A former BBC director fears the broadcaster might some day become a subscriber-based service. “The second we move to a subscriber [TV] model you exclude the people who can’t afford it. All the homes that didn’t subscribe would be deprived of programmes that are important. Children’s programmes would be massively affected. You cut people off – especially the poor people of society. It is possible we will lose public funding and that the BBC will move in a subscriber direction, but that is a sad day I will not cheer.”
Tag: 08.28.05
BBC To Upload Programming
BBC Director Mark Thompson says the public broadcaster will soon make it possible for users to download TV and radio programs. “The device, with a working title of MyBBCPlayer, would let web users download original radio and TV programming from its website for as long as seven days after it was broadcast. He disclosed that the BBC intended to introduce the measure because it had to extend the means by which the public could reach its programmes if it was to retain the licence fee.
Why Is Local Public TV So Bad?
“Local stations can’t afford to create the ‘wow’ factor. The cost of creating local programming that meets the expectations of mass viewers is prohibitive. The existence of so many public-TV outlets offers great potential for public affairs programming and community involvement, and a counterbalance to the news on commercial stations that often focuses on crime and fluff. But too often precious airtime and local resources are burned up in broadcasting carbon-copy national programs, critics say.”
TV Fails At The Movies
Movie remakes of old TV shows haven’t worked well this summer. “A lot of these shows are badly dated, and though they may have worked in the 1960s or ’70s, when they’re updated they just seem irrelevant. The thing that seems charming today isn’t the plot or the jokes, but the time-capsule quality. Plus, people are used to seeing these shows on the small screen. You have to have something really special to justify transplanting them to the movies.”
What’s Happening To Minority Theatre In Southern California?
Orange County has a huge Hispanic population. For 25 years, South Coast Repertort Theatre’s Hispanic Playwrights Project nurtured writers such as Jose Rivera, Octavio Solis and Pulitzer Prize winner Nilo Cruz. “Then last year, after nearly two decades, the program was cut. A second blow came last spring when the Center Theater Group of Los Angeles dropped several development programs, including the Latino Theatre Initiative. Since HPP’s demise, South Coast Rep has programmed nothing by Latino authors other than its long-running Christmas show, La Posada Magíca.”
Ailey-As-Institution
“Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre isn’t just another arts organisation, it’s a phenomenon. Modern dance com- panies don’t come any more popular — or populist — than this indefatigable African-American troupe.”
Pennsylvania – Land Of The Non-Profit
In the past decade, non-profits have created one in every four jobs in Pennsylvania. “Nonprofits now employ about one in 10 working Pennsylvanians, among the highest rates in the nation. Philadelphia itself is almost off the charts, with one in five workers in the city employed by nonprofits at the end of 2003. The comparable rate for the United States: one in 14.”
Chicago – Then And Now
Chicago has always been a great music town. But the last 40 years have expanded the depth and breadth of classical Chicago. “Seed money from the National Endowment for the Arts (founded in 1965) and other granting institutions created fertile ground for new performing arts groups in the late ’60s and throughout the ’70s and ’80s. And many of those groups sustained their growth through the new practice of subscription ticket sales, which in turn fanned individual giving. As a result, the city now pulses with dozens of music ensembles made up of local professionals, almost all of them founded since 1967.”
Korean Soaps Find American Audiences
“As Americans flee network television in droves, Korean dramas are grabbing audience share. In the Bay Area, “Dae Jang Geum,” or “Jewel in the Palace,” aired this spring, dubbed in Mandarin on the Chinese-language KTSF. For the finale, more than 100,000 fans tuned in, handing the show higher ratings than ABC’s “Extreme Makeover,” the WB’s “Starlet” or PBS’ “Live From Lincoln Center” in that time slot. The ‘Korean wave’ of pop culture — known in South Korea as hallyu — is a point of national pride, helping introduce the country to the world and breaking down historical grudges with its neighbors. The soaps have also boosted the popularity of South Korean movies and singing acts.”
How America Is Failing At Public Diplomacy
A nation’s culture, exported to the world, acts powerfully in the arena of diplomacy. But “despite a mounting stack of reports recommending drastic changes in the organization and funding of public diplomacy, very little of substance has been done. And most Americans, including many who make it their business to analyze public diplomacy, seem unmindful of the negative impression that America has recently been making on the rest of humanity — via our popular culture.”