Archive for March, 2009

The BBC has been criticised for giving free publicity to establish music acts such as Coldplay and U2.

Commercial radio body RadioCentre accused the corporation of giving the bands’ work undue prominence both in its broadcasts and online, and said that the BBC was failing in its remit to foster new talent.

The complaint comes after a week of BBC broadcasts over television and radio to celebrate the launch of U2’s new album, New Line on the Horizon, and Coldplay’s Viva La Vida tour. Coldplay has also used the Radio 1 logo in its adverts for the tour.

The BBC’s fair trade panel has already admitted that the Coldplay adverts could have led to a “perception of endorsement” by the broadcaster, but RadioCentre has dismissed the ruling as nothing more than a “slap on the wrist”.

RadioCentre is now preparing to lodge a separate complaint about the BBC’s recent tie-up and promotion of U2’s new single and album.

The organisation has asked the BBC to reassess the way it handles major bands and to give more prominence to up-and-coming acts. It said that the corporation’s “blanket coverage” of U2’s new album was unacceptable.

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The Wire’s terrestrial debut attracted an audience of 600,000 when it was broadcast on BBC2 last night.

The critically lauded US drama examines crime and corruption in Baltimore from the point of view of the police, drug dealers, addicts, journalists, union leaders and politicians over five series. It has gained a cult following in the UK through the sale of box sets, but until last night had received relatively little television coverage.

Nowadays, US television series usually have their UK debut just months after they first air in America in order to prevent illicit online viewing. The Wire however was first broadcast in America seven years ago on US Cable network HBO.

Overnight figures showed that The Wire attracted an 8% audience share between 11.20pm and 12.20am on BBC2. It was competing with various movie repeats, including Blind Flight on BBC1, which drew 400,000 viewers; This Is Spinal Tap on ITV1 with 300,000; and Five’s Evil Woman, with 400,000 viewers.

The UK satellite channel FX had already finished broadcasting the entire five series of The Wire last year, and is running repeats each Monday night. However, FX has a fairly small following, with just 7,000 viewers watching last night’s repeat. Yesterday’s BBC2 premiere meanwhile marked the first time the show has come to terrestrial TV in Britain.

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Red Dwarf star Chris Barrie has said he is keen to film a new series of the cult sci-fi show, after acting in a one-off Easter special entitled Red Dwarf: Back to Earth.

Originally launched in 1988, the hit programme is back with three new adventures written by Doug Naylor, which will air on digital channel Dave over Easter. But Chris Barrie, who played Arnold Rimmer on the show, told The Sun that the show could be back for a whole new series.

“We all think this could be the start of something big — perhaps a new mini-series, a film or just a series,” he said. “None of us has ever closed the door on Red Dwarf.”

Craig Charles, who played Dave Lister in the original show and joined Barrie for the Easter special has also expressed his interested in filming a new series. He said the whole cast was feeling immense “pressure” to make the comeback.

Speaking during a break in filming the Back to Earth episodes, Craig said “I wondered hard if we’re too fat and old and grey and past it? Can we recapture the magic? We’ve left such a great legacy. Then I read the script and thought I’ve gotta have some of this.”

Virgin Media customers on their ‘XL’ TV package will now have to fork out an extra pound a month for the privilege.

Customers who subscribe to a Virgin’s broadband or phone service will also see their bills rise, with the ‘M’ broadband package costing an extra £2 a month. The price increases will take effect from 1st May.

“We have written to all affected customers to explain the changes, which include a small increase of £1 for ‘XL’ TV,” said a Virgin Media spokesman.

“Whilst there will be a small increase of £2 for our ‘M’ broadband, as part of our pricing review we have also recently reduced our ‘L’ broadband tier by £4 and our ‘XL’ broadband by £1,” he added.

“Having previously upgraded all of our 10Mb customers to 20Mb and our 4Mb customers to 10Mb, we are now bringing the full benefits of our fibre optic network and our recent upgrade to DOCSIS 3.0 technology to our 2Mb (M) customers.”

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The BBC has said that it does not plan to reinstate Top of the Pops as a weekly series, despite the popularity of recent specials.

The BBC’s pop music controller, Andy Parfitt, acknowledged the” huge success” of recent one-off editions of the show for Comic Relief, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, and said that more specials were likely to follow. However, he said there was no longer enough demand for the format to bring back the show as a fully-fledged series.

“It’s got a mythical status … but I don’t think we should get hung up on that one programme,” Parfitt said today during an interview at the Radio Academy’s radio and music forum.

