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'Pure dead brilliant' 6Music Festival gets Glasgow seal of approval

2017-03-27T13:49:33+00:00

It was a weekend that defied stereotype, lived up to reputation and surpassed expectation. The sun shone on Glasgow, the city’s music scene came to life as more than 70 acts turned in show stopping performances. It was, pure dead brilliant - that’s a phrase I heard repeatedly over the weekend, a very Glaswegian way to describe something really great. The city outstretched its arms, welcomed us and helped us lay on a live music extravaganza. Yes, there were headline grabbing headline sets by the likes of Depeche Mode and The Jesus and Mary Chain but there were also wonderful daytime events which included a very special acoustic set from Edwyn Collins and an explosive late night rave with Simian Mobile Disco.

Chris Hawkins with fellow 6Music presenter Lauren Laverne at the festival

Glasgow takes pride in its music heritage. Quite rightly. It’s a city that has spawned legendary musicians, artists and comedians. In fact, the only other time I’ve been to Glasgow I shared a lift with the excellent comic, Kevin Bridges. The evening was knocking on and I laid it on thick how much I loved him. Really thick. I embarrassingly quoted a couple of his gags back at him, repeatedly told him that he was incredible and one of the funniest human beings’ on the planet. He politely posed for a selfie, after which I let him go and as we went our separate ways, I clutched his hand and sincerely said, "Cheers Jeff". Wrong Bridges.

Meanwhile, back to now, take either Glasgow or Kingston bridge over the Clyde from the city centre and you are a stone’s throw from one of the five venues that became home to 6 Music for three extraordinary days and nights.

Future Islands performed first on Friday and of course they did THAT song and frontman Sam did THAT dance.

Chris backstage at the O2Academy with 'Future Islands'

He's a man whose hips become possessed on stage, in stark contrast to Russell Mael from Sparks who was no less entertaining but was more like the organ player at a funeral. Sparks segued neatly into headliners Goldfrapp who were spectacular. It was Friday night and it belonged to Goldfrapp.

Goldfrapp headline Friday night at the 6Music Festival, 2017

Across town, at the famous Barrowland Ballroom, Ride and The Jesus and Mary Chain pushed their wah wah pedals to the metal and their reverb apparently reached space. An early start on Saturday to present the Breakfast Show meant that reverb was still ricocheting through my skull at 7am. I was joined by the fabulous Glaswegian singer songwriter, Emma Pollock. Emma’s a great Glasgow advocate who turned in a beautiful lunchtime set at our daytime venue, the Tramway.

Emma Pollock performing at the Tramway

Other acts on the daytime bill over the weekend included: mega creative Anna Meredith; Mogwai’s Stuart Braithwaite, top novelist Ian Rankin and the always shy and retiring John Lydon - whose warm up came courtesy of a feel-good funk and soul set by superstar DJ, Craig Charles.

One of the weekend’s must see buzz bands were the Lemon Twigs. Boy, did they have some hype to live up to. They played at St Luke’s, a former church, around the corner and across the road from the Barrowlands.

Lemon Twigs performing at St Luke's

They nailed it and played an especially theatrical version of their hit single, I Wanna Prove To You. They definitely did, in spades. From Timbuktu’s joyous Songhoy Blues and the uber cool Thundercat to the electronic sorcery of Bonobo, Glasgow fizzed to amazing beats of all flavours.

From the window of the BBC studio’s at Pacific Quay on Sunday morning, I watched the sun dance on the Clyde, which helped provide a necessary zest for an afternoon at the Tramway. The Wedding Present cleared hazy heads and Father John Misty (with his accompanying pianist) turned in a beautiful, stunning, half hour festival ‘moment’. As the Tramway crowd dispersed, the Academy and Barrowland’s filled to capacity once more. Honey voiced Julia Jacklin and Chicago’s Whitney were far more than Sunday night support acts - they were hot tickets in their own right. I DJ'd before local heroes Belle and Sebastian.

Chris in DJ mode at the Academy, Glasgow

From the decks on the balcony of the Academy, every song I played was a step closer to what became a fantastic home-town love-in. The DJ charged with firing up the Barrowlands was the mighty James Lavelle. Of course he was awesome but then, you need ‘awesome’ to bring on a band who regularly play to crowds of more than 50,000. Depeche Mode electrified the old ball room. Its famous sprung dance floor was instantly in full effect. Fans sang every song back at Dave Gahan who lapped up the fully charged atmosphere.

