The MediaBlog
Wednesday 10 March 2010
Pop Justice: Another quick thing about BBC radio then we'll be quiet
BBC chief: 6 Music listeners 'at heart of commercial radio demographic'
Steve Lamacq attacks 'public flogging' of 6 Music
Steve Lamacq's Blog: 6 Music
BBC Trust: BBC Strategy Review
If you've already read the BBC Director-General's proposal to the Trust, you can be forgiven for thinking that it's perhaps the most confusing document to emanate from the BBC since the scripts for Big Top, as various sections appear to be written by two completely different people who are barely on speaking terms with each other.
That last assertion may not be true, but there's superficially not much else that can apparently explain the several contradictions (some more subtle than others) that can be found within the document's sections, along with what even seems to be two different writing styles being employed at various points.
Differing writing styles can be overlooked by virtue of (perhaps) a rushed integration job, because most major policy decisions within any large organisation are inevitably a byproduct of numerous individuals and consultations.
But all of this doesn't excuse the lack of consistency in terms of the policy messages that the document attempts to convey, as discussed previously here and elsewhere, which in turn has left an even more confused message as to the overall direction of the BBC as a whole.
And has crucially left BBC management in an even worse state than it was prior to the submission; perhaps even more importantly it doesn't quite yet fully appreciate the full ramifications of what's currently going on. Or so it seems.
In the meantime we're left with various people like Erik Huggers and chief operating officer Caroline Thomson attempting a poor defence of these policy decisions by almost quoting bits of the document verbatim, as with Thomson when saying "The average age of its listeners – 37 – is at the heart of the demographic targeted by commercial radio".
A claim which will sound somewhat familiar at this point.
One problem with "reading from the script" is that this particular script has been steadily torn to pieces over the last few days, therefore anyone who still appears to be regurgitating quotes in parrot-fashion superficially seems to be defending a management position of which they themselves may not believe in wholeheartedly.
Or for that matter believing in a strategy that's rapidly losing credibility, with a real danger that a wider cross-section of BBC management - as opposed to just Mark Thompson and, say, Tim Davie - will suffer greater collateral damage if the Trust rejects any element(s) of the proposal such as the controversial 6 Music closure decision.
If the closure of 6 Music is all about the BBC having "too many brands" to promote, as 6 Music presenter Steve Lamacq suggests in his blog, then it's likely that BBC management could propose a substitute, cut-down "Radio 2 Extra" part time service as a 6 Music replacement if total closure of 6 Music is rejected by the Trust.
But that again will be totally missing the point, and would also force the Radio 2 brand into catering for a 'younger' audience as a consequence, helping to contradict that so-called pledge to keep the average age of the Radio 2 listener at 50+ along with more accusations of the BBC trying to dominate the "middle ground" of commercial radio.
As for the subject of demographics, all of this seems to be a somewhat convoluted attempt to bridge the worlds of public service broadcasting and commercial audience targeting together whilst at the same time getting muddled with previous (and ongoing) policies for attracting large audiences in the name of licence fee-justification.
So we have two seemingly different policies on a very uncomfortable collision course with each other, in the name of "doing fewer things better". Or a clumsy, slight-of-hand approach that does fewer things whilst simultaneously annoying more people in the process.
And also judging from moves now being made to reduce the amount of "6 Music"-style broadcasting (i.e. Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie) on Radio 2, the latter is sadly much more likely to be the case.
Don't forget to contribute to the BBC Strategy Review if you haven't done so already.
More blog posts about: BBC, BBC Radio 1Xtra, BBC Radio 6music, BBC Strategy Review, BBC Trust, Mark Thompson, radio
Wednesday 3 March 2010
Although the article leads on a poll result that suggest that the majority of the UK population are "broadly in favour" of the proposed BBC cuts, a new poll published by PoliticsHome suggests that a majority of people are happy with the size and scope of the BBC as it is today.
One could say that I'm "broadly" in favour of the BBC's plans, but I am also of the opinion that closing Radio 6 Music is a damn fool thing to do, especially as it specifically targets several of the BBC's strategic points, particularly that it's unique: its audience is not catered for by any commercial station, nor will it be. If the Corporation wants to focus on doing things the commercial boys aren't going to do, then Radio 6 Music is a marvellous example whose demographic isn't covered by any other BBC station let alone lowest-common-denominator commercial ones.
I'm also very much opposed to reducing the size of the BBC's online operation (although it could no doubt be "refocused" or whatever the appropriate management-speak is), but I'm still "broadly in favour".
If something has to be shut down (and remember, I am not convinced this is the case) then 1Xtra and BBC3 would be prime candidates in my view. The content of 1Xtra could be wound into Radio 1 without a great deal of hassle, while BBC3's substantive programming would do well on either BBC One or Two; the bulk of the channel's output seems to consist of repeats available elsewhere. Just don't anyone suggest getting rid of BBC Four – it is the single most popular TV channel in our house.
Losing Jonathan Ross, of course, pays for at least one digital station all on its own, and this is certainly one area where I am "broadly in favour" of some of the proposals in that I really do think that overpaid celebs are the purview of commercial television and the Corporation really doesn't need to bother with them. I want to BBC to deliver high quality programming and not lowest-common-denominator, which I can easily get elsewhere.
Of course, the BBC is always going to be in a lose/lose situation as far as this is concerned. If it makes popular programmes then it's accused of stifling competition and doing things that should be left to commercial operators. If it makes really cool programming that unfortunately only a relatively small number of people watch or listen to, then it's accused of wasting the licence fee.
The solution is to focus on quality programming and on things that the other broadcasters don't, or can't – or, more usually, can't be bothered to – do. However if this strategy is followed, we must never ever hear again a complaint that the Corporation is "wasting money" or broadcasting programming that nobody is interested in, as we are saying that these are exactly the areas it should be focusing on. Actually, some areas of excellence, like natural history programming and quality documentaries in general, probably will pick up significant audiences, but these programmes will still differ from the fare on show elsewhere. Compare, for example, the sheer beauty of an Attenborough show on the BBC with commercial offerings that spend so much time recapping that they only make one point every 15 minutes, and it's a pretty dumbed-down point at that.
But let's go back to the poll. The trouble with a question like "are you broadly in favour" is that it's really too broad to give you much useful information, and what it does give has to be understood in context.
Thankfully, some of the other questions in the poll provide some. The question on the size of the BBC overall yields an interesting result, in fact, that could be read as being slightly at odds with the "broadly in favour" question. 34% of respondents think the BBC is the right size, with 15% wanting it bigger and 27% smaller, while only 10% would like the Corporation to go away altogether.
Looking more broadly at the strategic review as a whole, one might suggest that what the BBC is fundamentally up to here is a restructuring to move successfully from an era of digital terrestrial expansion to one more focused on possible future distribution via the internet and on-demand.
In the light of which, perhaps closing a bunch of weird web sub-sites might make sense, while laying off a bunch of on-line staff probably does not.
However another element in the proposals does seem to represent a bowing to political pressures, mainly from the Tories and their media mogul master(s), and the very fact that the BBC is offering to make voluntary cuts sets a bad precedent in my view. Just as funding digital switchover by skimming the licence fee set a precedent to skim it for other purposes, so voluntary cuts send an unfortunate message.
