Monday, 15 April 2013
Monday, 8 April 2013
Margaret Thatcher 1935-2013
Margaret Thatcher, the former British Prime Minister from 1979-1990, has died after suffering a stroke. She was 87.
Her death is not to be mourned, as she was suffering from dementia in her later years, so in many ways for her, it will be a release. Nor is her death a matter for celebration. It is a time for reflection.
She entered Parliament in 1959, after winning the safe Conservative seat of Finchley. In those early years in Parliament, she managed to get a private members bill through, requiring local authorities to hold their council meetings in public. She was one of the few Conservative MPs to support decriminalising Male Homosexuality, as well as supporting legalising abortion, and banning hare coursing.
Her first real controversy came during her time as Education Secretary from 1970 to 1974, with the abolition of free milk for 7-11 year olds in school, during which time the phrase "Margaret Thatcher, Milk Snatcher" was coined. It was a policy that hurt her, as she later wrote about it, as it brought "... the maximum of political odium for the minimum of political benefit...".
When Edward Heath lost both elections in 1974, she ended up being elected to replace him, defeating both Heath, and his preferred successor William Whitelaw. She never expected that she would become Prime Minister though, and she might have been right, had it not been for the Winter Of Discontent over the winter of 1978/79. James Callaghan's government lost a vote of no-confidence on 28th March 1979 by just one single vote, 311 to 310, and Parliament was dissolved on Saturday 7th April 1979.
That election was memorable in many ways. It was the first election since 1959 to feature three leaders who had not previously faced a general election as leader of their party. Neither Margaret Thatcher, James Callaghan nor David Steel had led their party into a general election. The result was memorable too, and not just for the obvious reason. The swing to the Conservatives was 5.2%, the largest swing since 1945. The SNP would rather forget that election though, as they lost 9 of the 11 seats they had previously held. And of course, Britain had it's first, and so far only, woman Prime Minister.
After that 1979 election she began the process of changing the country, what she thought of as reform and modernisation. Her first major target was the power of the unions. But it would be a foreign affairs crisis that would overshadow everything else in her first term. When Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands on 2nd April 1982, she acted against the advice of foreign policy experts and sent our troops into battle. Neither Margaret Thatcher nor the Argentinian President at the time, General Leopoldo Galtieri, actually declared war over the Falkalnds, however a war cabinet was set up, the first time that had been done since the end of the second World War.
74 days after hostilities began, the Falklands War was over. Britiain had emerged victorious, and the Military Junta that had ruled Argentina since 1976 found their grip on power to be crumbling. In 1983, elections were held in Argentina, returning the country to democratic rule. That same year, Mrs Thatcher called her own election, and unsurprisingly, won a landslide. A majority of 144, the biggest margin of victory since Labour in 1945.
During her second term, the defining moment, was the miners strike that began in 1984 and lasted almost a year. It was the most divisive of industrial disputes, and the pain some say she caused, is still felt in some communities today. But the strike was eventually defeated, and miners returned to work.
But she almost did not live to defeat the miners. But for a few walls, and the grace of whatever god you believe in, we might have been talking about an assassination of Margaret Thatcher at Brighton on 12th October 1984. A time bomb had been planted in a room in the Grand Hotel in Brighton, just less than a month earlier. It exploded at 2.54am on October 12th. 5 people died, 31 were injured. Margaret Thatcher had been the target, but she survivied without injury.
She privatised many state monopolies, and sold off much of the council housing stock. She constantly challenged some in the European Economic Community, who were looking for closer integration into a European Union. Not only was she often on her own in EEC affairs, she was sometimes on her own in Commonwealth matters too, especially South Africa.
The 1987 General Election saw her majority in the House of Commons cut to 102. It was to be her last General Election victory.
What led to her leaving office is open to question. Most say it was her stance on Europe. But unquestionably, the Community Charge, or Poll Tax as it became better known by, played a huge part. It replaced the rating system, which was based on a notional rental value, and the charge was a per person charge, which was the same whether you lived in a £100,000 house or a £1,000,000 house. The Poll Tax riots became the visual symbol of Margaret Thatcher's growing unpopularity. She was seen as out of touch, someone who had lost touch with their own background, and had become part of the elite.
She faced Michael Heseltine in a leadership vote in 1990, and whilst she won the vote, she was short of the margin needed to avoid a second ballot. It was a ballot she wanted to contest, but she was persuaded by her cabinet to not contest the ballot. It would be the one time, the lady would turn, and it was a turn that would take her out of power. She resigned on the 22nd November 1990.
Whether you loved her or hated her, her determnination and strength of belief rarely wavered. She felt she was doing what needed to be done. Unquestionably, she shifted the political system in this country away from socialism, towards individualism. She is one of the few politicians that people responded to passionately, either loved or loathed, and in an era, that has been dominated since she left office by grey suits and spin, her Iron Lady persona will continue to make her the most memorable of British politicians, long after today.
Her death is not to be mourned, as she was suffering from dementia in her later years, so in many ways for her, it will be a release. Nor is her death a matter for celebration. It is a time for reflection.
She entered Parliament in 1959, after winning the safe Conservative seat of Finchley. In those early years in Parliament, she managed to get a private members bill through, requiring local authorities to hold their council meetings in public. She was one of the few Conservative MPs to support decriminalising Male Homosexuality, as well as supporting legalising abortion, and banning hare coursing.
Her first real controversy came during her time as Education Secretary from 1970 to 1974, with the abolition of free milk for 7-11 year olds in school, during which time the phrase "Margaret Thatcher, Milk Snatcher" was coined. It was a policy that hurt her, as she later wrote about it, as it brought "... the maximum of political odium for the minimum of political benefit...".
