In the beginning man created the BBC and man saw what he had made and it was good. But quarter of a century later and the BBC is no longer alone on our television screens. Marie Kemplay asks in the digital age what is the future for the original analogue channel?

Turn on your TV and you can choose from hundreds of channels, and although at any given time about 70% are showing Top Gear re-runs or home decoration programmes we, needless to say, still have a lot more choice than when we had just five channels. In this environment the broadcaster which was founded with the duty “to inform, to educate and to entertain” seems to be losing its way.

In the past few weeks the Ross/Brand fiasco seems to have highlighted just how vulnerable the BBC’s position is. Being attacked from all directions from an older generation for caring too much about being ‘edgy’ and not catering to let’s say more ‘refined’ tastes and the younger generation criticising them for caving in to pressure from people without a sense of humour. MPs have also been having a field day in Parliament over this. For example just listen to Liberal Democrat MP Phil Woolas: “I think once again the BBC have demonstrated that it is one law for its highly paid stars and one law for everyone else. When we are forking out millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on presenters, the least we can expect is a level of propriety commensurate with what the public considers decent.”

One of the most contentious issues is of course Ross’ hugely inflated salary of £1.8m which literally as Ross - so frequently loved to point out – came at the price of 1,800 journalists, who were made redundant last year. It begged the question if providing edgy entertainment is seemingly more important than news programmes how is the BBC still able to justify its public service funding?

It seems in its quest to be the ‘everyman’ of British television, the BBC has lost touch with exactly who its target audience should be. In the digital age broadcasters such as Sky have a very distinct advantage in that it does not have a prescribed public service remit and is freer to court the rapidly changing tastes and habits of its viewers.

Both Sky and the BBC are currently foraying into High Definition television. The obvious benefit with the BBC is that if you have all the right HD equipment you have to pay no extra charge. However with Sky you must pay an extra subscription but you also get far more HD channels for your money such as sky films, Sky Sports and Discovery Channel as well as BBC HD.

Another point is that in recent years people have increasingly wanted to watch television more flexibly. It is now completely the normal to watch programmes on the computer rather than television screen. Recognising this, last year the BBC launched iplayer, a hugely successful online viewing platform. Sky has recently announced it will follow suit and although the details are not yet confirmed Sky have said it will show favourite programmes from its favourite channels. Sky Player will be available to everybody regardless of whether you currently subscribe to Sky or not, and although you will have to pay a fee, what most people are quick to forget is the BBC is not free, currently costing £139 a year, somehow I doubt that Sky Player will cost that much.

It seems likely in the future the BBC will be forced to stick to a more ‘public service’ role, i.e focus more on educational programming such as news and documentaries if it is to retain its license fee funding in a world where there are hundreds of channels providing entertainment. However I hope it is not forced to abandon entertainment altogether where would we have been without the likes of Fawlty Towers, Little Britain and Yes Minister, it will be black day indeed when the BBC is forced to abandon comedy. As for Sky I think it will continue to do what it does best, provide great sports coverage, great movies and the next generation of quality American television a la ’24’ and ‘Lost’ – and to boot probably all of the above in glorious High Definition quality.

Something to bear in mind though is what will happen if Channel 4 gets its wish and is given Public Service funding, now that would completely change the landscape of broadcasting in the UK.

Tags: BBC, Digital TV, Sky by Marie Kemplay
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With half of England scandalised by the actions of two of its favourite comedians, Marie Kemplay asks whether it is all justified

I must admit I do actually quite like Jonathan Ross. His Friday night questioning of people from all corners of celebrity is one of my favourite programmes and as a result of his suspension my Friday evenings will be far less entertaining. Granted tonight I’ll be too busy stumbling around in whatever costume I can find in Tesco later.

But I find myself thinking is Jonathan Ross really the reason why I tune in on a Friday or is for the celebrities themselves. And is Russell Brand really that funny or is it his scriptwriters? I went to watch his chat show being filmed last year and it was one of the most disillusioning experiences. He read the entire thing off an autocue and then threw in a bit of gesticulation and outlandish phraseology for good measure. They both have over-inflated egos that would benefit from being knocked down a couple of pegs.

