told reporters.