Last week’s TV – Waterloo Road and The Restaurant

Matt Robinson on a disappointing return for Waterloo Road and the promise of fine entertainment from a new series of The Restaurant.

It was back to school for the ‘Best Year Ever’ at Waterloo Road last week, but sadly for head teacher Rachel Mason (Eva Pope) it was far from the great start she may have wanted…..

Click here to read more at www.inthenews.co.uk

To read my previous reviews of the week’s TV visit my online portfolio here

Takeaway website claims to be able to predict X Factor result?

Copyright ITV

 An online takeaway ordering website claims to be able to predict who will be eliminated from the X Factor, based on when customers placed their orders on Saturday night.

Do you think you know who will be the next person to be eliminated from The X Factor on ITV1 on Sunday? Since Rachel Adedeji was booted out of the competition on Sunday an online takeaway ordering website claims that its sales figures appear to mirror the public vote.

After analysing its sales volume on Saturday from 8:00pm – 10:00pm, 118Menu.co.uk discovered that it received most of its orders when the bottom two acts in the sing off, Rachel and Lloyd were performing.  

As a result the website now believes it can predict the outcome of who will be poll in the bottom two by seeing when customers ‘tune off’ and place their orders for their Saturday night takeaway.

According to the online ordering site Stacey Solomon, Jedward and controversially, Danyl Johnson are all deemed safe, having generated the lowest volume of sales during their performances, whilst Lloyd Daniels and Jamie Archer are expected to face elimination, having brought in the highest number of sales.

118Menu.co.uk achieved its highest sales volume of 25 per cent for the time period during the slot in which Rachel Adedji performed U2’s ‘One’, the next highest of the evening was polled during the time when Lloyd took to the stage to sing Katy Perry’s ‘I Kissed A Girl’

Mark Hall, founder of 118Menu.co.uk said: “We saw our highest volume of sales on Saturday night, and with The X Factor now in full swing many families are using the time to treat themselves to their favourite takeaway.

“We were shocked when we analysed the data on Monday morning and saw that our sales volumes were at their peak when Rachel and Lloyd were performing but it makes sense that the public are using the time when their least favourite act is on stage to order their takeaway.

“From our sales volume this Saturday night we believe Lloyd Daniels could be in trouble again next week and for the first time Jamie Archer could be trying to impress the judges in the final showdown.”  

The X Factor airs Saturday and Sunday nights at 8pm.

See below for a full list of X Factor performers times compared to 118Menu.co.uk sales volumes for Saturday 31^st October:

8:03 Joe McElderry – 11%

8:15 Lucie Jones – 9%

8:27 Danyl Johnson – 4%

8:40 Lloyd Daniels – 20%

8:48 Stacey Solomon – 3%

8:59 Jamie Archer – 18%

9:12 Rachel Adedeji – 25%

9:18 John and Edward – 2%

9:30 Olly Murs – 8%

Review: 9 – 2009 animated thrill ride adventure

Tim Burton produced 9 is one of the most visually stunning animated movies of 2009, sadly though the plot is less than inspired.

Director: Shane Acker

Released: October 28th

Running Time: 79 mins

Starring: Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer, Jennifer Connelly and John C Reily, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau, Fred Tatasicore.

Rich in stunning imagery, and a dark overbearing message, 9, on the face of it should be a fantastic thrill ride of a movie. Sadly though, it falls into the realms of so many other animated movies, in failing to deliver a compelling plot, with depth and originality.

The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world destroyed by machines, after a Government initiative to help the nation prosper in times of economic downturn, goes wrong, leaving all human life extinct. As 9, a hand sewn sack, in human form awakes; he soon discovers he is not alone, and that there is a whole group of others like him. Despite being the neophyte of the group he persuades them to come out of hiding and fight The Beast, a red eyed Terminator type creature who stalks the wasteland that has become earth.  As they fight for survival the soon discover that the future of preserving humanity’s legacy lies in their hands.

“We had such potential. Such promise. But we squandered our gifts. And so, 9, I am creating you. Our world is ending. Life must go on.” – The Scientist

The biggest problem with 9 is that in expanding it from an 11 minute wordless short that was awarded by the Academy in 2005, to a 79 minute talkie, Acker has created a film without much substance.

What could have been a masterpiece of cinema, instead just becomes a better than average CG movie. Artistically the film pushes the boundaries of computer animation to a new level. The films design is superb and it is easy to get lost in the wilderness of the human less world. The landscapes convey a real sense of terror, the machines would not look out of place in a Hollywood action blockbuster and the movies tone is dark and unrelenting.

