CALL FOR DIGITAL EDUCATIONAL CHANNEL BIDS

THE DEPARTMENT for Education & Employment (DfEE) has asked Granada Media, BBC and Anglia to band together and come up with a joint proposal to run its new digital channel.
The DfEE has put off granting the five-year contract for its planned GCSE curriculum digital TV channel – rumoured to be worth £100m, in the hope that a single proposition could be organised. The contract was expected to be awarded this summer.
Granada, Anglia (currently in the process of being bought by Granada), and the BBC have now been given up to three months to come up with a three-way proposition using the best bits from each of their pitches.
An announcement as to whether all three will work together or whether a single company will take the contract, is now expected by the end of the year.
Each of the three systems, which incorporate both television and PC applications, were tested in pockets of 20 schools in January and February this year.