When Edward Heath lost both elections in 1974, she ended up being elected to replace him, defeating both Heath, and his preferred successor William Whitelaw. She never expected that she would become Prime Minister though, and she might have been right, had it not been for the Winter Of Discontent over the winter of 1978/79. James Callaghan's government lost a vote of no-confidence on 28th March 1979 by just one single vote, 311 to 310, and Parliament was dissolved on Saturday 7th April 1979.
That election was memorable in many ways. It was the first election since 1959 to feature three leaders who had not previously faced a general election as leader of their party. Neither Margaret Thatcher, James Callaghan nor David Steel had led their party into a general election. The result was memorable too, and not just for the obvious reason. The swing to the Conservatives was 5.2%, the largest swing since 1945. The SNP would rather forget that election though, as they lost 9 of the 11 seats they had previously held. And of course, Britain had it's first, and so far only, woman Prime Minister.
After that 1979 election she began the process of changing the country, what she thought of as reform and modernisation. Her first major target was the power of the unions. But it would be a foreign affairs crisis that would overshadow everything else in her first term. When Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands on 2nd April 1982, she acted against the advice of foreign policy experts and sent our troops into battle. Neither Margaret Thatcher nor the Argentinian President at the time, General Leopoldo Galtieri, actually declared war over the Falkalnds, however a war cabinet was set up, the first time that had been done since the end of the second World War.
74 days after hostilities began, the Falklands War was over. Britiain had emerged victorious, and the Military Junta that had ruled Argentina since 1976 found their grip on power to be crumbling. In 1983, elections were held in Argentina, returning the country to democratic rule. That same year, Mrs Thatcher called her own election, and unsurprisingly, won a landslide. A majority of 144, the biggest margin of victory since Labour in 1945.
During her second term, the defining moment, was the miners strike that began in 1984 and lasted almost a year. It was the most divisive of industrial disputes, and the pain some say she caused, is still felt in some communities today. But the strike was eventually defeated, and miners returned to work.
But she almost did not live to defeat the miners. But for a few walls, and the grace of whatever god you believe in, we might have been talking about an assassination of Margaret Thatcher at Brighton on 12th October 1984. A time bomb had been planted in a room in the Grand Hotel in Brighton, just less than a month earlier. It exploded at 2.54am on October 12th. 5 people died, 31 were injured. Margaret Thatcher had been the target, but she survivied without injury.
She privatised many state monopolies, and sold off much of the council housing stock. She constantly challenged some in the European Economic Community, who were looking for closer integration into a European Union. Not only was she often on her own in EEC affairs, she was sometimes on her own in Commonwealth matters too, especially South Africa.
The 1987 General Election saw her majority in the House of Commons cut to 102. It was to be her last General Election victory.
What led to her leaving office is open to question. Most say it was her stance on Europe. But unquestionably, the Community Charge, or Poll Tax as it became better known by, played a huge part. It replaced the rating system, which was based on a notional rental value, and the charge was a per person charge, which was the same whether you lived in a £100,000 house or a £1,000,000 house. The Poll Tax riots became the visual symbol of Margaret Thatcher's growing unpopularity. She was seen as out of touch, someone who had lost touch with their own background, and had become part of the elite.
She faced Michael Heseltine in a leadership vote in 1990, and whilst she won the vote, she was short of the margin needed to avoid a second ballot. It was a ballot she wanted to contest, but she was persuaded by her cabinet to not contest the ballot. It would be the one time, the lady would turn, and it was a turn that would take her out of power. She resigned on the 22nd November 1990.
Whether you loved her or hated her, her determnination and strength of belief rarely wavered. She felt she was doing what needed to be done. Unquestionably, she shifted the political system in this country away from socialism, towards individualism. She is one of the few politicians that people responded to passionately, either loved or loathed, and in an era, that has been dominated since she left office by grey suits and spin, her Iron Lady persona will continue to make her the most memorable of British politicians, long after today.
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
Liberty Global buys Virgin Media: More of the UK to get cable?
It's been announced that Liberty Global has bought Virgin Media, the UK cable operator, for around £10billion. According to one report I read, some analysts were predicting that Liberty might actually invest in new cable infrastructure to increase the reach of Virgin Media here in the UK, which is currently 55% of the population.
I sincerely hope those analysts are right. Virgin Media has 4.9million subscribers, whilst Sky, the only competition for Virgin Media, has over 10 million subscribers and covers almost all of the UK. If Virgin Media is to be truly competitive with Sky, then it needs more cable layed to cover the 45% of the UK that it doesn't already cover.
Of course, this will require many tens of billions of pounds in order to provide that extra coverage, as all the areas that need to be covered are mainly rural areas. All the main cities have been cabled already. Areas like Cornwall have no cable infrastructure at all, and some areas like North and East Devon and Somerset have areas nearby that have been cabled, such as Exeter and Bristol. But in all those areas, and many others, Sky is the only choice for Subscription Television.
If Liberty Global do invest in new cable infrastructure, then Sky will have a proper competitor for the first time since On Digital folded back in 2002. There is no doubt that the recent phone hacking scandal has weakened Sky and more especially, parent company NewsCorp, so it will be interesting to see how they handle a stronger competition in the Liberty Global owned Virgin Media.
I sincerely hope those analysts are right. Virgin Media has 4.9million subscribers, whilst Sky, the only competition for Virgin Media, has over 10 million subscribers and covers almost all of the UK. If Virgin Media is to be truly competitive with Sky, then it needs more cable layed to cover the 45% of the UK that it doesn't already cover.
