Football's Fallen - Phil O'Donnell

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

Recently, I wrote a couple of pieces for a new website called Football's Fallen - a site dedicated to those footballers who sadly get taken away on the football field. Set-up by my former colleague at Total Football Magazine and fellow football fan, Laura Jones, I have written pieces on one of Scotland's brightest hopes, Phil O'Donnell and this one about the ex-York striker David Longhurst.

Christmas is a period where families come together and celebrate a special time. It is often the period for goodwill, giving and joy but not in all instances.

For the O’Donnell family, their world was feeling good as the end of 2007 dawned. Married with four children, Phil O’Donnell (pictured below) was skipper of SPL side Motherwell and was enjoying one of the best spells of his injury-hit career. Sadly their hearts were about to be ripped out by a tragedy that is among one of the worst to have hit the game in Scotland.

Phil O'Donnell had found form and fitness again before his shock death in 2007

Full of promise as a youngster, O’Donnell had won the Scottish Cup twice and experienced the big time as a Celtic player in the mid-1990s before injuries ruined his stint in England with Sheffield Wednesday. 

To continue reading this article, visit Football's Fallen

Categories: 1990s, 2007, Career, Celtic, Christmas, Family, Injury, Motherwell, Phil O'Donnell, Scotland

Football's Fallen - David Longhurst

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

Recently, I wrote a couple of pieces for a new website called Football's Fallen - a site dedicated to those footballers who sadly get taken away on the football field. Set-up by my former colleague at Total Football Magazine and fellow football fan, Laura Jones, I have written pieces on one of Scotland's brightest hopes, Phil O'Donnell and this one about the ex-York striker David Longhurst.

Perhaps not the most prolific of strikers but David Longhurst (pictured below) gave it his all and still potentially had the best years of his football career ahead of him. He represented all of his football clubs with great dignity. The Northampton-born attacker was only 25 when he died on the pitch playing for York City on 8 September 1990.

David Longhurst was taken far too soon, only 25 when he collapsed in 1990

Parallels can be drawn from the sudden collapse of Fabrice Muamba during the FA Cup quarter-final match between Tottenham Hotspur and Bolton Wanderers in March 2012. Like Longhurst, Muamba was a young, hard-working footballer who wasn’t the most gifted but would be a vital cog of any team. In David’s case, that was for the numerous Football League clubs he represented.

In terms of strike rate for goals per game, Longhurst was far from the best. Just over 40 league goals in nearly 200 appearances, so around one goal every five matches. He had the ability and the desire to improve on his weaknesses on the football field though and it can’t be argued that he was taken far too young.

To continue reading this article, visit Football's Fallen

Categories: 1990, Career, David Longhurst, Fabrice Muamba, Football, Halifax Town, Heart Attack, Northampton, September, York City

BTCC is back...and better than ever

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

Sunday, 30 March 2014 marks the start of the 2014 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship. One of motorsport’s most popular series’, certainly in the UK anyway is set for one of its most exciting seasons in its established history. The BTCC has been around since 1958 and has undergone radical reforms from class systems and night racing, to the super touring era of the 1990s. However none of these periods have what the fans can look forward to this season, as no fewer than seven…YES SEVEN champions line-up on the grid for the season opener at Brands Hatch in Kent.

Reigning champion Andrew Jordan returns to defend the crown he so brilliantly won last season for the Pirtek Racing Honda squad. To do that though, he must overcome challenges from the works Hondas of Matt Neal and Gordon Shedden, the flamboyant Jason Plato from MG, BMW’s Colin Turkington and the returning Alain Menu and Fabrizio Giovanardi. All of the above have won the BTCC title, stretching back as far as 1997.

Crème of the crop

It was Brands Hatch that brought down the curtain on the 2013 title battle on a wet and windy October afternoon and Jordan held his nerve and a late crash in one of the races to claim his maiden title.

Having become an elite Red Bull athlete over the winter, Jordan enters this season in confident mood. He was the fastest driver at the BTCC media day recently at Donington Park and knows the package of his car inside out. He starts the season as the slender favourite but it is very hard to do back-to-back titles. Only Neal and Giovanardi have done that in the last 30 years.

Andrew Jordan is defending champion and the man to beat in 2014

Whilst Jordan (car pictured above) knows everything there is to know about his car, the works Dynamics Honda boys of Neal and Shedden have to learn a new car from scratch. The new Honda Civic tourer looks an absolute beauty but is it quick enough for them to launch a challenge? Evidence would suggest they will be right up there as expected, despite some early teething problems in testing. The relationship between the teammates is second to none, despite the odd incident on-track. I won’t forget the collision instigated by Neal on the final corner of a race at Oulton Park in 2011 (video below).

