60 years of evolution at BBC News

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

Today, we can access the news at our fingertips, whether that is through a button on our TV remote controls, a swipe on a news application on our tablets and smartphones, or a click to a global news website.

So it seems amazing to think that BBC News has just celebrated its 60^th anniversary of going on the air. It has barely been mentioned because the corporation have showed very little in marking the occasion, mainly because their dedicated team of journalists; presenters and correspondents are out there, delivering the news to our households from a variety of media platforms.

Of course this wasn’t the case on 5 July 1954, when the first ever 22-minute television news bulletin aired at 7.30pm in the evening on BBC One. Then, the top story was Question Time in Parliament. Today, the main news is dominated by political rows in Downing Street, major trials involving high-profile individuals and deadly conflicts in Ukraine, Syria and sadly, once again in Iraq.

BBC News has had to undergo many changes, including a rise in competition from the likes of Sky News and ITN, as well as the rapid changes in technology. For it to still exist in its current form, along with a 24-hour news channel, BBC Breakfast, Newsround, Newsnight and the World Service, not to mention, it’s very strong phone/tablet app and news website – BBC News has adapted regularly to meet the challenges. It has been 60 years full of evolution.

Sobering beginnings

It is fair to say that the early days of BBC News were never that exciting. The newsreaders lacked charisma and in fact, you couldn’t even see them on your screens. Don’t forget, this was a time where there were only two channels, choice was massively limited and technology was very basic.

Richard Baker was the first voice heard on launch night in 1954, but it wasn’t until 1957 that he would be seen on screen actually reading the news to camera. Before, the news bulletins were read over still photographic shots – almost the vision had when listening to the radio bulletins in the present day from 5 Live News to Newsbeat on BBC Radio 1.

BBC News was initially based out of Lime Grove Studios and stayed there for the first decade of its infancy. A move to Television Centre in 1969 (pictured below) saw not only the site become the BBC’s main base, but it allowed technology and landmarks to develop. BBC were locked in a battle with ITN and the national newspapers at this time – a battle that continued to get more tense and attract brighter competitions throughout the 20^th century and into the 21^st.

BBC Television Centre was the home of BBC News for over four decades

Of course Television Centre is no more. It was sold off as part of the Beeb’s cutbacks to meet government spending. Today, it is being developed into retail spacing. Unlike BBC Breakfast and BBC Sport staff, which moved to the modern MediaCityUK in Salford, BBC News is now based at the classic Broadcasting House which is where the majority of its programming can now be found.

More choice

In the 1970s, the BBC’s news output began to grow. A new teatime service for kids was created in 1972 when Newsround made its debut. John Craven was the face of the news for kids until 1989. Aimed at a target audience of 6-12, Newsround has also been the breakthrough for presenters to go onto bigger things in the world of journalism, such as Julie Etchingham (now News at Ten co-anchor) and Krishnan Guru-Murthy (a regular on Channel 4 News). Newsround is still on in 2014, although it has now moved to the dedicated CBBC channel.

Another way for news to be read was Ceefax. The text service which was a simple and sometimes easier way to get the news on the go if you had little time or interest into digesting the detail of a major story. Ceefax finally switched off in 2012 when the analogue TV signal was consigned to the history books. It was a victim of the advancements in mobile phone technologies, and the global reach of the internet.

More news programmes became the norm. The Nine O’clock News began in the 1970s, with Angela Rippon joining the team to become the first established female newsreader in the BBC team. She would be followed in later years by the likes of Anna Ford, the late Jill Dando, Kirsty Wark and Moira Stuart.

The Nine O’clock news became synonymous with many, regularly presented by Michael Buerk. In 1993, a new look was presented to the BBC News programmes, producing some of the most iconic news themes ever seen on British television. Those who like Radio 1 and Nick Grimshaw will recognise some of the music he uses for features involves the BBC News stings in the 1990s. The Nine O’clock bulletin was moved back an hour in time for the new millennium to battle ITN, who had replaced News at Ten with the unpopular ITN Nightly News (that didn’t last long by the way!)

