London Fields # 86
First published Inpress (Issue # 1055), Melbourne on 29 December 2010, and in a shortened version in Drum Media (Issue # 1041), Sydney on 28 December 2010
NB: Each column has a name, but these do not appear in print; printed versions may differ slightly to those displayed here
2010 was a year was marked by enforced inactivity, from environmental factors stopping travel to musicians actively not playing to raise money for charity. There was an election without a winner, and the country seemed to be the loser. A year that began with slacktivism ended with riots on the streets and the threat of water cannons to control them. A temporary immigration cap was ruled as unlawful, and the spectre of swine flu appeared, was forgotten about and then returned with the Yuletide snows. The island nature of Britain was emphasised again and again, as it was isolated by weather conditions and volcanic eruptions. In the weeks of silent skies brought on by the Icelandic volcano, it seemed British sea power was the only way to get off this island, or get back to it. The flotilla of boats crossing the channel were portrayed as embodying the Dunkirk spirit, but the panic as crammed ferries departed leaving some stranded in France seemed more like the last days of Saigon.
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg seemed to offer a third way, and won many student votes with promises not to introduce tuition fees for tertiary students. When these (and other) election promises evaporated at the first important vote, there was justifiable anger leading to a series of demonstrations and near riots in cities across the country. Austerity was the catchphrase, and the pre-election word hope was quickly replaced by despair. The recession continued, and Royal Mail was offered up for privatisation. The only bright spot seemed to be BBC 6Music being spared the axe.
The National reached a greater audience with High Violet, but are still waiting for that R.E.M. style breakthrough. Although their London shows were blighted with poor sound, Archie Bronson Outfit’s Coconut was a remarkable curveball, in many ways achieving what Grinderman’s latest failed to do. Exit Calm’s self-titled debut captured the power of their live shows, while Stephen Jones revived BabyBird and on Ex Maniac created some of the pithiest pop in years. Peter Gabriel’s covers album may have been uninspiring, but his live orchestral show in the cavernous O2 was a one of the live performances of the year for me, along with shows from Julian Cope at Brighton’s Komedia, and Get Well Soon at the Borderline. Although larger venues thrived, some great smaller venues (such as The Luminaire) were lost.
On television, Misfits won the BAFTA for best drama, and returned with a strong second series, but Vexed showed writer Howard Overman could also get things badly wrong. Crime drama was everywhere, with The Silence continuing the trend of strip programming across consecutive weeknights. Luther allowed Idris Elba a British starring vehicle after The Wire, while Thorne showed Sky could produce drama and Sherlock was over too soon. The BBC also continued their run of excellent biopics, but their strongest contributions seemed to be documentaries - from Matt Frei’s excellent Berlin, through BBC Four‘s Maps season, to Michael Cockerell’s fascinating The Great Offices of State. But best of all was Wonders of the Solar System, where former D:Ream keyboard player Professor Brian Cox won huge audiences, by bring physics and astronomy together in a fascinating, involving, understandable yet uncondescending way.
While some of the old favourites, like The IT Crowd and Peep Show, showed definite signs of wear, it was a great year for new comedy on TV. Getting On returned for its first full series, while Rev. and Whites both became definite weekly highlights. Stand-up played a big role, but The Steven K Amos Show felt like a ‘70s timewarp and was barely watchable, while with Lee Nelson’s Well Good Show Simon Brodkin showed how well a live studio audience can be used. Harry Hill’s TV Burp and Charlie Brooker’s Wipe shows also were essential viewing, and I had a soft-spot for Mongrels whose puppets allowed them to get away with jokes living performers never could.
2010 saw the final death throes of New Labour, a government no one voted for seizing power, and the phrase ‘The Troubles in Ireland’ take on new meaning. It was the year that the World Cup bid wasn’t won, but where English fans expressed their love of the game by booing their own players. A year when so called legal highs were outlawed, a London bike hire scheme begin, and George & Lynne stopped appearing in The Sun. It was the year that The Bill ended its run, a year that wanted to be over so quickly that 2011 coins were already in circulation by December. As I write, the Arctic freeze gripping the country looks set to continue until at least the middle of January. The future seems to hold huge redundancies, further unrest, an unstable economy and a royal wedding. This last may give those still in employment an extra day‘s holiday. Happy New Year!
