Turning-point for the BBC? - the new DG

[Serial_Apologist]

Glad I missed all this. It's been great fun on here this evening!

[DracoM]

Woo-hoo DracoM

I wonder, would you mind if I had that tattooed on my torso? - I can't afford a larger billboard

Which ever part of your anatomy needs to remind itself of the power of wonder, amateur51!! By all means!

[Serial_Apologist]

Which ever part of your anatomy needs to remind itself of the power of wonder, amateur51!! By all means!

Which reminds me of a story Stan Tracey told about Stan Getz: "He always washed his hands before having a pee, because he held that particular part of his anatomy in such high regard"

[french frank]

"The Radio Times of silver jubilee week 1977 gives us an insight into a very different Britain: one not dominated by celebrity culture, and where major national events, like jubilees, tended not be over-hyped. Of course, we're now celebrating a diamond jubilee and not a silver one, so we'd expect more events to be laid on and more grandiose coverage. That said, I think I still prefer the Beeb's quieter programming schedule of 35 years ago. Bring back Black Beauty."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jun/04/diamond-jubilee-tv?newsfeed=true

A nice set of piccies (scrolldown a bit!) from the Mail, plus a familiar story:

"Actually, Andrew [Marr], one of the biggest wow moments was when the Spirit of Chartwell sailed through the open gates of Tower Bridge.

However, we didn’t see this on the BBC because when it happened, we were forced to watch Fearne Cotton in silver slingbacks trying to interview some shark-wrestling World War II veterans..." http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz1wsCBFqs6

[amateur51]

Which reminds me of a story Stan Tracey told about Stan Getz: "He always washed his hands before having a pee, because he held that particular part of his anatomy in such high regard"

[Anna]

There is an article in The Telegraph today which neatly sums up everything that was so wrong about the coverage of the River Pageant "The BBC's reputation is sunk in The Thames".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/9311490/The-BBCs-reputation-is-sunk-in-the-Thames.html

[Don Petter]

The BBC shambles that was its river pageant coverage seems to be meeting a rising tide of criticism e.g. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne...-coverage.html

"Low grade, celebrity driven drivel. How did Beeb get it so wrong?" said one MP.

From the short sequence I saw, it was probably just a typo for 'Low grade - Celebrity driven - Drizzle' which pretty well summed up the actual event.

Where did they manage to find so many ugly boats?

[french frank]

There is an article in The Telegraph today which neatly sums up everything that was so wrong about the coverage of the River Pageant "The BBC's reputation is sunk in The Thames".
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/9...he-Thames.html

I'm sure Stephen Pollard really relished being able to have a go at the BBC for (seemingly) legitimate reasons on this occasion. I don't relish it. At all. (Unlike Pollard) I have no political axe to grind with the BBC, but I do have a cultural one, and:

"It has become a truism that our national culture has been infantilised and made stupid. But if ever anything could be relied on to provide a temporary halt in that slide it would, surely, be the BBC’s coverage of the Diamond Jubilee. Much to the irritation of other channels, we turn to the national broadcaster at times of national togetherness. The BBC just gets it right.

Not any more. Sunday’s broadcast was not merely inane, it was insulting. The instruction had clearly gone out from on high that the audience would comprise imbeciles with a mental age of three and a 20-second attention span. And that any celebrity sighting, no matter how minor, would trump anything happening on the river."

I do believe that this the new spirit at the BBC which is insidiously creeping into Radio 3. As with the Jubilee itself (in my view, of course!) there's nothing wrong with the material they are given the opportunity to broadcast; it's the childish, stupid, trivial - and all too often - downright amateurishness of the presentation, just to ensure that not a single person in the country could possible complain that they feel 'excluded'. The result is that an increasing number of people do feel excluded.

Diamond Jubilee, Young Musician, Radio 3: everything they touch seems to have the stamp of this BBC 'brand'.

[Nick Armstrong]

I do believe that this the new spirit at the BBC which is insidiously creeping into Radio 3. As with the Jubilee itself (in my view, of course!) there's nothing wrong with the material they are given the opportunity to broadcast; it's the childish, stupid, trivial - and all too often - downright amateurishness of the presentation, just to ensure that not a single person in the country could possible complain that they feel 'excluded'. The result is that an increasing number of people do feel excluded.

Completely agreed!! The online complaint I sent about the Flotilla coverage said basically this plus some of the stuff Pollard covers (though I didn't mention Radio 3 specifically).

[Anna]

Completely agreed!! The online complaint I sent about the Flotilla coverage said basically this plus some of the stuff Pollard covers (though I didn't mention Radio 3 specifically).

Where did you complain to Caliban - I'd like to do the same but cannot find where to do it, link please?

Basically, the Pollard article is spot on, the BBC didn't take it seriously, treated it purely as 'light entertainment' a sort of Children in Need type production, it not only made the BBC look silly it made Britain look absolutely dreadful and full of airheads.

[Nick Armstrong]

Where did you complain to Caliban - I'd like to do the same but cannot find where to do it, link please?

https://ssl.bbc.co.uk/complaints/forms/?reset=#anchor

[VodkaDilc]

Where did you complain to Caliban - I'd like to do the same but cannot find where to do it, link please?

Basically, the Pollard article is spot on, the BBC didn't take it seriously, treated it purely as 'light entertainment' a sort of Children in Need type production, it not only made the BBC look silly it made Britain look absolutely dreadful and full of airheads.

........and with the BBC running the Olympics broadcasts, that's how the world will see us then too.

[Flay]

The highlight for me was the stoic RCM Chamber Choir who looked like drowned rats but carried singing with gusto regardless of the conditions. Good on them!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/the_queens_diamond_jubilee/9310670/Royal-College-of-Music-Chamber-Choir-Grit-and-determination-kept-us-singing.html

I watched some of yesterday evening's concert covered by the Beeb. How many camera teams were employed? No clip was longer than 4 seconds, most scenes lasted only 2 or 3 seconds before flipping to another angle, often silly views of revellers, or close-ups of a Royal or celeb.

Weren't the so-called comedians embarrassing? I doubt if any spent more than a minute thinking up their lines.

[french frank]

Now here's a clue that rings a bell:

"[Producer Ben] Weston and his events team decided, according to an insider, to focus more on the ‘lifestyles’ of people taking part in the pageant, than stick religiously to events on the water." - Young Musician comp?

Choral Evensong listeners will be interested in: 'Technical problems caused the sound to drop out during musical performances...'

[Nick Armstrong]

Now here's a clue that rings a bell:

"[Producer Ben] Weston and his events team decided, according to an insider, to focus more on the ‘lifestyles’ of people taking part in the pageant, than stick religiously to events on the water." - Young Musician comp?

Choral Evensong listeners will be interested in: 'Technical problems caused the sound to drop out during musical performances...'

Good link, ta frenchie.

This made me smile, though alarmingly familiar...