The evolution continued into the 1980s. There was the launch of the Six O’Clock News in 1984, becoming the most watched news programme around for two decades. Newsnight made its debut in the same decade and this period saw the introduction of Breakfast TV too.

The BBC’s Breakfast Time was launched in January 1983 and went into a massive ratings war with ITV’s TV-AM programme. TV-AM might have had the publicity and the names, but breakfast TV addicts preferred the BBC’s blend of reporting the news with light-hearted features. When the BBC changed that approach in the late 1980s, they lost viewers to TV-AM but when their franchise was controversially lost in the 1991 ITV Franchise Auction, the BBC’s Breakfast Time has gone from strength to strength. It has seen off GMTV, Daybreak and looks set to consign Good Morning Britain to a slow and painful death from our screens.

Breaking the news  

The arrival of 24-hour TV news services came in 1989 when Rupert Murdoch launched BSkyB. With it came Sky News which after a stuttering start, began to win acclaim for breaking the news first with powerful reporting and achieving new feats. BBC News had new competition and they have had to advance with the times. Their coverage of the tragic scenes on Sunday, 31 August 1997 when the nation woke to the news that Diana, Princess of Wales had been killed in a car crash in Paris was one of their most moving and powerful stories.

This prompted the BBC to follow in the footsteps of Sky and US counterparts CNN. On November 9^th 1997, BBC News 24 was launched with a colourful intro and the famous 90-second countdown (video below). It has since been renamed BBC News but continues to produce a sterling job for its intended audience.

A recent report by the BBC Trust indicated a 14 per cent drop in the number of young viewers watching BBC News over the past decade. Of more intrigue, in the under-45 category, online is now the first port of call for the headlines. The BBC has had its critics over the year and it will continue to do so – as is the case with its varied competition.

However, the tremendous team of over 5000 journalists continue to do a professional and excellent job following the stories, both locally and nationally – for radio, online and TV outputs on a 24-hour, seven-day a week basis. BBC News is 60 not out and it has done brilliantly to combat the changes in the way we receive news nowadays.

It is a remarkable achievement and one that might be matched in future, but has been honoured with the minimum of fuss by the corporation themselves. The reason is they strive to still be the best in the business for the next 60 years.

Categories: Anniversary, BBC, BBC News, Ceefax, Journalism, News, Newsround, Question Time, Television Centre, TV

BBC cutbacks - Was axing BBC Three the right move?

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

There was shock and complete surprise earlier this week (starting 3^rd March) when rumours spread of one of BBC’s channels was about to face the chop. In order to meet agreed spending figures by the end of 2016, the Beeb have decided to axe BBC Three – one of the most popular channels for a young target audience.

BBC Three has been the home to plenty of new talents, with successes such as Being Human, Little Britain and Gavin & Stacey being eventually picked up by mainstream channels after its first success on the platform. Other shows including The Fades, Torchwood, Don’t Tell the Bride, Lip Service and Free Speech have won rave reviews for its content shown. Alongside its quality programming, BBC Three has opened new doors to upcoming comedians, musicians and actors who want to make the big time but need to make their name first.

So despite the announcement that its content will move online in future, why is this cutback move by British Broadcasting Corporation a wrong move, especially where other expensive avenues could have saved itself from the backlash it has received.

Cutbacks are required

First of all, the BBC has had to make savings in a number of areas to meet agreed cutbacks put in by the BBC Trust. This has already involved movement of programmes to cheaper locations such as MediaCity in Salford and Cardiff, job losses and the decision not to renew some of its popular dramas and sport rights to meet the required targets.

Outlined three years ago, 2000 jobs were set to go by 2017 with a further 1000 people set to be relocated to newer parts of the UK. Television Centre was closed down last year as Broadcasting House became the new home for the corporation in London which is where the majority of the BBC’s news content, both national and local is now outputted from.

£47m a year was planned to be saved from 2011 until 2016 with the BBC Asian Network and BBC HD facing the biggest reduction in content programming. BBC HD has since become BBC Two HD last year.

Shows and events that have been the victim of such vicious but crucial cuts have included crime drama Ripper Street, sci-fi series Survivors, store drama The Paradise, comedy My Family, Alan Sugar’s The Young Apprentice and live rights to horse racing and MotoGP.