The plot though is very predicable, moving from set piece to set piece without a strong narrative thread. The movies message, which only unfolds in the closing chapters is strong, and not like the overbearing message of Wall-E, but by the time it comes it fails to thrill.

If you can get passed the lack of story, 9 is a thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining affair, full of action and drama. It is also full of heart and good intention, as 9 and his pals fight to save what is left of the human soul, with the last remaining human scientist having implanted fragments of his own soul in their textile bodies.

The only puzzling thing about the film though is who Acker seems to be targeting. The film is too violent and sinister to delight young children, while adults will not connect with the stereotypical one dimensional characters who are instantly forgettable.

On the whole, 9 is a rather good movie. The cast list is strong, the action is thrilling, but there is something missing preventing 9 from reaching that perfect score. While it is unlikely to become a firm favourite, it is both fresh and different to the usual pack of poor animated movie we have seen in the past. If Acker can nail a strong story, and continue to deliver visually, three words spring to mind. Watch out Pixar!

3/5

Fearne Cotton and Greg James replace Jo Whiley and Edith Bowman in the biggest Radio One daytime schedule overhaul in five years

Jo Whiley and Edith Bowman are to leave the daytime Radio 1 schedule it was revealed today.

The biggest shake up in five years to the Monday to Friday line-up will see Fearne Cotton take up residence the 10am – 12.45 slot, with Greg James gradating from early breakfast to the 1pm to 4pm slot.

Whiley and Bowman will both remain on the station though with Whiley taking over weekend afternoons between 1pm and 4pm  from Nihal, while Bowman takes over weekend breakfast. 

Dev, who currently hosts weekend breakfast and recently joined the station from sister station 1xtra will take over the the early breakfast show from Greg James. 

Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt said: “BBC Radio 1 must continue to change to connect with a new generation of audiences and this is a significant move, promoting three of our up and coming broadcasters into the heart of the schedule” 

TV Review: Glastonbury, Skins and Ugly Betty

 

For many it is the biggest music event of the year and the highlight of the festival calendar – a weekend of music and debauchery, which provides the perfect escape from their mundane lives. For the rest it is an excuse to enjoy three nights of fantastic music from some of the worlds most established artists.

 

So it’s hardly surprising that the BBC’s coverage of Glastonbury came under fire this week.  Whilst the cost of sending in excess of four hundred staff and freelancers to cover the three-day music festival is an excessive questionable expense, it is even more perplexing how, despite sending so many staff, appalling the coverage actually was.

 

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, the Tax Payers Alliance described the event as “an annual jamboree for BBC employees” – and that is exactly how it appeared on screen.

 

There was no consistency, the coverage fleeted between minor snippets of artists sets and was regularly duplicated, with BBC Two and BBC Three at times showing the same performances – it appeared as if the BBC were struggling to find content to broadcast – surprisingly.

 

The presenting was egotistical and shambolic, and alienating to the viewer. The presenters regularly tried to introduce acts with no comprehension of when they were due to start and looked like they were on a jolly weekend rather than work.

 

Whilst the music was excellent it would have been nice to see far more of it, sparring the viewer endless spats of mindless twaddle rather than regular spouts of music.

 

The other big talked about event of the last week, was the return of Ugly Betty. However despite bundles of media coverage, the big question is do we actually care? The simple answer is no. 

 

Whilst I will freely admit I have never been an avid Ugly Betty viewer, the show, now in its third season, should have progressed far more than it has. Betty starts of the season stating that she is not going to engage in anymore romantic entanglements, throw herself into her work and search for her own apartment – hardly cutting edge television, least of all for the opening to a third season.  Furthermore it is cause for concern when a show starts treading over old ground, like throwing Betty into a sexy photo-shoot something the audience witnessed back in season one.

 

Changing the format and tone of a show can be a costly and dangerous move. Sometimes it works, other times it fails miserably. The term usually referred too as ‘Jumping the Shark’ has never been more apt than in the case of Skins, which received its Channel 4 premier last night (01/06/09).

 

The gamble of ditching the original cast was a risky move. Whilst in some ways it has worked, the show continues to perform well in the ratings (regularly pulling in 700k during its original run on E4 earlier this year) – creatively it is not what it was.

 

Whilst still holding on to a large degree of realism through its presentation of youth culture, it has become to fantastical. Now it relies heavily on using violence, sex and swearing to fluidly without any genuine purpose other than to create a glamorised product to sell to the youth market, many of whom find such methods unappealing, due to the way in which they are forced upon them.