I’m not baying for blood in the same way a lot of the right wing press appear to be but I do agree the line has to be drawn somewhere. The content of the message left on Andrew Sachs mobile was pretty disgusting, with Ross shouting “he f***** you granddaughter” and Brand retaliating “it’s ok I used a condom”.

The whole thing just reeks of stupidity; this was a BBC Radio 2 programme not a late night TV special, and they were leaving messages on a 78 year old man’s answer phone, someone you would perhaps expect to speak to more respectfully. As for Georgina Baillie, regardless of whether she is a “Satanic Slut” I’m sure she doesn’t want her sex life broadcast to the nation. You really would have expected Brand, Ross and whoever authorised the broadcast to know better.

But that was all it was, stupidity, certainly not enough to warrant Lesley Davies, Controller of Radio 2, a highly competent woman and who by all accounts did nothing wrong in this so called ‘scandal’, losing her job. Brand was right to resign, his radio show would never have been received in the same way and it was right that Ross was suspended, the BBC needed breathing space - but as even Andrew Sachs admitted performers make mistakes.

The BBC is a fantastic institution, highly regarded worldwide and something of which we should be immensely proud, of course it has its problems but that doesn’t mean we should allow it to be trounced out of all recognition by the right wing media. We want a broadcaster that’s willing to take risks, not one held back by the worst aspects conservative (with a small c) society.

Tags: BBC, Digital TV by Marie Kemplay
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Forget Bob the Builder, it’s Joe the Plumber that could fix this election for McCain, explains Marie Kemplay

On Wednesday night another character was added to the presidential soap opera, Joe the Plumber. I’m sure nobody, least of all Joe himself, expected the final presidential debate to focus so much on one voter. Every one of the 26 times good ol’ Joe was mentioned I couldn’t help but raise my hands in despair, is this what the election has come down to; whether one man from Ohio may or may not be taxed more if Barack Obama wins? Worst of all was John McCain referring to him as “my old buddy Joe the Plumber”, when he’s never met him, if he had he might be more cautious about granting him his new found American hero status. McCain had hoped that the 34 year old plumber who accused Obama’s plans to increase taxes for households earning over £250,000 as “killing the American dream” would be his perfect attack weapon. But it turns out 34 year old Joe Wurzelbacher is actually called Samuel, doesn’t even have a plumber’s license and his earnings are way below $250,000 and are unlikely to go above that anytime soon, so perhaps not the anti-Obama hero he had been searching for.

McCain and Obama really came to blows over the negative campaigning that has taken over in recent weeks, Obama was once again forced to repudiate his ties with Bill Ayers, a 1970s terrorist and to his credit he did it very convincingly. Despite McCain trying to take the moral highground, claiming he has always defended Obama when Republican critics have taken it too far Obama delivered the killer line of the whole debate “John, 100% of your TV ads are negative.”

Unfortunately for McCain doing trying to undermine his opponent is the only option he really has left. It’s looking like even, to use his own words, spending his entire life in the service of the nation may not be enough to get him elected.

Tags: BBC, Digital TV, Politics, Virgin by Marie Kemplay
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Up to his knees in mud, Peter Moore discovers that The Duke Spirit are still playing rock music the way that it is supposed to be played

There is little better to raise the pulse than a big, thick guitar riff. Now, I am thinking of the kind of thing that used to exist before Thatcherism, when shaggy haired men in skinny denims and unbuttoned shirts used to dispatch a flurry of notes that would cause the fillings to shake in your teeth and your eyes to water as if you were at a funeral.

Apart from a handful of notable Americans, the majority of today’s musicians seem to have forgotten the importance of such a musical device. We get pastiches of pop and this, and rock and that – dance and rave mix with disco and rap and whilst the gloomy indie drudge is incessant, the riff seems to have become somewhat maligned.

This is why, stood knee deep in a field of mud about three weeks ago, I was glad to discover The Duke Spirit. Clad in miserable tight leather jackets, the engine room of the band was equipped with two guitars, a bass and a drummer, the kind of thing of which a traditionalist like Noel Gallagher would utterly approve. In front of this was Leila Moss, a hopelessly attractive blond parody of what Baby Spice might have looked like if she’d been raised in the north of England, inhabiting a role at the front of a rock and roll band that was always going to draw glib comparisons with Nico.