Officially becoming BBC Three in 2003 after being initially launched as recently as 1998 as BBC Choice, BBC Three attracts 13m viewers per week of its content. However despite its fairly short lifespan, the percentage of 16-34 age range who watches the programmes and the total viewers per week, the Director General of the BBC Tony Hall has made a difficult but wrong call in giving BBC Three the boot.  

What will happen to BBC Three?

The news to axe BBC Three has been met with much disapproval, not just from fans of the channel and casual viewers like me but comedians like Russell Kane and even BBC Radio One DJ Greg James. However, unless the BBC Trust decides to block the plans announced last week, this is what will happen to the channel. That doesn’t mean to say they won’t do that. Three years ago, the Trust blocked plans to shut BBC Radio 6 Music and the Asian Network.

The plan is for BBC Three to close as a TV channel in autumn 2015 and Freeview viewers will see it replaced by BBC One+1. While a +1 is needed for its mainstream channel to rival ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, a home for this would have been more appropriate rather than to replace a popular channel like BBC Three.

The BBC's decision to move BBC Three onto an online platform has received criticism

It will be re-innovated as an online channel only on the iPlayer catch-up service, although it is more likely that only programming will be found on here rather than the remains of the channel. It is reported that the BBC (building pictured above) will make £50m in savings with this controversial move, although to chuck £30m into more drama programming on BBC One makes the decision more of a mockery. If cutbacks had to be made, make them and keep them rather than spend more on what is likely to be more episodes of dreary Walford soap opera EastEnders.

Director General Hall said on Thursday when the plans were made public that it was “strategically right” and “financially necessary.” You can’t really argue with his latter statement but the first comment doesn’t feel right.

86.9% on the media website Digital Spy last week believed axing BBC Three is the wrong decision and a #SaveBBC3 petition hit 85,000 in less than 48 hours after being launched last week on Change.org by fan of the channel Jono Read. It has been signed by many including this writer, but also by the likes of Rick Edwards, David Walliams and Matt Lucas. 

What could have gone instead?

£100m of savings are required by 2016, so for anyone to suggest that the BBC should do nothing doesn’t quite understand the world of finances. There are other areas though which might have brought the corporation closer to its target without annoying a huge core section of its young target audience.

BBC Three’s channel budget in 2013/14 is reported to be £85m but the £49m to give BBC Four the boot would have been a more logical solution if a channel had to close.

BBC Four’s impact on the UK TV audience has been mundane. In fact, I can’t ever remember watching a programme on it to be honest. It might provide a good home for historical programmes looking back at the past, as well as a mixture of arts shows but this content could easily slot onto BBC Two without a huge fuss.

Hall believes the BBC Three audience are ready for the move to watching TV online and while it is true that television can be watched in a number of different areas and devices, it will be interesting to see if the target audience follow the move. I somehow highly doubt it.

With the new competition of BT Sport now firmly in the sporting spectrum, the BBC’s sporting deals should come up for review. Whilst areas like the Six Nations, Premier League football highlights and Wimbledon deserve to be saved from any cutbacks, other sports could go.

The BBC could have decided to axe its deal to show Formula One. Sadly the sport has entered a generation of insipid racing, complicated technological changes and the same driver keeps winning, just like the ITV Schumacher days of the last decade.  

In 2011, they saved £16.5m a year by deciding to share the live race rights with Sky Sports, who have since launched their own dedicated channel to great success and critical acclaim. The BBC has been left behind and by moving more of its coverage onto BBC Two since the new agreement; it suggests a lack of motivation in making the deal a success. While a new season begins next week in Australia – the significant drop in audience figures and the estimated £40m cost for a typical championship would have brought the BBC even closer to its target.

With £11m to find, cuts in regional programming, highlight packages for Rugby League and the Football League and ending the National Lottery programmes might have taken them to within that £100m savings mark.

Is there hope for the BBC Three audience?

I think it is fair to say that the decision to drop BBC Three as a TV channel has been met with a lot of disapproval from fans and even celebrities.