 

If the show is to continue beyond it’s already commission fourth season, the producers need to capture the charm and magic of the first two seasons, which it made it so groundbreaking and original. Although fundamentally we need a cast of characters we can care about and plots more exciting than a dull love triangle, which takes an entire season to reach no real conclusion with a load of swearing, violence and sex in between.

 

Thankfully all is not lost because E4’s homegrown comedy The Inbetweeners also received its Channel 4 premier this week, which is a far engaging offering than Skins, which claims to funny but in fact is just an embarrassment.

BBC and Commercial Radio sector announce new Digital Britain partnership at Media Guardian’s Radio Reborn conference

 

Media Guardian’s Radio Reborn conference truly signified a new era for the Radio Industry. The big news of the conference, which took place at the CBI Conference Centre yesterday, was the joint announcement between the BBC and the commercial radio sector that they are to form a new partnership initiative designed to place radio at the heart of Digital Britain and secure its digital future.

 

The initiative intends to establish The Radio Council, which will lead to a range of partnership initiatives between the BBC and the three largest commercial groups, Global Radio, Bauer Media and GMG, as well as the RadioCentre to represent the rest of the commercial sector, bringing the industry together to secure radio’s future in the digital age.

Under the plans, users can expect to see a universal radio player similar to that of the BBC iPlayer encompassing all the leading commercial and BBC stations across the UK.

Whilst the announcement was well received, details are rather limited. That said the news that the key players within the industry are working together, whilst still competing individually for listeners, means that the long term future of securing a strong and universal platform for all radio content is secured. 

The move to digital is already well underway for television. The same is needed for radio if it is to continue and maintain its reach onto new platforms as analogue switch off approaches. 

However, whilst these proposals are a step in the right direction, support and understanding of DAB is crucial. It was therefore pleasing to see that the conference spent a large part of the day tackling these issues and discussing the importance of securing a migration date to digital switchover similar to that set for TV, 2012.

Global Radio chief executive Stephen Miron led the calls stating that the government needed to focus its minds on a set date. Miron’s claims are notably significant for they herald the first time a commercial player has spoken so favourably of DAB, after years of lukewarm support. 

He told delegates: ”We back digital, and we back the strategy but we cannot afford to get this wrong. The next draft [of Digital Britain] needs to be bolder. Digital Britain has made us focus our minds. Now the government must focus theirs,” he said.

“We have embarked on a clear path to digital – to DAB – and we need to make serious progress and do it quickly. This means naming a date for migration, with a transparent set of criteria for all the relevant parties to meet. Whatever the date, and we personally believe the earlier the better, a firm date needs to be set.”

Although these plans are all still in the preliminary stages the sheer optimism and presence of new blood like Tim Davie, BBC director of audio & music and Global Radio’s chief executive Stephen Miron recently parachuted in from Associated Newspapers, in the industry, suggests the future looks very prosperous for the radio industry.

Miron made a rallying cry to the industry demanding that success and growth lied in positivity and a belief in the medium. He said: Commercial radio does “not believe in itself nearly enough”, adding that it and was too insular, too navel-gazing and not ambitious enough – and that needs to change and will change as we move towards Digital Britain. 

The Digital Britain report will be published in the coming months.

Britain’s Got Talent star Susan Boyle is a You Tube hit with over 100m views

 

 

Susan Boyle impresses audiences at the Britain's Got Talent auditions

 

Susan Boyle became a household name after appearing on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent. Now her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” from “Les Miserables,” has now been viewed by over 100 million people on You Tube making her more popular than US President Barack Obama. 

Her success clearly highlights the power of the relationship between television and the web. TV gave Susan Boyle a platform, the web made her an international star. Increasing web awareness then subsequently drives up TV audiences.

The web traffic which has driven Boyle’s international profile has done wonders for ITV. Britain’s Got Talent is regularly pulling in 12 million viewers each week,  its highest ever audience, as viewers tune in see to the likes of Susan Boyle audition for the chance to perform in front of the Queen at the Royal Variety Performance. 

 

It this relationship, between the internet and television, which is crucial to securing the future of television as advertising revenue, continues to fall. It is clear that harnessing the potential in mass multi-platform cross-overs have the potential to bring significant rewards for all the members at the Britain’s Got Talent table. However, whilst the Susan Boyle phenomenon highlights a number of new ways to generate revenue and expand big power brands in other markets around the world, the speed with which Susan Boyle became such a big star raises some issues.