Of course, this will require many tens of billions of pounds in order to provide that extra coverage, as all the areas that need to be covered are mainly rural areas. All the main cities have been cabled already. Areas like Cornwall have no cable infrastructure at all, and some areas like North and East Devon and Somerset have areas nearby that have been cabled, such as Exeter and Bristol. But in all those areas, and many others, Sky is the only choice for Subscription Television.
If Liberty Global do invest in new cable infrastructure, then Sky will have a proper competitor for the first time since On Digital folded back in 2002. There is no doubt that the recent phone hacking scandal has weakened Sky and more especially, parent company NewsCorp, so it will be interesting to see how they handle a stronger competition in the Liberty Global owned Virgin Media.
Thursday, 31 January 2013
Ian Beaumont Live & Direct on The Source FM 96.1
It's been a while since I wrote regularly here on Viewpoint. That's mostly because my attention is focused currently on a new project. I'm hosting a new show on The Source FM in Falmouth, called Ian Beaumont Live & Direct.
The show airs live on Tuesdays from 11am to 1pm and is broadcast on 96.1 FM in Falmouth, Penryn and surrounding areas, incluidng St Mawes, Flushing, Carnon Downs, Mabe and Devoran. It's a music based show, and I play a number of very familiar tracks, and some less well known ones including tracks by local artists and brand new music.
Even when I'm not on the air, you can keep up with the programme in various ways. I have a programme page at The Source FM website at http://www.thesourcefm.co.uk/programmes/ian-beaumont-live-and-direct where you can leave me messages for inclusion on the show.
You can also like the show's Facebook page, and interact with me there at http://www.facebook.com/IanBeaumontLiveAndDirect. You can leave comments, requests and suggestions there too, I do love reading your comments.
The show also has a twitter feed at https://twitter.com/IBLiveAndDirect and you tweet me at any time, just start your tweet with @IBLiveAndDirect and it'll wend its way to me.
Or if you're on Google Plus, you can add the show to your circles to keep updated with the show. You'll find my page at https://plus.google.com/102337430810815788919. Again, your comments are most welcome.
So, if you are in Falmouth, Penryn or the surrounding parishes, and can hear us clearly on 96.1 FM, or if you're outside that area, and near a computer where you can point your browser to http://www.thesourcefm.co.uk/listen, please join me, every Tuesday at 11am UK time, for 2 hours of great music and good company. It wouldn't be the same without you.
The show airs live on Tuesdays from 11am to 1pm and is broadcast on 96.1 FM in Falmouth, Penryn and surrounding areas, incluidng St Mawes, Flushing, Carnon Downs, Mabe and Devoran. It's a music based show, and I play a number of very familiar tracks, and some less well known ones including tracks by local artists and brand new music.
Even when I'm not on the air, you can keep up with the programme in various ways. I have a programme page at The Source FM website at http://www.thesourcefm.co.uk/programmes/ian-beaumont-live-and-direct where you can leave me messages for inclusion on the show.
You can also like the show's Facebook page, and interact with me there at http://www.facebook.com/IanBeaumontLiveAndDirect. You can leave comments, requests and suggestions there too, I do love reading your comments.
The show also has a twitter feed at https://twitter.com/IBLiveAndDirect and you tweet me at any time, just start your tweet with @IBLiveAndDirect and it'll wend its way to me.
Or if you're on Google Plus, you can add the show to your circles to keep updated with the show. You'll find my page at https://plus.google.com/102337430810815788919. Again, your comments are most welcome.
So, if you are in Falmouth, Penryn or the surrounding parishes, and can hear us clearly on 96.1 FM, or if you're outside that area, and near a computer where you can point your browser to http://www.thesourcefm.co.uk/listen, please join me, every Tuesday at 11am UK time, for 2 hours of great music and good company. It wouldn't be the same without you.
Q4 2012 RAJARs: 6Music steals the spotlight
Well, there is no doubt in my view about what the headline is from the latest RAJARs. 6Music is definitely a growing station. The station reached almost 1.9 million listeners, a record breaking performance, especially when you consider it broadcasts only on digital radio. The performance can really be put down to things, having the right presenters in the right slots, and the intelligent approach to music that 6Music uses. Many other stations could learn a lot from 6Music and allow a few tracks on the playlists that are less familiar, but often just as good as the more familiar ones.
On the local side, the spotlight really falls on 3 stations. Radio Exe, who reduced their TSA by over 100,000; Palm FM, and Radio Plymouth, who recieved their first official ratings in this quarter. All of these stations and Pirate FM as well, are up against the newly formed monolith that is Heart South West, who are reporting combined numbers for the first time rather than separate numbers for Cornwall and Devon.
Heart South West reported 394,000 listeners. The best we can tell, that is actually an increase on the quarter and a small increase on the year. The station was listened to for 8.1 hours per listener per week, whihc is a reasonable figure. So how do their competition measure up?
Let's start with Radio Exe, whose TSA figure is basically now the city of Exeter and not a lot more. The reach does not look good at just 21,000 listeners, down from 25,000 the previous quarter. However, in the smaller TSA, that now represents 11% of the TSA, rather than the 9% or so last quarter. Average Hours per week went up rto 8.3 from 7.4, but that was not enough to stop the total hours dropping from 183k to 176k. This does mean that in the smaller TSA, the share went up to 4% from 2.8%. A lot of this feels like cosmetic changes really rather than anything solid.
