BBC News: BBC World News, BBC Videos, and BBC News // Current

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1 month ago

US man who spied for Israel goes free:

US man who spied for Israel goes free: : An 85-year-old former civilian employee of the U.S. Army was fined but avoided prison... more

Highr0ller
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United Kingdom Talk Video WidescreenThursday 28th May 2009

Thursday's edition of my three times a week talk show.Watch the show here on CURRENT TV on Tues, Thurs & Sats. In... more

ChrisReardon
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Man saves ducklings from ledge

A banker from Spokane, Washington, in the USA, has rescued a brood of ducklings which hatched on a ledge.

lvp
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BBC's answer to Skins...

and it's shit... Youth culture through the eyes of the BBC. What do you think?

jamieson
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Dr. Who - New Series & Movie In The Works

David Tennant is to appear as the Time Lord in Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures, the BBC has announced. Tennant,... more

Jamesbuckingham
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Tamil Tigers admit leader is dead

Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have admitted for the first time that their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is dead. A... more

kushan
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BBC Films to shoot East Is East sequel West Is West

BBC Films have announced plans for a sequel to 1999 box office and critical hit East Is East, which vividly charted the internal... more

slagface
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What's the biggest waste of money in the world?

Is it divorce? that BBC license fee? expensive beauty creams? B.N.P election broadcasts? During crunchy times like these let us... more

Mr_Costello
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BBC in a Cultural --BEEP!--Storm

"There are not too many quiet days at the BBC. The Corporation is under almost constant and forensic gaze. This is not altogether surprising, given that the BBC receives £3.5bn of public funds via the licence fee each year. It is one of the largest and most visible public institutions in the country. Fierce public scrutiny has always dogged it, but there are new factors conspiring to make life even more difficult. And, in some ways, it only has itself to blame.

The BBC has become a victim of its own incredible success. It has emerged as a hugely powerful player over the last 10 years across national and - increasingly - international media. During this time it has raced to increase its number of TV and radio stations and has managed to establish a dominant position in online news. Its commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, has grown from strength to strength, boasting an ever larger profit from its spin-off magazines and sale of programmes abroad.

And the more visible and influential it becomes, the more it is dragged into highly charged national debates about culture, language and acceptable levels of taste and decency in Britain. The Sachsgate affair last October caused a firestorm, and illustrated how swiftly the Corporation can be drawn into these rows over morality and culture. It has left many within the BBC complaining of a "culture of fear" that suppresses innovation and creativity.

And with the BBC's increased economic power and dominance has come a new level of scrutiny, criticism and often anger from Britain's commercial media. They resent the BBC's growth, built on a public subsidy, just at the point where they are experiencing a calamitous collapse in advertising revenues and are further threatened by an explosion in digital media which, in some cases, is eroding traditional business models.

Where once the money available to commercial broadcasters (from advertising) was broadly equivalent to the money the BBC recouped from the licence fee - and hence a level playing field existed between the two broadcast tribes - that has now changed. The gap is now increasing each year as ad revenues decline and the BBC pockets its guaranteed income.""There are not too many quiet days at the BBC. The Corporation is under almost constant and forensic gaze. This is not... more

St_Alia_10191
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1 month ago

Slumdog actor forced out of home

"Slumdog Millionaire" actor, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, has been left homeless after Mumbai's city authorities... more

Skyscraper08
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1 month ago

Culture on Television: A Lost Art?

"On first meeting Melyvn Bragg, Tony Blair is said to have told him that his cultural education had come from The South Bank Show. Many people of a certain age may feel the same way – which perhaps explains why news of the show's demise last week was viewed as a defining moment in measuring the decay of ITV and competitive public service broadcasting. "It tells us we're in different times," says Alan Yentob, the BBC's creative director.

But it has also prompted a wider question: whether ambitious cultural programming still has a place on the main terrestrial television channels. Forty per cent of total TV viewing has now moved to non-terrestrial channels – forcing ITV, for instance, to concentrate on middle-of-the-road entertainment. When The South Bank Show was axed, notes one ITV insider, it coincided with reports that the broadcaster had signed a £2m talent deal with Cheryl Cole.

So can arts survive on ITV? Probably not. And certainly not – as in the 80s and 90s – as regular, crafted documentaries with directors of the calibre of Ken Russell. Long before The South Bank Show's death next year was announced, it had lost its fixed spot of 10.30pm on Sundays, shedding audience as it became less accessible.

In fact, can arts survive on terrestrial TV at all? Neither ITV nor Channel Five is mandated to broadcast any arts – in 2007 Five abruptly ended its commitment to Tim Marlow on Art, a relatively popular 7pm arts series featuring major exhibitions. That leaves the BBC and Channel 4 which, while predicting grim programme cuts, remains an interesting survivor.

Yesterday C4 began an ambitious four-part series, The Big Art Project, featuring eye-catching public installations chosen by locals, and a series of ambitious initiatives are coming down the production pipeline. C4's arts commissioner, Jan Younghusband, has pioneered everything from contemporary opera to performance art – plus genuine talent shows, stemming from her breakthrough series Operatunity.""On first meeting Melyvn Bragg, Tony Blair is said to have told him that his cultural education had come from The South Bank... more