Sourcing and capitalising on these elements early is crucial. The failure to get advertising into the clips of Susan Boyle which have been watched by over 100 million people around the world was a big mistake which has cost ITV millions. If ITV is going to cash in on its products, then it needs to find ways to align with video websites like YouTube, to find ways that both sites can benefit financially. ITV.com is not a stronger enough brand from which to build this multi-platform content. Whilst it works for the BBC with likes of Dragons’ Den Online, ITV needs to realise the greater marketability of its content. Shows like Britain’s Got Talent are no longer solely dependent on ratings, whilst they are important, in the growing multimedia age and the world of Web 2.0, the sooner ITV acts on this the better. Otherwise they will fail to bring in much needed revenue from the next Susan Boyle. 

Easter TV Analysis

Red Dwarf was a smash hit for Dave

Digital TV channel Dave recorded its highest ever audience figures over the weekend with its 3 part micro series revival of Red Dwarf but other television highlights were rather no existent. 

The half hour show which saw the crew transported back to present-day Earth to plead with their creator to write more episodes pulled in 2.1m (10%) on Dave with a further 341, 000 viewing an hour later on time-shift service Dave Ja Vu. 

The subsequent episodes in the new mini series drew 937,000 viewers between 9pm and 9.35pm, with a further 303,000 on Dave Ja Vu on Saturday. The final edition attracted 1 million viewers and a 4.6% multichannel share between 9pm and 9.30pm, with a further 244,000 on the time-shift channel on Sunday.

However despite the shows success, which completely dwarfed the channel’s slot average so far this year of 236,000 (1.1%) for all of 2008, it averaged 266,000 (1.4%), there was little else to excite viewers over the poor weather. 

BBC and ITV both failed to offer a schedule anywhere close to outshining Christmas last year, opting instead for ordinary programming which saw Britain’s Got Talent return for a third outing and Hell’s Kitchen a fourth. Whilst both delivered strong audiences for ITV1, 10.4m for Britain’s Got Talent and 5m for Hell’s Kitchen, it would have been far more enjoyable to have had more special one off programming and blockbuster films (which haven’t already aired at least 10 times on numerous occasions before). There are only so many times you can sit through Chicken Run (Easter Saturday BBC1) and don’t even get me started on the dreadful King Arthur (Easter Monday BBC1). 

The only sign of effort came in the form of the first of David Tennant’s four farewell episodes. ‘Planet of the Dead’ which also starred Michelle Ryan of Eastenders and Bionic Woman fame was good family entertainment but failed to reach the same heights as the return of the embarrassing Britain’s Got Talent managing only 8.41m viewers.

Whilst overall it was a relatively strong weekend for TV viewing. It seems that in the midst of the credit-crunch, controllers are merely playing it safe, rather than investing in quality programming. Surely the viewing public deserved more than just wall-to-wall repeats and reality shows.

As Broadcast reported last week TV viewing is down year on year. During the first three months of the year, the average person watched 224 minutes of TV per day, compared with 229 minutes for the same three-month period last year. Uplifting shows like Britain’s Got Talent may fill up large parts of the schedule but if audiences are to rise (and ultimately advertising revenue which helps fun quality programming) controllers are going to have to get more creative. There are only so many times that you can throw out long running formats, take Big Brother which is due to end this summer after a 10 year run and dwindling ratings, whether they rate high or not. They are one genre of programming, they don’t appeal to everyone, more diversity and originality is imperative to engaging with ones audience and beating the competition.

Wired magazine launches in the UK – But is it really plugged in?

The eagerly anticipated re-launch (a previous attempt failed fourteen years ago) of Wired, the magazine about what’s next, hit UK stores last week, but was some what of a disappointment.

Whilst launching a new magazine in an economic downturn, particularly one which failed to capture the interest of UK readers first time around, is some what questionable, Wired’s biggest problem is that it doesn’t feel that new or innovative.

Although there are some interesting articles like: ‘How the iPlayer saved the BBC’ and ‘Your life is a number’ a large majority of the magazine is pictorial. The magazine is full of sexy shots of new technology, including 3 double page spreads of circuit boards and wiring and 10 pages of speakers and other musical equipment, with very little copy to support it. This unfortunately just comes across as porn for geeks rather than supporting the magazine’s strap-line – ‘the future as it happens’.

In many ways this is the root of Wired’s problem. It doesn’t appear to be practicing what it is preaching, or at the very least, not in the way the reader expects. A magazine is hardly the format for getting up to speed with the latest developments in technology and innovative engineering. Monthly magazines prepare content months in advance, so if Wired’s statement is that it delivers – ‘the future as it happens’ – it’s arguments and stories can hardly be as groundbreaking as they claim, if they are only confined to a monthly publication rather than a constantly updated website, fully rooted in Web 2.0.