However, at the beginning of 2013, they made some fairly significant changes to their schedule. Matt Young left the station, and Chris Dinnis took over a shortened drivetime from 2pm til 6pm. Nino Ferreto, who at one time had been the breakfast presenter on Radio Exe in it's previous identity of Exeter FM, has come back and taken over the daytime slot between 10am and 2pm. Ashley Geary's Live and Local expands and becomes a regular show every weeknight between 6pm and 8pm. Kellow's Bootlaces and The Pow Wow, two shows about Exeter's local football and rugby teams take the 8pm slots for an hour on Mondays and Thursdays respectively, with Gary King's Totally 90s getting an airing on Fridays at 8pm. Radio Exe is obviously making a play at being the home of local music and sport, though that seems a little strange when the saturday afternoon show, when both local teams are in action, is not particularly sport focused. On the local music side, they are in direct competition there with local community radio station Phonic FM, which has actually been around longer than Radio Exe, by all of 3 days. It will be interesting to see if Radio Exe's strategy actually pays off for them. The next set of RAJARs for them will be very important, as it will be the first test of how the revised schedule is actually working for them.
For Palm FM, the problem was much simpler in understanding, stop a downward trend that had been developing over the past 18 months or so, and it looks like they might have done that. 37,000 listeners is up 3,000 on the quarter and level for the year, so it looks like some stability may have returned to Palm FM. Or has it? The share and hours figures don't read as well as the reach figure does. The share has dropped to 4.7%, the lowest level since 2008, and way down from a peak of 7.2% in Q4 2010. At only 7 hours per listener per week, the total hours figure has dropped to 261k, the lowest level since 2009 and down from the peak of 340k in Q3 2010.
Much like Radio Exe, Palm FM has also made some changes in 2013, with John Hogarth leaving the role of Programme Controller to concentrate on Breakfast, and Jon White, formerly Radio Plymouth's Breakfast Show host, replacing Hogie as Programme Controller and also replacing Dave Gould as host of the Interactive Afternoon. Dave Gould also seems to have left Palm FM, as Allen Fleckney has taken over Dave's old Sunday Afternoon slot. Again, much like Radio Exe, the Q1 2013 numbers will be very interesting to watch.
For Radio Plymouth, the problem has been not knowing how many people were listening. Now, with their first official RAJARs, they know. 37,000 listeners, same number as Palm FM. 7.3 hours per listener per week, 271k total hours and a 4.9% share are respectable numbers and a good starting point. However, these numbers were during Jon White's time on the Breakfast show. Jon is now Palm FM Programme Controller, so Chris Batchelor has taken over the Breakfast show, and it will be interesting to see whether the movement in the numbers in Q1 2013 will be up or down.
For Pirate FM, the last quarter saw a big drop in reach down to 153,000 and a very low 11.8% share, their worst performance that I can verify going back to 1999. Total Hours dropped below 1.5 million, the worst performance since Q4 2008. Radio Cornwall saw a small drop down to 152,000 listeners and 16.1% share, down from 154,000 and 16.3% respectively, whilst Radio Devon recovered some ground, rising to 225,000 listeners and 10% share, from 203,000 listeners and 8.9% share. But all these stations have some serious opposition already from community radio stations, and in 2013, there will be many more launches across Cornwall and Devon, meaning that more stations will be competing for listeners attention.
In Cornwall, there's already Radio Scilly, The Source FM and Radio St Austell Bay broadcasting on FM, with Penwith Radio, Redruth Radio, CHBN Radio and The Hub all due to launch this year. In Devon, the competition from community radio already exists with Soundart Radio in Totnes and Phonic FM in Exeter on FM, and The Voice, already broadcasting across North Devon, Exeter and Torbay on DAB, even though the editorial area is only North Devon. The Voice are due to add FM distribution in North Devon this year, and will be joined by Bay FM in Exmouth, Plymouth Community Radio, Q-mmunity Radio in Crediton and Totnes FM in Totnes. All these stations are taking small chunks of the audience now, and these chunks are getting slowly bigger, and soon there will be more chunks being taken out of the audience pie. It will be interesting to see just how the more established stations respond.
On the local side, the spotlight really falls on 3 stations. Radio Exe, who reduced their TSA by over 100,000; Palm FM, and Radio Plymouth, who recieved their first official ratings in this quarter. All of these stations and Pirate FM as well, are up against the newly formed monolith that is Heart South West, who are reporting combined numbers for the first time rather than separate numbers for Cornwall and Devon.
Heart South West reported 394,000 listeners. The best we can tell, that is actually an increase on the quarter and a small increase on the year. The station was listened to for 8.1 hours per listener per week, whihc is a reasonable figure. So how do their competition measure up?
Let's start with Radio Exe, whose TSA figure is basically now the city of Exeter and not a lot more. The reach does not look good at just 21,000 listeners, down from 25,000 the previous quarter. However, in the smaller TSA, that now represents 11% of the TSA, rather than the 9% or so last quarter. Average Hours per week went up rto 8.3 from 7.4, but that was not enough to stop the total hours dropping from 183k to 176k. This does mean that in the smaller TSA, the share went up to 4% from 2.8%. A lot of this feels like cosmetic changes really rather than anything solid.
However, at the beginning of 2013, they made some fairly significant changes to their schedule. Matt Young left the station, and Chris Dinnis took over a shortened drivetime from 2pm til 6pm. Nino Ferreto, who at one time had been the breakfast presenter on Radio Exe in it's previous identity of Exeter FM, has come back and taken over the daytime slot between 10am and 2pm. Ashley Geary's Live and Local expands and becomes a regular show every weeknight between 6pm and 8pm. Kellow's Bootlaces and The Pow Wow, two shows about Exeter's local football and rugby teams take the 8pm slots for an hour on Mondays and Thursdays respectively, with Gary King's Totally 90s getting an airing on Fridays at 8pm. Radio Exe is obviously making a play at being the home of local music and sport, though that seems a little strange when the saturday afternoon show, when both local teams are in action, is not particularly sport focused. On the local music side, they are in direct competition there with local community radio station Phonic FM, which has actually been around longer than Radio Exe, by all of 3 days. It will be interesting to see if Radio Exe's strategy actually pays off for them. The next set of RAJARs for them will be very important, as it will be the first test of how the revised schedule is actually working for them.
