Alan Walker - Diamond Heart (feat. Sophia Somajo)

Every now and then a sensational record comes along. This is one such record.

Melbourne and Leeds - Rugby League

Is it a coincidence that Leeds Rhinos and Melbourne Storm are regularly dominating Rugby League?

Of course not, this is in my view a result not just of the salary cap (and clearly in the case of Melbourne the breaching of it) but also the fact that these two wealthy large-ish cities have only one top Rugby League club to which resources can be applied.

Leeds was previously a rugby league town until AFC Leeds United came along. 

Melbourne was and is an AFL hotbed. As was pointed out 20,000 more turned up for the AFL Grand Final in Melbourne compared to the NRL one (mind you the capacity at the stadia is restricted by size + how many let in + no Sydney teams in the final etc)

Note the number of Queenslanders in the winning teams at Melbourne and the number of non-Leeds players in the Leeds teams. For instance, Kevin Sinfield from the recent past is a Salford lad.

If Manchester had a rugby league club it could dominate (without a salary cap). Salford is close to Manchester but is not Manchester.

Wigan had its success as local businessmen would bankroll the club “giving back”! The salary cap gave more chance to Leeds as it was wealthy and also the club which owned the Cricket Ground next door too until it sold it! Thus it was the wealthiest club in some sense!

KBS radio apps

The broadcast app is no use bit the other one is very newsworthy!

some TV Mistakes 2014

• ITV - how did you not get Gotham?
• Five - new owners still the same stuff!
• BBC News - there have been some lows for non-news but Michael Buerk leaving the Jungle must be down there with some of the other non-news of the year!
• BBC Alba - it is not right having English speaking co-commentators on the Pro-12 Rugby when you have an English Language Red Button
• BBC Two - Only Connect is too highbrow for you! but more live Rugby League please!
• Channel Four - where are your good non-lifetstyle shows?
• BBC One- apart from your live sport, the other shows are poor

good stuff

Loved the IPL cricket on ITV4 and enjoying Roland Garros.
I assume this along with UEFA footabll coverage nakes ITV the frind of the unemployed male.

Costume dramas - too slow, dull or formulaic.  Only a few formulae I like - the area of a circle and Foyle's war come to mind!

Mad wishes for 2013

• No more cameras in changing rooms on the BBC's rugby league Challenge Cup Final coverage.  I hate it.  Why?  If this was a female sport would such cameras be acceptable?  Or if it were a childeren's sport? - I rest my case
• Some decent American dramas on More 4 - now that The Closer has finished.  Not a fan of Revenge which is one of ABC's top dramas in the US
• Better ads - bored with those inspiring diet adverts - they seem to have got worse over the New Year
• All adults are targeted by ads - who says 18-35 is the age group - has someone told Tesco this, this Christmas?
• The end of frightening or intimidating advertising
• NCIS keeps getting better
• More American Football on C4 - the best coverage (on free-to-air TV)

Americanisation of British TV productions

In the past 50 years or so, there has always been recognition in some drama that there may be an American market to which programming can be sold. Lew Grade and ITC were famous for this. For those not old enough to understand, ITV4 has broadcast many such programmes (Department S, The Champions, Dempsey and Makepeace, UFO, Man in a Suitcase, the Saint etc, and even Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons could fall into this category).

However, the advent of BBC America has made the production of certain dramas so blatantly target the USA in a manner more excessive than deliberate or accidental product placement.  This is also just as likely with independent productions and ITV shows too where PBS may buy them eg Downton Abbey
So how is this done:

• Placing a famous American actor in a role - eg someone from Friends or even Shirley MacLaine in Downton Abbey
• Placing a famous or at least acclaimed British actor via an American TV series - eg any of the Brits (sorry Britons!) in the Wire.  Note this can be just for documentaries and not even acting in a drama
• Placing American accents or actors in parts of the series with minimal justification such as a US setting - eg Doctor Who, Torchwood come to mind 
• Blatantly using an American rather than a Brit for a storyline - eg Lilyhammer
• Slight or blatant Americanization of accent.  There is a refined accent with which English people on  US seem to speak.  Typically it is a sort of Crystal Glass English or Scottish Accent which most if not all Americans can understand.  Claire Forlani, Billy Connolly on US TV, Sean Connery, Richard Quest when he was the BBC’s North American business correspondent in the US use this style of accents.  This has been done for instance in the very early editions of the Saint.  It is also the accent most used by English Actors in American films and TV series when playing bad guys 

Although this may save on the licence fee or make profits for BBC America or BBC Worldwide, I am not sure whether this is legitimate or ethical for the BBC to target mainly American audiences or revenues than British ones.  This also applies to ITV while they have a subsidised place on the spectrum for a public service remit.
Finally, the cynic in me suggests that there is at least one American job in an ambitious Brit in the Media.