Most people want to see the BBC remain about the same size, and I want to see it rearrange its resources to better address the online age. That does not mean or require the Corporation to be smaller.
I'd recommend anyone who is prepared to take the time to do so to make their views known via the online consultation questionnaire - Meanwhile, if you're interested, you can read my own comments to the questionnaire here.
More blog posts about: BBC, BBC Asian Network, BBC Four, BBC Radio 1Xtra, BBC Radio 6music, BBC Strategy Review, BBC Three, BBC Trust
Tuesday 2 March 2010
BBC to cut £100m from overhead costs and axe digital stations
BBC Strategy Review document (PDF file)
When proposing something as major as the closure of public services like radio station(s) and/or the major downscaling of certain services, there has to be a balanced justification of the rationale used for those action(s) in the context of the BBC's entire portfolio of services.
Unfortunately this document doesn't tell us the whole story - which makes it frustrating in several respects - and one major problem relates to a lack of balance when considering the BBC's output as a whole.
For example, take the BBC digital radio station 1Xtra. A fair amount has been said here and elsewhere in relation to the closure of 6 Music, but there's hardly anything whatsoever in this document relating to whether or not 1Xtra still represents good value for money.
Indeed all we get on the subject of 1Xtra within this important document is a brief comment on Page 12: "Over the next 18 months, the BBC will strengthen further the editorial links between 1Xtra and Radio 1", which presumably is a euphemism for further cutbacks based on the merging of both stations' editorial operations.
Considering that 1Xtra has an almost identical audience share and budget to 6 Music, it seems exceptionally unfair that no justification whatsoever is given within this crucial document for the retention of 1Xtra as opposed to 6 Music; even just one sentence outlining why 1Xtra is a most valued asset would have been much better than nothing.
Indeed there are only five mentions of 1Xtra in the entire document compared to nearly four times as many mentions for 6 Music or BBC Three.
By comparison, BBC Three has a whole paragraph to itself on Page 10 outlining its achievements (along with other supporting references elsewhere within the document), although this in itself won't do anything to defuse critics who persistently claim that the channel is still a waste of precious resources.
Some critics have said that BBC management may have wanted to close the Asian Network and 1Xtra (as opposed to 6 Music) radio stations, but choosing these two stations for closure could have triggered accusations of racism from some quarters, therefore management went for the "soft option" of choosing 6 Music instead of 1Xtra.
Whether any truth lies in this assertion may never be known - and there's probably a degree of truth to this - but retaining 1Xtra could also tie in with what seems like a perceived counterbalance to the closure of the Switch and Blast! youth services that are also part of this proposal.
However there is a somewhat uncomfortable overlap between Radio 1's specialist output and 1Xtra, which will only increase as further cutbacks are made in this regard, so expect further criticism of the BBC's decision to keep 1Xtra in the months to come, especially if the proposed closure of 6 Music does actually come to fruition.
There's also the possibility that 1Xtra may be closed down if the BBC Trust vetoes the 6 Music closure proposal under growing public pressure (which the Trust has said it will consider doing depending on the public's response); it will be interesting to see what the reaction of BBC management will be if this does actually happen.
Then of course there's the closure of the Asian Network, but compared to the rationale dished out for 6 Music there's a sense that this particular closure has been properly thought through. Put simply, a "one size fits all" Asian Network no longer works well, especially with the wide availability of internet-based radio stations.
By comparison, closing BBC Three (or Four) could make much more money available for the support of other services, and BBC Three's achievements (Being Human, Blood Sweat and Takeaways, etc.) are outnumbered by repeats of Doctor Who and cheaply-produced derivative programming that may be better off elsewhere.
Again I'm not openly suggesting that BBC Three (or BBC Four for that matter) should be closed down - my personal opinion is that BBC Three should continue but with a modified remit - but openly championing a channel which is expensive to run and has relatively little original content may be an unwise strategy to adopt.
When faced with having to make cutbacks, it is very tempting to trim back on the amount of money spent on imported programming, but showing such imported programming free-to-air ought to be regarded as a valuable public service in its own right, especially as such programming may end up being acquired by subscription-only channels instead.
Of course the media industry has moved on significantly since the three channel era of the 1970s, but pay-TV services shouldn't automatically have the free run of US imports in particular if other public service and commercial free-to-air channels (Channel 4, Five, etc.) decide not to acquire them for reasons only known to themselves.
One of the key reasons for the continuing support of the TV licence fee-funding model by the majority of viewers in the UK is the very fact that programmes are shown without interruptions for commercial breaks, therefore even the showing of imported programmes without commercial breaks is still part of the so-called "licence fee advantage".
Of course the BBC shouldn't be excessively involved in so-called "bidding wars" for (especially) US-originated programming, but there again there are more broadcasters and channels nowadays competing for the rights to show such content therefore the cost of acquiring such content can often be greater than what it used to be.
Then there's the subject of demographics. The closure of 6 Music will make adhering to pre-imposed age targets for Radio 1 (15-29) and Radio 2 (50+) more difficult, especially as Page 43 of the report says that "The BBC will also review how some of 6 Music’s most distinctive programmes can be successfully transferred to other BBC radio stations".
There's also flawed and contradictory logic at work in this document. For 6 Music, we're told the following:
"And whilst 6 Music does not have a target demographic audience, its average listener age of 37 means that it competes head-on for a commercially valuable audience. Boosting its reach so that it achieved appropriate value for money would significantly increase its market impact."
Meanwhile, a comment on Page 20 of the very same document is openly boasting about BBC Three's increasing reach:
"BBC Three reaches 11.3 million people a week and now attracts 36% more 16-34 year-olds in digital homes than it did three years ago".
Therefore can we conclude that attracting 36% more 16-34 year-olds - of which we've been told in the past is perhaps the most lucrative market for advertisers - is a 'good' thing, whilst if 6 Music were to grow similarly (average listener age 37) it would however increase its "market impact"; something that's a supposedly 'bad' thing to happen.
Now I'm not claiming for one minute that the BBC shouldn't create content and services that actively strive to increase in popularity (far from it), but it's very dangerous to suggest that it's OK to trumpet one digital service (BBC Three) as being a "success story" whilst at the same time using the threat of growth as an excuse to close another (6 Music).
An excuse being made to try and justify such a disjointed position lies in Section 7.1 "Serving different audiences" on Page 55: "However, this does not mean that the BBC’s aim should be to attempt to maximise its share of audience consumption equally on every platform across all audience groups, regardless of the implications".
That may be a legitimate claim to make, but such a generic policy shouldn't be used under any circumstances to either disguise or advocate disparities in public service broadcasting output that are caused by inconsistencies, because by using such logic it's ultimately possible to justify the closure of any BBC service that you can think of.
Therefore given the huge external pressures that are currently being exerted on the corporation, that's the very last stance the BBC ought to be adopting at this point in time.