For Palm FM, the problem was much simpler in understanding, stop a downward trend that had been developing over the past 18 months or so, and it looks like they might have done that. 37,000 listeners is up 3,000 on the quarter and level for the year, so it looks like some stability may have returned to Palm FM. Or has it? The share and hours figures don't read as well as the reach figure does. The share has dropped to 4.7%, the lowest level since 2008, and way down from a peak of 7.2% in Q4 2010. At only 7 hours per listener per week, the total hours figure has dropped to 261k, the lowest level since 2009 and down from the peak of 340k in Q3 2010.
Much like Radio Exe, Palm FM has also made some changes in 2013, with John Hogarth leaving the role of Programme Controller to concentrate on Breakfast, and Jon White, formerly Radio Plymouth's Breakfast Show host, replacing Hogie as Programme Controller and also replacing Dave Gould as host of the Interactive Afternoon. Dave Gould also seems to have left Palm FM, as Allen Fleckney has taken over Dave's old Sunday Afternoon slot. Again, much like Radio Exe, the Q1 2013 numbers will be very interesting to watch.
For Radio Plymouth, the problem has been not knowing how many people were listening. Now, with their first official RAJARs, they know. 37,000 listeners, same number as Palm FM. 7.3 hours per listener per week, 271k total hours and a 4.9% share are respectable numbers and a good starting point. However, these numbers were during Jon White's time on the Breakfast show. Jon is now Palm FM Programme Controller, so Chris Batchelor has taken over the Breakfast show, and it will be interesting to see whether the movement in the numbers in Q1 2013 will be up or down.
For Pirate FM, the last quarter saw a big drop in reach down to 153,000 and a very low 11.8% share, their worst performance that I can verify going back to 1999. Total Hours dropped below 1.5 million, the worst performance since Q4 2008. Radio Cornwall saw a small drop down to 152,000 listeners and 16.1% share, down from 154,000 and 16.3% respectively, whilst Radio Devon recovered some ground, rising to 225,000 listeners and 10% share, from 203,000 listeners and 8.9% share. But all these stations have some serious opposition already from community radio stations, and in 2013, there will be many more launches across Cornwall and Devon, meaning that more stations will be competing for listeners attention.
In Cornwall, there's already Radio Scilly, The Source FM and Radio St Austell Bay broadcasting on FM, with Penwith Radio, Redruth Radio, CHBN Radio and The Hub all due to launch this year. In Devon, the competition from community radio already exists with Soundart Radio in Totnes and Phonic FM in Exeter on FM, and The Voice, already broadcasting across North Devon, Exeter and Torbay on DAB, even though the editorial area is only North Devon. The Voice are due to add FM distribution in North Devon this year, and will be joined by Bay FM in Exmouth, Plymouth Community Radio, Q-mmunity Radio in Crediton and Totnes FM in Totnes. All these stations are taking small chunks of the audience now, and these chunks are getting slowly bigger, and soon there will be more chunks being taken out of the audience pie. It will be interesting to see just how the more established stations respond.
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
Why I write on Viewpoint and on Twitter
Well, it seems that I have caused somewhat of a stir on Twitter with my coverage of the Police and Crime Commissioner elections. And quite frankly, that pleases me no end, because it means that I am doing my job on this blog, and on my twitter feed, which has in many ways become an extension of this blog.
My goal with this blog has always been to challenge the myths and misconceptions about the news stories and about life in general. That can be done many ways. One way is to present both sides, where both have strong cases, and there is no clear right or wrong answer. But I prefer it when the facts are clear and unambiguous, and in those situations, when you still have people who argue that black is white, then you need to challenge them, with unvarnished, undiluted facts and truth, and watch as they try to spin their way out, and end up spinning out of control.
Now I know that half the world will not agree with any single opinion of mine, and I'm comfortable with that. But, when your opinions are based on something easily disprovable, expect to called on it. My friends have done it to me in the past, and I expect no less from them.
I know that some people just cannot handle being told the truth, upfront, straight and to the point. But if I get people thinking about it, and responding to what I write, then frankly, I have done my job well.
My goal with this blog has always been to challenge the myths and misconceptions about the news stories and about life in general. That can be done many ways. One way is to present both sides, where both have strong cases, and there is no clear right or wrong answer. But I prefer it when the facts are clear and unambiguous, and in those situations, when you still have people who argue that black is white, then you need to challenge them, with unvarnished, undiluted facts and truth, and watch as they try to spin their way out, and end up spinning out of control.
Now I know that half the world will not agree with any single opinion of mine, and I'm comfortable with that. But, when your opinions are based on something easily disprovable, expect to called on it. My friends have done it to me in the past, and I expect no less from them.
I know that some people just cannot handle being told the truth, upfront, straight and to the point. But if I get people thinking about it, and responding to what I write, then frankly, I have done my job well.
Sunday, 18 November 2012
PCC Elections: Time to make voting mandatory.
In the aftermath of the Police and Crime Commissioner Elections, we're hearing people say that they weren't interested, didn't know who to vote for, etc.
