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[french frank]

It's not as if BBC television gives much coverage to pop music festivals elsewhere , I think.

It's not as if BBC television gives much coverage to classical (other than its own Proms) or folk or jazz festivals either.

[MrGongGong]

It's not as if BBC television gives much coverage to classical (other than its own Proms) or folk or jazz festivals either.

What's BBC Television ?

[teamsaint]

It's not as if BBC television gives much coverage to classical (other than its own Proms) or folk or jazz festivals either.

I completely agree. I would see coverage of good quality pop (and folk/world/jazz/whatever) in the same "neglected arts" category.
I suspect there is a lot of sloppy, lazy, politically driven decision making going on at the BBC, as to what gets covered,and how.

[teamsaint]

I think we need to have a whip round to buy Gongers a ticket for Cambridge and a TV license. (though he ought to be able to blad a freebie for Cambridge with his connections!)

he seems to be in an unusually odd mood this morning !!

[french frank]

I can't say I agree about BBC 4 coverage though. If ever there was an entertainment ghetto it is surely BBC3?

Only in the sense that it has an age targeted audience. And one which is most likely to want to watch a pop festival (don't forget that the Proms don't get much of a look-in there, other than the non-classical ones).

I would have though that Glasto was well within the usual zone for BBC4 , for better or worse.

But it still isn't mainstream television - fewer people watch it than One or Two. Which is why I say that many people would still miss it which would seem to defeat your purpose.

[MrGongGong]

I think we need to have a whip round to buy Gongers a ticket for Cambridge and a TV license. (though he ought to be able to blad a freebie for Cambridge with his connections!)

he seems to be in an unusually odd mood this morning !!

I'm on the train

I'm only doing "odd moods" these days
too much travelling interspersed with gigs and stuff
but going to hear how the RFH Organ restoration is going which should be fun and will try and persuade them to programme Volumina

I've been to Cambridge FF a couple of times , great stuff
much better than the TV any day

whats a license ? I thought it was a Licence ? (if its a Verb)

Greene King in a pewter tankard

[aeolium]

I agree with the point that the BBC tends to go OTT about any 'big event' coverage (especially the Olympics - around 500 BBC staff reportedly being sent to the Beijing Olympics five years ago). But as teamsaint says, it is not as though there are many pop festivals in the year that the BBC covers extensively - are there any others, in fact? Three days in a year is not massive coverage, and someone who is interested in the Glastonbury coverage but not in classical music could reasonably point to the Proms coverage which is over 8 weeks, covering every concert on radio (and repeating most of them) with 25 or so TV broadcasts spanning BBC1, BBC2 and BBC4, though principally on BBC4 - and the obligatory podcasts et al. Glastonbury does not interfere at all with R3 and its BBC4 coverage was over about 7 hours, late at night, over the three days.

It's not just a major pop festival that brings out the tendency to excess in BBC executives. What about the Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert fests? Now that's what I call gorging.

[french frank]

I agree with the point that the BBC tends to go OTT about any 'big event' coverage (especially the Olympics - around 500 BBC staff reportedly being sent to the Beijing Olympics five years ago).

N'exagérons pas, mon ami - it was apparently 491 (see interesting table below - and check figures for Wimbledon, Glastonbury and Radio 1's Big Weekend as well).

But as teamsaint says, it is not as though there are many pop festivals in the year that the BBC covers extensively - are there any others, in fact? Three days in a year is not massive coverage, and someone who is interested in the Glastonbury coverage but not in classical music could reasonably point to the Proms coverage which is over 8 weeks, covering every concert on radio (and repeating most of them) with 25 or so TV broadcasts spanning BBC1, BBC2 and BBC4, though principally on BBC4 - and the obligatory podcasts et al. Glastonbury does not interfere at all with R3 and its BBC4 coverage was over about 7 hours, late at night, over the three days.

I suspect ts is right in saying that the BBC's understanding of the word 'live' might rather alter the situation ... and I feel one could still criticise the massive coverage of one festival and nil coverage of any others, probably on different dates. I think WOMAD gets some coverage, however.

It's not just a major pop festival that brings out the tendency to excess in BBC executives. What about the Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert fests? Now that's what I call gorging.

That too.

[amateur51]

N'exagérons pas, mon ami - it was apparently 491 (see interesting table below - and check figures for Wimbledon, Glastonbury and Radio 1's Big Weekend as well).

I suspect ts is right in saying that the BBC's understanding of the word 'live' might rather alter the situation ... and I feel one could still criticise the massive coverage of one festival and nil coverage of any others, probably on different dates. I think WOMAD gets some coverage, however.
That too.

Fascinating table, ff

[french frank]

Fascinating table, ff

Extraordinary cost per hour of Euro 2008. I imagine the longer events work out 'cheaper' because once everything and everyone are in place for the duration ...

[aeolium]

Yes, thanks for the interesting statistics, ff. However, what that table doesn't show is the number of hours broadcast (and therefore, the total spend). And here the number of hours for Proms broadcasts dwarfs the figure for Glastonbury. That said, the very high cost per hour for e.g. Euro 2008 stands out.

I agree that the BBC ought to spread its coverage for pop festivals around (on, say, BBC3 and R1 predominantly) and not go overboard on one major festival.

[french frank]

Yes, thanks for the interesting statistics, ff. However, what that table doesn't show is the number of hours broadcast (and therefore, the total spend). And here the number of hours for Proms broadcasts dwarfs the figure for Glastonbury.

Yes. My assumption was that the longer an event lasted, the more hours of coverage.

Does the number of hours of Proms television 'dwarf' that of Glastonbury? Particularly when you consider that the Proms 'classical' concerts include Doctor Who, Urban Classic, Hollywood Rhapsody and Film Music ...

[aeolium]

Does the number of hours of Proms television 'dwarf' that of Glastonbury? Particularly when you consider that the Proms 'classical' concerts include Doctor Who, Urban Classic, Hollywood Rhapsody and Film Music ...

I don't know about 2008, but going on the Glastonbury figures for this year, compared with projected TV coverage of the Proms, it looks like around 25-26 hours for Glasto and perhaps approaching 60 for the Proms - hard to tell exactly without knowing which individual Proms are being shown. So, no, those Proms figures do not dwarf the Glastonbury ones. I think the overall cost spend though is much higher for the Proms (not that I think that is a bad thing, but only to put the focus on Glastonbury into proportion).

[french frank]

it looks like around 25-26 hours for Glasto

And a continuous online stream? Plus at least an hour (Saturday evening?) when it was on three BBC television channels at the same time?

I'm not grumbling about it btw, since I'm not a television viewer. Just sayin' ...

One would expect the overall spend to be higher for the Proms - they are on for two months .... And the ticket revenue does come back to the BBC.

[teamsaint]

I'm on the train

I'm only doing "odd moods" these days
too much travelling interspersed with gigs and stuff
but going to hear how the RFH Organ restoration is going which should be fun and will try and persuade them to programme Volumina

I've been to Cambridge FF a couple of times , great stuff
much better than the TV any day

whats a license ? I thought it was a Licence ? (if its a Verb)

Greene King in a pewter tankard

Terribly sorry about the spelling and trypos old chap !! Comes of trying to mess around on the internet whilst being aware of a need to do some actual work.
Have fun at the RFH. Nice day for a trip to the river !