Re: [Swprograms] BBCWS on XM

[Joe Buch <josephbuch@xxxxxxxxx>]

I sampled BBC on XM yesterday for about 8 hours.  I first tuned in at
1430 UTC.  They were doing a play by play broadcast of a football match
between England and Estonia from Wembly Stadium.  After the match was
over, every time I tuned in I heard some broadcast that might be
described as news, analysis, or in depth reporting on a single topic
story.  I also heard promos for the Sunday call-in show where they take
phone calls from listeners all over the world, Have Your Say.  

I think that could be classified as a broadly based program stream but
it has been a long time since I have heard really broad based
programming like the old comedy shows with Spike Milligan or Max
Bygraves on any BBC feed.  The closest thing they have for comedy these
days is the word game "My Word" which I have heard on PRI relay in the
USA.  

Does the lack of comedy on BBC reflect the general mood of British
society which is being over run by middle eastern hordes or is it due
to the mistaken belief that Brit humor does not travel well?  Many PBS
TV stations prove daily that British TV comedy shows have a devoted
niche audience in the USA.  Why not comedy on the radio?

I am at a handicap to know what the BBC News channel on Sirius contains
as I have never been a Sirius subscriber.  I do remember, however, that
BBC on Saturday always carried sports on shortwave.  Did the Sirius BBC
channel ever do football matches masquerading as news?

I think the convergence of BBC to a news-oriented service is best
demonstrated by the need to ask if the service on XM is the news feed
or the broad stream.  They are becoming indistinguishable.  My guess is
that the stream on XM is the broad stream only because I heard the
football match yesterday on XM.

Joe Buch

--- Richard Cuff <rdcuff@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Anybody here notice any changes on the BBCWS schedule on XM?
> 
> Thanks - Richard
> 
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Richard Cuff <rdcuff@xxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Oct 12, 2007 6:06 AM
> Subject: BBCWS on XM
> 
> 
> Hi, Peter -
> 
> Thanks for the note.  No, I hadn't heard that.  I had a Sirius
> subscription for more than a year, but dropped it.  On Sirius, the
> programming mix is the same as on NPR stations, which is heavily
> skewed towards news programming.
> 
> I agree with you -- the loss of the "rich mix" of BBCWS programming
> would be a shame, given the variety of programming produced.
> 
> The schedule pages at the World Service website still seem to
> indicate
> the "rich mix" is on XM -- at 1930 GMT (3:30 PM ET) the music
> interview series "Close Up" is shown on today's schedule, vs. "World
> Briefing" and then "Business Daily" on Sirius.
> 
> It might have been a slip-up...wouldn't be the first time...
> 
> The BBCWS has made no secret that the overall mission of the service
> has been to shift towards news and away from entertainment...this has
> been ongoing for several years.
> 
> I also maintain an e-mail list called 'swprograms' that talks about
> international broadcaster programming and strategies...a link to the
> list is shown at the blog.
> 
> Nice to hear from you!
> 
> Best regards,
> 
> Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA  USA
> 
> International broadcasting / shortwave blog:
> http://www.intlradio.blogspot.com
> 
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: FormLogix <noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: 11 Oct 2007 18:18:49 -0800
> Subject: new data entry alert
> To: rdcuff@xxxxxxxxx
> 
> 
> 
>                                                    Message Do you
> listen to the BBC on XM Satellite Radio? At the moment, they appear
> to
> have switched to the all-news stream, dropping the feature programs
> and documentaries. I hope this isn't permanent, but the XM web site
> makes it seem like this is intentional, and not just a switching
> error, though it isn't entirely clear (the web site mentions one
> non-news program, World Drama).
> 
> This is fascinating to me, but probably is of no interest to all but
> a
> handful of people. However, you might be one of those handful, so I
> thought I'd mention it.
> 
> By the way, I found your web site via your signature on the BBC's
> Tomorrow's News Research Forum. I'm &quot;pto&quot; there.
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> 



       
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