In case you had missed it: Scotland voted no. Marginally, but they did. For some of us who were watching from afar, this came as a massive shock, largely because the politically outspoken world we had engaged with (via Twitter, Facebook and blog pages such as Wings over Scotland and Bella Caledonia ) seemed at least to be 80% on the yes side.
Normal for Norfolk or NFN – a pejorative shorthand allegedly used by local GPs to explain medical peculiarities that were deigned unexceptional for the county – has since, for some at least, become a term of endearment used to encapsulate the eccentricities of the region and its kin.
In July 2014 the BBC announced that it would be ending its exclusive promo production deal with Red Bee Media when the contract runs out in December 2015. Since 2005 Red Bee Media have been producing the majority of the BBC’s promotion and marketing content, from idents for its television channels to trailers for its programmes and apps and other forms of interactive promotional content.
In today’s exciting world of the prosumer, readers become writers, listeners transform into speakers, viewers emerge as stars, fans are academics, and vice versa . Zine writers are screenwriters. Bloggers are copywriters. Children are columnists. Bus riders are journalists. Coca-Cola hires African Americans to drive through the inner city selling soda and playing hip-hop.
During June and July a good many of my evenings -and some whole days- were spent at the at the National Film Theatre following the Dennis Potter season. Marcus Prince, the BFI’s knowledgeable television programmer, was collaborating with Potter’s long standing friend and producer, Kenith Trodd, to screen every single one of Potter’s television works. It made for an intense couple of months.
Some three months ago I got involved in a conversation with colleagues at the University of Bologna about medical humanities grants and, in relation to those, about the possible contribution of media studies, and television in particular (if allowed, not to mention, approved of), to the research on the cultural iconography of medicine.
Since the announcement that Danger Mouse (1982-1992) is to return to TV screens, this time on the BBC, I have had several conversations with people about whether this ‘remake’ will be any good. Most of these conversations have been with people from my own generation, who watched Danger Mouse —and its spin-off Count Duckula –back in the day but the BBC clearly intends this remake for a child audience.
Some three months ago I got involved in a conversation with colleagues at the University of Bologna about medical humanities grants and, in relation to those, about the possible contribution of media studies, and television in particular (if allowed, not to mention, approved of), to the research on the cultural iconography of medicine.
Huge changes took place in British TV over the summer, and very few people seem to have noticed. American majors embarked on a spending spree that is reshaping both production and broadcasting. Viacom has bought Channel 5 from Richard Desmond’s porn-to-Daily-Express Northern & Shell group for £450 million.
Earlier this year Louie CK told us that “The Whole Country of Australia Rips TV”, and it’s a problem that our Government is trying to do something about.
The BBC’s charter renewal is due in 2016 but traditionally the years and months beforehand are full of political jostling, public pronouncements and secret (and not so secret) lobbying.