Long Live the Studio

Is it just me, or are there more big studio shows being made on TV at the moment?

It certainly seems that way to me. And that’s good news. I think.

We’ve been through a very long period of decine in studio use. Or rather a major increase in location TV work. But perhaps that has plateaued now and the commissioners have remembered, or maybe rediscovered, the flexibility and real value of the great British TV studio.

In fact we never really lost it. The few regular studio show we managed to keep over the last decade were enough to sustain the facilities and, most importantly, the skill set, in this most perculiar discipline.

Major primetime jugganaut shows like X-Factor and Strictly Come Dancing, both hugely successful exports, completely depend on this incredibly high skillbase.

So I’m glad to say, ‘long live the studio!’ Back here to stay. Again. Hopefully…

BBC Compliance

I watched “Long Way Round” on BBC1 earlier. It was originally a Sky One (& US) commission, where Ewan McGregor & his mate Charlie Boorman ride motorcycles from London to New York, the long way around.

A fascinating, good fun series and one that I’ve watched a few times already on Sky. However, since the success of the follow up “Long Way Down” (John O’Grotes to Capetown), which was commissioned and broadcast on BBC1, they’ve picked up the rights to re-show it themselves.

A sensible decision, though I don’t understand why the late night slot or the tendency for double episodes. Rather wastefull. Surely it would be better for a primetime slot on BBC3?

Anyway, what I found interesting was the compliance changes for BBC broadcast. There was an awful lot of pixelation/blurring out of the commercial branding on the bikes. I’m a tad confused by this, to be honest. I always thought it was a bit blatent on Sky, but surely it must have passed their compliance checks, and in theory they should be very similar to the BBC ones now.

However, there also seemed to be quite a lot of editing too. Now, this could have been for timing issues, to a certain extent, as a BBC hour is much longer than a commercial one. But my suspicion is that actually the edits were compliance related again. I distinctly remember bits about the specs of the bikes that were pretty integral to the ’story’ that were absent tonight.

My question is, who is in the wrong? Was it the BBC being overcautious, since the RDF Queengate scandal? Or was it Sky letting through major paid for branding in the programme content? Or perhaps a bit of both.

Face it, BBC overkill and Sky rule-stretching. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Either way.

Product Placement is on it’s way to the UK. And it’s needed, as long as we regulate it carefully, which I’m sure Ofcom will do well.

Regulation news

The first 3 headline stories on the main BBC news at 10pm this evening were all international reports – the Turkish bombing, the Indian bombing and Radovan Karadij. 2 of them not even European.

I watched it and was reminded that we Brits are a nation where international news is consumed at an equal, or perhaps even higher level, than domestic reports. Tales of the Prime Minister’s woes were relegated to much later on in the broadcast.

In part this is due to the success and ratings dominance of the BBC, a well funded state broadcater. However I doubt the commercial ITV/ITN News at 10 would have been much if any different. And that is down to public appetite for international news.

As an industry we have become used to the incredibly detailed, over-regulation by OfCom and it’s predecessors and I often find myself critisising or at least questioning them. However one rule I whole heartedly support is the required absence of direct sponsorship of news programmes.

Overseas broadcaters do not enjoy this particular regulation and as such find their news funding becomes reliant on content that is ‘compatible’ with the sponsor’s brand or image. One only has to look at the ‘Land of the Free’. No bad news and no international news (Well OK, once a week, but that hardly counts).

This is one example where we should infact be grateful for the heavy handed over-regulation we enjoy. Others around then world are not so lucky.

We must not underestimate the value of our Public Service Broadcasters. Please, lets make sure we don’t take them for granted and that we keep them for a long while yet.

Charles Wheeler night, BBC2 & 4

Two and a half weeks ago the veteran BBC journalist Sir Charles Wheeler passed away. He was just one year younger than the corporation and had spent virtually all of his profession career in it’s service. Previously he had risen to the rank of Captain in the British armed forces during WW2.

Stationed in Berlin, once it was over he decided to stay there and looked for work as the Berlin correspondent for a British newspaper. No one wanted him, so he joined the BBC, because, as a friend advised him, ‘they’ll take anyone’. Oh how things change (and what a stroke of luck for Aunty!)

Retrospectives seem to be staple fare for BBC2 at the moment, even more so than usual and tonight was no exception.

Part of the Timeshift strand, ‘Charles Wheeler: a tribute’, and the companion programmes on BBC4, was a fantastic insight, moving epitaph and sincere postumous honour to this broadcast & journalistic megalith. He is still a standard to which we should aspire within our industry, but perhaps not necessary including his penchent for always keeping to the edge of frame!

Hopefully this evening’s broadcast coinciding with the announcement of BBC2 controller Roly Keating’s move to a newly created role within the vast BBC archive does not sign an end to this kind of honour and respective programming. (Let the commissioners’ musical chairs at the terrestrial channels begin again)

I seem to say this a lot now, but where is his replacement? Who is the next Charles Wheeler? Noone obvious comes to mind, waiting patiently in the wings. There must be a young(ish) journalists out there, with similar appetite for the skills, knowledge and integrity, but are we attracting them to British broadcasting? Are we developing and nurturing the talent? Sadly I fear the answere is probably not.

Note to self, must also now watch the “Wheeler on America” series…

The new Brucey

I’ve just watched a bit of ‘Step up to the plate’, the new BBC1 daytime cooking show from Cheetah/Endemol UK. A sweet, simple cook-off format of 2 professional chefs versus amatuer family cooks, preparing 3 courses to be judget by restaurant critic Lloyd Grossman.

