Results tagged “bbc” from Birmingham Mail - Technobabble

Why is the BBC determined to treat some sports with contempt while others are given Rolls-Royce treatment?

The situation was crystallised for me when I went to the www.bbc.co.uk homepage yesterday to discover that the news rundown had been shoved half way down and replaced, unasked for, with a huge Wimbledon section.

I've got nothing against tennis, but it did seem somewhat presumptuous to thrust this upon all the internet visitors without asking.

There has been much made of the Ashes series not being on terrestrial TV this year (which I am outraged about too), with the BBC being one of the stations which could have broadcast this to the nation at large (as opposed to a small number of high-fee paying subscribers).

But when I was really keen to see the Twenty20 highlights on BBC I looked at the schedule and was delighted to see the hour long show was at the excellent slot of 11.35pm - and as I have to be at work at 6.30am most days, I ended up taping it, and watching a day in arrears.

In spite of this ludicrous scheduling they managed around a million viewers for the highlights - and would presumably have done much better had it been earlier.

Given most games finished at around 9pm there's no excuse for not having a show by 9.30pm - after all channel 5 do it for the test matches.

Below: Maria Sharapova at the AEGON Classic in Birmingham recently. The BBC has the crazy notion that viewers would rather watch her than a load of ugly cricketers...

I keep seeing the new BBC advert showcasing new high definition services in what can only be described as explosive adverts on their channels.

The ads have obviously had a huge amount of cash spent on them - involving large sets being destroyed.

The 'theme' is the Antiques Roadshow being involved in some kind of cataclysmic car crash, with what is presumably a priceless vase being saved by TV news lovely Helen Bruce in Hong Kong action movie style.

Clearly they're taking a recognised BBC signature 'brand' such as the Antiques Roadshow and reimagining it in an exciting 'high definition' way. showing how 'Auntie' is moving with the times.

But why? Who really cares about high def except TV tekkies, and journos who have been set up by Sky TV for free in exchange for numerous plugs (you know who you are).

Is it an improvement? Yes - but it's not like the leap forward from video cassettes to DVD.

Also why is a public service broadcaster effectively running ads aimed at selling expensive TVs to people who already have something which will do the job just as well?

There is also the point that if the same production values and budgets were available to, say, a new science fiction series, we might actually have something worth watching, other than repeats of Dad's Army.

After all the BBC has been cutting jobs left right and centre - often in drama - so those concerned must be delighted at such a large amount of cash being spent on ads like this.

Got a bit of a shock this morning when I was quickly checking emails and so on with a laptop.

My daughter, who is only newly five, came up to me while I was on the BBC homepage and asked me to click on the cbeebies icon. I didn't think much of it as I thought she's just recognised the logo from watching on television.

But no - she took control, navigated to the site, started clicking on various icons, getting directly through to the games section, started one off and began playing!

I was fairly stunned - I had thought her knowledge extended to turning on the computer and writing her name with the keyboard, which was all I had done with her.

Clearly reception classes at the local school go a bit further in their tuition than in my day!