More blog posts about: BBC, BBC Asian Network, BBC Four, BBC Radio 1Xtra, BBC Radio 6music, BBC Strategy Review, BBC Three, BBC Trust
Friday 26 February 2010
BBC 'to axe radio stations and halve website' in strategic review
The Times: BBC signals an end to era of expansion (enjoy it free whilst you can)
It seemed that something major now had to give in terms of BBC service cutbacks - especially given a worsening financial situation in particular - and unless there's a major change of heart (pun not intended), it now looks as if both 6music and the Asian Network have now become the first high profile victims of BBC cutbacks.
The near-term possibility of a Conservative administration has signalled to BBC management that financial cutbacks had to extend beyond the realms of behind-the-scenes trimmings in order to help reduce the probability of a direct and full-scale confrontation between the corporation and government ministers at some future date.
Because given the worsening relations between the BBC and the commercial media sector in general - including most newspapers by virtue of the BBC providing news "for free" - the BBC may not be able to survive any major future confrontation unscathed, through no direct fault of its own due to newly conflicting interests.
Closing the Asian Network was inevitable because it was just one station poorly serving a very diverse target audience as well as directly competing against numerous small community stations that have been struggling in recent years. Combine this with a ratings slump and the writing was definitely on the wall for the Asian Network.
Perhaps of even greater overall concern is the proposed downsizing of the BBC's website (which was also sadly inevitable); such a move seems more politically orientated than the decision to close 6music and the Asian Network, especially when considering recent complaints from certain commercial competitors and politicians in this regard.
Plus all of these cutbacks, I fear, may not be enough to silence all of the BBC's most important critics without further 'corrective' action, especially when television (relatively speaking) remains unscathed and is more expensive by far to run compared to the other services.
There's also a possibility that Radio 2 will evolve into some form of partial 6music replacement; namely catering more for the kind of music that is largely ignored by commercial stations, which could also help defuse criticisms of Radio 2 being a direct competitor to mainstream stations such as Capital, Heart, Magic, Real and Smooth.
(Which Radio 2 really isn't, but politicians and the commercial radio industry don't often see it that way.)
Of course these BBC radio station closures will place another uncomfortable spotlight on DAB digital radio, especially at a time when an analogue radio switchoff date was proposed for some point soon after 2015 (unlikely to actually happen), since 6music and Asian Network were formerly given as significant reasons for people to buy a DAB radio.
However there's another recently-neglected and highly contentious aspect of DAB digital radio, namely that of sound quality of DAB digital radio stations in particular, especially compared to the ultimate audio fidelity achievable using FM radio in a strong reception area, even when on the move.
The relatively poor sound quality of DAB radio stations on the BBC National DAB multiplex was caused a few years ago when extra stations were crammed into the allocated space, which caused an overall reduction in sound quality as a consequence. (Unfortunately most commercial DAB stations followed suit with sound quality reductions.)
At this point, the BBC started marketing DAB digital radio as having a greater choice of stations as opposed to better sound quality (it was marketed as "crystal clear", "digital sound quality", etc., which were euphemisms for "just good enough"), although to be fair DAB still had a few qualitative advantages over FM, especially for mobile reception.
Now that DAB no longer has a wide choice of BBC radio stations compared to what's available via FM and AM analogue radio frequencies, the BBC will now have to adopt another approach if it wishes to promote DAB digital radio with the eventual aim of a planned future analogue FM 'switchoff' date.
An obvious step would be to increase the sound quality of the remaining DAB radio stations by increasing their audio transmission bitrates (perhaps also making stations like Radio 7 broadcast in stereo), because station closures would provide the necessary additional space to make this possible.
Another related possibility is a longer-term objective of using the freed space to facilitate a future migration to the DAB+ radio standard that various other countries have recently adopted; perhaps better for sales of digital radio receivers in the short term compared to a threatened analogue radio switchoff which may not actually happen for many years.
All things considered, yes it's a real shame that the BBC has to close 6music in particular since it offered a very wide range of music that you couldn't usually hear anywhere else, and for many people 6music was one very compelling reason to buy a DAB radio in order to listen to this particular station especially whilst out and about.
As a station, 6music catered for that awkward gap between Radios 1 and 2; listeners that are too 'old' for (or bored with) current chart music but aren't ready for the pipe-and-slippers approach signified by Radio 2, even though the latter has been edging towards a younger demographic (eg. Chris Evans replacing Terry Wogan) recently.
Even if you never listened to the station, the loss of 6music would still represent a significant cultural blow to popular music despite its relatively low listening figures. Nobody would dare axe Radio 3 nowadays yet BBC management appear to have selected a station for closure based on 'unpopularity' as opposed to its pure public service remit.
This anomaly may not go unnoticed by some politicians even though they may openly approve of BBC management taking "bold steps" to reduce the corporation's overall expenditure - what happens next in relation to both Radio 1 and Radio 2 will also have great significance in this regard.
It also seems obvious that most of the planned cutbacks are partly politically-motivated, since the television services have remained relatively unscathed apart from Switch and Blast! being axed (nobody appears to be mourning for those), which in turn still leaves more unanswered questions to be answered at a later date.
However if the BBC were to incorporate elements of 6music into Radio 2 as well as increasing the transmission bitrates of stations (or adds DAB+) on its National DAB multiplex, then maybe (just maybe) these changes could be worthwhile, and BBC management will have made the right decisions in respect to cutbacks this time round.
But just try telling that to the hordes of 6music fans out there.
More blog posts about: BBC, BBC Asian Network, BBC Radio 6music, BBC web site, DAB digital radio, radio
Thursday 18 February 2010
Paid Content: UK Newspapers Want BBC Mobile Apps Blocked For ‘Undermining’ Them, BBC Disagrees
I have a message for anyone within the BBC who is considering whether or not to go ahead with the launch of their smartphone applications: just go ahead and make them publicly available.
Now.
Here are some very good reasons why the BBC should do such a thing. Firstly it has the permission of the BBC Trust to do so (unless they change their mind of course), and the apps themselves are just a front end for existing content so it's not as if new content is being custom-created to potentially undermine existing competing commercial ventures.
Secondly, some newspapers (eg. The Guardian) have already made available their own iPhone apps, so it's not as if the BBC are jumping in to a new and potentially profitable arena before anyone else has had the chance to do so.
And thirdly, if the BBC doesn't launch these apps now, then someone might just take the Newspapers Publishers Association's complaints seriously enough to stall their launch, even if the supplied reason(s) are heavily bordering on the specious together with some distinct overtones of anti-competitiveness.
In short, the Newspapers Publishers Association is just trying to buy some time for its members in order to protect some of them from their own possible incompetence, plus you can't rule out any plain old anti-BBC prejudice in the process either.
The only possible 'complaint' that might hold some water relates to newspapers wanting to charge for news and information via their iPhone (or other phone's) front ends as opposed to getting it for free from their respective websites, but if the same content is already available for free via the web it's strongly arguable that it's just a ripoff anyway.
If the BBC now presses ahead with the launch, then any complaints will fall on deaf ears as a general election is imminent - politicians currently have enough trouble with the Digital Economy Bill anyway - and any new administration is unlikely to force the BBC to withdraw its smartphone apps unless there are very good reasons at the time for doing so.
