Monday, November 27, 2006
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
ITV
NTL Share Prices Fall After Rumours of ITV Takeover Bid
There's been a lot in the news recently about ITV and their myriad of problems; takeovers, falling audience numbers, decreased advertising revenue, failed digital ventures, lack of web presence, lack of creativity, lack of experimentation, reliance on soaps, uninspired programming... the list goes on and on.
And it's all true. ITV are an embarrassment and the sooner they get bought out / closed down / go into receivership, the better this countries broadcasting quality will be. Everything that is wrong with ITV can be seen in this clip of the new Family Fortunes 2006 opening titles.
ITV: Everything. That. Is. Wrong. With. Television.
Thanks to Andy Digitonal for spotting this one.
Digital TV has still yet to really take off and so many people have only 4 or 5 channels. These 4 or 5 channels, therefore, have a greater responsibility to their audience than their digital counterparts. This clip illustrates only too well that ITV are no longer capable of fulfilling that responsibility.
They rely on inane celebrity hosts, revamps of outdated shows, an end-of-the-pier approach to entertainment, low production values, patronising attitudes and, it would seem, an almost total contempt for the intelligence of their audience. They are poorly managed, poor programmed, poorly funded and barely watchable. When they decided to fill every evening slot past 11 o'clock with interactive quiz shows that, intended or not, resemble a telethon for a failing channel, you know they're fucked.
"It's only TV" you may cry, or "you may not like it but others do" but that is not a valid argument. There is nothing wrong with light entertainment, nor quiz shows, nor family programming but there is everything wrong with the approach that this channel takes to them. We've been patronised for so long by this pathetic commercial entity that we've forgotten what good TV looks like.
Ditch the channel. Sack the management. Start again.
And don't give it to fucking NTL.
There's been a lot in the news recently about ITV and their myriad of problems; takeovers, falling audience numbers, decreased advertising revenue, failed digital ventures, lack of web presence, lack of creativity, lack of experimentation, reliance on soaps, uninspired programming... the list goes on and on.
And it's all true. ITV are an embarrassment and the sooner they get bought out / closed down / go into receivership, the better this countries broadcasting quality will be. Everything that is wrong with ITV can be seen in this clip of the new Family Fortunes 2006 opening titles.
ITV: Everything. That. Is. Wrong. With. Television.
Thanks to Andy Digitonal for spotting this one.
Digital TV has still yet to really take off and so many people have only 4 or 5 channels. These 4 or 5 channels, therefore, have a greater responsibility to their audience than their digital counterparts. This clip illustrates only too well that ITV are no longer capable of fulfilling that responsibility.
They rely on inane celebrity hosts, revamps of outdated shows, an end-of-the-pier approach to entertainment, low production values, patronising attitudes and, it would seem, an almost total contempt for the intelligence of their audience. They are poorly managed, poor programmed, poorly funded and barely watchable. When they decided to fill every evening slot past 11 o'clock with interactive quiz shows that, intended or not, resemble a telethon for a failing channel, you know they're fucked.
"It's only TV" you may cry, or "you may not like it but others do" but that is not a valid argument. There is nothing wrong with light entertainment, nor quiz shows, nor family programming but there is everything wrong with the approach that this channel takes to them. We've been patronised for so long by this pathetic commercial entity that we've forgotten what good TV looks like.
Ditch the channel. Sack the management. Start again.
And don't give it to fucking NTL.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Rumsfeld to be Accused in Germany For War Crimes
Though he has resigned as Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld is expected to be accused of war crimes in a lawsuit to be filed next week in Germany.
The Center for Constitutional Rights will file the suit on behalf of a group of Iraqi detainees as well as the so-called 20th hijacker, who is currently being held at Guantanamo Bay.
"The former secretary actually authorized a series of interrogation techniques," said Michael Ratner, President of CCR. "They included the use of dogs, stripping, hooding, stressed positions, chaining to the floor, sexual humiliation and those types of activities."
Those techniques, he says, amount to torture and violate the Geneva Conventions. Ratner will be traveling to Berlin next week and plans to file the suit on Tuesday.