New Editor David Rowan told  The Guardian “There are quite a lot of magazines in Britain doing products, with girls in bikinis with iPhones. That wasn’t us.” He added that what Wired UK aims to do “is not fluff or bullshit: its data”. That may be so but the result is a large number of pieces which fail to capitalise on their content, most notably an interview with Twitter CEO Evan Williams.

Despite all this though, Wired does show potential. Its website has a number of original stories uploaded daily and the concept of informing the masses about the changing nature of the web and technology has a lot of scope. However its focus and the way in which this data is packaged needs addressing. In basic terms the magazine tries to hard to cram in to much at the expense of detail. Whilst graphically stunning throughout, it is this which distracts and confuses the reader. For Wired to work it needs to simplify its message and design and focus more on copy, so that reader doesn’t feel robbed or left out of the loop, which Wired is clearly trying to bring the reader into.

In conclusion, whilst the model appears to work in the US, since launching in 1993, it would seem that Wired would have benefited from taking the Maxim approach, investing solely in its online counterpart.

Reporting the G20 Protests in Central London – the benefits of using Web 2.0

For an aspiring journalist last week’s G20 protests outside the Bank of England highlighted the benefits of Web 2.0 for the reporter superbly.

Social Media came into its own throughout the entirety of the protest. The Guardian, The Times and the BBC all had reporters posting on Twitter and other mediums.

Not wanting to miss out on the opportunity, equipped with my Nokia N95 I headed down to capture the action. Once I arrived I instantly found myself catapulted into a crowd swarming with journalists armed with recording devices, cameras and mobile phones. It was astonishing to see such an army of people all trying to capture the moment with portable devices, whilst camera crews struggled to gain a prominent position amongst the restless crowds.

Deciding not to cross the police barrier, I positioned myself right behind the police line adjacent to Royal Bank of Scotland. Managing to secure a prime view of the action I set about capturing video and pictures whilst posting updates to my Twitter account. However it wasn’t long before these tools came into their own, as the crowds grew hostile and violence set in.

Having joined Qik, moments before departing City University I began streaming video of the action for my fellow course mates immediately. My efforts quickly attracted viewers, with many more viewing the footage since. Videos of the days action are available here. I was amazed how easy it was to generate original content from the ground, which I was able to post direct to my blog.

Having the power to produce instant content like this is invaluable. The more people that produce content the bigger the picture the audience gets of what is happening. The only trouble then is keeping up with the updates and highlighting what is legitimate.

As the day unfolded it became clear how powerful the role of citizen journalism is, and how crucial tools like Twitter are becoming in reporting events live from the ground. In many ways this was the first real test for Twitter. Visitors to The Guardian, The Times and the BBC websites where all exposed to rolling coverage from the likes of Paul Lewis who were posting live up to the minute information from the Square Mile. It was certainly the first time the site has been used at such length to describe the events of a major news event.

As newspaper ABC’s continue to fall, the Web 2.0 model online is becoming much more appealing. Whilst every media outlet in the UK descended on the Square Mile that afternoon to report on the violence and the attacks on Royal Bank of Scotland the fact that I was also posting pictures to Twit Pic direct from my phone via text and sending updates direct to my Twitter followers, highlights the necessity of news organisations and journalists to find the best ways of packaging and distributing this date to the public. Content in this form is not unique, it is expected, but it is how this presented to the reader which attracts attention. My attempts where relatively small scale, but the fact that was able to do so raises concerns about what is next. There is only so far citizen journalists can go though.

However if increasing numbers of people are able to generate this content cheaply and people are able to access it for free, what is the future for the linear news article or straight news report. Is there still a demand for the news in this format?

Speaking on Media Talk this week Janine Gibson, editor of guardian.co.uk, described the use of Twitter and Google Mapping as: ”The best way of telling the story.. it’s an an incredibly useful way to show the users what is happening in different pockets of London. Twitter has a very simple function, which becomes perfect for saying - What can you see? What are you doing? It becomes really useful because what your representing is all the strands of the story.

“Even with broadcast cameras on a story like that, you only see one linear thing at a time. This was not a linear narrative story, you’ve got pockets of different temperatures you need to take, lots of different narratives to bring together and there is something something fantastic about being able to see all those strands simultaneously and work your way through which represents what it is.”

If nothing else, last week demonstates that social media and Web 2.0 are the future for reporting, however despite Robin Hamman discussing here the new technologies and opportunities for covering events like the G20 protests, if more and more people take up these tools, what can be said for the future of journalists and the news organisations they work for?