BBC wasting money

[John Fleming]

I read in the paper this morning that the BBC spends £11 million per year on Gaelic programming. Nothing against the Scots but how many of them actually speak Gaelic, much less as a first language? Likewise all the Asian language programmes that no one will mention for fear of being called racist, all the Asians I've met speak English so why waste money catering for those that don't?

If a fraction of this money were to be offered as rewards for collectors to return missing TV I bet a *lot* more would be returned.

[Greg H]

erm, I havent seen any Asian language tv productions by the BBC so far, im a huge fan of bollywood and all its other Asian variants (pollywod, tollywood etc) so if you could point me in the right direction I would be very greatful Dont they do an Asian radio station or something? I should tune in more as I love a bit of bhagra.

But if we are talking about the BBC wasting money............ eastenders anyone? Lol, I cant stand those stupid cockneys

Havent seen any Gaelic TV yet. I watched some welsh language TV on the tail end of some mushrooms one time and it was pretty splendid. Wasnt too sure what was going on in the sitcom I watched but it was fun... kinda

Hope this helps!

GH

[Kev Mulrenan]

Far too much fuss has been made of the launch of Gaelic tv.

My Dad watches BBC2 Scotland every Thursday night for the Gaelic shows.

They have a huge archive of shows that will be shown as repeats as well as some new programming. I imagine a large cross over of programmes with TG4, the equivalent in Ireland.

Once it's up and running I think there will be value for money there.

Are people against it because Gaelic is a minority language?

If there was no Gaelic channel Auntie Beeb would not spend the money on archive stuff.

[John Fleming]

My beef isn't with the Gaelic language but with the BBC's priorities. The famous private video library could be picked up for less than what the BBC are prepared to spend on one day's Gaelic programming, and would be of interest to a larger part of the population, ie anyone with more than a passing interest in 70's pop music, so if the beeb are prepared to spend a vast sum of money on one then why not the other?

I could be wrong regarding the Asian programming, it may have been ITV or C4, I thought it was the BBC but wouldn't bet money on it.

Sorry if I've caused any offence. I'm just annoyed at the BBC's refusal to buy the library and tend to get riled by anything involving them spending huge sums of money. I believe they are aware of the library but won't pay for it. However I've had an idea; Sir Jimmy Savile is well known for his opinions on the wiping of TOTP so does anyone know if we can get a message to him? It would be great if he would put his weight behind a call for the BBC to buy and televise the library.

[Kev Mulrenan]

Archive tv ain't sexy as far as the Beeb are concerned. Period.

We are a dedicated few swimming against the tide I am afraid.

And I can't see that changing anytime soon.

[lpmoderator]

There's no guarantee that this so-called private video library that's out there is anything like what it's claimed to be though! The tapes may or may not be playable / contain what they are supposed to (and if they do play, are in a quality far less than "broadcast standard"). I'm all for looking into it and recovering such material (I don't think they are worthless recordings just because they are domestic quality) but anyone who pays £20,000 for this collection on the offchance needs their head examined!

Nor do I think it's a good way to spend BBC money either (although I DO think that making a concerted effort to recover, for example, the many TOTP clips that are known to exist in broadcast standard outside the BBC IS!) There are at least 30 - 40 known clips and adds up to quite a lot, especially useful if the BBC has to increase it's useage of it's music archive (which, as far as pop / rock programming is concerned anyway, pretty much only begins specifically in 1971 with OGWT, to all intents and purposes - all the others such as Colour Me Pop, TOTP, Beat Room, Disco 2, Once More With Felix, 6.5 Special etc are all largely gone, save a few bits and pieces).

[John Fleming]

I wouldn't expect the Beeb to pay for the library without first viewing it, but if it is what it claims to be, and the fact that the Queen management have supposedly bought various Queen clips from it suggests that it is, then I reckon it is worth £20,000 of BBC money personally. If they can afford to spend £11 million a year on a language spoken by just 58,000 people (source: today's Daily Express) then by my reckoning if 106 people want to watch the stuff in this library then that works out at approx the same spending per viewer.

I think there are about 60 clips in private hands but aren't many of these timecoded and many more poor quality? I don't understand why clips are a good way to spend BBC money but full shows are not.

Say for arguments sake you are a big Sweet fan. Would you rather see the extant clip of "Blockbuster" (again), either of the two clips of "Teenage Rampage" (a much better bet), or the entire 500th, including "Ballroom Blitz" (the best option surely).

[lpmoderator]

johnf said:

I think there are about 60 clips in private hands but aren't many of these timecoded and many more poor quality? I don't understand why clips are a good way to spend BBC money but full shows are not.

Because they are an unknown quantity (in terms of content, quality and playability). Regardless of personal taste, the TOTP clips are broadcast quality and more readily re-useable without extensive restoration to make them watchable. £20,000 is an obscene amount of money to pay for some non-verified (and at best) fuzzy tapes. More should be spent on missing TV generally by archives - but on searching for material and on restoration rather than handing it over as ransom money.

Yes, 30 - 40 clips was a very rough estimate and there are probably more that are not known about as yet. It's only viewing copies knocking around that are time-coded - the masters are broadcast.

[John Fleming]

Don't get me wrong, the clips are wonderful, but how much more so would it be to complete a great chunk of the 70's. As regards taste maybe my example wasn't well explained, "Teenage Rampage" is my favourite Sweet song, but no one has seen "Ballroom Blitz" from the 500th since 1973, so that would be more interesting. "Blockbuster" is the only Sweet clip the BBC regularly show, despite them holding "Hellraiser" for example, and familiarity breeds contempt.

[lpmoderator]

They'll definitely lose their charter if they start handing out £20,000 for some home videos. It's quite rightly not going to happen.