Still, as the rain held off, The Duke Spirit proved to be about the best thing I saw during the weekend’s music. Moss, with her ballerina’s gestures and cheerful conversation, whipped a half drunken crowd into action and behind her the band chopped away at their instruments like woodcutters in the forest – finding just enough groove, just enough edge and throwing in a few damnably good riffs.

So, thanks to The Duke Spirit for rekindling my hope for the British rock bands, the majority of which seem to have got lost recently on the musical highway, caught in odd musical alleyways that distract them from the essential characteristics of a good rock song.

Tags: BBC, Digital TV, Music by Peter Moore
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Peter Moore decides that the BBC’s latest mini-drama is a welcome improvement on Sunday night timetables of old.

I’ve got rather bad memories of Sunday night television. As a child I came to despise the horribly cheerful theme music of the Antiques Roadshow, whose merry pipes always seemed an ironic reminder that the weekend was almost over. Apart from that it was The Last of the Summer Wine, with its stale plots and successions of old men roaring uncontrollably through the Yorkshire countryside in bathtubs.

My Sunday nights around the television never properly recovered, and since I’ve tended to reserve the evening for the pub or a book. Last night, however, whilst waiting for the scheduled broadcast of Match of the Day Two and a satisfying victory against West Brom, I decided to sit out an hour beforehand – coming across Tess of the D’Urbervilles.

According to a recent poll Thomas Hardy’s late Victorian novel is amongst our favourite, ranking 26^th on the BBC’s recent ‘Big Read’, flanked by The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien and Middlemarch by George Eliot. That said, I’ve never managed to plough my way through Hardy’s story of a country girl with a desperately cursed love life – probably scared away from the bookshelf by the thickness of Hardy’s tome that numbers 592 pages over 40 fat chapters.

Luckily for me the BBC have taken a kitchen knife to the novel and reduced it to a more digestible size – last night’s episode was the second instalment of a four part series. In the lead role is one of the most talented young actresses in Britain, Gemma Arterton. Only graduating from RADA last year Arterton has barely paused since, first making her debut in Stephen Poliakoff’s Capturing Mary and subsequently appearing in Guy Richie’s RocknRolla and Oliver Parker’s St Trinians. A promising future is expected for Arterton who not only possesses the industry’s essentials of being young, beautiful and talented – but has already completed an outing as a Bond-Girl in the forthcoming Quantum of Solace.

It’s a rightful treat for all of us when the BBC gets around to producing an adaptation like this. The costumes, the script and the quality of acting usually tend to surpass the standard of a Hollywood film and what’s better is that you can enjoy it for free (forget about the license fee for a moment). If you want to revisit or catch the first two episodes of the drama, then they are currently available on BBC iPlayer and they come with a Select Digital recommendation. Sunday nights all of a sudden are looking a little better.

Tags: BBC, Digital TV, Films by Peter Moore
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They think it’s all over… but it’s going to start again!

In anticipation of the beginning of another frantic Barclays Premiership season, we have put our collective football knowledge together and have assembled a list of predictions. With somewhere in the region of £270m having been spent by Premier League clubs, there is the guarantee of new faces amongst the old and the usual questions linger as to whether Chelsea can wretch the title back from Manchester United and whether any of the promoted teams has what it takes to survive amongst the big boys.

Players to watch:

Nani (Manchester United):

Whilst Cristiano Ronaldo has been perfectly seduced by Ramón Calderón and spent the summer prancing around Los Angeles in tight silver shorts and a pink t-shirt, most Manchester United fans have been reassuring themselves that if he did go his fellow countryman Nani is a more than capable replacement. Quick, with a powerful shot and a magician’s bag of tricks, this could be Nani’s real breakthrough season.

Robbie Keane (Liverpool)

It was one of football’s wonderful moments of hypocrisy when Daniel Levy, the man who spent last autumn poaching Juande Ramos from Sevilla, threatened Liverpool with disciplinary action for their unethical pursuit of Desperate-Dan lookalike, Robbie Keane. Nevertheless Rafa Benitez got his man and Keane signed for the club he supported as a lad. Free scoring and full of air-punching, cartwheel celebrations, his partnership with Fernando Torres promises to be a dangerous one.

