Media Brief

I'm the BBC's media correspondent and this is my brief selection of what's going on.

The Financial Times reports [subscription required] that Ofcom has given the go-ahead this morning for YouView, the internet TV service led by the BBC. It rejects complaints from commercial rivals such as British Sky Broadcasting and Virgin Media that it was anti-competitive.

The Government is said to be considering asking the BBC to bear the £556m cost of free TV licences for the over-75s. The BBC Trust has said it will oppose the plan. Newsnight's Michael Crick broke the news in his blog. The Guardian reports that the cost of providing the benefit is so large that it almost exactly matches the entire £575m budget of BBC Two,

The BBC has announced plans to launch HD Sound - "an extra high-quality audio stream" for online radio. It will be available for special live events, starting with Electric Proms on the Radio 2 website this month, and for all Radio 3 output from December.

On the day the government publishes its defence review, the BBC newspaper review shows several papers report that HMS Elizabeth - one of two new aircraft carriers being built - will be mothballed after just three years.

Links in full

• Financial Times | Ofcom gives go ahead to YouVIew
• Dan Sabbagh | Guardian | BBC fears coalition licence fee raid
• Michael Crick | BBC | BBC may have to pay for pensioners' free TV licences
• BBC | BBC launches HD Sound for online radio
• BBC | Newspaper review

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• Read Monday's Media Brief