Lead singer of Depeche Mode, Dave Gahan

He strutted, shimmied and soaked up every sweat drenched moment in a black leather waistcoat with an air of Freddie Mercury’s flamboyance. The British electronic pioneers played an off-the-scale set of 12 songs - a mix of old favourites and future classic’s from their new album Spirit. By 10.30pm the show was over but for a lucky 2000 of us, the memory of seeing one of the UK’s best band’s in such intimate surroundings will last forever.

Pure. Dead. Brilliant.

Chris Hawkins is a presenter on BBC 6 Music.

Follow @BBC6Music on Twitter.
Listen to Chris Hawkins' 6Music Festival Highlights show.
See more pictures and performances from Glasgow on the 6Music Festival website.
Watch selected performnces from the festival on BBCiPlayer.
'Highlights, Part 2' will be broadcast on BBC Two Scotland at 11.05pm on Friday 31 March.
Highlights from Depeche Mode's headline set will be broadcast on BBC Four at 10pm on Friday 7 April.

Radio 2 Country returns for the third year

2017-03-07T13:59:56+00:00

In 2013 the first C2C: Country to Country festival was held at the O2 in London. After many years of country music being the domain of a niche but loyal fan base, a new audience had started to discover the music, and country was becoming cool. With the UK’s voice of Country music ‘Whispering’ Bob Harris at the helm, Radio 2 became the broadcast partner for the festival, making two programmes of C2C highlights for its regular Bob Harris Country slot.

After two years of doing this however, it was becoming apparent the UK’s increasingly enthusiastic and ever growing audience were wanting even more. And then we had a thought. We knew that Radio 2’s four day pop-up station devoted to the Eurovision song contest had been a huge hit with the Eurovision fans, so why didn’t we do something similar for Country music? We could broadcast the festival live and exclusively on our own pop-up...

'Whispering' Bob Harris

Fast forward to 2017 and, with its third incarnation just around the corner, Radio 2 Country is now the most successful music pop-up DAB ever provided by BBC Radio. Certainly on our launch day in 2015 we had an incredible audience response on social media – and the reaction then and in 2016 was resoundingly positive with the overwhelming sentiment on twitter being “Radio 2 Country - #makeitpermanent”!

We know that one of the biggest reasons for our listeners to tune in is our live coverage of performances from the C2C festival. Across three days this year, twelve of the biggest country acts in the world will take to the main stage at the O2, and Radio 2 Country is the only place you can hear it all broadcast live. This year coverage includes performances from one of country music’s biggest selling artists of all time, Reba McEntire; multimillion selling artist Brad Paisley; genre defying country rock group the Zac Brown Band; CMA New Artist 2016 Maren Morris and traditional country royalty - Marty Stuart - with his band of ace musicians, The Fabulous Superlatives. In between these acts our on-air Radio 2 country team, made up of Bob Harris, Baylen Leonard, Jo Whiley, Paul Sexton and Bobbie Pryor will be on hand with all the backstage action, including interviews and live sessions with some of the bands appearing on the festival’s other stages, including our very own Radio 2 Country stage.

When we’re not live from the O2, Radio 2 country will be broadcasting a rich variety of programmes which really show the wide spectrum of country music. Some of Nashville’s biggest stars will be taking a turn behind the microphone including Reba McEntire (Reba’s Gospel Hour), Marty Stuart (Marty Stuart’s Country Pickers) and Alison Krauss (Bluegrass and Beyond).

Alison Krauss will host 'Bluegrass and Beyond' on the pop-up station

We’ve also invited the UK’s only digital country station Chris Country onto the pop-up. Fronted by broadcaster Chris Stevens, Chris Country first launched online in 2013 and on digital radio two years later. A massive country fan, Chris is a huge advocate of the music and artists here in the UK and it’s great to have him involved in Radio 2 Country.