Meanwhile at MG, the Triple Eight racing crew will be aiming to spearhead Plato to a third title. He last took the top honours for Chevrolet in 2010 and is the most successful BTCC driver in history for race victories. Never hiding behind anything and always with plenty to say, the Fifth Gear presenter and BRDC board member loves his racing and apart from two years in the mid-2000s, has been a permanent fixture on the grid since 1997. It is the third season of the Plato/MG relationship and this campaign – they want to win and anything else will be considered as a failure.

By contrast, Turkington’s performances were outstanding last season after three years away from the paddock. He won the title for Team WSR in 2009 driving a BMW, so like Jordan – he knew the team, if not the car last season. He strung together some great weekends though and was almost unbeatable at Croft and Knockhill in 2013. His canny driving style means he will always be there to pick up the pieces and collect the points, even if he isn’t the fastest over a race weekend.

For Menu and Giovanardi, it is a return to familiar stomping grounds. Giovanardi is a touring car legend, having won titles in his homeland of Italy, alongside Spanish, European and British titles. He last graced the BTCC at the opening round in 2010 with two wins from three at Thruxton before a lack of sponsorship saw him sadly disappear. There was never a more exciting driver in his first spell on these shores and he is the big gamble by Dave Bartram and his ailing Motorbase Ford Focus squad, who had a winless and fairly lamentable 2013. Menu will be driving a Volkswagen this season. His last full campaign was the final year Super Touring was around, when he clinched the 2000 title in the unstoppable Ford Mondeo. The Swiss was one of the most consistent drivers in his first touring car career. Only once (1999) did he finish outside the top three of the standings at the end of a season between 1994-2000. For these two, race wins will be ideal but anything else has to be considered as a bonus.

Others to watch

It isn’t just the seven champions to lookout for though. Still buzzing from his maiden win at Rockingham in September, Rob Austin will be a threat in his Audi car, now with new sponsorship. Young gun Adam Morgan has taken Austin’s former sponsorship, WIX Racing and now has a Mercedes-Benz to play with. Morgan was one of the biggest surprises last season, cutting out his wild errors of his debut 2012 year with a more mature approach in 2013 that earned many plaudits.

A late deal has got multiple race winner Mat Jackson back onto the grid with Motorbase. He had a very difficult 2013 with some fairly anonymous weekends. However he has figured in championship fights in the past and is an excellent benchmark for the returning Giovanardi. Turkington will be supported by another experienced campaigner in Rob Collard. Always one for a good scrap, Rob never gives up and will be hoping for more luck to come his way this time around.

Another youngster to watch out for is Sam Tordoff, who will once again be backing Plato up at MG. Tordoff won his first touring car race at Snetterton last summer and handled the occasion of being paired with Plato very well. His progress will be one of the season’s interesting side stories. Then there is Dubliner Aron Smith with Menu at Volkswagen, looking for a new breath of fresh air after being deemed surplus to requirements at Motorbase, whilst rookies Marc Hynes and Tom Ingram are bound to show flashes of potential as will another former race winner in Dave Newsham, now in an AMD Ford Focus.

Commitments

With new deals with Dunlop and ITV, plus a one-class formula with all 31 cars using the NGTC car requirement, the BTCC is firmly in a good place.

There are 10 race meetings across the country from Silverstone in Northamptonshire and Snetterton in Norfolk to Oulton Park in Cheshire and Thruxton in Hampshire – the fastest circuit in Great Britain.

It all starts on Sunday with three events and with 13 race winners on the grid, there is bound to be plenty of commitment down the field. BTCC 2014 could be a special season. It certainly has all the ingredients to deliver.

Categories: 2014, Andrew Jordan, Brands Hatch, BTCC, Dunlop, Gordon Shedden, Honda, ITV, Jason Plato, Matt Neal, Touring Cars

Gambling - Knowing when to quit

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

The power of advertising can encourage us to buy a brand new product like a tablet or 3D TV; push us to a tempting Big Mac or desire the consumer to place a bet and aim for victory when those hopes can lead us into trouble.

The world of gambling has always been out there for the human being and there seems to be more temptations than ever before, thanks to the new technological advances of apps on phones and devices that drive towards free bets. And once this happens, an addiction can begin – just as bad as alcohol or smoking can to your lungs.

So, here is my view on gambling and knowing when to quit.

Blanket bans

When we say the word gamble, it can mean a whole lot of things. To the naked eye, it could mean taking a chance on confessing your feelings for someone, or risking it all for a silly little fling when it can be fun at the time but the ultimate consequences make it feel all wrong. It could also mean sacrificing a friendship by saying what you think and risking hurting the other person’s feelings. Or to the majority, it involves money by spending it, betting on it and winning or losing on it.

