December 2004

Hello, and welcome to the latest updates to Electromusications.

We have a spread of articles from across the Transdiffusion spectrum for you this time, kicking off with a piece by Louis Barfe about the first buildings in Britain that were designed specifically for television. As the medium expanded in the fifities and sixties, it outgrew the converted theatres and cinemas in which it primarily began, and this article covers the first two purpose-build television centres in the country.

Then we go over to look at what’s happened to factual programming over the last few years with David Hastings’s article on the rise of the docusoap, which seems all too often to have taken over from traditional documentaries - a format that you’ll know I have a special liking for if you’ve read my MediaBlog entries. And while we’re mentioning the MediaBlog, do check out the items being posted there about the BBC reorg as our writers hit their keyboards to comment.

There’s also a little piece of mine on Howard Goodall’s latest offering for Channel Four, 20th Century Greats, and James Pittman considers what we really get from our ‘free’ media.

While you’re reading this month’s new articles, by the way, check out the sections they appear in. Louis Barfe’s piece is in Studio One, which you might not have seen before. Take a look around the other stories: there’s some fascinating stuff in our pages.

And finally, I’d like to wish all our readers a very happy holiday season: I fervently hope 2005 is a little more peaceful for all of us. And don’t forget, I’m always interested in your comments and observations, so do drop me a line.