Month: August 2009

  • BBC, Ofcom and James Murdoch

    The Edinburgh TV Festival is all very depressing isn’t it. The stories coming out, during a recession that’s probably hit TV today to a greater extent than ever before, all seem to be about shutting things down, and leaving well alone. James Murdoch has come out swinging with his McTaggart lecture and it’s depressing stuff.…

  • Radio Times 30 August 2009

    It’s the August Bank Holiday weekend – so what delights does television have in store for us? Let me guide you through tonight’s choices! As ever, best viewed large.

  • All The Broadcast News That’s Fit To (Re)Print

    As the Edinburgh Television Festival approaches, and Autumn line-ups begin are announced and begin, this week’s Broadcast magazine is chock full of exciting, and mostly slightly less exciting news. The big story is ITV reworking Blind Date into a new speed-dating format. Since even C4 who have previously piloted show called it “the cattle market…

  • STV plc v ITV plc

    Back in the summer of 2008, the radio station I work for was then called Virgin Radio which in turn was owned by SMG plc. Once upon a time SMG was a media force to be reckoned with. It also owned the Glasgow Herald, the cinema advertising group Pearl & Dean, an outdoor advertising company…

  • Some Recent Films

    Here’s the latest in my somewhat infrequent rundowns of recent films that I’ve seen. The Hurt Locker is the latest film from Kathryn Bigelow, who always seems to go quiet for a bit between films. Previously she made such fare as Point Break, Strange Days and Near Dark. This film is set in Iraq and…

  • The Ashes on TV

    Yesterday evening, England won the final Test at the Oval, and doing so regained the Ashes. It was a fine moment. And it was a moment that I experienced via the radio listening to Test Match Special on Five Live Sports Extra. As it happened I spent most of the weekend at the V Festival…

  • Homemade Bar Tap Cover

    What do you do if the supplier to your bar changes lager supplier, but neglects to give you those bar-tap covers to advertise your new brand? Use your initiative…

  • Avatar Preview

    In a genius masterstroke of marketing, Twentieth Century Fox today persuaded hundreds of thousands of people to go to the cinema to see 15 minutes of footage from the forthcoming new film from James (Terminator 2, Titanic) Cameron. And of course I was one of those who happily clicked on the free link and went…

  • The London Paper’s Closing Down, Closing Down, Closing Down

    Having launched three years ago (when this photo was taken), News International has today announced that following a £12.9m loss, it’s closing down. Obviously this is sad news for everyone who works there, including the street vendors (although I have mixed feelings about them). But I can’t say that I’m surprised. First, Associated launched the…

  • Phew. I Was Worried There For A Bit

     

  • A Tale of Two Gadgets

    In the last 48 hours we’ve learnt about the forthcoming release of two exceptional devices. Sony has finally decided to release a new version of the Playstation 3 – their gaming device who’s sales have been, let’s be honest, lacklustre. Key to it’s future success is its price. In the US it’s priced at $299,…

  • Social Networking Statistics Reporting

    A couple of weeks ago Ofcom published its annual Communications Market Report which nicely distils lots of UK media research into one place (albeit a 334 page “place”). The report noted that social networking is “growing more slowly than previously.” This isn’t perhaps all that surprising since at some point services like Facebook run out…