Simple premise, but well presented and good daytine fare.

The surprising bit was the presenter – one Anton du Beke, yes he of dancing fame.

Obviously early days, perhaps his first show, but there’s real promise there. He could have a good presenting career ahead of him, if he plays his cards right.

The new Brucey – smiles, dances and Brylcream to boot…

Well done Cheetah!

The Proms and all that Jazz. Nice.

Is it really Proms season already? Where did the year go?

I must say that I was rather pleased to see it regain it’s rightfull place on BBC2, as opposed to BBC4 like last year. I’m not entirely sure whether it’s because it deserves the higher profile exposure or that it leaves BBC4 free to continue doing what it does best – being the place to think… Either way, or a bit of both, hopefully it will last the whole season out on BBC2, though I suspect the TV coverage might again be a tad sparse.

Talking of the coverage, what was the studio set all about? It had the feel of a football match with half time commentary and analysis! Very odd and quite unexpected. Gone was the feeling of actually being part of the auditorium audience, reaplaced with distant TV spectator.

Oh, and why was there a Dragon’s Den business expert on the couch passing judgement on the music? Remind me again what her connection to music is? Oh yes, she played the piano at school. And has a new series of DD starting… It begins…

BTW, where were the half time oranges, that’s what I want to know?

Bedside library

Somehow the collection of books that I’m reading a the moment is escalating. Currently the pile of bedtime reading numbers five. Six really.

I’m part way through ‘Catch 22′ by Joseph Heller, the absolute classic novel that I somehow didn’t finish on holiday; I also haven’t finished ‘East and West’ by former governer of Hong Kong Chris Pattern; I’m waiting to start reading ‘Friends in High Places’ by Jeremy Paxman; and I’m aching to start ‘Letter from America’, a collection of Alistair Cooke’s BBC Radio 4 programmes from the past 60 years.

So imagine my delight when I stumbled on BBC4’s Alistair Cooke night this evening! I watched the profile biography with fascination and have decided that I must get hold of a copy of his ‘America’ TV series…

Will our current TV & radio broadcasters have the same effect 60 years later? Or their programmes the same longevity, for that???

Oh, and I’m still slowly wadeing through a book profiling the Al Jazeera news channel organization. Enlightening, but quite full on…

Too much to do, too little time.

Carl Pilkington, The Culture Show and Newsnight Review

I’m in shock. I flick onto BBC2 and am confronted by Carl Pilkington presenting on ‘The Culture Show’. Every show for the past couple of years has been wonderfully weird, up its self and full of metropolitan liberalism. Mass culture, the way only BBC2 can do it. But this may be a step too far for me… My über congratulations to Carl though for a surreal yet very successful career progression. I’m quite envious.

‘Newsnight Review’ on the other hand always seems so in accessible to me. The high brow cultural commentators on the sofa format just doesn’t do it for me. I’d like to get it, I really would. It would deliver my ideal, aspirational water-cooler discussion the following morning. Sadly though I’m clearly just not cultured enough for it.

‘Britain’s Got More Talent, Best & Worst’ STILL continues every evening. Now though it is complemented by ‘America’s Got Talent’, with it’s two out of three British judges; the pantomime villain & dame. No, I love it really (clearly, I’m watching it, aren’t I?).

Big Brother is back, +1s and Bingo Night Live

The Big Brother freak show has begun and I’m sure that it will dominate our combined national mindset for the next thirteen weeks, or at least that’s what the tabloids will have us believe.

I was caught in traffic and didn’t make it home ’till 10pm so I missed HRH Davina’s big opening o C4. Or did I? BB is such water cooler stuff that I had previously decided I absolutely must have some knowledge of the lambs to participate in the mandatory post-slaughter discussions we meja types pretend to deride but secretly feed on.

So in I rushed, an hour late, fumbled aroud Sky and hurrah, there she was, Channel 4 +1. What BB was made for! However, there was a flaw in my plan. Everyone else was watching it live so my mobile was dinging away with messages remarking about him, her, them and it – as was everyone’s Facebook status (perhaps some of my friends lives revolve too much around TV…) – none of whom I’d seen yet! Reading the proverbial back page first!

The +1 channel is a genius idea, a great ratings and added-commercial-value tool, but it does dilute rather the wonderful potential for the shared national participation that we all know and love. I still don’t really understand why Five doesn’t have one – RTL take note. And Sky 2 is working so well now, from its Sky Mix mode, that surely it can survive the obvious need for a Sky1 +1.

BB is back and I for one caught myself organising my evening around it already. I’ve even had a sneeky peek at E4’s uninterrupted live coverage, during the breaks in ITV1’s Bingo Night Live… I’m going to let this one bed in before I pass ITV Play judgment. But I thought that Michael Underwood was a good anchor. Melinda Messenger has a lot of potential, but lacks confidense. And why did the stats. girl not do the numbers herself?? Studio look fab though – good shiny black floor entertainment feel – not sure on the overlay graphics though…

Britain’s Got Talent never ends

I  thought ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ finished on Saturday! Oh no, ITV know when to drag out a good thing when they see it! Yesterday I saw “The World’s Got Talent” on ITV2 and this evening we were greeted with “Britain’s Got MORE Talent: The Best and Worst”! Hey, I liked the series (OK, it grew back on me…), but give us a rest for a bit!

And apparently the stadium tour starts in a few weeks time!

Woohoo….