What happens next will be a stern test for the current effectiveness of BBC management. If said management passionately wants the BBC to remain at least vaguely competitive in terms of supplying news and information, then they should press ahead with the launch whilst perhaps making some reassuring noises in the process.
Or alternatively they might just take the cowards' way out of the situation by blocking the apps' release for another six to twelve months whilst another "public value test" is performed. (In the meantime, UK newspapers continue to block their ears and whistle loudly whilst the media landscape continues to collapse and rebuild itself around their feet.)
And there's no public value whatsoever in that.
More blog posts about: BBC, BBC Trust, iPhone, new media, newspapers, Newspapers Publishers Association
Monday 8 February 2010
BSkyB agrees to cut ITV stake
In recent weeks it has been obvious that the "love affair" between politicians and BSkyB - at least in public - has started to thaw, even to the extent that David Cameron's Tories have not yet proffered an open allegiance to the Murdochs this time round with an election on the horizon.
This helps to underline the weakening effects that new media has had on the old guard, with Google and Microsoft, etc., now displacing much of the power that traditional newspapers once had in terms of both influence and financial clout, despite News Corp.'s (and others) last-ditch roll of the dice with the erection of paywalls for their online news services.
Of course it's perfectly possible that all of BSkyB's prior kicking and screaming was just for show, since it knew from the very beginning that a stake in ITV would be highly contentious from a competition viewpoint even if it hadn't technically broken the letter of the law in terms of media ownership quotas.
(Remember that the door had been previously left open for a BSkyB acquisition of Channel Five, and BSkyB's Picnic terrestrial service had been more or less canned on a technicality as opposed to any monopolistic objections.)
And BSkyB is no stranger whatsoever to making business decisions that surprise and shock its competitors for maximum psychological effect, since its dominance and power allows this sort of thing to go on relatively unchecked as long as it doesn't break any obvious rules. (Whilst perhaps bending a few minor points along the way.)
Even if it means losing a fair amount of money in the process; this doesn't matter to BSkyB if your competitor fails to gain assets and power as a consequence, since this form of strategy is much more important to BSkyB as part of its long-term game plan.
This also even went as far as an aborted attempt on the terrestrial pay-TV market with Picnic; exactly the sort of service which had been openly rejected by BSkyB on more than one previous occasion, and was a barely-disguised ploy to drive Setanta's UK pay-TV operation into the ground, which of course did happen with the help of a recession.
So what next for BSkyB and ITV plc? BSkyB's ITV stake may have been a NTL/Virgin Media-ITV takeover deterrent, but it wouldn't have stopped anyone else with deeper pockets having a go. But there wasn't anyone else who was rich/mad/incentivised enough to buy ITV shares at the time, and this was before the recession came along.
Of course ITV plc's share price has picked up from the low point that originally triggered the prospect of a hostile takeover, but the stalking horses that surrounded ITV at the time of BSkyB's original share purchase still in the main exist, apart from perhaps a less eager Virgin Media (plus there were NBC Universal share ownership changes last year).
At this point in time, ITV's greatest wishes relate to financial stability and its ability to make lots of money; it has already jettisoned a lot of its "historical baggage" including most of its former regional structure and is hoping to do the same with regional news as well shortly.
What happens to regional news in itself could affect ITV plc's share price, even though investing in regional news is a public asset in itself, hence the recent Channel 3 regional news proposals that may or may not come to fruition depending on how fast the Digital Economy Bill can be pushed though Parliament/who gets into power at the next election.
Whether someone or something will come along to make ITV plc's dreams come true is another matter, but the income offered by current reality TV formats and its tried and tested soap offerings cannot be guaranteed for eternity let alone the next five years, plus its share price could turn volatile again regardless of what happens later this year.
More blog posts about: BSkyB, ITV, ITV plc, new media, NewsCorp, Picnic, Virgin Media
Sunday 7 February 2010
View this video on YouTube
Sir John Dankworth has died aged 82. Johnny Dankworth, husband of jazz singer Cleo Lane, had a long career in jazz himself, but was best known by television enthusiasts for two startling pieces of music: Rediffusion London's daily opening tune "Widespread World of Rediffusion" (you can read Gavin Sutherland's fascinating article about the tune's construction here) and the theme tune to the Honor Blackman-era of ABC's The Avengers.
View this video on YouTube
Other reports: BBC News; Daily Telegraph obituary; BBC 6music tribute; Wikipedia entry
More blog posts about: ABC, Johnny Dankworth, Rediffusion, The Avengers
Thursday 4 February 2010
It's been many years since I personally lived in the North East so the story that demolition had begun on Tyne Tees's old City Road studios had passed me by.
The building, home to Supergran and The Tube, was custom built by Tyne Tees in the 1950s, however was finally emptied out as ITV reduced its regional presence and moved its news operation to Gateshead.
The building remained in use, occupied by a number of small businesses, however the threat of demolition remained. And in January, the bulldozers moved in.
The sight has been captured in a number of video montages posted on to YouTube. I'd say enjoy, but it doesn't seem quite right…
View this video on YouTube
View this video on YouTube
View this video on YouTube
More blog posts about: ITV, Tyne Tees
Thursday 28 January 2010
BBC spent £250,000 for better view of Vienna at Euro 2008
It has to be said that the general headline-grabbing tone of this Guardian article is edging dangerously close to the kind of tabloid generalisations that are the normal reserve of newspapers like the Daily Mail, even though there may be sensible if rather more mundane questions buried away in the small print of such revelations.
The most important fact of this report is perhaps contained in the last sentence of the third paragraph, to quote: "The total cost of the BBC's coverage of Euro 2008, to which it sent 142 staff, was £8.68m, 1% under budget" (my added emphasis), which leads into some important points in relation to the BBC, its funding and how contracts were set up.
Some of this relates to the previous disposal of BBC Resources, notably the "minimum amount of business clause" which "will incur a financial penalty if the minimum expenditure threshold across the BBC is not met" - make of that what you will, but it strongly suggests that the BBC has to spend a minimum budget on these events.
Plus as TV licence fee-payers, we expect the BBC to provide the best possible quality coverage of major sporting events, therefore if it is possible to improve the general quality of presentation without exceeding the total budget allocated for the event, shouldn't the BBC have the right to do this, regardless of other contractual obligations?
It's not as if that £250,000 was spent on champagne and canapes.
Disregard the fact that there was "no formal planning procedure"; that's just bureaucracy wanting a safety net just in case it went horribly wrong. But it didn't, and apart from past issues relating to the disposal of BBC assets this article is just attempting to make a mountain out of the proverbial molehill.
More blog posts about: BBC, BBC Resources, Euro 2008, football on television, sport on television
Thursday 21 January 2010
'Set BBC targets to partner its rivals', says ex-Channel 4 chief
From the tone of Andy Duncan's Oxford Media Convention speech, you get the impression that he thinks that he's still living in the year 2007, because subsequent events have proven that the BBC cannot effectively give help to other public service broadcasters without sacrifices that would be regarded on both sides as unacceptable.