By turning it into an online channel – the BBC has giving its rivals in the television market a huge advantage as a growing number might feel the corporation takes their feedback and dedication to their services for granted.

Cutbacks need to be made, no-one should argue about that but this feels like a move that didn’t need to be made. Give Tony Hall a thought; he is in a difficult position to meet the final spending cut targets and this is a gamble but it is fair to say that thousands disagree with his thinking.

There is hope for the BBC Three audience in that the BBC Trust could block the move and it seems like there is greater support than there was to save 6 Music and the Asian Network in 2011 when they were in a similar position. To save those radio stations was cheaper though, so while it is important to keep hope, don’t expect the Trust to prohibit the move. As long as they hear both sides of the argument next month, then you have to accept whatever is their final decision.

If it does disappear as a TV channel, it is a great shame but it did provide some great British talent to come through onto our screens over the past decade.  

Categories: Audience, BBC, BBC iPlayer, BBC Three, Being Human, Matt Lucas, Money, Online, Tony Hall, TV

TV 2013 - Growth and choice continues

By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

12 months on the box have seen the evolution of what we watch continue to change. More HD services arrived, it was the end for some groundbreaking British dramas of the last decade and new reality show winners were crowned. So it was another classic year in television.

BBC Television Centre closed its doors for the final time in March

More movements were being made to the ever expanding MediaCityUK in Salford. Coronation Street moved its studios into the department at the end of November and long-running Channel 4 daytime quiz show Countdown switched from the Granada Studios  at the start of the year. Meanwhile, BBC Television Centre (pictured) officially closed its doors for the last time as its final programmes moved out. The BBC News was broadcast for the first time at its new home of Broadcasting House in March. Three months later, the Queen officially opened the building and appeared behind the screen as a bulletin was being read out on BBC News 24. Not such a good year for Simon McCoy though. The newsreader stated the obvious outside the hospital when the Duchess of Cambridge went into labour: “I’m outside the hospital where there is no news!” McCoy went on to beat this later in the year when he opened a bulletin carrying a packet of A4 plain paper (video below), mistaking that for a tablet!

At the National Television Awards, Corrie beat EastEnders to Best British Soap, whilst This Morning won Best Daytime Programme and there was a Lifetime Achievement Accolade for Joanna Lumley. There was a historic first in August for the Channel 4 daytime programme Deal or No Deal. 18-year-old Paddy Roberts (video below) became the first male winner of the main £250,000 jackpot eight years after the programme first went onto the air.

There was a new challenger in the sports market as BT Sport burst onto our screens at the start of August. Ex-BBC Formula One anchor Jake Humphrey was signed up to lead the coverage and plans for an explosive entrance began with the purchase of ESPN’s channels in Britain and Ireland in February. BT had already bought the rights to some first pick live matches from the Barclays Premier League, along with exclusive rights to the Aviva Premiership, the WTA tennis tour and next year’s MotoGP from the BBC.

ITV had another testing year. In January, the corporation rebranded itself from ITV1 to ITV after 12 years. New idents arrived along with an update of the online services offered and a change in logo too. The new changes received a mixed response from viewers but everyone quickly moved on. Their football department though was in deep trouble. By the end of the year, live FA Cup football had been lost to the BBC for 2014-15 and their live 20-year association of the UEFA Champions League was coming to an end too, as newcomers BT paid out for a record deal to snatch the UEFA live rights away from ITV and BSkyB.

It was a year where broadcasters and actors had the ordeal of police allegations following the Jimmy Saville scandal last year. Stuart Hall was jailed after an investigation into historic allegations. Coronation Street stalwarts Michael Le Vell and William Roache were subject to police cases amidst allegations of child sex and indecent assault offences. Le Vell was cleared of his case in September, while Roache faces trial next year. Both of their on-screen characters disappeared when the news broke but ITV has remained in full support of both actors. Rolf Harris is another high-profile name who faces trial next year. With the economic recession starting to ease, money for telethons continued to rise. A record £75m was made for charity in March for Comic Relief. ITV’s Text Santa night for six fundraising causes made over £4m and there was another record total for Children in Need with £31m raised on their special night in November.