The translation of all this is quite simple. 85% of the UK electorate didn't want to bother to work something out for themselves, but rely on someone or something else to tell them what to do.
It seems that many people have forgotten what citizenship really means. It means you have both rights and responsibilities. Apparently many people just want the rights, not the responsibilities.
Crime affects everyone. Shoplifting is not a victimless crime, as it raises prices for all of us. Any of us could be victims of crime at any time.
I think it's time to consider making voting mandatory, like they do in Australia.
The translation of all this is quite simple. 85% of the UK electorate didn't want to bother to work something out for themselves, but rely on someone or something else to tell them what to do.
It seems that many people have forgotten what citizenship really means. It means you have both rights and responsibilities. Apparently many people just want the rights, not the responsibilities.
Crime affects everyone. Shoplifting is not a victimless crime, as it raises prices for all of us. Any of us could be victims of crime at any time.
I think it's time to consider making voting mandatory, like they do in Australia.
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
US Elections 2012: More international coverage
I've been scouring the internet for any information that I can find about coverage. ABC in Australia is airing an extended Breakfast on ABC1 until 10am, with additional coverage of the election between midday and 1.30pm and between 3pm and 4pm, all times for Sydney. Meanwhile ABC News 24 airs Breakfast until 10.30am and then rolling coverage until 6pm Sydney time.
CBC News Network is airing coverage from 5pm ET with a 3 hour long Power and Politics special, then Peter Mansbirdge takes over at 8pm until 6am with all night National special.
EuroNews has rolling coverage from 8pm UK, 2100 CET. France 24 and RT are expected to have special coverage as well. In RTs case, the likelihood of coverage coming from RT America in Washington would be quite high, but so far nothing has been explicitly advertised.
Politico have coverage online from 7pm, which is being simulcast on C-Span from 8pm ET. Democracy Now also has online coverage from 7pm for 6 hours.
In America itslef, there's lots of coverage. Each of the main networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, have coverage beginning at 7pm ET, whilst CNN's main coverage begins at 4pm. FOX News Channel's coverage begins at 6pm ET and MSnbc's coverage also begins at the same time. Current has their "Politically Direct" coverage anchored by Al Gore, starting at 8pm ET.
Over on twitter, I'll be tweeting coverage during the night using the hashtag #vpus2012. I will see you there.
CBC News Network is airing coverage from 5pm ET with a 3 hour long Power and Politics special, then Peter Mansbirdge takes over at 8pm until 6am with all night National special.
EuroNews has rolling coverage from 8pm UK, 2100 CET. France 24 and RT are expected to have special coverage as well. In RTs case, the likelihood of coverage coming from RT America in Washington would be quite high, but so far nothing has been explicitly advertised.
Politico have coverage online from 7pm, which is being simulcast on C-Span from 8pm ET. Democracy Now also has online coverage from 7pm for 6 hours.
In America itslef, there's lots of coverage. Each of the main networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, have coverage beginning at 7pm ET, whilst CNN's main coverage begins at 4pm. FOX News Channel's coverage begins at 6pm ET and MSnbc's coverage also begins at the same time. Current has their "Politically Direct" coverage anchored by Al Gore, starting at 8pm ET.
Over on twitter, I'll be tweeting coverage during the night using the hashtag #vpus2012. I will see you there.
Saturday, 3 November 2012
US Election Analysis and Coverage.
This election cycle in the US has been the most divided and one of the closest in recent memory, certainly the closest since 2000. But an improving economy and the most unwelcome of October surprises in Hurricane Sandy, handled brilliantly by President Obama, may have swung the election away from Mitt Romney. Obama had the easier path to 270 anyway this year, and Mitt Romney looks like he has had just too much to do to turn it round.
However, don't expect the declaration of the winner to be made by 11pm ET / 4am GMT. This will be a lot closer than the 365 to 173 electoral college votes that we saw in 2008. Indeed, it's quite possible that Mitt Romney may get more votes overall, but lose the election due to the particular quirks of the US election system. I am fully expecting the declaration of the winner, to come after Midnight ET, maybe closer to 1am ET.
However, just as interesting as the final result, is just how many people will vote for the third party candidates, as two debates featuring only the 3rd party candidates have aired or are about to air on RT America, one of those debates was actually produced by online TV operation Ora TV with Larry King, former CNN host moderating. RT America can be seen by over 50 million people in the US, which is still far less than CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, who can all be seen by at least 200 million people, but still means that candidates that have not been seen on more mainstream media outlets, have gotten more exposure this time around than in previous years.
Also, likely to possibly change things around a bit this year, is the Occupy movement, which the right wing media have done their best to downplay or ignore, calling it a spent force or a dead movement. Now, by contrast, nobody has refered to the Tea Party movement on the Republican side as a spent force, which says to me that the Republicans are genuinely scared of how the Occupy movement could have a major impact on the political scene, especially after the movement changed the discussion framework of the debate on government spending in the US in 2011.
Another factor that could be an issue is Roseanne Barr. Whilst the actress and comedienne was unsuccessful in getting nominated for the Green Party, she has used her twitter feed to actively campaign on Green Party issues, to her over 174,000 followers. It does mean that we are in for a much more interesting time in this election cycle, rather than just who's gonna win. With Ron Paul backing Gary Johnson, the Libertarian party candidate, it will mean that there are more stories in this election than in 2008. The only story in 2008, was how much Barack Obama would win by, it was that obvious.
