Fantasy Press Releases

Why, thank you very much



Would it be because ITV as a broadcaster don't own any of it? I mean if ITV wanted to show, say, The Krypton Factor for example, they would, as things stand, have to buy transmission rights off Granada first and get the episodes down to the playout department in London. The Beeb could, I presume, just grab something out the archive at a moment's notice and play that out?



Indeed, I presume cost is the issue. Not just of getting and licensing the episodes for transmission but also chopping off the credits and remaking them in the current style. I presume they think that anything older than 2001 isn't worth seeing again. It's just like the 1960s when colour came along, black & white episodes were deemed to be unseeable and of course we know what happened to most of those.

ITV AXE'S CORONATION STREET

ITV is axing popular soap Coronation Street next year, it has been confirmed. The soap, which regularly draws in audiences of 12 million has been axed as ITV is looking for "new material"

"Coronation Street has been great, but it's time to move on", commented an ITV spokesman. "We are in the process of finding a replacement soap and are thinking of giving Crossroads a fourth shot."

The ITV soap is set to end with a bomb landing on the street, blowing it, and the residents to pieces. The announcement has caused shock throughout the nation, who were "really enjoying" the soaps storylines which included date-rape, age-gap relationships, sexuality problems, and bigamy.

The soap had a huge audience earlier in 2003 with Richard Hillmans reign of terror bringing in audiences of 17m for his brutal murder of Maxine, 18m for his confession to wife Gail and a huge 20m for his suicide in the family car into the canal. The Hillman "Era" won countless awards. The soap has maintained audiences of 10-13million ever since, and was the most watched program of 2003, beating rival EastEnders.

However, these figures are not good enough as ITV bosses are adamant that a new, fresh soap needs to be brought in to replace Coronation Street, which is thought of as "boring, dull" and "come to a natural end"

The final scenes are due to be filmed next September.

Lawler and Lee to rise again

Ex-hosts of formal channel 4 breakfasts show RI:SE are to reunite on channel 4 music show “born sloppy”. The show, hosted by Sara Cox which launched in December 2002 failed to gain viewers in its 11pm time slot, but the production company “monkey” says this version of the show will be a hit.

“It’s clear that channel 4 viewers want a late night music show, but the viewers did not bond well with Sara.” Said a spokeswoman “So when C4 asked us to find new hosts Iain and Kate were the perfect choice.”

RI:SE reporter Dougie Anderson will be taking over from Colin murrays roll in the show.

BORDER TELEVISION TO CLOSE

Granada Media Group have announced the closure of its Border TV operation in Carlisle with effect from next spring.

Border has been the franchise holder for Cumbria and Southern Scotland since 1961, and for the Isle of Man since 1965. It has primarily concentrated on regional programming, with its nightly Lookaround news magazine being the most watched regional news programme, but has had a small network presence via the quiz show "Mr & Mrs" and the chat show "Look Who's Talking", both hosted by Derek Batey. Its formula for safe, reliable programming - reputedly so as not to upset its viewing audience - earned it the nickname "Boredom Television" and this image was famously sent up by the LWT comedy sketch programme 'End of Part One' in 1980, from which the company has never quite fully recovered. The company has also been a breeding ground for broadcasting talent, with Fiona Armstrong, Penny Smith and Ross Kelly amongst the presenters who went on to a network presence after starting their careers at Border.

However, Granada believe that the area would be best served by two contractors and have entered into talks with SMG for it to take over the transmitters in Southern Scotland. The Cumbrian transmitters will pass to Tyne Tees, which is to rename its nightly news magazine Northern Life, with an opt-out for Cumbria coming from its City Road studios in Newcastle. All staff based at Carlisle will transfer to SMG and Tyne Tees.

On hearing the news, flags at Carlisle city chambers were lowered to half mast, with Border TV presenters ordered to wear black armbands for tonight's edition of Lookaround. Derek Batey was spotted laying a floral wreath at the entrance to the Border TV studios in Harraby, Carlisle. In contrast, residents in South Scotland were spotted celebrating in a manner more often reserved for fallen dictators.

