Thoughts from a Bafta nominated Podcaster, Blogger, Writer and Commentator.
The BBC and ITV have announced BritBox, yet another streaming service trying to sign up as many people as possible for a monthly fee, is going to be coming to the UK. Which sounds lovely, but what will it mean to the licence fee and public service broadcasting a few years down the line?
Iron Maiden’s ‘The Book Of Souls‘ album came out last week, and went straight to the top of the UK album charts. I’m sure everyone will be glad to see them showcased on the BBC’s news page… Picture of the number one single act (The Jacksons, who were playing Proms In The Park, which was convenient)…. picture of last week’s number one single act (Justin Bieber)… banner advert for the Chart Show… No Iron Maiden. PS: I still can’t get used to the charts coming out on a Friday…
I have many thoughts on the UK entry, and could talk a lot about it (I have a website for that) but I’m going to boil it down to this. The BBC’s Guy Freeman realised what ‘Contest’ means. Only the result on the night matters. Not chart success, not YouTube views, not fan opinion or if it works down the Euroclub. It’s a Contest, and finding a way to score is the only mark that counts. Freeman (who heads the BBC’s delegation) could have played it safe, found a nice middle of the road song, dug up a manic pixie dream
When you’re converting tapes, you’re aware that this might be their last chance A somewhat scary look at the process of digitizing the BBC film archives… Why scary? When you consider the cultural history in these tapes, if the tape is chewed up while being scanned, if it sticks on a roller, that’s game over, and something else is lost.
When you are a BBC reporter, and you’re writing a story about a campaign to reopen up Ashaig Airfield on Skye, you need an angle. But will anyone notice your angle is to talk to the star about your favourite film as a child? The crisp fresh air and the unending green rolling hills is something I always think of. In all of my global travels, I have never seen that particular shade of green It’s a one-of-a-kind place in colour and character.” Yes, the Airfield should reopen because Flash Gordon thinks it would be a good idea.
Tony Hall, the BBC Director General on ‘credit squeezing’, where television programs reduce the size of the end credits to shoehorn in a trailer for the next program: Yes. Well, we’re changing it. It’s the curtain call. You want to make sure that the creative team get their proper bow. So we have got a new way of doing it, starting right away.” Now to deal with the voiceover interrupting the middle 8 of the Doctor Who theme.