And of course Radio 2’s own presenters will be out in force showing off their country credentials – with programmes from country experts Ricky Ross, Patrick Kielty and Bob Harris. Plus this year we welcome Trevor Nelson who will be taking listeners into the musical space where Country meets Soul; Sara Cox presents a country version of her popular Sounds of the 80s show; comedian and country fan Susan Calman looks at the comedy of country and plays ‘classic’ tracks such as ‘You’re the reason our kids are ugly’ and ‘Did I shave my legs for this?’; Mark Radcliffe pays tribute to one of his musical heroes, Hank Williams, and Colin Murray literally takes to a barstool to explore country music’s fascination with all things alcoholic.

'Did I shave my legs for this?' Susan Calman looks at 'The Comedy of Country'

But it’s not all about cowboys, whiskey and beer. If you’re someone who thinks they don’t like country music then prepare to be surprised. The tentacles of country music stretch far and wide …Lady Gaga, Al Green, The Rolling Stones, Leonard Cohen - listen out because they all make a musical appearance at some point across the four days. And if that’s not enough to make you retune your digital radio there’s always the John Denver and Miss Piggy duet. I’m not joking…

Al Booth is Editor, BBC Radio 2 Production.

Radio 2 Country launches at midday on Thursday 9th March on Digital Radio, online and on the BBC Iplayer Radio app.
Find out more about the pop up station on the BBC Radio 2 Country website.
Follow BBC Radio 2 Country on twitter and/or facebook.
Download the to pop-up station's schedule.

Glastonbury (avoiding the mud)

2016-06-23T12:17:40+00:00

From June 22nd-26th, Worthy Farm hosts the 34th Glastonbury Festival. If you weren't able to get tickets, fear not, over the weekend the BBC has a plethora of coverage from the festival:

On Television:

The BBC One Show hops channels to kick off BBC Two's coverage on Friday at 7pm. Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings will see Jo Whiley, Mark Radcliffe, Lauren Laverne, Huw Stephens and roving reporters Gemma Cairney and Martin Dougan introduce a wide range of performances from across the site.

Over the weekend BBC Four will be broadcasting performances from artists including James, Foals, PJ Harvey, New Order and Charles Hazlewood conducting members of the Paraorchestra for a performance of Philip Glass's Heroes Symphony, inspired by Bowie's 1977 album Heroes.

Broadcasts from Glastonbury will also be available on BBC Red Button.

On Radio:

Between them, BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 1Xtra, BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music will broadcast over 50 hours of coverage from the festival.

Online:

You can dart between the Pyramid, Other, West Holts, Park, John Peel and BBC Introducing Stages without donning your wellies via BBC Music. You can even curate your own 'bands to see schedule' (without fear of losing your print-out in a field or worrying your phone battery might die) by signing in/logging on to My Glastonbury.

If it's all too much for one weekend, over 100 performances will then be available to watch until Tuesday 26th July 2016, on the BBC Glastonbury website and BBC iPlayer.

At your leisure:

Have a listen to the BBC's Glastonbury playlist on BBC Music, or download the BBC Music app to get tailor made content on your phone or tablet - watch sets from your favourite artists and catch-up with the best interviews from the day.

Just for fun:

Take the 'How Glastonbury are you?' quiz (we got a fair to middling 5/10).

Or read good and bad memories people have shared from past festivals in #GlastWhoa or#GlastWoe.

Share the love:

See something that blows your mind? You can embed a video by pressing play on your selected clip and using the icon to copy the embed code. To share on your social media accounts click on the green box beneath the time stamp.

Keep up to date with what's going on at the festival via @bbcglasto on twitter.

Celebrating music’s alternative spirit - The 6 Music Festival 2015

2015-02-23T10:13:13+00:00

Hot Chip at the BBC 6 Music Festival 2015

If ever a reason for 6 Music’s existence were needed then the 6 Music Festival on Tyneside provided it. No other radio station on the planet would offer up the legendary Bryan Ferry on the same bill as sprawling guitar anti-heroes, Mogwai. To me, one of 6 Music’s greatest attributes is the ability to sweetly segue from a contemporary dance act like Hot Chip (pictured) to the genius poetry of John Cooper Clarke, as was the case this weekend. Such segues are our bread and butter. A half hour tuned to 6 Music can deliver you records you may not have heard for 30 years (or ever) alongside the latest, breaking sounds.

The three-day festival weekend, celebrating music’s alternative spirit, kicked off with superstar-6-DJ, Tom Ravenscroft introducing the band responsible for 6 Music’s number one album of 2014, The War On Drugs. Their soaring Friday teatime performance at O2 Newcastle Academy set the bar crazy high and was perhaps best, succinctly, described by one audience member as, “chuffing ace.”