All the bookmakers of today’s world like Coral, Ladbrokes, William Hill and bet365.com to name a few will do what they can to get new and returning customers to their online accounts and betting shops across the UK. The same goes for companies who operate bingo plays or a costly trip to the casino where living the high life can lead to massive falls from grace. It all might seem intriguing but it is far too easy to be fooled.

This raises the question whether tougher regulations should be placed on betting or entering casinos. Currently the age limit is 18 for these things, although it is 16 to play the National Lottery. Perhaps raising the age consent to 21 would be wise? I certainly feel a blanket ban on advertising for gambling websites and betting shops before the 9pm watershed should be considered.

It isn’t illegal but it can encourage the wrong crowd. With calls from campaigners just last week for a ban on advertising for junk food to the same time to eliminate the bigger risks of young kids eating unhealthy snacks and treats, the betting laws should be looked at. I believe the temptations in today’s world are too free and too relaxed.

My experiences

I’m not much of a gambler. Never been a huge risk-taker to the world of gambling/betting so it poses no threats to myself whatsoever. I do have the occasional flutter on events like the Grand National (slip pictured below) and put the odd £5 wager on a football outcome with colleagues at work but these are rare examples.

The Grand National is one event where I will always have a flutter on the big race

There is a thrill of winning if it comes off and I do get pleasure if I do win in these outcomes. When Cardiff City beat Manchester City in a shock Premier League result in the early weeks of the 2013/14 season, I was delighted. I had a feeling Cardiff would win – risked a £5 on it with a work colleague who believed I was talking rubbish and came away with the victory.

It was the same in January when I decided to play the National Lottery on the night of a quadruple rollover. I’ve been legal to play the Lottery for almost a decade and you know the saying from the early adverts when it was launched in 1994 – ‘It Could Be You.’

It can be if you play but I’ve never embraced the concept, sticking to playing once a year at most. In January, I put £6 on three Lotto lines and another £4 on Thunderball and won back £28. Not bad for a rookie with limited experience. In fact in the Lottery that night, the line I won my money on had three numbers and they were the first three balls to come out of the draw machine that night! You can imagine how excited I was that I could be a millionaire – even if it was for just a millisecond!

Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Last week, I went down to Ladbrokes and placed £10 on a horse to come in the first three of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Coming into the final fence, the horse I backed was winning but faded badly in the final straight to wind up fourth. In these situations, you are disappointed but brush it off and move on.

The problems begin if you continue to bet.

When it goes wrong

What is the harm of an occasional flutter here and there I say? If you don’t try, you don’t win. It is fine being the extremely cautious type and I normally fit into that category but it would offer no thrill whatsoever to life. So there is slight excitement when you decide to throw a £10 on the 3.40 at Newmarket or place your chips on red 28 at the casino as an example.

When it goes wrong is when you don’t know when to quit. Once you get into a losing streak, I can only imagine that it gets very difficult to have an exit strategy. Then the spiral will increase to putting even more risky gambles together and losing more money. Before you’ve started, thousands of pounds have been lost and not only does it cause disapproval, it can cause heartache.

People have been known to gamble everything they love for a ridiculous afternoon down at the racecourse and for those who do so, I have no symphony. It becomes an appalling addiction which can cause issues for loved ones and yourself.

Before it gets too much, make sure to seek help at meetings involving groups or individual counsellors and with some help, you can make a wrong into a right. Bad experiences do happen in life and it is part of the learning process but it is not learning from these errors that lead to bigger holes, both in money owned and gaps in relationships between friends, family and couples.

Over Christmas, I purchased a book called ‘How Not To Become A Football Millionaire?’ The former Newcastle United and Leicester City winger Keith Gillespie opened up about his massive gambling addiction that cost him millions of pounds in his autobiography. I haven’t got around to starting the book yet but it should be an intriguing read. For those in doubt when gambling about the consequences, I’d recommend reading this, even if it is a small segment. The risks are massive and mainly unnecessary.

Casino crunch

Of course it isn’t just betting shops and keen bookmakers who want your money. Casinos can be incredibly rewarding too but also very damaging when it comes to gambling habits. Last October, my hometown Milton Keynes had a casino takeover the City Limits complex in Xscape. Aspers Casino – which also has casinos in Newcastle and Northampton has promised to help troubled gamblers who don’t know when to quit and provide a new experience to the MK nightlife.

I’m really uncertain about them moving in. I felt it would bring more trouble in terms of incidents outside such a busy area, attract the wrong crowd into these addicting roulette tables and slot machines and felt it wouldn’t do our large town any good.

