Freely, the IP streaming replacement for Freesat and Freeview, had an unpleasant blip at the weekend. There's something over a million users at the moment, and forecasts of 10 million by 2034. Yet early adopters (like me) had to start from scratch with a factory reset, and were warned off using buttons marked 'programme restart'. Factory reset is not plain sailing, and a few more resets will have me looking for alternative ways of reaching the IP future...
The click-hungry weekend curators at BBC News online must be tickled pink with "What's driving men to get penis fillers, despite the risks?", number 3 in the site's list of most-read items, at time of writing.
It seems to be a simple write-up from an edition of Inside Health, first broadcast on March 3rd, and clearly then stuffed in a back pocket to fill holes in August....
As we note 20 years of The One Show, it's time to look for more changes in the basic BBC1 weekday line-up, to get Mr Brittin's BBC in the front foot.
Peter Fincham's idea for The One Show, a nightly magazine format with elements of the old "Tonight" in the Cliff Michelmore era and bits of Wogan, dispatched with a rag-bag of 7pm offers - "What Not To Wear", "The Real Story", "Watchdog", "Should I Worry ?", "Didn't They Do Well ?", "Airport" and the dreaded "Regional Variations". Cutely, the Fincham commission also saved money, which was re-directed to drama, comedy and light entertainment.
It's now pretty clear that now, during The One Show, most of those remaining in the family living room have a chat about what to watch next. Around 2.5m stay for EastEnders. It's not enough; the soap has become a bed blocker. People are scanning Netflix, Prime, Disney and Apple for a new film or a blockbuster series. The BBC's 'big offer' should start at 7.30pm. Two one-hour 'bangers', followed by a half-hour comedy/panel show, to get to the 10pm news, still holding up well.
Meanwhile, Matt, tell them schedulers to drop at least one episode of the Pointless comfort-blanket, and give the nation back a live-ish 5pm pop show...
Messing around with colanders seems to have disrupted tv audiences yesterday evening. The biggest audience of the day was for regional news slot on the BBC at 6.30pm, adding up to 3.5m. The preceeding 6pm bulletin came second on 2.9m, and the 10pm was third at 2.8m. Not banging, but top of the linear charts, Mr Brittin.
Fourth place went to The One Show with an average of 2.4m.
As we head for new, unexplored areas of the thermometer, heed the words of interim BBC News boss, Jonathan Munro “As this summer’s heatwaves have proved, up-to-the minute and accurate weather information has never been more important."
This was putting a brave face on plans which will reduce the number of national weather presenter roles on the BBC from 11 to 4.5. These 4.5 will be split between London and Salford, with an additional four weather "reporters" (presumably cheaper than presenters) based at the Met Office headquarters in Exeter producing online material, video, and social media updates
From the national press, we learn that some of the current roster of 11 may be interested in voluntary redundancy. But if six don't come forward, Mr Munro may find himself interviewing the remainder in competition. A reminder - the 11 are Ben Rich (41), Tomasz Schafernaker (47), Darren Bett (58), Louise Lear (58), Elizabeth Rizzini (50), Matt Taylor (50), Chris Fawkes (43), Sarah Keith-Lucas (44), Stav Danaos (48), Simon King (45), and Helen Willetts (54).
Mr Munro is presumably also facing an interview, to see if he can become more than interim; perhaps explaining why he thought the Panorama/Trump edit was acceptable journalism.
The pen that devoted a year to poetry has turned to caustic prose. Huw Edwards has lashed out at most pillars of Welsh society after the judges of the National Eisteddfod's main poetry prize failed to even place his verses. In a post entitled 'Epic Cant', he rips into the Taffia, some by name.
First, 'Eisteddfodd bigwigs':
"Public life in Wales is dominated by a ‘virtuous’ elite — a mob of job-swappers who regularly pop up in different roles. They were out in force last week in their natural habitats: lavish motorhomes with wardrobe-sized wine fridges; Gaddafi-scale tents with space aplenty for druidic cavorting; ‘hospitality’ areas for the more discerning."
Then, the Monday 3rd August edition of BBC-produced Welsh news programme Newyddion, which led on Huw's entry.
"Unable to shake off the tabloid virus, the Newyddion team — spearheaded, it seems, by an individual called Jacob Morris (described to me by one of his colleagues in terms too offensive to print here) — manufactured a scandal which took the limelight away, quite unforgivably, from the deserving winner of the Crown poetry competition."
The item included the critical views of actress Sera Cracoft, who features in Welsh soap Pobol Y Cwm:
"Not content with this latest spasm of vengeance, they then sought the predictably hostile views of a soap actress. And for good measure, they interviewed the President of the Eisteddfod Court on the merits of banning people with criminal records from competing.
It was, as we say in the trade, a full-on monstering."
In parenthesis:
"The Newyddion team should thank me for this post. More people will read this — and learn of their existence — than will watch a typical edition of their programme."
Huw then monsters Ashok Ahir, who was President/Chair of the Eisteddfod when they ditched Huw from the Gorsedd of Bards:
"We had ‘enjoyed’ a rather tricky relationship when he was, in my view, a distinctly unimpressive manager at BBC Wales. Formal letters of Gorsedd ‘cancellation’ were sent in Ashok’s name to my elderly mother’s home — while I was being treated in a secure psychiatric unit. Those letters, which added to my mother’s distress, were not seen by me until my discharge months later."
The Florida court that allowed Donald Trump to 'reframe' his claim against the BBC has now been presented with a new 40-page schedule, seeking damages which still add up to $10bn. His lawyers have used their time to back up their claim of consistent deliberate malice on the part of the BBC, using quotes from Liz Truss and Kemi Badenoch, post-Panorama.
Disclosure of documents has given Trump's team the initial contract with October Films to make the programme...
"Brief details: Date: 4' April 2024
Attendees: Neil Breakwell / Leo Telling
It seems all BBC staff are after a selfie with new DG Matt Brittin...
Why, it's BBC Director General Matt Brittin with former colleague Pedro Pina, buff Vice President of YouTube in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
Some clear thinking from former BBC correspondent Humphrey Hawkesley:
"If the BBC wants the public to pay willingly for its services, it needs a modern system built on clarity, convenience and persuasion. A future licence fee should be attached to individuals and their devices, not bricks and mortar."