This has already been demonstrated in the often-fraught development of the new regional Channel 3 news franchises, with ITV plc still wanting full control of its news branding amongst other aspects, even though the news programming will/should be editorially outside of its control. Namely, broadcasters want to have their cake AND eat it.
The agenda has already (and thankfully) moved on from the ultra-simplistic notion that any money/help from the BBC represents a panacea to "public service broadcasters" (whatever that happens to mean at the time), because it has openly been demonstrated that such help would either be too little or alternatively subject to too much compromise.
BBC management may be guilty of not properly defending the BBC against Duncan and others queuing up for a slice of the licence fee - and the probability of the new local Channel 3 news proposals being doomed are high - but that doesn't imply that anything that the BBC already has should be automatically handed to others on their say-so.
Andy Duncan's speech unfortunately gives a superficial impression of himself - and perhaps Channel 4's management in general - behaving like a badly-spoilt child. Channel 4 may produce some worthy programming but there's nothing that can be considered to be automatically much more 'worthy' than anything that the BBC already produces.
And that's the problem.
More blog posts about: Andy Duncan, BBC, Channel 4, public service broadcasting, regional news, top-slicing
Tuesday 19 January 2010
As it's announced that BBC iPlayer has had over 100 million requests, and the Corporation adds more and more ways to catch up on missed TV (some of which I must declare an involvement in), you'd be forgiven if you thought that traditional TV was on the way out. And quickly too.
However a report from Deloitte reckons the old TV schedules have far from had their day.
A key part of their argument is that people are misinterpreting the user figures for online video services like BBC iPlayer, 4od and YouTube, and that the methodologies used online are not directly comparable to TV audience figures.
This is undoubtedly true and happens for every platform. Even the figures for radio and TV are difficult to compare because of the different methodologies used to collect them - a diary based system for radio based on time periods, and a little box and a remote from for TV which allows measuring of programmes.
Radio naturally also provides our useful comparison point. It was said that television would kill radio. It did not and radio remains a major media industry across the world to this day. The introduction of television changed radio consumption - this cannot be denied. However it has yet to replace its older cousin.
It's likely that video on demand services will end up doing something similar. Mass take up of online video is already changing behaviour of the population. Some traditional TV channels may close, or become on demand only propositions. However it seems unlikely that it will replace the scheduled linear broadcast completely - merely that the linear schedule will fight for its survival and will change and adapt.
And if you doubt that, ask yourself a question... does anyone really want to watch Strictly Come Dancing or The X-Factor on Sunday morning or Wednesday afternoon, if they can watch them on a Saturday night? Like Deloitte, I'm not writing off linear television just yet.
Monday 18 January 2010
Cost of TV sport to tumble as Ofcom turns screw on Sky
Some people appear to be rather puzzled as to why the Conservatives in particular seem ambivalent towards Ofcom's move to lower wholesale pay-TV sports pricing, and it's not because Ofcom is likely to become toast after the next election either. (Even if the Tories don't get a landslide majority.)
Firstly, News Corporation (and the Murdochs) may still be influential but they aren't the only large corporate media player in the marketplace; BT and Richard Branson's Virgin Media (BSkyB's main potential competitors) are but two of them, and News Corp's position is even less dominant in the area of newspaper publishing.
On top of this - as News Corporation is suddenly finding out the hard way - the media landscape in general is shifting to such an extent that political opinions contained within newspapers may no longer make or break elections, plus new media giants like Google have sprung out of nowhere since the Conservatives were last in power.
(The very forces that News Corp seem hell-bent on attempting to control with their planned online content charging scheme.)
If the Conservatives do turn a blind eye to any enforced pay-TV cost lowering, it would fit in well with the mantra for increased competition/consumer 'choice' leading to lower prices for sports fans and would be very popular with the electorate in general, even if David Cameron no longer appears on James Murdoch's Christmas card list as a consequence.
It has to be said that although BSkyB has pumped a lot of money into football in particular over the years, this hasn't stopped a whole litany of financial problems recently affecting even top clubs such as Liverpool and Manchester United, even if those problems have ultimately been the result of other factors.
And some sports and teams have seen great dividends at the expense of others, with a large disparity between rich and poor clubs. There's no point boasting about "grass roots" sports training and investment when opportunities for sport beyond a hobby remain limited, because very few players will ever be good enough for top flight competition.
Perhaps the only move left for the Murdochs would be some form of attempted political destablisation in order to force a political right-wing shift, but total deregulation is currently off the menu after the mess that was made of the world economy as a consequence of the banks doing what they wanted with nobody to stop them.
Therefore having both the Conservatives and Labour united against the Murdochs could ultimately leave Rupert and James shouting at a brick wall for all the good that it will do them if they have nobody to turn to for favours.
More blog posts about: BSkyB, Conservative Party, football, Labour Party, NewsCorp, Ofcom, pay-TV sport
Wednesday 13 January 2010
BBC admits it went too far in U2 tie-up
On the surface this just appears to be yet another complaint from the commercial media sector (this time, the RadioCentre) along the lines of "How dare the BBC devote time, publicity and resources to a significant musical event", and soon to be followed no doubt by more complaints about the current promotion of Chris Evans' Radio 2 breakfast show.
(Radio presenter and station owner Steve Penk has already complained about this, therefore expect more of the same imminently.)
Granted that a decision to directly equate the BBC with the group in question - namely, using the slogan "U2=BBC" - may have been a trifle too enthusiastic all things considered, although presumably this marketing ploy was aimed at the section of the UK population for whom this would have a moderately significant meaning.
There are two things that are causes for concern in relation to the BBC's handling of the U2 album launch and associated concert, and they reflect both sides of the argument as to whether or not the event(s) were given undue prominence in relation to their actual worth.
Firstly there's the whole (and rather controversial) issue of BBC management strategy in relation to the creation and promotion of major 'events' as a means of creating publicity for broadcasts (hence supposedly justifying the licence fee); saturation coverage can be most offputting for anyone who is ambivalent about the event in question.
(Another example of a recent "major event" was the Christmas and New Year Doctor Who specials, which had David Tennant also appearing in everything from QI to Never Mind the Buzzcocks and most things inbetween as well as all of the idents.)
These hyped events can turn out to be anticlimatic if expectations are too great, and such high concept promotions can end up having an opposite effect if pushed to near-saturation level; attempting to shout the loudest can annoy both viewers and commercial competitors (whether actually justified or otherwise).
And annoying the commercial competition (along with a reasonable proportion of BBC viewers and listeners) is the very last strategy that the BBC needs to adopt at this point in time.
The second point relates to whether or not the BBC should enthusiastically get behind a specific event with a commercial subtext such as a U2 album launch, but it has to be said that the BBC already broadcasts sporting events (darts, Formula 1) together with other programmes that contain obvious references to commercial entities (eg. The X Factor).
So, apart from obvious differences such as the nature of the entertainment in question, just how different is U2 from a commercial sporting event such as Formula 1? Both stand to make significant amounts of money from the prominence of their product(s) and both manage to entertain a fair number of people.
Perhaps it's about time for the BBC to further enforce prominence rules that already apply to commercial sporting events across the rest of its output, which would in turn cut down on the free plugs given to programmes broadcast on commercial channels.
