Is BBC Breakfast in Tatters?
I like BBC Breakfast on the television and generally watch it, as I do my morning chores.
It would appear now, that Sian Williams is to follow others and leave the show, when it goes to Salford.
THe move to Salford is surely one of the most ill-judged moves in British media history, as it will surely mean that many of the best presenters will leave. After all Manchester is not the place many would choose to live and there are many other jobs in London.
I also fear for the quality of other victims of this move, like Radio 5 and BBC Sport.
I feel fairly badly victimised here, as it appears the quality of what I like to watch and listen is about to suffer. As you know, I don’t watch ITV and other channels, unless what is on, is really unmissable, as I’m allergic to adverts.
An E-Mail to the Head of ITV
The head of ITV was on BBC Radio 5 this afternoon and Richard Bacon was soliciting questions.
I sent one in.
I never watch ITV mainly because I’m a coeliac and allergic to gluten, which means no bread, beer, pasta or fast food for me. So most of the food and drink product adverts are for products that make me ill.
I’ve also had a stroke, so I can’t drive and have no interest in betting, except on my own terms, when I have information or have made a reasoned judgement. So that get’s the other adverts onto my not-to-watch list.
So how does a channel like ITV get me to watch football on the channel, rather than listen to it on another medium which gives a quality sound or text commentary, without bombarding me with adverts for things I don’t want or have no interest in?
I might be interested in subscribing to an advert-free ITV!
It was not asked.
ITV to Show More Adverts
Who cares? I don’t! I only watch sport on channels with adverts occasionally and usually there is a sound commentary on the radio, which I listen too.
The more adverts ITV shows, the worse the coverage will get and I’ll find something more interesting to do, like watch paint dry!
Anne Robinson and Essex Girls
By accident yesterday, I watched a few seconds of the Weakest Link. Anne Robinson was introducing one of the contestants, who was a vicar from Billericay. So was he a Billericay Vickie? She asked him, if Essex Girls prayed round their handbags.
There is a very inappropriate joke linking Robert Maxwell and Essex Girls. As Anne has sometimes been known to defend the odious Bouncing Czech, she ought to mind what she says about females from Essex.
Life Starts to Get Back to Normal After Christmas
I always think that Christmas is back in its box for another year, when BBC Breakfast television gets back to the normal studios and presenters.
It’s also nice to see Sian Williams back on the box, as she is very much C’s type in looks, body and dress sense, except that she is sixteen years younger than C would be. C would never have worn the heels Sian does either!
So in a way, Sian reminds me in a very nice way of all the good times we had before C’s untimely death!
And long may I see her brightening up my mornings!
Joe Brown Gets a CBE
Joe Brown, the rock climber has been made a CBE today.
I specifically remember Joe for a fascinating piece of television in the 1960s. It’s described here. I’ve still not found the Eddie Izzard link to the film.
Solving the Problem of Watching Sky or ITV Pictures and Getting Radio 5 Sound
As you may know from this blog, I’m allergic to two things; gluten and adverts. I don’t like having to continually switch whilst watching sport on Sky or ITV to BBC Radio 5, to avoid the annoying adverts and get a continuous commentary. In many cases too, the ITV coverage is not up to scratch and vital parts like goals are missed. To be fair to Sky, there’s nothing wrong with their coverage in general, it’s just the adverts, often for products that contain gluten. So they are a double irritant.
Virgin cable gets around this problem in some ways, because it has a Back button, so you can constantly use it to flip between, your preferred video and audio channels.
For Christmas I was given a pair of wireless headphones by Sennheiser, that plug into the headphone socket of a television or radio and give a good sound quality within range.
So I have plugged them into my Roberts DAB radio for good Radio 5 sound and just put the television on the corresponding video channel.
There are some other advantages.
- I can get good commentary all over my house and even in the road outside.
- The range also solves the tea and toilet break problems, as never do I have to miss any of the action. This works well with sport, but you’d probably need to pause the television for a break, whilst watching a serious drama.
- I’d also be interested to know to, how serious music lovers would find the quality of the sound through the headphones.
- I now adjust the volume on the headphones, so that if say I was watching something very loud, then I’m the only one gets the loud noise.
- Obviously, if you are watching with someone else, you just unplug the headphones and watch normally.
It strikes me that various families would find different ways to use one or more of these devices to avoid problems amongst themselves or with the neighbours.
To be fair, I know that the headphones are a good deal cheaper, than the cost of using a solicitor to fight an ASBO caused by a loud television. And not everybody likes Abba!
But whatever, they made a very good Christmas present for me!
A Media Survey for Virgin
I always fill in surveys honestly, so when Virgin asked me how my broadband, TV and phones were going I told them in that way. I gave their service a score of 3 out of ten and said I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else. They did allow me to give reasons and this is what I said.
1. I am still waiting for my previous BT number to be transferred. If I have to change it, then it’ll be an expense of several hundred pounds to change web sites and stationery.
2. The Virgin Media box has a poor interface, which I find irritating compared to my previous Sky+ box and Freeview recorder. Despite my stroke, I have a fearsome memory and if say I want a channel, I just type in the three-digit number. But with your box you must click OK as well. As I only watch and listen to about six channels anyway, that extra button is a real irritant. I have not used the record function yet, as it seems way to complicated. Remember, I made my money as a software designer, so I know about interfaces and your box interface rates about 1 out of ten.
I would give you 1 out of ten, but the support staff have been trying hard to get my number transferred and I think they are getting as frustrated with the non-transfer as I am.
I do hate surveys which just take scores as these can’t give meaningful results, when customers have had problems. They seem to work on the we know best principle and if you don’t like it tough!
They also had another box for comments at the end of the survey. I said this.
Because I’ve had a stroke and can’t read small print or use the telephone too well, I’d like to be able to e-mail problems in. What is the e-mail please? I also need that number transferred. BT say you haven’t asked them to do it and you say that BT sy the number isn’t active and other things. Something is seriously wrong. Or is it me, I once tried to transfer a number from Vodafone to O2 and it ended up with Orange. Only when Orange phoned me, did I realise why my late wife’s new mobile phone didn’t work!
James – Blogging as the Anonymous Widower
It will be interesting to see if I get anything more than the standard response.
Dissappointed with the Virgins
I say virgins, as all of the services are not really up to scratch. Or at least what I expect.
- The broadband has now failed five times and I have to switch off the modem and reboot every time. As it improved when I undid all the connections and reconnected them, I think it’s all down to a bad joint. But it’s annoying.
- They still haven’t transferred my previous landline number to the new connection.
- But the biggest problem is the design of the box that provides television. I give it about four out of ten, whereas I’d give my previous Sky-Plus nine. The reason it would only get that, is that it lacks the back button, which the virgin has.
- I’m also paying for ESPN and it’s not being delivered.
They will be getting an ear-wigging today.
A Most Annoying Advert
I can’t see the television that well in 2-D because of my eye-sight, so one of the most annoying adverts is one for LG proclaiming the virtues of watching 3-D television with someone else which also grates.
So LG has just joined my list of companies whose products I don’t buy!
Is that what advertising is supposed to do? Annoy your possible customers!
When is someone going to produce advert free television? I suppose it’s called the BBC, but what I want to see at the moment is on Sky!
The Anonymous Widower 