Six months on and my view hasn’t massively changed. I lived in Northampton for three years during my University degree and never ever got tempted to visit their casino and it is the same in MK nowadays. If I want a night out, I’d rather go for a few drinks in a pub with mates from the sixth form days, not throw my cash away I earn from my full-time job. If I want to place £10 a month of my wage packet, I’ll chance it on the Lottery once a month rather than go to a casino. I guess there is a thrill there, especially if you spend £100 and leave with £5,000 as an example but when the crunch occurs, will that be a one-off or a regular visit? That’s where the problems can easily start. Just ask Marge Simpson in the episode “$pringfield (or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)" from The Simpsons.

The world of gambling and betting is a tempting planet and when you win, it is a nice feeling but when you lose, it can be disappointing in my instance or in some, the desperation to win your money back leads to a whole catalogue of problems. Knowing when to quit is important when it comes to this field in our society.

Categories: Adverts, Aspers Casino, Coral, Gambling, Horse Racing, Ladbrokes, Marge Simpson, National Lottery, Thunderball, UK

The selfie craze - For a good cause, or pointless attention?

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

In the past week (starting 17 March), my social media news feeds, particularly Facebook has really hit the selfie craze. In a normal week, it would be full of birthday wishes, status updates and the occasional and slightly tedious game request.

However the no make-up selfie which has driven women to donate money and get the message of beating cancer has really worked. The awareness raised (Cancer Research UK message pictured below) has been truly fantastic and it is great to see this, speaking from an individual who knows about what it can do and the support I give on a monthly basis to one of the leading UK cancer charities.

Cancer Research UK post an important message

In 24 hours in midweek, Cancer Research UK made over £1m in donations from over 800,000 people. However there has been a negative response from some quarters of society and then, other pathetic attempts to to hit the selfie craze. So, is this selfie promotion a publicity stunt, or the way of things to come when the word generosity is used?

The selfie

The definition of the word selfie is it a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a camera on a smartphone or a digital camera. These can be casual shots with a camera held at arm’s length or in a mirror. They can also involve multiple people in “group selfies,” as widely shown at the Oscars ceremony (pictured below) earlier this month.

The Oscars selfie at the start of the month drew plenty of conversation

Whilst selfies are believed to have been around for hundreds of years, they have only really taken off in the last couple of years. In 2012, Time Magazine had selfie as one of its 10 biggest ‘buzzwords’ of the year. Last year, it got so popular that a definition was entered into the Oxford English dictionary.

Whoever you are, most of us have taken a selfie of themselves. They can be from your brother or sister, to a colleague from work or education or even well-known politicians such as David Cameron and Barack Obama.

I was having a conversation on Facebook about this earlier in the week and was thinking of whether I’ve taken a selfie in the last year? I said no to start with but when considering this a bit more, I’ve taken pictures of myself in the past. Sad I know, but I guess who hasn’t done this. Below is an example of a selfie I took back in 2010, before I even understood the word existed. 

A 2010 selfie from my first year as a University student

As you can see from this example, I’m not the most attractive person and the permanently non-existent relationship record can vouch for that but it is a different way of taking a photograph. When I took the above photo, I wasn’t aware of the word selfie but now I am and I don't mind it. 

The surge of donations

I have no idea where this surge in donations has come from for the various cancer charities in the UK, from Cancer Research UK to Breast Cancer Awareness. At first when these selfies were popping up online, I admit that I thought it was just another Instagram burst. I was generally confused until seeing what it was for.

Cancer is one of, if not the biggest killer in diseases. A good portion of us have suffered the agony of seeing one of our favourite famous faces have to deal with this. Some have had the pain of it happening to someone you love or really care about.

Adverts keep appearing on television and rightfully so. Without the help of the British public, cancer will not be beaten. My polite message to cancer would be; ‘Go away and leave us alone.’ Unfortunately it isn’t as easy as that.

This campaign asked women to post selfies with no make-up online using the hashtag #nomakeupselfie. They would then nominate five of their friends to do the same, then text a number with a donation of £3 to the cancer charity of their choice. For many, Cancer Research UK is the main charity but it could be to a local fund or a more personalised group. As soon as this went viral, the craze continued. In my view this is not a publicity stunt; this is a serious message that more needs to be done to find cures for cancer.

Cancer Research UK has insisted this wasn’t their campaign to start with but is incredibly generous to find so much support out there. I make a monthly donation to Teenage Cancer Trust – a cause I have always admired from afar and was able to start making a contribution to their work when I got my break into full-time work in the publishing industry last summer. I know how valuable it is but sadly some don’t get it.

Lack of appreciation

There has be some criticism in the face of this publicity, with accusations of women missing the point of these selfies and just finding excuses to post more photos on their social media feeds.

It has led to some posting their text message or response to their donation from a smartphone onto the internet. It shuts the critics up and anyone who still then finds the right to accuse this campaign needs to think before speaking out.

This is not something like a political argument, a sporting debate or a clash over music genres you can agree to disagree on. By making a cheap and selfish comment, you could be hurting a lot of people out there.

