Archive for January, 2010

The Joy of Six

January 31, 2010

Ever wondered what a mash-up between La Roux and Heaven 17 sounds like? BBC 6 Music brought the acts together for an entertaining collaboration. It’s a good example of the digital station fulfilling its remit by illustrating the connections between different musical generations. But there are already rumblings that the station, which has 620,000...
More »

Sunday paper(s)

January 31, 2010

Britain’s laziest paper review is stuck on the Sunday Times, the title that tells you what wine Archie Norman was drinking when he first wooed Adam Crozier.   For those still caring, the drink in question was a red Burgundy, although sadly neither the price and vintage of the  beverage was revealed by the newspaper....
More »

Tubeview: Cash in on HD this weekend

January 30, 2010

OK, so you have Sky+HD … you got it because you wanted to be part of the revolution – and it’s only an extra tenner a month on your Sky bill – it’s worth it for Life and, er … when are they next making a big budget BBC wildlife programme in High Definition?...
More »

Andy Duncan’s Vegas trip (revised)

January 29, 2010

This post has been amended (02/02) after Andy Duncan says that he had been misquoted. He did not say, apparently, that a C4-Five merger was inevitable, and a Media Guardian story on this point has been removed. What he apparently said was that a merger for Five (with ITV or Sky) “will happen at...
More »

Tubeview: Newsroundnight

January 29, 2010

Two questions – why does that 7.59pm news summary on BBC1 exist and why is it presented by the woman from Newsround, talking as if she is reading out the days events to a seven year old with learning difficulties? The awkward little slot comes with no warning,
More »

Crozier, oblivion, and the future of ITV

January 29, 2010

Calm, rational analysis from Nicola Methven of the Mirror today on Adam Crozier’s appointment. It’s a fun read, but I think her conclusion — “ITV is heading for oblivion” is, to state the obvious, a bit harsh. You can the duller, balanced and more accurate view
More »

Old Friday: failing newspaper economics

January 29, 2010

Paul Dacre made an entertaining speech a couple of years ago, nicely making a common enemy of both the BBC and heavyweight, loss making newspapers. He said that both were dependent on subsidy, whether from the licence fee, profits made elsewhere in a conglomerate or from a rich proprietor. Since then, the BBC has...
More »

Tubeview: Anyone can make a soap

January 29, 2010

Debuting Beehive City’s occasional TV review column… How do you celebrate 25 years of a well-loved soap? Get a bunch of teenagers to make a crap version of Hollyoaks – then put it on the internet. Eastenders E20 is a ruefully misjudged attempt at embracing the Youtube generation that follows the fortunes of four youngsters...
More »

ITV merges with the Post Office

January 28, 2010

Adam Crozier?!? Beehive City said earlier this week that ITV’s chairman Archie Norman would go for an outsider (although I also thought the appointment would be a little more time in coming). I even guessed that Norman’s old Asda mate Allan Leighton would be the man, but in fact it was his former partner...
More »

Elisabeth Murdoch plays Vegas

January 28, 2010

Elisabeth Murdoch, who runs the Shine TV production company, gave an interesting speech about the future of television over in Las Vegas yesterday, entitled ‘Here Comes The Audience’. If you like to keep up with the thinking of the Murdoch clan check out  the write-up in the LA Times and/or Hollywood Today, the latter...
More »



Television


UA-12921897-1