Full story.
The Center for Constitutional Rights will file the suit on behalf of a group of Iraqi detainees as well as the so-called 20th hijacker, who is currently being held at Guantanamo Bay.
"The former secretary actually authorized a series of interrogation techniques," said Michael Ratner, President of CCR. "They included the use of dogs, stripping, hooding, stressed positions, chaining to the floor, sexual humiliation and those types of activities."
Those techniques, he says, amount to torture and violate the Geneva Conventions. Ratner will be traveling to Berlin next week and plans to file the suit on Tuesday.
Full story.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Hung parliment
Saddam Hussein sentenced to death
I was in a second hand record fair in Bakewell, Derbyshire when I heard this. Radio 2 announced it to the small council room and just one voice could be heard afterwards... "about bloody time" a man in the corner said, we all looked at him and then turned away.
It's weird that news like that, news it's possible we would have all cheered 10 years ago can now be greated with such ambivolence. Such are the events of the last 5 years that this is no longer a cause for celebration or a reason for outrage... it's just another part of the story.
I was in a second hand record fair in Bakewell, Derbyshire when I heard this. Radio 2 announced it to the small council room and just one voice could be heard afterwards... "about bloody time" a man in the corner said, we all looked at him and then turned away.
It's weird that news like that, news it's possible we would have all cheered 10 years ago can now be greated with such ambivolence. Such are the events of the last 5 years that this is no longer a cause for celebration or a reason for outrage... it's just another part of the story.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
The weekly Bill O'Reilly fix
In Bills new mailout he talks about his appearance on the Letterman show and how:
Here's a link to the full column.
Here's the Letterman interview courtesy of the lovely YouTube:
It's pretty good theatre - Bill makes an ass of himself, Dave gets some good insults in and the debate is quite heated. I would draw your attention, though, to the bit that runs from 2 minutes in to 3 minutes in that starts with Bill saying:
If ever one statement explained Fox News' attitude to their audience, it's that one.
Here's a link to the Rosie O'Donnell interview.
Start at 1.25 when Bill outlines his theories about the culture war. This is chilling stuff... I always try to avoid using terms like 'fascist' and 'Orwellian' as these days such terms are used on a daily basis and have been robbed of their meaning, but in this case I'll make an exception. The 'outing' of secular progressives, the glorification of Judeo-Christian morality, the scaremonging, the rewriting of history... it reminded me of McCarthyism meeting Eugene Terre Blanche.
"predictably, the far-left in America has seized upon the Iraq situation to once again paint their country as villainous. That is both sad and infuriating. Recently, I appeared on "The View" and "Late Show with David Letterman," flogging my book "Culture Warrior." Both Rosie O'Donnell, the new lead on "The View," and Mr. Letterman are liberal people who vehemently object to the war. So I asked them: "Do you want your country to win in Iraq?"
Here's a link to the full column.
Here's the Letterman interview courtesy of the lovely YouTube:
It's pretty good theatre - Bill makes an ass of himself, Dave gets some good insults in and the debate is quite heated. I would draw your attention, though, to the bit that runs from 2 minutes in to 3 minutes in that starts with Bill saying:
"Whenever you have a situation where Americans are... depressed. People don't want to watch the news, people don't want to hear about Iraq, they don't want to hear about Iran, they don't want to hear about the nutty North Korean guy. They wanna watch Bowling for Dollars... Dancing With the Stars..."
If ever one statement explained Fox News' attitude to their audience, it's that one.
Here's a link to the Rosie O'Donnell interview.
Start at 1.25 when Bill outlines his theories about the culture war. This is chilling stuff... I always try to avoid using terms like 'fascist' and 'Orwellian' as these days such terms are used on a daily basis and have been robbed of their meaning, but in this case I'll make an exception. The 'outing' of secular progressives, the glorification of Judeo-Christian morality, the scaremonging, the rewriting of history... it reminded me of McCarthyism meeting Eugene Terre Blanche.
billoreilly.com
SweetJesusIHateBillOReilly.com
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