The commercial media sector would undoubtedly be very upset as a consequence, but they wouldn't be in a position to complain about such a strategy if they insist on complaining each time the BBC heavily promotes a specific event, whether it be cars going round a circuit or an album launch and associated outdoor concert.
More blog posts about: BBC, BBC Radio 2, Chris Evans, Doctor Who, Formula 1, music, RadioCentre
Thursday 7 January 2010
Jonathan Ross quits BBC
Maybe Jonathan Ross jumped – but the BBC weren't standing in his way
It was blatantly obvious that something like this was going to happen, especially following the perhaps over-the-top clampdown that engulfed the BBC following the Sachsgate incident, and very probable that there was political and moral pressure at least within the BBC to let Jonathan Ross go as soon as was practically possible.
It's the end of an era in relation to the BBC paying big money in order to retain 'top' talent and subsequently deploying them in all manner of roles within television and radio in order to somehow justify that expense to licence fee-payers; a strategy which attracted the ire of both tabloid newspapers and commercial broadcasters alike.
Such big money signings turned into an unwelcome stick for the commercial sector and the Daily Mail (for one) to beat the BBC with, ignoring the fact that commercial broadcasters were well prepared to get involved in bidding wars for top talent before the recession came along. (Not to mention Simon Cowell's salary either.)
The BBC still needs to be able to retain at least a few popular presenters along with the inevitable requirements of a reasonably high salary and accompanying benefits package that someone who is watched and heard by millions of viewers would probably be worth.
(Of course certain tabloid newspapers won't be happy until everyone at the BBC is paid the same as staff in local Job Centres.)
Jonathan Ross's headline 'salary' also included the fees paid to his production company, which was a consideration that was frequently overlooked by tabloid newspapers in their rounds of Ross (and BBC) bashing, but the whole issue of presenter salaries brought the whole subject of "value for money" into very sharp focus.
Perhaps certain BBC executives had also previously misjudged the effects of so-called "multichannel viewing", figuring that stars such as Ross wouldn't be as 'overexposed' to the viewing population at large if their attentions were divided between numerous channels and viewing figures for individual programmes had been significantly reduced.
Plus of course there will be criticism directed towards the BBC for being cowardly not only for letting Ross go but also in terms of the heavy-handed compliance crackdown that followed 'Sachsgate' (which was caused by the breakdown of a normally effective compliance system), that led to Ross's Radio 2 show being pre-recorded.
Sometimes you just can't win.
More blog posts about: BBC, Daily Mail, Jonathan Ross, Sachsgate
Monday 14 December 2009
Delia Smith and Michael Palin of 'limited appeal', says leaked BBC list
Any list such as this leaked internal document from BBC Knowledge should be treated with great caution simply because it doesn't contain facts and figures that are possible to at least partly verify by other means, as was the case with such things as previously-leaked presenter salaries and expense claims (valid or otherwise).
(Incidentally since the leaked list originates from the Sunday Times, I'm not linking directly to that site because of their current plans to charge for most if not all of that paper's website content in the near future.)
Whilst on the subject of the Sunday Times, also bear in mind that it's a News Corporation-owned newspaper, which implies the potential for an anti-BBC agenda given the current hostility towards anyone "distorting the(ir) market" - the BBC is very unlikely to charge for online news, potentially wrecking any online content charging plans.
We should also be wary of placing too much importance in both the existence of such a list (not surprising) and any implied "pecking order". Plus the list as reproduced here is incomplete; for one thing, James May is apparently also included in the "Top tier" category along with his Top Gear colleagues (it would be frankly amazing if he wasn't).
One problem with such a hypothetical list is that a particular presenter can frequently be only as good/popular as any current show that they have been given; a bad show or a format mismatch can quickly ruin the reputation of a presenter and in turn can potentially reduce their popularity dependent on various factors.
This situation has often been highlighted as the BBC struggled to find suitable formats for 'popular' presenters such as Graham Norton, of whom the BBC had invested considerable money in retaining prior to the recession; an era when broadcasters were merrily outbidding each other in order to hang on to so-called key presenters.
Unfortunately this previous overenthusiasm for retaining "top-tier" presenters has led to repeated accusations of the BBC wasting money from newspapers such as the Daily Mail (cf. Jonathan Ross's so-called 'salary' which also included his production budget), regardless of the resultant value for money provided in the longer term.
(Never mind the rates also being charged by the commercial sector at the time of the contract signing, or the relative importance of the BBC retaining at least a small number of popular presenters.)
These oft-repeated criticisms are often moot because once the ink on the presenter's contract has dried, that's basically it until the contract comes up for renewal again, so you have to judge a decision based on circumstances at the time of the contract signing as opposed to months or years after the event given hindsight, valid or otherwise.
Bear all of this in mind when anyone attempts to connect such presenter salary issues with any implied "order of merit" such as this one, especially when the judging criterion employed on this occasion may be arbitrary and/or based on factors which journalists currently don't have any access to, whether they are aware of them or not.
So the big question just has to be: does Alan Yentob deserve a place at the top of the list? Perhaps in terms of a rare combination of being a long-serving BBC executive - crucially pre-dating Mark Thompson - and an occasional presenter, the answer is possibly a qualified "Yes".
And at least his name isn't Mark Thompson.
More blog posts about: Alan Yentob, BBC, presenter salaries, Sunday Times, Top Gear
Tuesday 8 December 2009
Government urges BBC to consider Worldwide sell-off
HM Government: Operational Efficiency Programme: Asset Portfolio (PDF file)
So what on earth is BBC Worldwide doing in a document with unlikely bedfellows such as the Dartford Crossing, the Met Office, Ordnance Survey, and the Royal Mint, even if it occupies a lonely appendix all of its own at the back of the document?
The inclusion of BBC Worldwide in this 'asset portfolio' document is almost as if it's an afterthought, being included as "Annex C" right at the end after a list of other existing Operational Efficiency Programme assets (Annex B); it certainly occupies a category of its own courtesy of the fact that the BBC isn't actually a government department.
We can perhaps conclude therefore that the BBC Worldwide inclusion is a not-too-subtle attempt to directly appease the commercial media sector, even if the suggestion is partly open-ended, namely: "The Government now expects the BBC to look more widely at the options for greater financial and operational separation, including a sale or partial sale".
The BBC's response to all of this ought to be: "We're looking at all of the available options and we will choose the one that represents the best value to TV licence fee-payers as well as providing the best return on investment for the widest range of BBC productions".
Because given its current structure and remit, the BBC now needs to exert its independence from government influence more than ever before; the basic principle of which is something that even the Tories seem to at least partly comprehend.
More blog posts about: BBC, BBC Worldwide, politics
Tuesday 17 November 2009
BBC fears part of licence fee may still be used for ITV regional news
But the war won't finish unless the BBC learns to stop fighting - that seems to be the ongoing message from recent events as well as the rapidly disintegrating aims in the recent Digital Britain report.