© James McGalliard 2010
Inpress: Published on page 53
Drum: Published on page 51
Showing posts with label BBC 6Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BBC 6Music. Show all posts
Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
A DAB Hand
London Fields # 75
First published Inpress, Melbourne on 24 February 2010
NB: Each column has a name, but these do not appear in print; printed versions may differ slightly to those displayed here
While channel hopping during a recent trip home to Melbourne, I recalled a particularly prescient old sketch from A Bit Of Fry & Laurie. A government minister dining in a restaurant finds himself the object of some obsequious attention from his waiter, who lavishes praise upon him for a particular Commons speech concerning the de-regularisation of broadcasting, even quoting sections word-for word. The waiter then expresses horror and abjectly apologises for the minister‘s silver cutlery - this simply will not do! He takes it away and replaces it with a huge pile of plastic coffee stirrers. The minister is baffled. The waiter explains “I mean, they may be complete crap, but you‘ve got the choice, haven‘t you?” Originally written as a response to The Broadcasting Act (1990) [UK], in some ways this sketch now also seems to apply to the less-than-shiny state of Australian digital broadcasting. It used to be that Australia was an early and rapid adopter of new technology; both colour television and VCR take-up was faster than virtually anywhere else in the world. But when it comes to Digital broadcasting, especially for radio, it seems to be taking longer to catch on.
Then again, the uptake was pretty slow in the UK too, at least until DAB radios were drastically slashed in price. Since then, the rise in listener figures (for digital only stations such as BBC 6Music) has been astonishing. According to Rajar figures, during the final quarter of 2009, 6Music’s listener figures were up by 11.4%, with a year-on-year rise of a whopping 12.3%. But this does not necessarily make for a secure future.. Both it, and flagship station BBC Radio 2 (the most listened to station in the country, with some shows getting over 10 million listeners) were the subject of a review by the BBC Trust, and neither station escaped unscathed. Radio 2 is meant to target the over 35s, yet has seen a huge rise in a younger audience over the past ten years, and they now account for 18% of the total audience. Meanwhile 6Music is a place for those who simply love music, and have outgrown Radio 1, but are not ready for the pastures of Radio 2. Radio 2 has 5 million who listen to no other BBC radio, and some 2 million who listen to no other station at all. The BBC Trust’s review felt that Radio 2 had gained this younger audience at the expense of older listeners, and that it should now actively seek new listeners aged 65 and older, even if this alienates the current audience. Meanwhile 6Music suffered through lack of awareness. Even though the ratings have risen exponentially, the review maintained that this was from a low starting point, and claimed that only 20% of the adult population were even aware that the station existed.
DAB still has teething troubles. Claims of “CD quality sound” are frankly laughable, with most broadcasts at 128kbps, a bitrate so low no music lover would choose it for their mp3 player. Additionally the processors at either end may mean that there’s an significant broadcasting delay, so that “live” cricket commentary lags some half minute behind play, rendering it virtually useless if listening while watching a game live at the ground. Yet unlike FM transmissions, they can avoid the interference of pirate stations, and scrolling text is an easy answer to the perennial “what song is this” question.
It seems that BBC 6Music is safe, for now at least; but there are greater external threats on the horizon. With a general election due around May, it’s possible more knives are being sharpened. The BBC is not a cheap body to run, and if it wasn’t for the TV Licence fee, it would be unable to continue as a worldwide public service broadcaster, covering as broad a remit as it does. But certain players want the BBC to lose it’s newsgathering prowess, and who knows what deals may be struck with large news corporations if there’s a change of government. Currently it’s the annual licence fee of £142.50 per annum from virtually every UK household that supports the television, radio, internet and news teams, and provides much of this service free to the world outside the UK. Yet the election battle lines are currently being drawn, and even the Falkland Islands may once again play a part. The BBC may be another victim in the conflict, and cease to continue as we know it.
