Post by Teddy Bear on Jun 3, 2015 17:39:16 GMT
This story portrays exactly why I want to see the BBC privatised and have to make it on their (dire) merit.
Until then we will continue to get the British Bullshit Corporation.
Even the best figures for this programme would be poor by any standard, but the news boss James Harding would never admit that. According to him it's a great success with the most pathetic of excuses.
PRIVATISE THEM! Enough of this bullshit.
Until then we will continue to get the British Bullshit Corporation.
Even the best figures for this programme would be poor by any standard, but the news boss James Harding would never admit that. According to him it's a great success with the most pathetic of excuses.
PRIVATISE THEM! Enough of this bullshit.
Victoria Derbyshire's struggling news show seen by just 39,000 'is a success'... but only by 'standards we set it', claims BBC boss
By Katherine Rushton, Media And Technology Editor For The Daily Mail
The BBC has hailed Victoria Derbyshire´s struggling news show as a ´brilliant´ success - despite it attracting as few as 39,000 viewers.
In a scene that could have come straight from BBC parody W1A, BBC News boss James Harding said that the show had far exceeded expectations, but only ‘by the standards we set it’.
‘I think it has had an absolutely brilliant start,’ he said. ´The reason I think that is that what we were trying to do was to make a television programme that would live beyond television.
‘You’re getting audiences that are huge for digital packages that are running out of Victoria's programme and I think that… by the standards that we set it, it has far exceeded our expectations.’
Miss Derbyshire, a former Radio 5 Live presenter, launched her show - simply titled Victoria Derbyshire - in April.
It was intended to become the 'centrepiece of domestic daytime news', covering social issues in Britain and offering a break from the usual high-brow news programmes focussed on international issues.
However, even the most generous critic would be forced to admit that it has struggled to attract an audience.
The show on BBC2 and the BBC News channel, pulls in an average of 88,300 viewers, and - on one occasion - was watched by just 39,100 people.
Ratings this low are rounded down to zero on the official charts - a nightmare scenario for all broadcasters.
However, Mr Harding told a conference yesterday that Miss Derbyshire’s show should be judged by the number of people it reaches online and in the BBC News channel as well as during its live BBC2 broadcast.
He also insisted, somewhat euphemistically, that the programme is ‘brave’ and ‘important’ television.
‘If you look at what Victoria’s done, the programmes that she has done on dementia, treatment of fathers in the courts, of face transplants, of transgender children, it has really got [to subjects] that matter hugely and in a very brave and unusual way. It is nuanced but important television.’
He added: ‘Of course it’s different. What it was trying to do was address two big issues, which were are we really getting enough of the news that really matters to people in the UK?
‘Sometimes the news can feel like it tells you what’s happening in Syria but it doesn’t tell you what’s really on people´s minds in Swindon.’
Mr Harding’s defence will remind many viewers of scenes from W1A, the hit series which parodies life in the BBC, and shows executives relying on euphemisms and jargon to cover up their myriad mistakes.
However, it is not the only occasion in which life has imitated art.
The episode was eerily reminiscent of a W1A episode in which BBC executives hired Muslim weatherman Sadiq Iqbal, in order to meet demands from the government watchdog for a bearded presenter.
MPs accused the Corporation of being overly PC and ‘patronising’. But Mr Harding shrugged off the criticism.
‘We think we need to do more to give opportunities to disabled journalists to work at the BBC - if, occasionally, we get mocked for going out of our way to make sure the BBC is in touch with the country it serves, then so be it.’
- Former Radio 5 Live presenter Miss Derbyshire launched show in April
- It was intended to become the 'centrepiece of domestic daytime news'
- But show on BBC2 and BBC News pulls in average of 88,300 viewers
- BBC News boss James Harding says it has far exceeded expectations
By Katherine Rushton, Media And Technology Editor For The Daily Mail
The BBC has hailed Victoria Derbyshire´s struggling news show as a ´brilliant´ success - despite it attracting as few as 39,000 viewers.
In a scene that could have come straight from BBC parody W1A, BBC News boss James Harding said that the show had far exceeded expectations, but only ‘by the standards we set it’.
‘I think it has had an absolutely brilliant start,’ he said. ´The reason I think that is that what we were trying to do was to make a television programme that would live beyond television.
‘You’re getting audiences that are huge for digital packages that are running out of Victoria's programme and I think that… by the standards that we set it, it has far exceeded our expectations.’
Miss Derbyshire, a former Radio 5 Live presenter, launched her show - simply titled Victoria Derbyshire - in April.
It was intended to become the 'centrepiece of domestic daytime news', covering social issues in Britain and offering a break from the usual high-brow news programmes focussed on international issues.
However, even the most generous critic would be forced to admit that it has struggled to attract an audience.
The show on BBC2 and the BBC News channel, pulls in an average of 88,300 viewers, and - on one occasion - was watched by just 39,100 people.
Ratings this low are rounded down to zero on the official charts - a nightmare scenario for all broadcasters.
However, Mr Harding told a conference yesterday that Miss Derbyshire’s show should be judged by the number of people it reaches online and in the BBC News channel as well as during its live BBC2 broadcast.
He also insisted, somewhat euphemistically, that the programme is ‘brave’ and ‘important’ television.
‘If you look at what Victoria’s done, the programmes that she has done on dementia, treatment of fathers in the courts, of face transplants, of transgender children, it has really got [to subjects] that matter hugely and in a very brave and unusual way. It is nuanced but important television.’
He added: ‘Of course it’s different. What it was trying to do was address two big issues, which were are we really getting enough of the news that really matters to people in the UK?
‘Sometimes the news can feel like it tells you what’s happening in Syria but it doesn’t tell you what’s really on people´s minds in Swindon.’
Mr Harding’s defence will remind many viewers of scenes from W1A, the hit series which parodies life in the BBC, and shows executives relying on euphemisms and jargon to cover up their myriad mistakes.
However, it is not the only occasion in which life has imitated art.
The episode was eerily reminiscent of a W1A episode in which BBC executives hired Muslim weatherman Sadiq Iqbal, in order to meet demands from the government watchdog for a bearded presenter.
MPs accused the Corporation of being overly PC and ‘patronising’. But Mr Harding shrugged off the criticism.
‘We think we need to do more to give opportunities to disabled journalists to work at the BBC - if, occasionally, we get mocked for going out of our way to make sure the BBC is in touch with the country it serves, then so be it.’