Last October, my world was hit by the loss of a family relative to the disease. He was in his 80s and had lived a good life. Nor was he afraid of what was going to face him but it must have been truly horrible to deal with. I know it was dreadful seeing it happen to someone so close to me. When I saw my dying relative a month before he passed away, it was a really tough moment for me to take. It was a new experience and a situation I for one struggled with massively.

The best thing I could do was to keep my family strong in such a hard moment. On the outside, I put on a brave face and threw myself into my work – both as a picture researcher at my job and the freelance writing I do in my spare time but on the inside, it was incredibly hard. This is where you need the support of your friends too – to know that they are there for you. I got some amazing messages of kindness and I won’t forget that gratitude. Others who I expected the support were not there which at one of the most difficult experiences of my life was like a slap in the face.

The no make-up selfie is for valuable and important causes. It is a shame that some don't quite appreciate the full context behind the background stories.

Stupid sellotape

Off the back of this has come selfie craze number two of the month and that is ‘sellotape selfies!’

I find this completely ridiculous and I can’t see donations going to the sellotape industry!

In the words of Buzz Lightyear from the first Toy Story movie; ‘There are some sad, strange little people out there and I have my word. Farewell!’

Some just have far too much time on their hands. If I see someone I know, decide that with nothing to do, they will stick sellotape all over their face, then they will be unfollowed or unfriended. It is childish, pathetic and stupid. What’s next – sticking blu tac all over faces and taking a selfie of ourselves!

The selfie should be a happy shot, a surprised look or one like we’ve seen in the last week of dealing with an important issue like beating cancer – not one of making yourself look like an utter fool just to be at the centre of attention! It isn’t required, simple as that.

In summary, the selfie craze is something different about our interactivity. I hope it doesn’t become too frequent as it would become a bit bland after a while but when an important message is wanted to grab the eye of the general public, it is a new and interesting concept. So, no make-up selfie for cancer charities gets a big tick from this writer; sellotape selfies for Britain’s Stupidest Individuals gets angry thumbs down from this writer.

To donate to Cancer Research UK, Teenage Cancer Trust or Breast Cancer Awareness, click on the links. 

Categories: Cancer, Cancer Research UK, Donations, Facebook, Oscars, Selfie, Sellotape, Social Media, Society, Teenage Cancer Trust

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

The BRIT Awards 2014 - The Best of British sparkle again

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

The finest talent in British and international music gathered at the 02 Arena in London on Wednesday night (19 February) for the biggest night in the music industry. The 2014 BRIT Awards provided some great live performances and memorable collaborations in a show that revived the sparkle that had evidently been missing 12 months earlier.

Rudimental and Bastille came together with one of the finest BRIT partnerships live on stage, whilst there were also live gigs from Ellie Goulding, Bruno Mars, the Arctic Monkeys and Pharrell Williams.

It was a brilliant night for the Arctic Monkeys who scooped two awards

On the awards front, it was Arctic Monkeys (pictured above) who were the big winners. Not only did they open the show in grand fashion, they walked off with two awards including the prestigious MasterCard British Album of the Year. To no-one’s surprise, One Direction also won two more BRITS to their collection but despite earning four nominations, Disclosure walked away with nothing. There were acts as young as 17 and as old as 67 also collecting these prestigious gongs.

Corden’s final farewell

This was the final year that the BRITS were to be hosted by James Corden. Having hosted the show for four years on the bounce, he decided to step aside back in November from 2015 onwards. Corden arrived on stage to introduce the evening’s entertainment with his sleeve on fire (pictured below) in a stunt which was clearly part of the opening act by Arctic Monkeys. He did try to blame their pyrotechnics but no-one was falling for that.

James Corden's final ceremony as host began with his sleeve on fire!

The actor and presenter who is best known for his roles in Gavin & Stacey and A League of Their Own kept everything together, although his mucking around with Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw was unnecessary. Nevertheless while he is replaceable, there will be something odd about Corden not hosting the BRITS anymore.

First award of the night went to the sensational Ellie Goulding. She deservedly picked up Best British Female Solo Artist and later went on to put in a fiery rendition of her two most familiar songs in the last 12 months; ‘Burn’ and ‘I Need Your Love.’ Fellow beaut Katy Perry produced the most colourful performance of the night. She gave an electrifying performance of new single ‘Dark Horse’ in an electrifying outfit. However she was beaten to the International Female Solo Artist by New Zealander Lorde, who is one of the BRITS youngest winners at just 17.

50 years her senior and David Bowie won Best British Male Solo Artist. The 67-year-old was not in attendance to collect the accolade and it was left to model Kate Moss to provide an acceptance speech on his behalf. The speech included references to Scotland going to the polls later this year in a bid for independence. It had no relevance to the night’s performances and his view could have been saved for another day and another time.

