English Entertainment
Sony BBC Earth premieres ‘Changing Planet’
Mumbai: Sony BBC Earth, one of India’s most loved factual entertainment channels is all set to premiere ‘Changing Planet’. The show takes viewers on a pictorial tour of Earth’s most fragile ecosystems and the escalating environmental threats encircling them. The two-part series captures six bellwether territories bringing to the fore remarkable changes that have unfolded over the past two years through visual storytelling.
Produced by BBC Studios natural history unit, ‘Changing Planet’ is a seven-year natural history project that has six presenters visit six of the planet’s most threatened ecosystems to meet the people fighting to restore the Earth’s delicate balance. It delves into stories that reverberate across continents, revealing the interconnectedness of our global environment. Each episode serves as a powerful reminder that the issues faced in one corner of the world have far-reaching implications elsewhere. The show aims to portray how innovative solutions implemented in diverse regions can address environmental challenges, transcending borders and paving the way for a more sustainable future.
The first season takes viewers to the regions of Maldives, Iceland, Cambodia, Brazil, California, and Kenya. From the portrayal of the warming seas and the acidification of oceans in the Maldives leading to coral bleaching to the effects of global warming in Iceland causing temperatures to soar in the Arctic resulting in a meltdown, the series will unveil many more facts about these regions. It also covers the massive pressure on natural resources faced by Cambodia, with ever-expanding cities and devastating overexploitation of the natural world.
The second season revisits these territories exploring the ecological issues threatening the planet In Cambodia, episode two follows an expedition to reintroduce the critically endangered Siamese crocodile into the Cardamom Mountains which play a crucial role in restoring the Tonle Sap Lake ecosystem. Climate change in Maldives is posing a dire threat to the world’s coral causing leading coral scientists to shift their focus from academic research to practical measures like coral farming. A visit to the Zackenberg Research Station in Northeast Greenland offered critical insights into the extent of Arctic warming and its global effects.
‘Changing Planet’ promises to kindle viewers’ curiosity, awakening their sense of wonder and igniting a passion for preserving our planet’s natural treasures. Audiences must be prepared to be enthralled as the series unravels the mysteries of the world’s most critical ecosystems and the pressing need for global conservation efforts.
Sony Pictures Networks India’s Sony AATH chief marketing officer & business head – english cluster Tushar Shah:
“Changing Planet promises to captivate audiences with its compelling stories of resilience, adaptation, and conservation efforts across the globe. The concept of the series is unique as it examines select locations and highlights the changes observed by the team in those regions. We hope that our viewers find these stories insightful and inspirational.”
Changing Planet II executive producer Rosemary Edwards (This will be shared by Global team)
“Changing Planet has never been more relevant. There is a need to address the challenges of our warming seas, shrinking habitats, and melting arctic regions and the best way to reach the masses is by making them see the change. Through this show, we celebrate the inspiring work undertaken by champions of the natural world.”
Tune in to Sony BBC Earth on 31 July 2023, to watch ‘Changing Planet’ at 12:00 PM and 09:00 PM, Monday to Thursday!
UK: The aerial is losing its grip. As broadband becomes the default way Britons watch television, the UK is edging towards a decisive, and divisive, question: should Freeview be switched off by 2034? The issue, highlighted in reporting by The Guardian, has exposed deep fault lines over access, affordability and the future of public service broadcasting.
For nearly 25 years, Freeview has delivered free-to-air television from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 to almost every corner of the country. Even now, it remains the UK’s largest TV platform, used in more than 16m homes and on around 10m main household sets. Yet the same broadcasters that built it are now pressing for its closure within eight years.
Their case rests on a structural shift in viewing. Smart TVs, superfast broadband and the Netflix-led streaming boom have pulled audiences online. Advertising economics have followed. By 2034, the number of homes using Freeview as their main TV set is forecast to fall from a peak of almost 12m in 2012 to fewer than 2m, making digital terrestrial television, or DTT, increasingly costly to sustain.
But critics say the rush to switch off risks abandoning those least able, or least willing, to move online.
