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      The Guardian view on the future of the BBC: uncertain but necessary and all to play for | Editorial

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Yesterday - 18:21 · 1 minute

    Hearts and minds must be won in the run-up to the renegotiation of a charter that will determine the next decade of public broadcasting

    With just three years to go until the renewal of its charter, after 14 years of political assaults and in a time of convulsive change, the BBC has to prove its fitness for the next 10 years of public broadcasting. Hence a wide-ranging speech this week by its director general, Tim Davie, outlining the way forward. Opinions vary as to whether this was a timely show of mettle or a once great institution gasping its last. What was clear was that the path ahead will involve yet more swingeing cuts on top of the £500m annual reduction already forced on the corporation by a two-year licence fee freeze – which ends next month – compounded by inflation.

    The breadth of the challenge facing the corporation was underscored by a trio of core objectives designed to sprinkle reassurance in all political directions: the pursuit of truth with no agenda; an emphasis on British storytelling; and a mission to bring people together. All three may be admirable, but the latter two were somewhat undermined by a podcast interview with the showrunner of Doctor Who, for decades a standout example of British storytelling that brings people together. Talking about the value of a production partnership struck with Disney two years ago, Russell T Davies said that it was crucial to the show’s survival, because the end of the BBC was “undoubtedly on its way in some shape or form”.

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      ‘Know your audience’: BBC 5 Live chief on the station’s staying power

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · Yesterday - 05:00

    On 5 Live’s 30th birthday, Heidi Dawson says more of the BBC should be based outside London to reflect the national conversation

    More of the BBC needs to be based outside London to reflect the “conversation of the nation” and secure its future, according to the controller of BBC Radio 5 Live.

    As the station celebrates its 30th birthday on Thursday, with a series of shows and tributes, Heidi Dawson says 5 Live is well placed to see off the multiple headwinds buffeting its HQ in London, including a further £200m in annual cuts announced by the BBC’s director general this week.

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      The secret life of Paul O’Grady – by his friends: ‘His number’s still saved in my phone. I can’t delete it’

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · 2 days ago - 10:00 · 1 minute

    He rose to fame as foul-mouthed drag star, Lily Savage, then abandoned the wig and became a national treasure. Friends including Sandi Toksvig, Amanda Holden and Gaby Roslin remember a true, terrific one-off

    ‘I can’t believe it’s been a year,” says Malcolm Prince, the producer of Paul O’Grady’s long-running Sunday teatime Radio 2 show. “Awful, awful, awful, awful. It’s been such a very difficult year. I’m embarrassed to say how tricky it’s been.”

    O’Grady’s death on 28 March 2023 , from sudden cardiac arrhythmia, came as a shock to the world. For decades, he had achieved the rare feat of presenting himself to the public as he truly was: funny, sharp, outspoken and compassionate in roughly equal measure. To some, he was best known as a comedian, to others a gameshow host, or an animal lover, or a political firebrand, or an LGBTQ+ pioneer. O’Grady’s appeal was so broad that people argued about what his legacy should be after he died; even ITV’s big Good Friday show this year, a documentary entitled The Life and Death of Lily Savage, can’t begin to contain the multitudes in O’Grady’s life, instead choosing to focus on the years he spent in drag.

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      BBC boss hits out at ‘shortsighted’ Tory budget cuts

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · 3 days ago - 16:43


    Tim Davie says 14 years of reductions has put its future at risk, as he announces £200m of cuts

    Cuts to the BBC’s budget by successive Conservative governments have been “shortsighted” and risked undermining its future, the director general said in a speech on Tuesday.

    Announcing a further £200m of cuts to the corporation, Tim Davie said 14 years of cuts have reduced its budget by 30% in real terms and had “chipped away at our income over many years and have put serious pressure on our finances”.

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      Alan Titchmarsh’s jeans blurred by North Korean TV censors

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · 3 days ago - 09:04

    Footage of green-fingered BBC presenter obscured from waist down to hide ‘symbol of US imperialism’

    His calm demeanour and wholesome vocation have apparently endeared him to one of the most authoritarian regimes in the world. But there is something about Alan Titchmarsh that North Korea’s censors can’t quite forgive – his jeans.

    The green-fingered broadcaster and author of raunchy novels has been a fixture on state television since 2022, albeit with the addition of a blurred effect from the waist down.

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      ‘Nobody can hold a candle to it’: David Attenborough backs BBC’s nature shows

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · 4 days ago - 00:01

    Presenter, whose series Mammals airs on Sunday, says broadcaster has changed opinions on conservation the world over

    Sir David Attenborough has said the BBC’s natural history programmes have helped “world opinion change” about conservation, as his latest series, Mammals, highlights the damage “overcrowded” game reserve tourism has on cheetahs – which he says we are in danger of “loving to death”.

    In the same way Blue Planet II raised awareness of plastics , the six-part BBC One programme is likely to prompt questions about safari holidays through footage of large numbers of tourist-filled trucks chasing views of hunting cheetahs making a kill – which can often result in the animals leaving the meat and cubs dying.

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      BBC looks for commercial deals as it faces potential end of licence fee

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · 4 days ago - 00:01

    Director general is to announce plans on Tuesday to radically transform the broadcaster

    The BBC is to sign more deals with commercial partners in an effort to shore up its finances, with further cuts to services expected as it faces the potential end of the licence fee .

    Tim Davie, the director general, will use a speech on Tuesday to pledge to “secure the future of the BBC” with a range of measures including more aggressively chasing profitable deals, such as the recent partnership with Disney to produce Doctor Who.

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      Claudia Winkleman says goodbye to BBC Radio 2 listeners during final show

      news.movim.eu / TheGuardian · 6 days ago - 15:28


    Romesh Ranganathan will soon fill 10am-1pm slot hosted by 52-year-old presenter since 2021

    Claudia Winkleman has said goodbye to her BBC Radio 2 listeners, giving them the “biggest” thank you for tuning in each week.

    The 52-year-old presenter, who joined the station in 2008, announced in December she would leave her 10am to 1pm Saturday slot, saying she wants to spend more time with her children.

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      Doctor Who est la série anticapitaliste par excellence

      news.movim.eu / Numerama · 6 days ago - 14:15

    Dans Le Meilleur des mondes, sur France Culture, notre chronique de la semaine est dédiée à Doctor Who comme symbole humaniste contre le capitalisme technologique effréné.