The studios will be demolished and turned into a multi-storey car park, which is to be built in connection with a new park and ride scheme in Carlisle.

ITV WIN MOST UP-TO-DATE WEBSITE AWARD
ITV's website has been awarded TV's most up-to-the-minute website. Judges said that they were especially impressed with the TV guide section which was updated when major events occur.

Have you been watching Dead Ringers because that was a joke in it!

Ok I confess, that RI:SE one was from Dead Ringers, but it was just so good a joke not to mention. I've been to one of the recordings and it was a good laugh.

BBC WIN BACK FORMULA ONE BROADCAST RIGHTS

The BBC is to resume broadcasting of Formula One with effect from 2005, as Bernie Ecclestone rejected ITV's bid to continue broadcasting the sport owing to viewer dis-satisfaction. Tony Jardine will front the BBC's Formula One show with Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert as in-studio pundits. Commentary will be provided by John Watson and Ben Edwards, with Louise Goodman and Peter Windsor reporting from the pitlane. The BBC revealed that interactive features will be available for viewers with Satellite, cable and Freeview.

The Head of BBC Sport said he was delighted with the news, and commented "Where ITV sold viewers short, we will deliver".

Well the BBC certainly sold viewers short when they had the rights. And I think you'll find that Bernie Ecclestone couldn't give a tom tit about viewer satisfaction, it's the cheque book what talks.

ADDITIONAL RELEASE: The BBC coughed up £60,000,000 for a ten-year rights package.

TCM and Boomerang to Launch on Freeview

Turner Broadcasting have announced that they have secured a carriage deal with Crown Castle International to air two of it's channels on Freeview, the UK's digital terrestrial service.

Boomerang which showcases a range of classic animated series such as "Looney Tunes" and "Tom and Jerry" will broadcast from 6am till 6pm on Channel 33, competing directly with the BBC's childrens channels CBBC and CBeebies.

Turner Classic Movies the UK's only free to view movie channel will occupy Channel 22 and show classic films such as "The Wizard of Oz" and "The Shining", the channel will broadcast from 6pm until 6am. TCM will be the platform's only decicated movie channel and it's brand is already well known to cable and satellite viewers in the UK.

The announcement comes after nearly eighteen months of negotiations with Crown Castle International. It was believed Turner's offerings, which were part of the proposed Freeview line-up, would not launch on Freeview after Midlands based broadbaster CBM secured a deal to broadcast on channel 22. This was later abandoned when CBM failed to reach a number of deadlines set by Crown Castle. Turner resumed talks with CCI regarding timeshare channels on the only vacant slot on the Freeview service.

A noticable difference to the original proposed Turner line-up is the exclusion of news channel CNN International. A spokesman for Turner commented: "CNN International is one of the worlds leading news organisations and we originally planned to secure carriage on the Freeview service. Through negotiations with Crown Castle we concluded that launching CNNi on the Freeview service would be unviable due to the fact that they were already three news channels on the service, only two children's channels and no decicated movie channel. We have the option to switch either Boomerang or TCM to CNN coverage if a major breaking news story occurs and this could be done if needed. When the channel capacity for Freeview increase we will resume talks to bring CNN to Freeview."

Brave New World of Market Forces

In a brief statement issued by Number 10 this morning, Prime Minister Howard stated that the privatization of the BBC would be fully underway in the new year. He explained to our reporter,

"For far too long television viewers have been saddled with paying for a service they do not want and which does not reflect their views. Now in a free market system, we are giving viewers the choice to pay only for those program which they want to watch, through a pay per view mechanism. The BBC will now either stand or fall as a commercial venture, and will have to adjust its editorial position to reflect market place values, and move away from its left wing bias maintained by a unfair and unjust tax. In listening to the overwhelming wishes of viewers, we are providing consumers with the right to choose, with a better and more effecient service, and at a lower cost to the tax payer, just as we did with the privatization of the bus companies and railways."