In the soaps, Coronation Street’s iconic Rovers Return pub burned down for only the second time in its history, killing two characters. Ronnie Mitchell (Samantha Womack) returned to EastEnders, while her on-screen sister Roxy (Rita Simons) was dumped on her wedding day by Alfie Moon (Shane Ritchie). Alfie and Kat (Jessie Wallace) were therefore reunited. In Emmerdale, a storm, a pub siege and electrocution in the pub cellar finally brought an end to serial killer Cameron Murray (Dominic Power).

It was another unlucky day for Toadie as his wedding exploded in Neighbours

One of Hollyoaks’ most evil characters in the show’s history, Claire Cunningham (Gemma Bissix) also didn’t see out the year as she was run over by dodgy Doctor Browning. That wasn’t before a homemade bomb which exploded in council houses, killing three other characters. Bryan Kirkwood's return to the show revived the fortunes of Hollyoaks after a difficult two years for the Chester soap. Lastly the unluckiest groom in soap had another nightmare day. After marrying Sonya (Eva Morey), Toadfish ‘Jarrod’ Rebecchi (Ryan Maloney) could only watch on in horror as a gas explosion (pictured) at the reception ruined his big day again in Neighbours. Doctor Rhys Lawson (Ben Barber) and school principal Priya Kapoor (Menik Gooneratne) lost their lives in the aftermath which saw the Ramsey Street show go into a primetime evening slot for the first time.

As ever, reality TV had its highs and lows. Olympic gymnast Beth Tweddle won a forgettable series of Dancing on Ice. The skating programme will return for one final series in the New Year featuring stars from the past as Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean decided to retire from the rink once the 2014 edition ends. The X-Factor endured its lowest average ratings for nine years as Sam Bailey from Leicestershire scooped the top prize and is likely to win the coveted Christmas number one prize with it. Attraction were the winners of Britain’s Got Talent. The Hungarian group won a final where the main headline saw Simon Cowell being egged live on the final show by a member of a backing group from one of the final acts. Andrea Begley was crowned winner of The Voice UK as series two went the same way as series one – starting strongly and then fading once the Blind Auditions were concluded. Westlife singer Kian Egan won a stormy edition of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here, dominated by allegations of cheating and bending the rules against the model Amy Willerton. Lastly, model and TV personality Abby Clancy was crowned the winner of the hugely successful series 11 of Strictly Come Dancing. Averaging 12m viewers per week, she beat BBC Breakfast presenter Susanna Reid and former Coronation Street actress Natalie Gumede to the Glitterball trophy.

Kids’ television choices continued to move to digital outputs. CBeebies quickly moved away from BBC Two in the New Year and would only continue to be shown on their dedicated station. Meanwhile CITV reached 30. On their anniversary weekend, classic archive programmes like Fun House and Art Attack were back on their own channel. The move away from mainstream to digital programming was criticised by the creator of Teletubbies Anne Wood, who accused the BBC of ‘ghettoising children’s television.’ In March, BBC Two launched in HD for the first time, as did More4. BBC also announced plans to launch BBC One+1 at some point next year.

Channel 4 and E4 made some changes with the departure of some classic British programming, all having reached a natural conclusion. At the end of May, Shameless ended after 11 hilarious series over nine years. Created and produced by Paul Abbott, the show set on the Chatsworth council estate had won critical acclaim throughout the years from many sources and won major awards at both the BAFTAs and British Comedy Awards. 

Emily, Effy and Naomi returned as Skins bowed out in the summer

In August after six years, it was the end of the road for Skins. Replacing the primary cast every two years, the show set in Bristol continued to remain fresh with new talent coming through with every generation. It bowed out (three main characters pictured above) with a seventh series in the summer which saw Effy (Kaya Scodelario), Naomi (Lily Loveless), Emily (Kathryn Prescott), Cassie (Hannah Murray) and Cook (Jack O’Connell) return as the show took a more adult approach to life after college. There was financial mismanagement, weird stalkers, a tragic cancer storyline that left fans of the popular ‘Naomily’ couple heartbroken and the consequences of drug dealing amidst the final storylines. Both shows are missed but came to an end at just the right time. Comedy series the IT Crowd featuring the humorous Richard Ayoade also bowed out in 2013.

