Sam Jackson's reply

[LMcD]

What is the attraction to Radio of employing such high profile names? Katie Derham was a news reader (and CFM presenter), Clive Myrie is a news journalist, Aled Jones was a well-known chorister/choirboy/recording artist, CFM .presenter. Clive Myrie's series is at least 50% connected with his news experience, but which came first? How could we use someone like Clive Myrie, or how about a series on how classical music has been important in war zones?

About 4% of the UK population earns over £100,000 ...

Clive Myrie's been very busy, presenting: 4 series on jazz; Mastermind and Celebrity Mastermind; BBC Proms; the BBC Singers Centenary Concert; programmes about the Caribbean and Italy and, on 4 occasions, HIGNFY. I think it's all a cunning plan to lure people into watching BBC News, especially people like me who've switched to Sky News. Much as I admire war correspondents, I found his discussion with Matt Frei more than a little self-indulgent. The other possible explanation for his busy workload is that Alexander Armstrong is fully booked.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Clive Myrie's been very busy, presenting: 4 series on jazz; Mastermind and Celebrity Mastermind; BBC Proms; the BBC Singers Centenary Concert; programmes about the Caribbean and Italy and, on 4 occasions, HIGNFY. I think it's all a cunning plan to lure people into watching BBC News, especially people like me who've switched to Sky News. Much as I admire war correspondents, I found his discussion with Matt Frei more than a little self-indulgent. The other possible explanation for his busy workload is that Alexander Armstrong is fully booked.

Interesting response that. I’m wondering how the citizens of the war torn areas they talk about might feel about this series? Thing about being a war correspondent is you can always go back to Blighty. Yes an important job but I’ve stopped watching TV coverage because it’s too much emotion and not enough explanation.

[LMcD]

Interesting response that. I’m wondering how the citizens of the war torn areas they talk about might feel about this series? Thing about being a war correspondent is you can always go back to Blighty. Yes an important job but I’ve stopped watching TV coverage because it’s too much emotion and not enough explanation.

My main source of broadcast news is actually the 6.00 pm, bulletin on Radio 4. I sometimes watch Sky News for the press review - a feature which the BBC News Channel dropped, regrettably in my view. The BBC News Channel recently spent 6 solid hours reporting on nothing else but the situation in the Middle East, which also occupied all 30 minutes of the BBC1 News At Six a few days later.

[Serial_Apologist]

Interesting response that. I’m wondering how the citizens of the war torn areas they talk about might feel about this series? Thing about being a war correspondent is you can always go back to Blighty. Yes an important job but I’ve stopped watching TV coverage because it’s too much emotion and not enough explanation.

I quite agree. However I do continue to watch mainstream TV news coverage on Israel and I am interesting how this "story" is being put over on the British public. The reasons are quite clear to me and always have been. This may sound sanctimonious but I think we have responsibilities as witnesses to misinformation.

[smittims]

I'm taken aback at those figures, Heldenleben. Are they really gross pay per year? I am speechless to think how such sums can be justified when so many live comfortably on a tenth of that. I really do think 'something must be done'.

[LMcD]

Clive Myrie is a news journalist, ...

He's become much more than just that - he's a star BBC celebrity who has also, thankfully, not attracted the notoriety of a certain former newsreader. It's quite possible that some people who've enjoyed some of the programmes which he presents might not even be aware that he IS a newsreader.

[french frank]

I'm taken aback at those figures, Heldenleben. Are they really gross pay per year? I am speechless to think how such sums can be justified when so many live comfortably on a tenth of that. I really do think 'something must be done'.

The divided, unequal country. Admittedly mosts costs are higher in the south-east (but they get more for their money by way of amenities, entertainments). Mostly it's political but also individual mindsets. I've always enjoyed the challenge of living cheaply-and-well. My experience is that a majority acquires anything they want for which they have the immediate disposal income ('cash in pocket').

I suspect some people also value leisure and recreation more than I do

[Ein Heldenleben]

I'm taken aback at those figures, Heldenleben. Are they really gross pay per year? I am speechless to think how such sums can be justified when so many live comfortably on a tenth of that. I really do think 'something must be done'.

The figures are from the BBC pay report . Not sure they include all his BBC earnings eg where he’s worked for BBC Studios or an indie . They certainly don’t include the £65,000 he earned from outside activity - about the annual pay of a senior BBB journalist in London. (All in the Sunday Times today)
That £300,000 is probably less than Clive would get if he went to ITN or Sky News . He’ll probably have junior colleagues on £35 to £ 40 k. I’ve worked with freelance presenters who can command a daily six figure fee - though they are very rare. It’s a very unequal business.

[oddoneout]

The divided, unequal country. Admittedly mosts costs are higher in the south-east (but they get more for their money by way of amenities, entertainments). Mostly it's political but also individual mindsets. I've always enjoyed the challenge of living cheaply-and-well. My experience is that a majority acquires anything they want for which they have the immediate disposal income ('cash in pocket').

I suspect some people also value leisure and recreation more than I do

Or, more likely, room on the credit card?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It does seem that Radio 3 is required to be a much broader church than Radios 1 or 2. There is no sense that BBC management is prepared to articulate exactly what Radio 3 is expected to do. Broad church? Panoply? That could include anything at all for anyone at all.[/COLOR][/FONT]

This is a point I’ve made before. It’s as though Radio 3 is the dumping ground for the programmes/styles that the others don’t want, with Friday Night is Music Night as a recent example.

[oddoneout]

This is a point I’ve made before. It’s as though Radio 3 is the dumping ground for the programmes/styles that the others don’t want, with Friday Night is Music Night as a recent example.

I think the various Dumbtime offerings are a rather better example that FNiMN.

[smittims]

I was just thinking that all that money comes from licence -payers, some of whom struggle to pay for their licences, as has been made clear by the controversy over the 'free licence' scheme. I'd be ashamed to take such money. If I didn't share a house with someone who loves to watch TV I'd stop having a licence. I watch hardly any TV and consider my licence fee goes to support Radio 3, but recently it really isn't worth it.

[french frank]

I think the various Dumbtime offerings are a rather better example that FNiMN.

But could you you justify that opinion empirically? Is it just a matter of your subjective preference for one rather than the other? What is actually happening when Radio 2 offloads one (or two) of its programmes on Radio 3? Which service does Radio 3 offload its unwanted programmes on?

[AuntDaisy]

But could you you justify that opinion empirically? Is it just a matter of your subjective preference for one rather than the other? What is actually happening when Radio 2 offloads one (or two) of its programmes on Radio 3? Which service does Radio 3 offload its unwanted programmes on?

The Verb is the only example I can think of... to Radio 4. And I don't believe it was unwanted, R3 was its home for so long.

[french frank]

The Verb is the only example I can think of... to Radio 4. And I don't believe it was unwanted, R3 was its home for so long.

I'd forgotten The Verb. Yes, and it does indicate what is happening - a speech programmme's place is on R4. I was recently looking at a (hilarious - to me) interview Mark Damazer had with Roger Wright in about 2016 in which Damazer claimed that FoR3 wanted to get rid of all the jazz and world music which got in the way of the classical music, and that all the "speechy stuff" (double quotes, with flapping gesture of the hand) should be on R4. Roger - to his eternal credit - looked embarrassed and tried to stop the flow. But I thought he became a little vague when following up on his general demur. He made it sound a bit as if we weren't very clear ourselves what we were saying.