The loo is important!

Now when a male normally needs to go to the toilet, he must go! However, the timing of this can sometimes be a bit off and the ladies’ favourite Harry Styles certainly got his timings totally out of joint.

Whether he was in a long queue, having a private moment or tying John Terry up to stop him stealing another award is irrelevant, he had to dash back onto stage when he found out that One Direction had won the Global Success award for a second successive year. With 11.5m in global sales and a box office movie in the last year, this award was extremely predictable. The boyband were back later in the night to collect the inaugural award for Best British Video, which was voted by users of the social media giant Twitter. The video was for ‘Best Song Ever’ and this time; Harry actually made it onto stage without needing to visit the cubicles!

Bruno Mars regained the International Male Solo Artist award he last won two years ago, before putting in an uneventful live performance. Flying in especially for the event was another popular American in Beyoncé, who did put in a classy performance.

Listeners of BBC Radio 1 supported and voted for the highly acclaimed British Breakthrough award. There were a series of live lounges the week before from the five contenders and eventually, the fiercely competitive award saw Bastille coming out on top. Their album ‘Bad Blood’ was the most downloaded album of the last 12 months.

Clever collaborations

The first collaboration of the night was from Lorde and Disclosure who put in a unique performance together for the first time. It was a clever routine, even if it lacked the fireworks of other live acts on the night.

An even better collaboration and far more catchy was the one from Rudimental and Bastille. It is so popular; it is currently in the top 10 of the iTunes music chart this week. It was a good evening for Rudimental. They won Best British Single for ‘Waiting All Night’ which is their first BRIT award and if the evidence of the last calendar year is anything to go by, the first of many.

Arctic Monkeys won Best British Group for a third time which was a great award for them to win, considering those popular lads from One Direction were nominated. The biggest award though was the last, as the Arctic’s album ‘AM’ held off stiff competition from Bastille, Rudimental, Disclosure and David Bowie to win the MasterCard Album of the Year. The other award winner was Sam Smith, who had been confirmed last month as winner of the Critics’ Choice for 2014. It will be interesting to see if he can follow in the footsteps of previous winners ADELE, Florence & the Machine and Emeli Sande. The show was closed by Pharrell Williams and music icon Nile Rodgers.

Despite huge social media following with over four million messages on Twitter, TV viewing figures were disastrous, both for the organisers and for ITV. A measly 4.6m tuned in to watch – the lowest ratings since the show went live back in 2007.

While the evening might have lacked controversy, it was a strong show with some superb live music mixed in with the usual awards ceremony. The BRITS will continue to get people talking for many years to come.

Categories: Arctic Monkeys, Bastille, BRIT Awards, Ellie Goulding, James Corden, Katy Perry, London, Music, One Direction, Rudimental

Facebook - Can it survive another 10 years?

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

A decade ago, the word social media was almost non-existent. It certainly wasn’t a very common word. If you wanted to interact with friends online, it used to be through sites like Friends Reunited or through internet forums/chatrooms.

Nowadays, without social media – the majority of us would struggle to live without it in some form of capacity. There are so many things we can do with this power. We can upload videos in seconds and hope they become the next worldwide sensation. We can express our feelings in 140 characters and use the popular hashtag to see if it trends. We can keep in touch with friends and family, play addicting games and still have the ability to poke one another #notcoolanymore.

Facebook has reached 10 - but is under pressure to keep its audience

The facts are that without this communication, you would be lost in today’s technological planet. Recently, Facebook celebrated its 10^th anniversary. The question is, can it survive another decade?

Facebook’s early power

When Marc Zuckerberg launched Facebook in February 2004, it happened fairly quietly. In fact I don't even remember it. The background to it was documented in the lengthy and slightly tedious movie The Social Network.

It came at a time when Facebook could take supreme control of the social media audience. Its main rival at the time was MySpace and they simply couldn’t compete on the same level as what Zuckerberg could produce with his network. MySpace has since faded into complete obscurity and similar sites like Friends Reunited and Bebo have gone the same way.

I was invited and joined Facebook in July 2007, so that was three years after it was launched. The only use for it in its early days was to organise events and post the occasional status update. In fact when I went to Milton Keynes College after sixth form for two years, I was one of only three students on my media production course to have Facebook. Everyone before that connected and communicated on MySpace. I did have a MySpace profile shortly afterwards but it was so limited. While it wasn’t my ultimate mission to convert everyone, I knew Facebook was the social media channel to have and by the time I left in 2009 for University, all but two had switched platforms.

You could see Facebook’s persuasive power. Certain games have got people occasionally hooked. Others would rather just poke people. Seriously, one of the most annoying e-mail messages you can receive is ‘You have been poked’ on Facebook. I find that really irritating!