“I don’t want to be choosing apps and making new accounts,” says Lynette, 80, from Kent. “It is time-consuming and irritating trying to work out where I want to be, to remember the sequence of clicks, with hieroglyphics instead of words. If I make a mistake I have to start again.”
Lynette is among nearly 100,000 people who have signed a “save Freeview” petition launched by campaign group Silver Voices. She fears the government is about to “take [Freeview] away from me and others who either don’t like, can’t afford, or can’t use online versions”.
Official figures underline the fault lines. A report commissioned by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport estimates that by 2035, 1.8m homes will still depend on Freeview. Ofcom’s analysis shows those households are more likely to be disabled, older, living alone, female, and based in the north of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Freeview is owned by the public service broadcasters through Everyone TV, which also operates Freesat and the newer streaming platform Freely. After two years of review, DCMS is expected to set out its position soon, drawing on three options proposed by Ofcom: a costly upgrade of Freeview’s ageing technology; maintaining a bare-bones service with only core PSB channels; or a full switch-off during the 2030s.
The broadcasters have rallied behind the third option. They argue that 2034 is the logical cut-off, when transmission contracts with network operator Arqiva expire. By then, they say, the cost of broadcasting to a dwindling audience will far outweigh the returns from TV advertising.
Ofcom agrees a crunch point is approaching. In July, the regulator warned of a “tipping point” within the next few years, after which it will no longer be commercially viable for broadcasters to carry the costs of DTT.
Others see risks beyond economics. Questions remain over whether internet TV can reliably deliver emergency broadcasts, such as the daily Covid updates, in the way that universally available DTT can. The UK radio industry has also warned that an internet-only future for TV could push up distribution costs and force some radio stations off air if PSBs no longer share Arqiva’s mast network.
“It is a political hot potato,” says Dennis Reed, founder of Silver Voices, who says he has “dissociated” his organisation from the government’s stakeholder forum, which he believes is “heavily biased” towards streaming.
The Future TV Taskforce, representing the PSBs, counters that moving online could “close the digital divide once and for all”. “We want to be able to plan to ensure that no one is left behind,” a spokesperson says, adding that rising DTT costs could otherwise mean cuts to programme budgets.
The numbers show the scale of the challenge. Of the 1.8m Freeview-dependent homes projected for 2035, around 1.1m are expected to have broadband but not use it for TV. The remaining 700,000 are forecast to lack a broadband connection altogether.
Veterans of the analogue switch-off, completed in 2012 after 76 years, recall similar fears of “TV blackout chaos”. Around 6 per cent of households were labelled “digital refuseniks”, yet a targeted help scheme and a national campaign, fronted by a robot called Digit Al voiced by Matt Lucas, delivered a largely smooth transition.
This time, the BBC is less keen to foot the bill. Tim Davie, the outgoing director general, has said the corporation should not fund a comparable support programme for a Freeview switch-off.
Research for Sky by Oliver & Ohlbaum suggests that with early awareness campaigns and digital inclusion measures, only about 330,000 households would ultimately need hands-on help ahead of a 2034 shutdown.
Meanwhile, viewing habits continue to fragment. Audience body Barb says 7 per cent of UK households no longer own a TV set, choosing to watch on other devices. In December, YouTube overtook the BBC’s combined channels in total UK viewing across TVs, smartphones and tablets, albeit measured at a minimum of three minutes.
That shift may accelerate. YouTube has recently blocked Barb and its partner Kantar from accessing viewing session data, limiting transparency just as online platforms consolidate power.
“When the government chose British Satellite Broadcasting as the ‘winner’ in satellite TV it was Rupert Murdoch’s Sky instead that came out on top,” says a senior TV executive quoted by The Guardian. “There already is such an outsider ready to be the winner in the transition to internet TV; it is YouTube.”
Freeview’s future now hangs on a familiar British dilemma: modernise fast and risk exclusion, or protect universality and pay the price. Either way, the aerial’s days as king of the living room look numbered.