It wasn’t just these shows that drew to a conclusion. In 1998, it started as a new quiz phenomenon and offered the first £1m prize on British television. After 15 years though, Chris Tarrant decided to call time on hosting Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? The show never fully recovered from the Major Charles Ingram scandal in 2002, when he cheated his way to the jackpot prize. The show’s last live show recently went out on the air, with two more pre-recorded shows being shown early next year. It was the end for detective drama series Lewis. Following seven successful series, both Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox decided to move onto other projects, although it might return next year for a one-off special. Luther, Whitechapel, Misfits, Cash in the Attic and Agatha Christie’s Poirot were other shows to bow out this year as David Suchet played the Belgian detective Poirot for the last time.

There will be a new doctor next year for Doctor Who. Northamptonshire born actor Matt Smith announced his departure in the spring and he will be replaced by Peter Capaldi, who becomes the 12^th timelord. Doctor Who celebrated its 50^th anniversary in 2013 – with David Tennant and Billie Piper among those former stars who appeared in the celebration programme in November. 10.2m watched it. Another show celebrating an anniversary this year was This Morning. Original hosts Judy Finnigan and Richard Madeley returned to the Albert Dock in Liverpool where the show was first aired to host the 25^th anniversary programme alongside current hosts Holly Willoughby, Phillip Schofield, Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes. The most watched programme of the year was a sporting event on July 8. 17.3m viewers tuned in to the end of the Wimbledon Men’s Singles final which saw Andy Murray defeat Novak Djokovic and become the first Brit to win the men’s championship at SW19 in 77 years. Murray later went on to win BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Other shows that did make a return this year included the ever popular Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway. Last shown four years ago, the Newcastle duo returned for a successful series which even saw them go to number one in the charts and announcement that they will take the show live on tour next summer. Catchphrase returned with Mr Chips but no Roy Walker as Stephen Mulhearn took over as host and 15-to-1’s successful celebrity special in September to celebrate a 80s special night on Channel 4 has led to a full series being commissioned next year. The wild Keith Lemon brought Through the Keyhole back and Paul O'Grady returned with his teatime show to ITV after a four-year absence.

It is fair to say that the evolution of television does not stop. New programming will always arrive and classics must end at some point. The acting pool of talent is in a healthy and strong place and while it will always have its critics and loathers, TV will continue to have an impact on many of our lives. More of the same in 2014 please!

Categories: 2013, Andy Murray, BBC, BT Sport, Doctor Who, HD, Neighbours, Skins, Strictly Come Dancing, TV

Autosport International Show 2013 – Stars and cars make up for lack of general content

By Simon Wright

The NEC in Birmingham hosted the annual motorsport exhibition, Autosport International from 10 – 13 January 2013. 

I went on Saturday, 12 January, the 10^th successive year I have been to the event that often is seen as the official start of the motorsport season.

Last year’s exhibition was the best in the proud history of the show.  12 months on, it was going to be difficult to beat this. 

Ultimately there were many cars for the public to see, and some top motorsport stars, but the lack of general content was noticeable to see.

Stewart leads the star guests

Leading the star guests at Autosport in 2013 was three-time world Formula One champion Sir Jackie Stewart.

The SF1 from 1997 was in attendance - beginning the team now known today as Red Bull

Stewart gave several interviews throughout the weekend, and was also around to promote his own collection of great racing cars.  Features included his three F1 world championship winning machines from 1969, 1971 and 1973, as well as the SF1 – Stewart Grand Prix’s first car in Formula One in 1997, which metamorphosed into Jaguar and lastly, the hugely successful Red Bull venture.

Scotland’s Paul di Resta also made an appearance for the second successive year.  Di Resta had a tough second season in F1 last year, but is ready to improve on his results with Force India, and seemed in good spirits.  He was the only Grand Prix driver to turn up in 2013.