Theo Walcott (Arsenal)

Two years after Sven Goran Erikson saw him as the solution to a shortage of forwards prior to the 2006 World Cup, Theo Walcott has not made the progress that some would have expected of him. As a result, the forthcoming season has to be the one when Arsenal’s razor quick forward pushes on. Mr Wenger will be expecting good performances from a player he confidently invested £12m in at the tender age of just 16.

Luka Modric (Tottenham)

The rising star of the Croatian national football team is described by many as a ‘gem.’ Modric offers Tottenham yet another attacking option and can play in a variety of positions across the midfield and also in the ‘hole’ behind the strike force of Darren Bent and Dimitar Berbatov. An undoubted talent who promises to showcase the same breed of diminutive skill that Juninho served up for Middlesbrough fans during the 1990s.

Samir Nasri (Arsenal)

It takes something rather special to prompt the mercurial Frenchman Arsene Wenger to part with the best part of £15m –and many suggest that Nasri, who has been dubbed the new ‘Zidane’, is just that. He failed to impress during the appalling French campaign at the European Championships, but his form for his former club Marseilles has been imperious and consistent. He promises to fit seamlessly into an Arsenal team that is committed to a elegant style of ‘sexy football.’

Jô (Manchester City)

Brazilian football players don’t usually come via Russia, and for that reason alone Manchester City’s £18m purchase Jô is noteworthy of attention. The young Brazilian has already won a cap for his country, notched up an impressive brace against Inter Milan and turned down a potentially lucrative transfer to Valencia. Brazilians are much more often found on the red side of Manchester, and Jô will be hoping to give the sky-blues something to cheer about

Heurelho Gomes (Tottenham)

People don’t usually come as tall as Peter Crouch, but Tottenham’s Brazilian international goalkeeper certainly does. Fresh from a successful spell at PSV, Spurs will be hoping that Gomes will offer some stability between the posts after the departure of an accident-prone Paul Robinson. At 6”7 he comes at a price of £88,000 per inch and Tottenham are going to hope that it is money well spent.

Steve Sidwell (Aston Villa)

After a year collecting his wages at Chelsea, Steve Sidwell once again has the prospect of first-team football in front of him after joining Aston Villa for a price of £5m. He joins a admirable list of red headed players to pull on the claret and blue shirt, following Tommy Johnson, Kevin Richardson, Phil King, Graham Fenton, Steve Staunton and Steve Davis.

Peter Crouch (Portsmouth)

Harry Redknapp has a ‘Dell Boy’ reputation of dabbling in the transfer market to various levels of success, but in snapping up beanpole striker Peter Crouch, he could have just landed an ace. Coupled with Jermaine Defoe, Crouch will provide the large half of a little and large striking partnership. Liverpool fans will be lamenting his loss, just as Portsmouth fans are preparing themselves for the prospect of some long ball football.

Prediction at the top:

Manchester United to cling on, but Ferguson will have to spit a few sparks at Scolari along the way. Chelsea to finish a close second.

Prediction at the bottom:

Take your pick of one from Hull, Stoke, West Brom, Bolton and Middlesbrough.

Dark Horses:

Sunderland under Roy Keane have been improving steadily, if their signings come off Tottenham should be a force to reckon with.

First manager for the chop:

Gary Megson of Bolton is the favourite, but it could go all wrong for Gareth Southgate up on Teesside quite easily too.

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If you are a committed football fan, then now is the time to sign up to digital television so that you can follow your team through the ups and the downs of the football season. It is not just the Premiership that is covered on digital television, but the whole football league, so be careful not to miss out. By clicking here you can see some of the best online offers available this August.

Tags: BBC, Digital TV, Sport by Peter Moore
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A glorious summer of ‘fiestas’ awaits

Just one week ago, the streets of Central London bubbled with the sight of thousands of Spanish football fans celebrating on the streets. Fast forward seven days and Rafael Nadal has fuelled the festivities once more, emerging victorious after a titanic tussle with Roger Federer as the new Wimbledon Gentleman’s Champion. What better time has there been to be Spanish?