Facebook does have its downsides and I expressed some of my own personal problems with the site in a piece I did on social media in general last year.

However it did create a lot of early power and could get really addictive to use at the same time.

New threats

Zuckerberg might have made his money and has continued to evolve Facebook over the years. The simple early days of a News Feed and your Homepage have been replaced with expansive graphics. That sometimes hasn’t always worked and I know the current ‘Timeline’ concept wasn’t greeted with that much enthusiasm to begin with.

As it went through its own trough, the new threats began to arrive. Video calling technology from Skype started to develop. Facebook’s power though was soon about to be targeted by its biggest threat to date. The introduction of Twitter into our world in 2006 was again met with little in terms of immediate impact.

Slowly but surely, Twitter started to take on a vast audience as celebrities/famous people started to use it and get followed by fans or slightly obsessive normal members of the general public. If a famous face doesn’t have Twitter, it is quite surprising. I know the current motorsport king Sebastian Vettel doesn’t have Twitter, nor does the UK’s former PM Tony Blair but you would be hard pressed to find people who don’t have official feeds now.

Popstars, sports professionals, the leading journalists, club associations, actors and actresses; the list goes on. Twitter’s audience continues to grow and that has caused a serious threat and dent to Facebook’s popularity.

The days where Zuckerberg could control the social media audience reach are gone and he has had to adapt to the competition.

Personally, I prefer Twitter and made it into a professional account, moving Facebook into the personal spectrum. I joined Twitter in my first year at University in October 2009 – initially only as it was required for a journalism assignment. Over 3,300 tweets later and I use it now as a source to find out links to news stories as well as to comment on some of the main worldwide topics, especially in sport, television and occasionally political issues – despite not showing huge interest in this field.

Facebook’s power has been hurt also by the rise in private and free messaging tools on smartphones. Whilst the UK riots in the summer of 2011 brought BlackBerry virtually to its knees, the BBM service became a free and useful way to have a private conversation. It was just a shame that it soon became a tool to organise violence and hooliganism. Since then, other services such as WhatsApp Messenger and SnapChat (I only have the former) have taken over from BBM to provide stiff competition in the Instant Messaging market. Not forgetting Instagram, another application that has done very well in recent years to attract a global following.

With all that in mind, Facebook has done well to continue appealing to its market. It has had to adapt because if it hadn’t, it would have gone the way MySpace did - into oblivion.

The future

While Facebook has to be congratulated on reaching the 10^th anniversary of its launch, does it need to do more to keep its audience?

In my view, it does. New emotions and buttons for status updates can be added; security certainly could do with tightened reviews. The ‘Poke’ button needs to be removed and the News Feed could do with another revamp, perhaps in splitting it between your friends and family communication and the likes you have of hobbies/people/interests. For example if I want to see how my friends are doing, I don’t want my newsfeed clustered with updates from Walkers Crisps, The Chemical Brothers and UEFA.com.

While it is important to come up with radical and new ideas to keep the network afresh, Zuckerberg might need to incorporate some of Twitter’s successes to keep him active in a sector that continues to evolve.

I think Facebook will be around for another decade and probably longer than that. However it will need to continue to embrace change to stay fresh and different from its competition. A lack of change in this environment will see it start to struggle to stay near the forefront of social media interaction. 

Categories: BBM, Facebook, February, Internet, Marc Zuckerberg, MySpace, Skype, Social Media, Technology, Twitter

24 hour news channels - Celebrating 25 years of Sky News

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

The start of February saw 25 years since this was launched:

Sky News has come so far in the quarter of a century it has been on our TV screens. Not always easily accessible in its early inception, Sky News is now widely available on a number of different devices, from freeview platforms and computer-generated apps to the stunning iPad app which is among one of the best in the business.

Sky has always been the first place for breaking news with its dedicated team of journalists and reporters ready to bring the story to you first, the viewer. I know that it is the channel I watch if I’m after a big story. Sky News were the first to cover the stories that mattered. From the celebration of Tony Blair’s landslide election victory in 1997 and the birth of the Royal Baby last year to the horrifying scenes of international terrorism in New York, Bali, Madrid and London over the past 13 years – as well as groundbreaking coverage of the UK riots in August 2011.

However, Sky and its main competitors are now facing new competition in the evolving world of digital journalism. So, can it be successful and still remain at the forefront of our news for the next quarter of a century.

Slow start

The first bulletin was broadcast at 6pm on Sunday, 5 February 1989. Today, three senior figures in presenter Kay Burley, controversial political editor Adam Boulton and crime correspondent Martin Brunt are still with Sky, just like they were on launch night.

It was a slow start at a time where news was still not hugely accessible. Sky was launched at a time where only CNN was a 24-hour news network in America. The traditional ‘Newsflash’ from terrestrial platforms was the way we got the main news coverage in the late 1980s and early 1990s. There was no internet, social media was a dream away and tablets were just know as a cleaning aid and nothing more.