Jake Humphrey was a big attraction, as he prepares for a new career

Outgoing BBC F1 anchor Jake Humphrey was also around, sharing F1 Racing Grid interview duties with Sky Sports F1 HD commentator David Croft.  Humphrey admitted that he found the 2012 season frustrating to watch, especially as the Beeb don’t have the live central contract anymore, and was surprised to hear that Lee McKenzie was overlooked for the presenter gig in 2013.  Jake’s replacement will be the unattractive Suzi Perry – who used to front MotoGP for the channel, but not since 2009.

Johnny Herbert and Anthony Davidson were also guests of honour, representing Sky as it continues to go from strength and strength.  There were also appearances from World Touring Car champion Rob Huff, DTM racer Andy Prialux, reigning BTCC champion Gordon Shedden and TV presenter Steve Rider.

Racing Grid lives upto expectations
The F1 Racing Grid, which has been a real letdown in recent years was a major plus point this year.  There were lengthy and amusing Q&A sessions between the presenters and the hundreds of fans who flocked to the NEC.  Croft, Herbert and Davidson played a version of the Sky Sports F1 Buzz Game, and Croft even spotted my nodding when I agreed with Davidson’s viewpoint that Nico Hulkenberg would have been a better fit at McLaren, rather than Sergio Perez. 

Testing the reactions with Pirelli was an enthralling experience

Grand Prix tyre supplier Pirelli was back, and allowed fans to test their instant and lightning reactions with the ‘Reactor Game.’  Each person taking part would donate £2 to Great Ormond Street Hospital, and had 30 seconds to see how many times they could press a variety of buttons that flashed up on the stand.  I did this three times, and got a high score of 33 – which was an excellent effort.  I have to say, I got very competitive and felt the high adrenaline buzz from taking part.

There were some flashy road cars from the likes of McLaren and Porsche at the show, along with plenty of go-kart and touring car models, plus a lovely tribute to former World Rally champion Richard Burns.

The tribute of cars to the late Richard Burns was the main highlight

Burns display was main highlight
Burns won the WRC title for Subaru in 2001, but sadly lost his fight against cancer in 2005, after being forced to retire from the sport due to ill health.  Some of Richard’s famous cars were in attendance, including his British Rally entries, the Subaru he drove to the title in 2001, and the Peugeot 206 with which he was leading the 2003 title race until his health declined. 

It was a popular part of this year’s exhibition and is a sad reminder of rallying’s fall from grace.  Both Burns and Colin McRae are no longer with us – the last two World Rally British champions – whilst Sebastian Loeb’s decision to walkaway might end his domination over the past decade, but means there is a severe lack of quality in the 2013 championship.

The Live Action Arena didn’t disappoint either.  Louise Goodman and some bald guy (his name is not familiar!) were the hosts for the usual thrills and spills.  Stunt driver Terry Grant put on another tremendous show with his own tribute to James Bond.  The McLaren Autosport nominees were in attendance, and there was a good luck message from the Road2Recovery rally team, who were involved in a tragic accident on the Dakar Rally last week. 

'Leave me alone, I know what I'm doing!' - Classic Kimi

Not enough choice
Unlike last year though, it seemed like the amount of space had been condensed and there wasn’t as much to see.  There was a lack of book and DVD stalls, so if you wanted to take something away as a souvenir, clothing was your best bet.  I think I made the right decision to buy a black Kimi Raikkonen top, with his famous radio message from Abu Dhabi last year painted in the gold Lotus colours.  ‘Leave me alone, I know what I’m doing’ really does get the message across.

Many manufacturers were missing too.  The powerhouses from Japan, France and Germany were conspicuous by their absence.  Although Britain is in the midst of some freezing temperatures and snow at the moment, it would have been nice from a fan’s perspective to see more choice.  

The economic recession is probably the main factor though.  Many businesses are struggling after Christmas, and notable names like DUKE video were missing this year – suggesting they couldn’t afford to make it to Birmingham in 2013.

All in all – 2013 was a good and entertaining exhibition, but it struggled to match the success of 2012.  That probably won’t stop me though from making the annual pilgrimage again to Autosport International in 2014.  

Categories: Autosport International Show, BBC, Birmingham, David Croft, Formula One, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Jaguar, Jake Humphrey, January, NEC, Paul di Resta, Pirelli, Scotland, Sir Jackie Stewart, Sky Sports F1