Viewpoint - NY 23: Conservatism's first big election breakthrough?

In New York, a special election for the House of Representatives has garnered a lot of attention.  Ian Beaumont analyses developments.

Rachel Maddow: Why Fox News is not news.

Due to a personal situation, I haven’t been keeping up with things as much as I should have, but I’ve just spotted this commentary from Rachel Maddow about a week ago.

Actually, I call it a commentary but it’s the best piece by piece reasoning as to why Fox News Channel is not a news channel, but a political action group.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Keith Olbermann: Healthcare reform

I only just spotted this but recently, Keith Olbermann on MSNBC’s Countdown devoted an entire programme to the healthcare reform debate that is consuming America’s politicians, politicos and those with an interest, which is in reality, everyone.

The video I am posting here is of the full programme, minus commercials, all 43 minutes of it.  You might not want to take it all in in one sitting, it took me two.  But I implore everyone to watch this, if you haven’t already, or indeed watch it again.  Because there are certain inexorable inalienable truths that Keith exposes in this Special Comment, and it is worth watching if even just for that.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

I will have some things to say myself soon on this, and I hope you will listen with open ears, open mind and open heart.

Viewpoint – Republican sour grapes

New Livestream Beta

I run a online TV channel on the Livestream platform, called IBC SuperChannel.  Right now, I’m testing out the new beta that Livestream have just released for public testing.

I have to admit, I’m using it as a chance to totally review everything.  I’ve temporarily switched to a pure music mix, to keep the channel under the 10 GB limit that Livestream have. 

But I am looking to do what I can to restore the service to full service as soon as possible. 

Inside the Massachusetts Superior Court

Last night in Boston, WGBH aired a special presentation of their nightly public affairs programme “Greater Boston”.  The programme celebrated 150 years of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Superior Court.  As part of the programme, there was a 5 minute or so feature, showing you a day in the life of a Massachusetts Superior Court justice.  I’ve embedded the whole show below, but I have to say the day in the life segment was fascinating.

This is why Public Television is so good.  Whether its WGBH in Boston, the BBC in London or RTE in Dublin, it’s this kind of programming that makes public television worth paying for, whether directly to the broadcaster, or through a licence fee.

New Doctor Who Logo!

It may be that if you’re outside the UK, the video may not work.  If you want to see the new logo, click here.

Olympic Decision Day for 2016 – Part 2

So the Olympics in 2016, will go to Rio De Janeiro, two years after they host the Football World Cup. 

I have to say, maybe two big events in quick succession like this may be too much.  I hope not, but I have some doubts.

I guess we’ll see in the months and years to come.

Public Radio taking over Classical radio.

WGBH in Boston has announced that it has bought a classical music radio station in New England, WCRB on 99.5FM.  So what you say, broadcasters buy other broadcasters?  True, but the equivalent in the UK would be the BBC buying Classic FM!  WGBH is a public broadcasting station, which broadcasts a lot of classical music programming on 89.7, alongside NPR’s Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and PRI’s The World.

This is not the first time this has happened either.  Earlier this year, New York public radio station WNYC, bought WQXR, New York’s only Classical Music radio station from its previous owners, The New York Times.  However, the frequency of 96.3 where WQXR broadcasted on, had been separately sold to Univision, in exchange for the 105.9 frequency.  So the frequency of 105.9 has been sold to WNYC along with WQXR.  Price tag, a mere $11.5 million. 

So from October 8th, WQXR moves to 105.9 in New York, and becomes a public radio station rather than a commercial radio station.  Now if such a move were to happen here in the UK with the BBC buying Classic FM , there would be TOTAL uproar from the commercial sector, claiming the BBC was looking to take over commercial radio, nationalise the whole broadcast sector etc.  I can just imagine it happening, so how come even the totally rabid and unreasoning right wing nuts haven’t jumped all over this claiming socialised broadcasting by the back door or some other similarly daft accusation.

Maybe it would be because the commercial talk radio sector has been nationalised by the back door over the course of the last 20 years.  Most talk radio stations have a local breakfast show, then everything from about 9am onwards is syndicated, or worse, syndicated and recorded from earlier.

Anyway, back to the story at hand, and WCRB’s sale to WGBH gives the public broadcaster a real mini broadcast network in New England.  It already has 2 TV stations, WGBH on Channel 2 and WGBX on Channel 44, plus the main WGBH FM broadcast on 89.7, with 2 relays, and the WCAI service in Cape Cod on 90.1 with two relays.  Adding WCRB on 99.5 gives WGBH a real advantage over other broadcasters.  Few public broadcasting operations in the USA are both on radio and television, and WGBH is by far and away the most well known.  In New York, WNYC is the big public radio service, with an FM service on 93.9, an AM service on 820 and the upcoming all classical WQXR on 105.9.  But WNYC has no TV station.  For that, you’d have to add the WNET operation which runs two stations, WNET on 13 and WLIW on 21.

But I am surprised that there hasn’t been a more public outcry from those on the extreme right decrying this obvious encroachment of public broadcasting into commercial territory, at least in terms of frequencies.  It had been the rule that Public Radio stayed in the 88-95 part of the FM band whilst commercial radio occupied the 95-108 part.  Methinks the wing nuts are too worried about to socialised medicine to have noticed.  Or it could be that they’re so busy bowing down to the “god of talk radio” that is Boss Limburger, Rush Limbaugh, and defending him from his own words played back to him that again it has escaped their attention.  Perhaps they are too busy attacking Air America and the BBC and Al Jazeera and any number of other broadcasters who actually do reporting rather than just parroting talking points, that again, it escapes their notice.  Or maybe its because they consider NPR to be an honorary member of the conservative media, that they give things like this a pass. 

Whatever the reason, it means a stronger public media is slowly emerging, a public media that is based primarily in Washington, Boston and New York.  Could be a very interesting time for public broadcasting in the US.  I know the BBC will be slightly envious of the lack of attention being paid to these moves.

Viewpoint: 9/11 +8

It was 8 years ago today when the world changed forever.  9/11 as it was to become known killed over 3,000 people in 4 separate attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York, the Pentagon in Washington DC and in Virgina.  Ian Beaumont looks back at a day that lives in the minds of all who witnessed it.