Rupert Murdoch, for whatever criticism he might deserve in regards to the News International phone hacking scandal two years ago does have to take the credit for keeping Sky News on the air in its early days. Operating on a £40m budget and with a lack of subscribers, Sam Chisholm proposed to Murdoch that Britain’s first 24 hour news channel was to be closed down to save money. The tycoon stuck to his guns though and gradually, Sky started to make its impact further for it. It was quickly respected in the House of Commons and throughout the political circle and started winning awards for its coverage – starting with the Bishopgate IRA bombing in 1993.

Its wall-to-wall coverage of the OJ Simpson trial throughout the pursuit of Simpson through America to the trial in 1995 was groundbreaking. It won Sky a lot of praise and I personally saw it as their big breakthrough onto the news spectrum in this country.

Breaking news

All of this came as BSkyB went under numerous launches on a yearly basis. Sky News underwent new looks (images below) in 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 2000. With flashy graphics, colourful ways to promote the news through rapid technological advances and the development of Sky News Active in the year 2000, they continued to evolve and respond to changes in the way we consumed news.

  

Various Sky News idents from 1993, 1995, 1997 and 1998

The Simpson trial of the mid-90s was big for Sky News but they had shown what they were capable of before that. They covered the late Nelson Mandela’s release from prison in 1990 with great authority and the same occured with a tearful Margaret Thatcher’s departure from Downing Street after resigning as Prime Minister in the same year. They had provided in-depth coverage of the tight 1992 General Election and have made their election coverage even better through a variety of new aspects such as interactive voting and 3D visuals – not just for the UK but also for election night in the United States.

In 1997, it was Martin Stanford who had the difficulty of breaking the news to the nation of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in a car crash in Paris. While the BBC won plenty of acclaim for the way they handled such a sad and emotional story, Sky weren’t far behind. Their finest moment came four years later when the world was experiencing a horrifying day.

It was approaching 1.50pm on a normal day. The date was Tuesday, 11 September 2001 and nothing remarkable was happening, both in our normal lives and at Sky studios. That was about to change though as Kay Burley was given the news that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Centre in New York. What followed was some of the most horrific and vivid moments of the 21^st century. That day, our lives changes forever. In a book, ’20 Years of Breaking News’ Burley revealed: “Not long afterwards the South Tower collapsed. It took less than fifteen seconds to implode. Neither Jeremy (Thompson), nor I said anything. Nothing needed to be said. More than a hundred storeys and thousands of lives lost in as long as it took you to read this paragraph.”

Sky won a BAFTA award for their coverage of 9/11, a feat repeated with the Soham murders in 2003. Many other awards have followed since alongside widespread praise and of course, some criticism along the way.

However, our news would be in a poorer place without Sky News.

It doesn’t always work and the future

24 hour news channels haven’t always had success. ITN tried it with the disastrous ITV News Channel at the start of the millennium. With ratings more accustomed to an episode of Eldorado, the plug was pulled on ITN’s 24 hour failure in December 2005. It hadn’t been helped by the collapse of the ITV Digital platform three years earlier.

The BBC entered the market eight years after Sky and BBC News 24 has been a stable challenger to Sky News since launching on Sunday, 9 November 1997. Despite the occasional blunder, such as Simon McCoy (a former Sky anchor) holding a pad of paper rather than a tablet last year, they have managed to survive in such stiff competition.

However, the way we get news continues to change. The advancement in social media means Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube have become very popular tools for a journalist or even for an amateur filmmaker. Sky used some of this during the UK riots in 2011 – journalist Mark Stone filming on his mobile phone some of the unbelievable scenes in his hometown of Clapham. Stone would later be interviewed for our radio programme ‘The Current Affairs Show’ in 2012 about that night. In an interview for our journalism show with one of my fellow University of Northampton colleagues, he said: “Some of them were almost feral; the image that strikes me is the kids pulling the TV’s off the wall at Ladbrokes. It was the most extraordinary image.”

Rather than compete against them at their own game, 24 hour news channels such as Sky News and BBC News 24 have decided to integrate them rather than beat them. It is a clever strategy and I think it means their future is guaranteed, even if they might not quite have the impact they have had over the past decade or two.

I believe 24 hour news channels have a bright future. They have and continue to adapt well to changes, both in technological advancements and the way news can be broadcasted. I congratulate Sky News and Sky Television as a whole on reaching 25 years and I’m confident that with the tremendous team of reporters, presenters, journalists and people who work behind the scenes at Sky studios, they will achieve another 25 years continuing to break the news first.

Categories: 1989, 9/11, London, New York, Royal Family, Sky News, Tony Blair, TV, UK