Of course several of the BBC's commercial competitors - most notably BSkyB and much of the newspaper industry - would love the BBC to roll over and die at this point, given their particular axes to grind (of which few have actually any practical consequences, based on the US market where the decline of traditional media is far more advanced).
But arguably of more pressing concern is the relationship between the BBC and government ministers, since the latter are the ones that wield real power; Rupert and James Murdoch may be somewhat influential but they weren't the ones actually writing the statute books. (At least not yet anyway.)
So in the two-year breathing space that the BBC now has before the next administration - and that's a long time in both politics and the media industry given the relatively rapid pace of change - the BBC has to sort out both its internal and external public relations so that they are singing from the same unified hymn sheet.
And the hymn they are singing better not be off-key or be subject to wildly fluctuating tempo changes, as was painfully evident during a succession of recent mishaps, of which some ended up being far worse than they evidently had the right to be due to badly mishandled PR that extended right to the top.
Certain pressing issues, in particular a bloated management structure that's paid too much (whether true or not) were also dealt with much later than they should have done; BBC management headcount should have been trimmed first BEFORE applying the same rationale to everyone else in order to deflect criticism and to set a fair example.
A good working relationship between the BBC and government is essential in the medium term if the BBC is to withstand the sort of external pressures from the commercial sector that will be an ongoing concern, especially with a rapidly changing media landscape.
It's true that the BBC still has to exert its independence under an exceptionally tricky situation, but it needs to work alongside bedfellows that may be uncomfortable at times. And that demands a long-term working relationship that extends beyond passing mere pleasantries, namely holding ministers to proper account if they change their mind.
The very fact that the TV licence fee still has majority support from viewers - albeit begrudgingly in some cases - is the one major asset that the BBC still has and the one thing that will prevent an immediate dismantlement of the corporation by a Conservative administration if one was to gain power at the next election.
Therefore the BBC ought to do much more to exploit this key asset, and by definition to shift the media debate towards the inadequacies of the commercial sector that extend well beyond the changes in the media landscape that are currently taking place. You only have to look to America to see this happening.
More blog posts about: BBC, Digital Britain, licence fee, top-slicing
Friday 13 November 2009
BBC director Erik Huggers gives a preview of Project Canvas
View this video on YouTube
Much has been talked about Project Canvas but until now there wasn't much to actually see of what it consisted of. Still incomplete and awaiting approval, Project Canvas promises a great deal for broadcasters and viewers in terms of convenience and features, but Canvas has predictably stirred up controversy despite its open approach.
BSkyB's public stance relating to Project Canvas is distinctly (and predictably) negative; indeed it desperately tried to draw as many similarities as possible between it and Project Kangaroo (as previously canned by the Competition Commission), hoping that by doing so Canvas will meet an equivalent fate.
However it has been said that BSkyB is privately interested in Project Canvas and the potential it may have in the video-on-demand marketplace; it's not hard to imagine Sky quietly thinking that it may ultimately be better to back a broadcaster-agnostic, UK-oriented solution as opposed to making a pact with the devil (something like Google).
Rupert Murdoch may be on record as hating both the BBC and Google, but at least the BBC has a non-commercial role to play in Project Canvas (and the Murdochs can always lean hard on politicians if they suspect any 'foul play' from their perspective), as opposed to the likes of Google (a free agent that's nearly impossible to control or dictate to).
As ultimately - like it or not - Sky's traditional strengths relate to working in concert with other broadcasters to provide variety on a satellite-based viewing platform as opposed to a more restricted choice found elsewhere (even if it does feature a proprietary encryption method and EPG).
Therefore the overall message here seems to be "Get on board or miss out", leading to the conclusion that if Project Canvas is given the go-ahead then BSkyB would be much better off participating with it as opposed to gnashing its teeth from the sidelines, particularly as Sky still has premium sports and movies to sell. (For the time being.)
This mantra is particularly true when there are a growing number of video-on-demand solutions out there, such as YouTube/Google now offering full-length programmes (and perhaps wrongly endorsed by Channel 4), Bing/Microsoft, Hulu, Boxee, See Saw/Arquiva, etc., along with the BBC's iPlayer and other existing, broadcaster-specific platforms.
Indeed the strong USP for Canvas is that it unites UK broadcasters under one convenient open platform interface, but it's this fact alone that could threaten the very existence of Canvas based on what controversially happened to Project Kangaroo, especially given the extreme negative response that the Competition Commission gave to Kangaroo.
This alone has made many people within the media industry feel that Project Canvas is ultimately doomed regardless of any differences between it and Kangaroo, especially as the Commission even went as far as preventing anything like Project Kangaroo from being resurrected within five years.
A decision that was very surprising when you consider how Sky dominates satellite television and Virgin Media does likewise for cable, combined with a negligible likelihood of an independent competitive UK-centric video-on-demand solution being developed considering the fact that most broadcasters hold many of the rights to their content.
I personally believe that the BBC Trust will decide to support the continued development of Project Canvas, albeit with some preconditions designed to ensure transparancy and fairness (the sort of thing which would inevitably be in place anyway), but again it's the Competition Commission that poses the greatest potential threat to Canvas as it stands.
Therefore it's not surprising to learn that the Commission now has a wide range of critics ranging from a House of Lords communications committee to (unsurprisingly) the broadcasters themselves; immense pressure is now being exerted onto Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw to force the Commission into giving Canvas the green light.
There are certainly strong commercial arguments for Project Canvas, but whether all of the protesting will be enough to give this much-heralded project the final go-ahead of course remains to be seen; it's not hard to recall all the very optimistic noises being made about Project Kangaroo during its early days.
And look what happened to that.
Given the fact that the UK media industry desperately needs an open and competitive video-on-demand solution in order to ensure a greater degree of future success, Project Canvas or something like it is certainly required if the UK media industry is to really thrive in the longer term.
And - like it or not - the established broadcasters will always have the upper hand, despite independent producers' dreams of truly independent programme distribution; a desire that has sometimes been cited as a reason against allowing a 'cartel' of established broadcasters controlling a distribution channel.
Or not, as is theoretically the case with the Project Canvas guarantee of independence, although there is still very much a requirement for "safety in numbers" when it comes to promoting and distributing popular content.
The alternative is a market full of confusing proprietary solutions that threaten to stagnate the consumer video-on-demand market for years to come; with dozens of potential 'Betamaxes' to avoid it's not hard to see the average viewer just relying on iPlayer and its equivalents until a foreign competitor dominates the scene.
All this market fragmentation will work in favour of Project Canvas for the time being if it is given the go-ahead, but any failure to approve any such 'universal' solution in the first place will definitely result in a major setback for the UK media industry.
More blog posts about: BBC, Project Canvas, Project Kangaroo, video on demand
Monday 9 November 2009
BBC's plea for anti-piracy measures on Freeview is turned down
It seemed rather strange that the BBC of all broadcasters should suddenly propose something that could restrict an individual's right to record and keep a television programme, especially considering all the effort that the BBC has made in the past to distribute content free to licence fee-payers.
Indeed it's commercially-funded broadcasters like ITV and Channel 4 that theoretically have more to lose from the copying of any programme-related content, because they inherently rely on the revenue obtained from commercials and sponsorship. (And pirated programming usually has this sort of content cut out of them.)
