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Too Demanding For Watch
There’s a wonderful story in this week’s Broadcast magazine. In a piece that explains how UKTV chanel “Watch” is having a bit of a rethink, it explains that challenging fare like Cranford, Mistresses and Love Soup is too “demanding” for its viewers. Instead they’re going to show more Dancing with the Stars and Wipeout (aka…
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Digital Britain
One of the most interesting documents likely to be published in the UK in the next few months is Lord Stephen Carter’s Digital Britain report. The draft report is due to be published by the end of this month, and it’s likely to cover things like public service, broadband and digital radio. The recent DRWG…
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Follow The Inauguration on CNN?
A news report announces the fact that CNN launches on Freeview this week – effectively replacing Nuts TV. That’s got to be good news for Freeview viewers, giving them an additional news service alongside the BBC News channel (never News 24!) and Sky News (will it remain on Freeview?). But The Guardian’s report (perhaps based…
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Visual Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is running a week long trial of a beta visualisation version of the radio player for a couple of programmes this week. I only caught a few minutes of Moyles this morning, but it seemed to work very well, and was a very interesting experiment in what can and can’t be done.…
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Yawn
Lots of areas of the media are getting excited about the annual Golden Globes handed out by an organisation called the “Hollywood Foreign Press Association”. I’ve written about this self-appointed, self-elected organisation before – and the fact that it has very little if anything to do with, well, the foreign press. Now everyone loves a…
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Celebrities Inappropriate Advertising
Last Friday was the last in Clive James’ current run of A Point of View (Harold Evans takes over this Friday). You have about 24 hours to download the podcast, otherwise you’ll just have to read his words. James got on to the habit of Hollywood actors promoting products that once they’d never have been…
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Crash
It’s always wise to pull over before you use the phone – especially when you call a radio station. Unhappily for her, Fiona didn’t half an hour ago when calling the Geoff Hometime Show…
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The Prisoner – Free In Places
Good news – in the lead up to the ITV/AMC remake of The Prisoner appearing on our screens later this year, AMC is making the original series available to stream, free of charge, on their website. Bad news – it’s only available in the US. ITV doesn’t seem to have done the same deal (Although…
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The Diary of Anne Frank
BBC1 is stripping The Diary of Anne Frank at 7pm this week in place of The One Show, and I must say that after yesterday’s lambasting of poor TV, this is a refreshing change. It’s fabulous. Ellie Kendrick plays Anne herself, and is wonderfully naturalistic in her performance. After a few exterior scenes to convey…
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Some Recent TV
If there’s one thing clear in recent times, it’s that ITV really needs to up its drama quotient. So I watched Demons at the weekend – effectively ITV’s sister programme to Primeval, and competing with the BBC’s Doctor Who, Merlin and Robin Hood. I don’t know when that latter programme is due to return, but…
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Are You Detoxing?
Well don’t bother. Instead, just lead a healthy lifestyle (I know, I know: pot, kettle, black, etc.). The word “detox” really annoys me. It’s pretty meaningless in the sense that it’s most used. This morning, free newspaper Metro had a wraparound sponsored by Evian. They’re once again asking us to “Detox with Evian” which makes…
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Wasps v Harlequins
I was right down in the corner today watching Wasps beat Harlequins 24-18. To be honest, my lens is too slow for the high shutter speed you really need for rugby. Hence, even though there was a try right in the corner where I was sitting, the shots were blurred because I should have been…
Podcasts, Radio, TV, Books, Cycling, Photography and More
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Yellowface/All The Lovers In The Night
Yellowface by R F Kuang I first came across R F Kuang with last year’s very enjoyable Babel, an alternate history of the British Empire told in a world where magic exists and is controlled by an elite group of individuals. Yellowface is very different, but no less enjoyable. It’s a book about books, and…
Hadrian’s Wall
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