Articles by David Hastings

In pieces

Published 5 October 2015

Channel 4’s new look examined

Comparison confusion

Published 18 November 2014

When it was suggested recently that the BBC’s current affairs division could somehow be separated completely and turned into a commercial entity, the mere thought of this certainly produced a…

Lack of choice

Published 5 March 2014

BLOG: From rumours to facts – BBC Three is on the closure list

Yesterday’s news?

Published 5 February 2014

BLOG: 25 years of Sky News

50 Years of Top of the Pops

Published 1 January 2014

BLOG: How the anniversary of Top of the Pops went little marked

Undermining BBC trust

Published 9 September 2013

BLOG: Looking deeper into the BBC Trust

Seconds out

Published 12 April 2013

BLOG: Ding-dong the radio is censored

Newsnight’s chaos and confusion

Published 22 February 2013

BLOG: A lot of faffing about

Entwistle’s exit

Published 14 November 2012

BLOG: The director-general is lost

Hurricane Danny

Published 1 November 2012

BLOG: Danny Baker is lost

Farewell, Pages From Ceefax

Published 22 October 2012

BLOG: Goodbye Ceefax

Thompson’s tactical errors

Published 23 August 2012

BLOG: BBC Director-General gone

Sailing in the wrong direction?

Published 7 June 2012

BLOG: It’s certainly not unusual for the BBC to be the subject of criticism when it comes to the coverage of any royal event apart from the most straightforward occasions. Getting the tone exactly right is an absolute nightmare and you are never going to satisfy everyone all of the time, especially when dealing with something that’s the least bit contentious.

Second rate or second to none?

Published 7 May 2012

BLOG: Does BBC Two have a point?

Thompson’s legacy

Published 14 March 2012

BLOG: Preparing to say goodbye to Mark Thompson

ITV: Running forward just to stand still?

Published 5 March 2012

BLOG: ITV appoints Adam Crozier

BBC Four saved…at a price

Published 26 February 2012

It’s one thing wanting the closure threat of

Woe is Channel 4

Published 25 January 2012

With the news that Channel 4 is to report its first annual loss for more than a decade, How on earth did Channel 4 manage to drop the ball so…

Obligatory showing of teeth

Published 23 January 2012

BLOG: Local radio is almost saved

Frosty reception

Published 15 November 2011

BLOG: The Frozen Planet ‘scandal’

Redefining Auntie

Published 6 October 2011

BLOG: Delivering Quality First is coming

The s-word

Published 21 September 2011

BLOG: Stop saying “synergy”

Cut out to keep

Published 28 August 2011

This year’s Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival may have been relatively free of controversy It seems that after all the noises relating the BBC having to close down at…

Twin dilemma

Published 19 August 2011

Much has been said this week about proposed cutbacks that may (or may not) affect BBC Four, the ‘highbrow’ digital TV channel that has a relatively small but fiercely loyal…

Heat of the moment

Published 10 August 2011

When there’s a major event taking place, it’s natural that television viewers will want to seek out the most comprehensive coverage that’s currently available, therefore Sangat TV’s coverage of last…

Charged debate

Published 7 August 2011

The BBC’s popular and occasionally controversial Top Gear programme has been back in the news again for apparently upsetting car company Nissan; this is on top of another dispute over…

Formula won

Published 29 July 2011

Aside from those wanting Rupert Murdoch’s influence to be curtailed, the News Corporation phone hacking saga so far hasn’t been bad news for BSkyB either, despite the fact that it’s…

The naked truth

Published 13 July 2011

If you wanted excitement, intrigue and unpredictability in the world of media news then this past week simply had the lot, starting off with what seemed like a minor escalation…

Buying time

Published 6 July 2011

Can News Corporation still achieve its dream of taking over BSkyB despite what now appears to be difficult if not insurmountable obstacles that have been placed in its path? Up…

A place to call our own

Published 13 June 2011

From a purely practical and logistical perspective, the BBC’s Television Centre is nowadays a large, old-fashioned and under-utilized building that must cost a fortune to heat and to cool, as…

Closing time

Published 10 June 2011

As the BBC continues to wrestle with the prospect of making significant cost savings, the subject of channel closures (television or radio) has reared its head yet again, but this…

A narrower perspective

Published 5 June 2011

As a television channel, BBC Four has been the subject of much scrutiny as of late, and not just because it happens to be a digital-only TV channel with a…

Production balance

Published 23 May 2011

Remember the days of regional ITV? Granada produced World In Action, Central produced Family Fortunes and The Cook Report, and Thames (R.I.P.) productions ranged from The Bill to This Week….

Best defence

Published 17 May 2011

Having people like Sir David Attenborough and Prof Brian Cox defending the BBC in front of a Lords communications select committee is worth much more than a thousand “Delivering public…

Can you keep a secret?

Published 10 May 2011

A fair number of people are currently making a fuss about exactly what isn’t in the news, namely the current trend for what’s commonly known as a ‘superinjunction’. It’s an…

Managing management

Published 4 May 2011

As the new chairman of the BBC Trust, Lord Patten has wasted no time in signalling his future intentions, thereby abruptly drawing to a close an allegedly soft-touch Sir Michael…

News clippings

Published 21 April 2011

The BBC’s “Delivering Quality First” (or should that really read Delivering Cutbacks First?) initiative, which has borne witness to a deluge of “trial balloons” in recent weeks, seems to (finally)…

Paper clips

Published 14 April 2011

What exactly constitutes an online video-on-demand service? Certain major newspapers are now pondering this very issue in earnest as the Authority for Television On-Demand (ATVOD) takes over online video regulation…

Retuning expectations

Published 6 April 2011

Is anything wrong with Of course based on the book that he’s also promoting, Grant Goddard firmly sits on the pessimist side of the fence in terms of any planned…

Open to scrutiny

Published 4 April 2011

Ever since the last administration reclassified the UK TV licence fee as a tax (as opposed to a service charge) in 2006, there has been a theoretical danger that the…

Asian savings

Published 14 March 2011

To be honest I really wasn’t expecting this U-turn over the planned closure of the BBC Asian Network radio station, even though the BBC Trust’s reprieve of BBC Radio 6…

Local letdown

Published 11 March 2011

It’s hard to know exactly what BBC management are thinking with their latest money-saving proposal to be made public, namely to replace some local radio broadcasts with a simulcast of…

Diluted daytime

Published 7 March 2011

You know that the BBC is in serious financial trouble when it’s now floating an idea to replace daytime BBC Two with rolling news, aka BBC News 24 or the…

Sold for Sky

Published 3 March 2011

Admit it to yourself, this isn’t a surprise even if you initially thought it was. It seemed obvious that Sky News was going to be the sacrificial lamb in a…

Bad news online

Published 2 March 2011

To some outside observers, the loss of people like Pete Clifton from the BBC’s online news operation may seem relatively trivial from a day-to-day basis because it’s the journalists and…

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