The atmosphere around the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club fizzed with anticipation early yesterday afternoon before the final began. Nadal had powered his way through subsequent rounds, dismissing opponents with a shrug of his shoulders and with the clout of Optimus Prime. Waiting in the final, however, was the imperious Roger Federer. The artist of the tennis court. Quite capable of winning a tennis match whilst washing his hair.

Nadal started auspiciously. Taking the few opportunities to arise he soon led Roger Federer by two clear sets. Then, in a potent cocktail of British weather, Swiss determination and excellent tennis, the nature of the match changed. Federer was able to take full advantage of the intermittent rain delays and clawed back two sets, both on tie-breaks.

The fifth and deciding set took the players almost two hours to complete. Federer giving hope to his supporters, that included Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani, that he might complete one of Wimbledon’s most memorable comebacks. In a set which could be portentous for the immediate future of men’s tennis, Nadal emerged victorious. The end finally coming at almost ten minutes past nine when Federer slapped a forehand into the net and Nadal crumpled on the ground in celebration.

The world’s press quickly adopted a uniform opinion as the players accepted their awards from the Duke of Kent. ‘The biggest match!’, claimed the Spanish newspaper Marca. Erstwhile champions John McEnroe and Boris Becker agreed, claiming that it was the ‘best match’ they have ever seen.

An exhausted Nadal told press: ‘It’s impossible to describe. I’m just very happy. It’s unbelievable for me to have the title here at Wimbledon. It’s a dream. Always as a kid I dreamed of playing here.’

Federer was magnanimous in defeat, perhaps buoyed slightly by the fact that he remains the world’s top seeded player. ‘It’s my hardest loss by far,’ he confessed. ‘I’m happy that we lived up to expectations, but right now it’s not much of a good feeling.’

Boris Becker, summing up with day’s action, was warm in his appreciation of both of the players. ‘We were watching two of the greatest players to have played this beautiful game of tennis… the rankings may still have Federer as number one but it’s only a matter of time before Nadal takes over.’

The scene is set perfectly for a scrap between these two young tennis players that may last for the next few years. It promises to be a gripping fight.

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To keep in touch with the very latest sports news, check out Select Digital’s current offers on Sky and digital television packages. These services give you 24 hour access to a range of sporting and news broadcasters, ensuring that you are always in the thick of the action, wherever it is.

Tags: BBC, Digital TV, Sky, Sport by Peter Moore
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Back in the good ol’ days

Clobbering the television with a fist and skirting about the living room with an aerial, attempting to plot its electromagnetic potential are vivid recollections that I have of my time as a student.

As best the picture displayed on our fifteen year old wooden box was a fuzzy blur, with weathermen and news announcers flickering in and out of focus; coloured with a similar green hue to the animated character Shrek. At worst the picture would disappear completely into a black and white snowstorm as my housemates and I growled angrily away on the sofa.

Fast forward a decade and I have no idea as to whether or not that television is still chugging away – although I am rather sceptical. What I do know, is that with the advent of high-definition or HD television, even tightly hinged students’ wallets s should be tempted to cast their television punching days to history.

Sky announced at the end of last week that they are planning to increase their HD content and cut subscription prices to their flagship service. It all sounds a little convoluted, so in layman’s terms it means that you can snatch a cheaper digital deal for unparalleled crystal clear broadcasting quality. Sweet.

‘There’s a lot of changes coming,’ Sky announced expectantly, stating their hope to launch ITVHD in the near future. The prices are dropping too – with a £10 per month HD subscription fee being banded about a number of websites with a certain amount of alacrity.

Currently amongst the clump of high-definition channels, you can find Sky Sports HD, Sky One HD, Sky Movies HD, BBC HD, Sky Arts HD and the History Channel HD. The picture quality on HD is as sharp as a tiger’s tooth and the array of vivid colours and clear definition of animate objects is four times better than you’ll receive from the standard television signal.

Sky have already forged a reputation as the leading provider of high definition television and a spokesman mused recently that a re-launch of the HD programming guide (EPG) was a subtle augury of what was to come. ‘The EPG re-launch is just the first phase of a really good push on HD.’

Tags: BBC, Digital TV, High Definition TV, Sky by Peter Moore
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