Several facts need to be borne in mind at this point, most notably that other countries have already adopted terrestrial HD broadcasting (Australia and France being two of them), with free-to-air broadcasts that don't impose any additional restrictions on the copying of content.
Also the very notion of high definition broadcasting being "very valuable" isn't going to stay that way for long; some US broadcasters now insist on HD for all of their programming, and virtually all new BBC commissions are now being made in HD along with established favourites including Doctor Who and the next series of Top Gear.
Indeed within five years it's likely that standard definition broadcasting will be predominantly associated with channels showing repeats (such as Dave) together with small specialist channels who can't afford the bandwidth; this will be especially true on cable and satellite platforms where bandwidth is less of a premium.
Plus the idea of "premium content" is not new by any means; it dates back at least to the 1960s and the birth of cable television, when specific programming like boxing matches was offered optionally for a fixed fee, and Sky has been offering a subscription TV service in the UK for the last 20 years.
All this comes at a time when the BBC is now actively being discouraged to avoid being involved in bidding wars for such things as sporting events and US imports, and not just to allegedly avoid putting up the price for commercial competitors (cost doesn't seem to be too much of an issue for BSkyB...) either.
We can only conclude that someone within the BBC's commercial division had effectively placed pressure on the corporation, perhaps with a (likely to be unjustified) fear of losing out on imports/sporting rights to satellite and cable channels which are encrypted therefore are able to offer so-called 'additional' security for rights holders.
But any lack of copy protection (or encryption) in the past hasn't stopped the BBC gaining the rights to key US imports such as Heroes or sporting events such as Formula 1, and there's no obvious reason why this state of affairs is going to change any time soon, as long as free-to-air broadcasters hold their nerve and don't bow to external pressures.
So all things considered there strictly speaking isn't any need for "a degree of content management" as envisaged by the BBC's proposal, especially when such a relatively weak protection method isn't going to stop copying for determined pirates. (It only takes one person to somehow make a file available for others to copy.)
Therefore such a method of so-called content management will only serve to make life difficult for the manufacturers of receiving equipment as well as for licence fee-payers who want to lawfully record and copy programme material for their own personal use as opposed to being dictated to by the programme makers.
Thankfully it's now very likely that the BBC will have to quickly back down over this proposal if pressured into doing so, because Freeview HD broadcasts are due to commence from Winter Hill next month (spreading elsewhere from 2010 onwards), therefore the Freeview HD specification will need to be finalised by the end of this year.
More blog posts about: BBC, Freeview HD, HDTV, Ofcom
Monday 26 October 2009
Coup or crisis? Can the panel discuss …
As the controversy surrounding BNP leader Nick Griffin's appearance on Question Time rumbles on, it's still hard to properly determine the long term impact that this has had. However it seems very evident that Griffin has done himself few favours amongst those who are undecided on who to vote for regardless of their policy.
Based on pure logic and freedom of speech principles alone, the BBC felt obliged to feature someone from the BNP in some form of politics-based programming, especially as the BNP is a legal political party that had won seats in the European Parliament.
It's very difficult to argue against that rationale from a public service broadcasting perspective, no matter how hard you try. And there is the argument that if you ignore fringe parties altogether, there's a good chance that they will gain underground credibility amongst voters as a consequence.
This has also occurred at a time when the BBC is trying to exert its independence during an era when it is being squeezed by politicians (using "commercial considerations" as an excuse to put pressure on the corporation), therefore it cannot be actively seen to shy away from any debate that's awkward but necessary in a truly democratic society.
It seemed reasonably clear from the outset that this edition of Question Time wasn't going to be ordinary by any stretch of the imagination, and given the politically charged issues at stake there was also a very high probability of any attempted debate quickly degenerating into a shouting match.
Especially when you realise that the mainstream political parties are defending their own 'standard' immigration policies combined with the general assumption that extreme forms of immigration control (of the sort that are likely to be advocated by the BNP) are abhorrent to the vast majority of British people, regardless of political and religious beliefs.
Combine all of this with an extremist party leader who isn't exactly the greatest orator, and you end up with a combination that's very difficult to 'balance' even if ultimately representative of the composition of British politics. (Organisations like the BNP are still definitely in the minority, regardless of what some might like to think.)
Perhaps David Dimbleby could have controlled the 'debate' even tighter in order to attempt an extraction of a meaningful policy response from Nick Griffin, but when you have a basic disagreement over someone's interpretation of historical events (and by definition the ground rules for debate), then this becomes even more tricky to achieve.
There's the dilemma of giving Griffin too much time to speak unchallenged, when doing so could cause the BBC to breach rules (and commonsense) relating to the incitement of race hatred - even when Jack Straw is there and part of the debate - and anyone who is interested in BNP policy can always research the facts online for themselves.
Throw in time constraints both for the programme's length and its recording, the end result was perhaps inevitable, although it's still arguable that despite the "Jerry Springer" nature of some of its content, a valuable function was performed in terms of exposing some of the inadequacies of Griffin as a party leader (and by definition BNP policy).
There was always the possibility that any media exposure could increase the popularity of the BNP, and I suspect that the editing process was rather more fraught that it ordinarily is given its high profile and risky nature (remembering Crowngate, Sachsgate...); not to mention the dangers of getting this badly wrong both for the BBC and democracy in general.
Especially when a fair number of voters may agree with the basic anti-immigration stance that the BNP has as a main thrust of its policy and could use a BNP vote as a protest against the established parties, even if most of these voters would baulk at the more extreme actions that the BNP would use if they ever were to gain power.
And there were always going to be accusations of any debate being one-sided in one direction or the other, plus the topic of conversation would never stray far away from immigration whilst Griffin was around, given the highly controversial nature of BNP policy.
Then there's the choice of programme format for someone like Griffin to be featured in. Some have complained that an open format like Question Time was inadequate for the task at hand and a grilling by someone like Jeremy Paxman would have been more appropriate, but this ignores the fact that Paxman had already interviewed Griffin in the past.
And getting someone to interview Griffin would still attract partiality claims regardless of how careful the interviewer was and the presentation style employed. In short, virtually anything of a political nature would have its detractors regardless of format style, and a studio discussion does tend to suggest an 'open' public debate even if recorded and edited.
One perhaps unintended consequence of all of this relates to the future of the Question Time format itself, given the unusual popularity and nature of this particular edition; it may inevitably be difficult to proceed from here without careful consideration even as a long-running format (though tired, according to some critics) and is still reasonably popular.
So was the Question Time debate ultimately worthwhile? For one thing it has provided a public document of Nick Griffin as a somewhat inadequate leader - as superficially appearing to the politically-literate majority - even if any practical and lengthy debate in relation to immigration and its social impact was next to impossible under those circumstances.
Because the alternative, namely not even attempting to mention the extremist views of a tiny minority, risks the repetition of past events that would be judged by the majority to be most unwelcome in an open and generally tolerant society, even if the BNP stand no chance whatsoever of gaining any significant influence in British politics.
More blog posts about: BBC, BNP, Current Affairs, Question Time
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