There will be a lot of coverage of course, on TV and radio, across the world, as this story has global impact. In the UK, the BBC will have coverage on both radio and television. Radio 5 Live will start the ball rolling at 10pm GMT / 5pm ET, with Richard Bacon hosting coverage for 8 hours, with 5 Live Breakfast taking over at 6am. Radio 4 will also have coverage, anchored by James Naughtie and Bridget Kendall, until 6am when the Today programme will continue the coverage. BBC1 and BBC News Channel will have coverage starting at 11.35pm, and continuing into Breakfast. Outside of the BBC, ITV is anchoring its own coverage also starting at 11.35pm and going on into Daybreak. Commercial radio however, doesn't seem to be covering it outside of news bulletins. LBC, the UK's only news/talk station, has no speciall coverage planned as I write this, although I expect the overnight hosts will talk about it, with a full roundup expected in The Morning News with Susan Bookbinder at 6.30am.
Satellite viewers can expect to find a lot of coverage. One of the more unexpected sources this time is PBS America, who are airing the live PBS NewsHour coverage from Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff, starting at 11pm GMT and going on until at least 5am. Sky News are starting their coverage at 10.30pm, and going on until 9am. Bloomberg's coverage starts at Midnight and runs until 5am. CNBC is providing their own coverage after the live NBC Nightly News at 11.30pm, and the coverage goes on until 7am. Al Jazeera's coverage runs from 9pm to 7am, whilst FOX News Channel's coverage starts at 11pm and goes on until 10am. But CNN International take the award for the most coverage, starting off at 11am, including a special hour long edition of Amanpour at 8pm, switching to a simulcast of CNN USA at 9pm until 7am, when they resume coverage until 3pm, when they switch to a modified normal schedule, with an additional hour of International Desk at 5pm. Although Piers Morgan Tonight is scheduled for 11pm, I expect that to be replaced with an edition of World Report from Hong Kong.
Over in Ireland, TV coverage is the order of the night, as radio seems to be giving live overnight coverage a wide berth. Neither RTE Radio 1 nor NewsTalk have any scheduled coverage outside of daytime and news bulletins. NewsTalk's George Hook is presenting his drivetime programme, The Right Hook, from America all week, but there is no overnight coverage scheduled. On television RTE 1 has their own anchored coverage from 11.35pm until 3am, then they join CBS News for their coverage at 3am, switch to EuroNews at 7am, before RTE return to their own anchored coverage at 8am until 9.40am.
TV3 on the other hand, are doing something weird. Undoubtedly, the story will feature in the regularly scheduled Tonight with Vincent Brown at 11pm. TV3 will join CNN's live coverage at 2am until Ireland AM starts at 7am. However, betweem Midnight and 2am, TV3 are showing Psychic Readings Live. I don't need to be psychic to know that TV3 will basically have given RTE the ratings victory in that timeslot. Also, Ireland AM is not known for its news coverage, so that could be an interesting programme.
As we get closer to Election Day in the US, I will be finding out more about how other broadcasters around the world will be covering the story, and I will update the blog with those details as I find them. Also, if I get any word on internet streams of coverage, and I expect there to be such streams from Politico and Democracy Now amongst others, then I'll bring that information to you as well. On the night, I myself will be live tweeting on @cityprod. It should be a fascinating night.
However, don't expect the declaration of the winner to be made by 11pm ET / 4am GMT. This will be a lot closer than the 365 to 173 electoral college votes that we saw in 2008. Indeed, it's quite possible that Mitt Romney may get more votes overall, but lose the election due to the particular quirks of the US election system. I am fully expecting the declaration of the winner, to come after Midnight ET, maybe closer to 1am ET.
However, just as interesting as the final result, is just how many people will vote for the third party candidates, as two debates featuring only the 3rd party candidates have aired or are about to air on RT America, one of those debates was actually produced by online TV operation Ora TV with Larry King, former CNN host moderating. RT America can be seen by over 50 million people in the US, which is still far less than CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, who can all be seen by at least 200 million people, but still means that candidates that have not been seen on more mainstream media outlets, have gotten more exposure this time around than in previous years.
Also, likely to possibly change things around a bit this year, is the Occupy movement, which the right wing media have done their best to downplay or ignore, calling it a spent force or a dead movement. Now, by contrast, nobody has refered to the Tea Party movement on the Republican side as a spent force, which says to me that the Republicans are genuinely scared of how the Occupy movement could have a major impact on the political scene, especially after the movement changed the discussion framework of the debate on government spending in the US in 2011.
Another factor that could be an issue is Roseanne Barr. Whilst the actress and comedienne was unsuccessful in getting nominated for the Green Party, she has used her twitter feed to actively campaign on Green Party issues, to her over 174,000 followers. It does mean that we are in for a much more interesting time in this election cycle, rather than just who's gonna win. With Ron Paul backing Gary Johnson, the Libertarian party candidate, it will mean that there are more stories in this election than in 2008. The only story in 2008, was how much Barack Obama would win by, it was that obvious.
There will be a lot of coverage of course, on TV and radio, across the world, as this story has global impact. In the UK, the BBC will have coverage on both radio and television. Radio 5 Live will start the ball rolling at 10pm GMT / 5pm ET, with Richard Bacon hosting coverage for 8 hours, with 5 Live Breakfast taking over at 6am. Radio 4 will also have coverage, anchored by James Naughtie and Bridget Kendall, until 6am when the Today programme will continue the coverage. BBC1 and BBC News Channel will have coverage starting at 11.35pm, and continuing into Breakfast. Outside of the BBC, ITV is anchoring its own coverage also starting at 11.35pm and going on into Daybreak. Commercial radio however, doesn't seem to be covering it outside of news bulletins. LBC, the UK's only news/talk station, has no speciall coverage planned as I write this, although I expect the overnight hosts will talk about it, with a full roundup expected in The Morning News with Susan Bookbinder at 6.30am.
