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Bauer has announced that 15 of its heritage stations in England and Wales will rebrand as Hits Radio in April.

radiotoday.co.uk 

Whilst it’s sad to see the end of names like Viking, Metro and Radio City, it’s probably about time, given everything outside weekday breakfast on these stations is the Hits Radio network already, so retaining the heritage names seems a bit farcical.

The Scottish and NI stations aren’t included. I also note Pirate FM and Wave 105 are keeping their existing names (for now at least) – are there are others I’ve not thought of?

I think the only surprising thing about this news is how long it’s taken them to do this.

We've discussed unused idents a few times but just wondering about unused title sequences.

Hollyoaks had a big revamp in 2010 and commissioned a new style opening, even setting a date for them to debut. But for some reason they were dropped and an updated version of the previous style launched a couple of months later instead, but a snippet was leaked.

youtu.be 

There are loads of supposedly unused Doctor Who titles on YouTube but suspect many are just mocks so I'm sure there are people here who can make that distinction better than me - I'm gambling on this one being genuine though:

youtu.be 

And James Mobbs posted an unused Breakfast prototype:
youtu.be 

A few others posted by the designers, though only really of interest if you're familar with what was used:

Supernatural:
youtu.be 

Penny Dreadful:
youtu.be 

Altered Carbon:
youtu.be 

Big Brother Australia 2012:
vimeo.com 


I'm sure there are more out there but it's a case of verifying they're either dropped or not commissioned intros rather than just mocks people try and pass off as unseen intros.

Been some discussion in the gameshow thread but think we need to get into the habit of more individual threads for individual programmes.

Starts tonight at 6pm - set looks great, amazingly this I think is Graham Norton's first stint as the host of a gameshow format since his C5 panel show in the late 90s and I think he did one of the overnight ITV gameshows around that time too.

No co-host with the letter revealing themselves, and we know there are "toss up" puzzles taken from the US version which are basically quickfire games without the wheel. I think they determine who goes first in a round.

Also from Granada Reports last night we can see the jackpot wheel is in play too which selects the main prize - it's £50k here, so not quite the $1m you see in the US. TBH with that in play surprised they haven't thrown in the possibility of £100k being in play.

Well the Jeopardy! reboot in the UK is so close to the American show it could easily be seen as a total transplant.
There are some minor set changes but nothing that will make or break the show.

Like what I've seen at the moment I have to say.

Seeing as how the New Year often springs up memories of the 1981 and 1992 franchise handovers, thought you’d might like a little light reading on the whole business of franchise rounds, as it was then.

Spotted this on a Facebook group the other day - an in-depth thesis for City, University of London concentrating largely on the 1980 round in the South West, written by none other than Kevin Goldstein-Jackson, who of course, founded and led the TSW consortium which won the contract off the embattled Westward.

openaccess.city.ac.uk 

This was published shortly before TSW itself lost out to Westcountry.

So I've been browsing YouTube (as you do) and found this from the iconic Granada TV current affairs documentary series, World In Action - "Taming The Beeb" from 1988.
(For some reason, the aspect ratio switches from 4:3, to cropped 16:9 at about 8m40s.)
www.youtube.com &

This programme focuses on the BBC supposedly/apparently losing its independence, and the worry of it becoming a government controlled broadcasting organisation.
There's a nice view of how BBC Broadcasting House used to look, not too much long before the more recent modern redevelopment and extension to the premises.


From (very nearly) 35 years ago, the official launch programme for Sky TV ... presented by Kay Burley.
www.youtube.com 

Satellite TV related, there's this 15 minute little gem from 1994 ... part corporate video for SES Astra, part mini-documentary.
www.youtube.com 


I'm sure there are plenty of others you can find on YT (and elsewher) and we can discuss here.

Warner Bros Discovery is reported to be in discussions to merge with Paramount Global:

www.axios.com 

Quote:Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav met with Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish on Tuesday in New York City to discuss a possible merger, Axios has learned from multiple sources.

(19-12-2023, 05:59 PM)cable Wrote:  Linear channels are clearly dying unless you package it as a FAST channel so a focus on streaming was not necessarily wrong but in this case was misguided probably fuelled by the parent company wanting a brand that could be used across all its markets.

I think a lot depends on whether the channels are showing mostly new content, or mostly repeats.

Where it's mostly or entirely repeats then it's unlikely that channel will be viable in the long-term. With broadcasters having their own catch-up platforms they can show repeats via that facility, with adverts which cannot be fast-forwarded through (unless you pay a premium).

With channels that mostly show new and/or live content will probably still survive in the long-term. Viewers seem to be more likely to specifically watch those channels, as been demonstrated in recent years.

I think there's still a bit of consolidating to go with the streaming services. We've already seen Disney+ and Hulu merge, and now Peacock confirmed closing (at least in the UK). Similarly My5 and Pluto are also due to merge in the next year.

I think this usually has its own thread, so tomorrow is the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year broadcast on BBC One. It will be hosted be Gabby Logan, Alex Scott, Gary Lineker and Clare Balding from MediaCity UK, Salford. It will be originally in a two hour slot, which is 15 minutes less than last year, but it will probably overrun anyway.


It is rather unusal for the programme to be aired on a Tuesday. It is only the second time I can remember it not airing on a Sunday, after last year which was moved due to the FIFA World Cup final taking place the last Sunday before Christmas. I doubt I'm alone in not giving it my full attention tomorrow due to it clashing with the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, a problem that would likely not arise on Sunday evenings with so little domestic sport on Sunday evenings. It will be interesting to see how this affects ratings and wider interest.


The nominees for the main award are:
- Cricketer Stuart Broad
- Jockey Frankie Dettori
- Footballer Mary Earps
- Wheelchair tennis player Alfie Hewett
- Athlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson
- Golfer Rory McIlroy

As ever there is discourse and critisicm of the shortlist, and specifically who has been omitted. One of the more vocal complaints that I have come across is the abscence of world 1500m champion Josh Kerr, despite Jake Wightman nominated for the exact same achievment last year. This type of list is always going to be subjective and omit some strong candidates, but I can't see why the shortlist is not bigger at around ten names.

---

From the other awards, the final three for the Young Sports Personality of the Year:
www.bbc.co.uk 

The candidates for the World Sports Star award:
www.bbc.co.uk 

The regional finalists for the Unsung Hero award:
www.bbc.co.uk 

And Sir Kenny Dalglish will presented with the Liftime Achievement Award:
www.bbc.co.uk 

After 53 years on air, Question of Sport has been axed/rested by the BBC.

To be honest, this doesn't come as a surprise. They tried the revamp a few years ago, and though personally I don't think it necessarily made the show worse, it hardly was a big enough revolution to reignite the show's fortunes.

www.mirror.co.uk