“We are a long way from [BBC1 controller] Jay Hunt recommissioning Top of the Pops in its old-school form on BBC1… It has come back in those event-driven moments and that’s the way to go,” he added.

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Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty could become a familiar face on British TV screens, according to reports.

The 33-year-old Indian actress and Celebrity Big Brother winner plans to spend much of her time in the UK after moving into a luxury £10 million home in Surrey with her partner Raj Kundra, whom she plans to marry, and is said to want to forge a career for herself over here.

According to The Daily Express, Shetty has been approached by BBC bosses to star in the hit soap EastEnders as a member of a new Asian family about to move into Albert Square. A friend said that the move would be a “springboard to long-term success in Britain”.

Shetty turned down the opportunity to appear in the soap in 2007 because she wanted to concentrate on her Bollywood career.

However, her agent Max Clifford said that Shetty had not yet agreed to appear in the soap, and was looking at several different roles. “I am talking to several TV people about potential work for Shilpa Shetty,” he said.

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His oddly inflected diction tends both to irritate and delight viewers, but Robert Peston’s peculiar presentation has won him the prestigious title of Television Performer of the Year in a non-acting category, beating Bruce Forsyth and Cheryl Cole.

The BBC’s business editor was honoured at the Broadcasting Press Guild awards at the Theatre Royal, alongside Shakespearean actor turned crapulous detective Kenneth Brannagh.

Peston has been rewarded not only for his northern Rock scoop but also his unusual speech patterns. Often he’ll stop in mid-flow, hesitate, then rise to a startling fortissimo before trailing off in a mumble. His mannerisms tend to divide viewers sharply down the middle, with some falling over themselves to sing his praises, and other expressing contempt for his every utterance.

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The BBC is hoping to create its own version of Channel 4’s teen drama Skins about the ‘dark side’ of the music industry, and has asked none other than the former drug-addict Pete Doherty. The singer has been called upon for his ‘creative’ streak and has been asked to pen a pilot series of the show within the next six weeks.

The Babyshambles singer had battled with substance abuse since 2003, fighting addictions to heroin and crack cocaine.

A source told the Sun, “Pete was meeting creative chiefs. They’ve commissioned him to write a Skins-style show on the dark side of the music industry. They want a pilot episode written in the next six weeks which will become a series, if he can come up with the goods.”

“He’s seen it all as a hellraising rock star, so they want his experiences written in,” the source added.

Jade Goody’s widower Jack Tweed has reportedly been offered a significant sum to write his memoirs of his life with the reality TV star. Tweed has already landed several deals to give television and magazine interviews following Goody’s death on Sunday.

The Daily Star reported that the 21-year-old’s story would be fast-tracked by publishers so that it can be released at the earliest possible date.

“This is the book that the whole nation wants to read. Jade’s story and her subsequent death has been the biggest story we have seen in recent times and Brits are desperate for the next instalment,” a source said.

“This book will be that, and the publishing deal alone will be huge, let alone the serialisations that will appear in newspapers. Jack could net an absolute fortune for this and he needs to make sure he has got good advisers in place to do the deals for him.”

It is thought that the book would span Tweed and Goody’s three-year relationship, including her support for him during his time in jail, and his care for her as cancer took hold of her body.

Goody’s publicist Max Clifford, said he was not aware of any plans for a book by Tweed but that he hadn’t discussed the matter with him.

Tweed has twice been convicted of assault, and was due to appear in court yesterday for assaulting a taxi driver. The hearing has now been postponed to 16th April, to allow Tweed to attend Goody’s funeral on Saturday 4th April.

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Abortion clinics could be allowed to advertise on television in an attempt to reduce the teenage pregnancy rate, which is the highest in Europe.

Condoms adverts could also be shown before the 9pm watershed under new proposals. However, they will not be advertised around programmes aimed at children under 10. At the moment, only Channel 4 may advertise condoms from 7pm, in order to protect younger viewers from content deemed inappropriate. Pregnancy advice services would also be allowed to advertise on television, but would have to state whether they offered abortion referrals so that delays do not result in medical complications.

The Committee of Advertising Practice and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice is launching a 12-week consultation to gauge reaction to the plans. The changes are outlined in a consultation by the committee on new advertising codes for broadcasters.

Church and pro-life groups have strongly opposed the new proposals. They argue that showing condom adverts on the television will encourage promiscuity and could even result in more teenage pregnancies. Adverts for abortion clinics may also give teenagers the message that abortion can be used as another form of contraception.

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