Satellite viewers can expect to find a lot of coverage. One of the more unexpected sources this time is PBS America, who are airing the live PBS NewsHour coverage from Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff, starting at 11pm GMT and going on until at least 5am. Sky News are starting their coverage at 10.30pm, and going on until 9am. Bloomberg's coverage starts at Midnight and runs until 5am. CNBC is providing their own coverage after the live NBC Nightly News at 11.30pm, and the coverage goes on until 7am. Al Jazeera's coverage runs from 9pm to 7am, whilst FOX News Channel's coverage starts at 11pm and goes on until 10am. But CNN International take the award for the most coverage, starting off at 11am, including a special hour long edition of Amanpour at 8pm, switching to a simulcast of CNN USA at 9pm until 7am, when they resume coverage until 3pm, when they switch to a modified normal schedule, with an additional hour of International Desk at 5pm. Although Piers Morgan Tonight is scheduled for 11pm, I expect that to be replaced with an edition of World Report from Hong Kong.
Over in Ireland, TV coverage is the order of the night, as radio seems to be giving live overnight coverage a wide berth. Neither RTE Radio 1 nor NewsTalk have any scheduled coverage outside of daytime and news bulletins. NewsTalk's George Hook is presenting his drivetime programme, The Right Hook, from America all week, but there is no overnight coverage scheduled. On television RTE 1 has their own anchored coverage from 11.35pm until 3am, then they join CBS News for their coverage at 3am, switch to EuroNews at 7am, before RTE return to their own anchored coverage at 8am until 9.40am.
TV3 on the other hand, are doing something weird. Undoubtedly, the story will feature in the regularly scheduled Tonight with Vincent Brown at 11pm. TV3 will join CNN's live coverage at 2am until Ireland AM starts at 7am. However, betweem Midnight and 2am, TV3 are showing Psychic Readings Live. I don't need to be psychic to know that TV3 will basically have given RTE the ratings victory in that timeslot. Also, Ireland AM is not known for its news coverage, so that could be an interesting programme.
As we get closer to Election Day in the US, I will be finding out more about how other broadcasters around the world will be covering the story, and I will update the blog with those details as I find them. Also, if I get any word on internet streams of coverage, and I expect there to be such streams from Politico and Democracy Now amongst others, then I'll bring that information to you as well. On the night, I myself will be live tweeting on @cityprod. It should be a fascinating night.
Thursday, 1 November 2012
Danny Baker axed by BBC London.
So, it's been reported today that BBC London are axing Danny Baker's weekday afternoon show, as well as removing Gaby Roslin from the breakfast show. But most attention has been on Danny Baker, who has often had an off and on relationship with BBC bosses.
He started on BBC GLR back in 1989, arrived on BBC Radio 5 with SportsCall on a Saturday lunchtime, and by February 1992, he had taken over the station's breakfast show, Morning Edition. He did shows on Radio 1, Radio 5 Live, Talk Radio, Virgin Radio, before returning to BBC London in 2001, and taking over the weekday afternoon show in 2005, the show which has now been axed. He continues to broadcast a show on BBC Radio 5 Live every weekend.
Danny Baker is one of those talents, rather like Chris Moyles and Chris Evans, who have never really sat totally comfortably, within the BBC. In the past, pre-2002, they would have easily found a home within commercial radio. These days, commercial radio has gone ultra-safe, timid, generic, and bean-counting to the Nth degree. So it's harder now to see Danny Baker finding a home on commercial radio these days.
Some people have compared Danny Baker to Kenny Everett, but that is an unfair comparison, as they are two very different types of radio personality. Kenny Everett had personality and a lot of creativity. Danny Baker has attitude, and that's about it. But the thing they both shared was that they knew exactly what they wanted to produce and how they wanted to produce it, and there are very few like them currently, across the world, people like Steve Wright, Danny Baker, Chris Evans, Keith Olbermann and Gay Byrne, and they are an essential part of the mix, yes, they are all difficult to manage, but at the end of the day, the passion they have for the product they produce comes through and they connect with listeners and viewers. At the end of the day, that connection is what every station needs, not only to survive, but to grow.
He started on BBC GLR back in 1989, arrived on BBC Radio 5 with SportsCall on a Saturday lunchtime, and by February 1992, he had taken over the station's breakfast show, Morning Edition. He did shows on Radio 1, Radio 5 Live, Talk Radio, Virgin Radio, before returning to BBC London in 2001, and taking over the weekday afternoon show in 2005, the show which has now been axed. He continues to broadcast a show on BBC Radio 5 Live every weekend.
Danny Baker is one of those talents, rather like Chris Moyles and Chris Evans, who have never really sat totally comfortably, within the BBC. In the past, pre-2002, they would have easily found a home within commercial radio. These days, commercial radio has gone ultra-safe, timid, generic, and bean-counting to the Nth degree. So it's harder now to see Danny Baker finding a home on commercial radio these days.
Some people have compared Danny Baker to Kenny Everett, but that is an unfair comparison, as they are two very different types of radio personality. Kenny Everett had personality and a lot of creativity. Danny Baker has attitude, and that's about it. But the thing they both shared was that they knew exactly what they wanted to produce and how they wanted to produce it, and there are very few like them currently, across the world, people like Steve Wright, Danny Baker, Chris Evans, Keith Olbermann and Gay Byrne, and they are an essential part of the mix, yes, they are all difficult to manage, but at the end of the day, the passion they have for the product they produce comes through and they connect with listeners and viewers. At the end of the day, that connection is what every station needs, not only to survive, but to grow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)