© James McGalliard 2010
First published Inpress, Melbourne on 24 February 2010
NB: Each column has a name, but these do not appear in print; printed versions may differ slightly to those displayed here
While channel hopping during a recent trip home to Melbourne, I recalled a particularly prescient old sketch from A Bit Of Fry & Laurie. A government minister dining in a restaurant finds himself the object of some obsequious attention from his waiter, who lavishes praise upon him for a particular Commons speech concerning the de-regularisation of broadcasting, even quoting sections word-for word. The waiter then expresses horror and abjectly apologises for the minister‘s silver cutlery - this simply will not do! He takes it away and replaces it with a huge pile of plastic coffee stirrers. The minister is baffled. The waiter explains “I mean, they may be complete crap, but you‘ve got the choice, haven‘t you?” Originally written as a response to The Broadcasting Act (1990) [UK], in some ways this sketch now also seems to apply to the less-than-shiny state of Australian digital broadcasting. It used to be that Australia was an early and rapid adopter of new technology; both colour television and VCR take-up was faster than virtually anywhere else in the world. But when it comes to Digital broadcasting, especially for radio, it seems to be taking longer to catch on.
Then again, the uptake was pretty slow in the UK too, at least until DAB radios were drastically slashed in price. Since then, the rise in listener figures (for digital only stations such as BBC 6Music) has been astonishing. According to Rajar figures, during the final quarter of 2009, 6Music’s listener figures were up by 11.4%, with a year-on-year rise of a whopping 12.3%. But this does not necessarily make for a secure future.. Both it, and flagship station BBC Radio 2 (the most listened to station in the country, with some shows getting over 10 million listeners) were the subject of a review by the BBC Trust, and neither station escaped unscathed. Radio 2 is meant to target the over 35s, yet has seen a huge rise in a younger audience over the past ten years, and they now account for 18% of the total audience. Meanwhile 6Music is a place for those who simply love music, and have outgrown Radio 1, but are not ready for the pastures of Radio 2. Radio 2 has 5 million who listen to no other BBC radio, and some 2 million who listen to no other station at all. The BBC Trust’s review felt that Radio 2 had gained this younger audience at the expense of older listeners, and that it should now actively seek new listeners aged 65 and older, even if this alienates the current audience. Meanwhile 6Music suffered through lack of awareness. Even though the ratings have risen exponentially, the review maintained that this was from a low starting point, and claimed that only 20% of the adult population were even aware that the station existed.
DAB still has teething troubles. Claims of “CD quality sound” are frankly laughable, with most broadcasts at 128kbps, a bitrate so low no music lover would choose it for their mp3 player. Additionally the processors at either end may mean that there’s an significant broadcasting delay, so that “live” cricket commentary lags some half minute behind play, rendering it virtually useless if listening while watching a game live at the ground. Yet unlike FM transmissions, they can avoid the interference of pirate stations, and scrolling text is an easy answer to the perennial “what song is this” question.
It seems that BBC 6Music is safe, for now at least; but there are greater external threats on the horizon. With a general election due around May, it’s possible more knives are being sharpened. The BBC is not a cheap body to run, and if it wasn’t for the TV Licence fee, it would be unable to continue as a worldwide public service broadcaster, covering as broad a remit as it does. But certain players want the BBC to lose it’s newsgathering prowess, and who knows what deals may be struck with large news corporations if there’s a change of government. Currently it’s the annual licence fee of £142.50 per annum from virtually every UK household that supports the television, radio, internet and news teams, and provides much of this service free to the world outside the UK. Yet the election battle lines are currently being drawn, and even the Falkland Islands may once again play a part. The BBC may be another victim in the conflict, and cease to continue as we know it.
© James McGalliard 2010
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