Next up, a fiery Sleater-Kinney who chose the festival to play their first UK show in 10 years and were followed on stage by a top form Interpol. Shaun Keaveny and I introduced them - sharing a mic on account of lead singer Paul Banks not wanting to pick up any potentially contagious germs, which was an original new description of Shaun and myself.

Then came Mogwai who scorched the Academy’s sweaty roof off with their beautifully brutal headline set. I spoke to the band’s main-man Stuart Brathwaite immediately afterwards and he was at pains to express how much he’d loved it, and loves that 6 Music plays his records. It was a night when some had come to see one band and left with a new favourite.

Saturday morning and the sun danced on the Tyne as Bryan Ferry opened the Festival By Day proceedings, in conversation with Lauren Laverne. North-East born Ferry talked about his roots, suits and revolutionary records in his customary suave and laid-back manner. Meanwhile, in another part of town - about 100 yards up the road - Gideon Coe surreally discussed the merits of Tiswas with Dr. John Cooper Clarke.

A closely fought* pop quiz, officiated by pop-mistress Liz Kershaw, between myself and Shaun Keaveny saw a narrow victory for Keaveny. I was beaten by as many as Newcastle Utd that afternoon and while they were thrashed 5-0 away, their home city played host to a mind-blowing set by rock 'n' roll’s latest, greatest, invention, Royal Blood. Steve Lamacq played his usual part in the Brighton duo’s breakthrough and in fact, a glance at the line up tells you that Lammo has had a big hand in the success of dozens of bands on the bill. Royal Blood exploded all over Sage in Gateshead and headliners Hot Chip provided the perfect party for Saturday night.

Sunday’s 6 Music Festival By Day was based in the Boiler Shop in Newcastle and was a mix of live music, artists like Gaz Coombes in conversation, Cerys Matthews presenting her show live from the site and there was Beardyman’s crowd-pleasing, incomprehensibly brilliant beat boxing to create a genius Album In An Hour.

The 6 Music Festival 2015 climaxed on Sunday night with no less than 20 bands playing live under the Sage’s arching Norman Foster designed roof. With my now breaking voice reflecting day three at the festival, I introduced King Creosote to a crowd with pre-written Monday morning sick notes. To overcome the frailty of my voice, friendly advice from a local was to drink 10 pints and "you'll be alreet pal.” I failed to take that professional advice and instead was mercifully compos mentis to witness a spell-binding set by Public Service Broadcasting, a phenomenal show by the hip hop Young Fathers and and it was The Charlatans who crowned an incredible weekend with a sensational trip through their glorious back catalogue.

Reality now bites. The 6 Music Festival is done for another year but before the post-festival blues set in, there’s a chance to reflect on a coming together of alternative music’s very best as well as a chance for the station’s DJs to meet, drink and be merry with our wonderfully loyal listeners. Tyneside, we loved you. You were “chuffing ace.”

*Shaun Keaveny cheated.

Chris Hawkins is a DJ for BBC 6 Music

Re-live all of the 6 Music Festival online for the next 30 days

Reflecting on the first BBC 6 Music Festival

2014-03-13T14:37:19+00:00

On Friday 28 February, at the Victoria Warehouse in Manchester, BBC 6 Music launched it's first festival. The station's editor, James Stirling, looks back over the two day event, which included a live performance of Everyday Robots by Damon Albarn, featured below.

Now that the dust has settled and we’ve had a chance to recover, I’m really pleased to share some thoughts on the first 6 Music Festival. An explanation as to how it came to be seems like a good place to start. 6 Music has been going for 12 years now and it seemed like the right time to host a two-day event showcasing everything we do on a daily basis at the station. Our aim was simply to celebrate the unique world of 6 Music with a live audience, but equally for those either at home or on the move. Thankfully, the BBC Radio iPlayer app makes that goal easy these days.

Of course, music is key to 6 Music, but we’re so much more than that too. So, along with three stages for live artists in the main Festival, we programmed a free Festival Fringe which showcased spoken word, a photography exhibition, a cinema screen, a collection of Independent Record Stores from around the UK as well as some amazing live performances.

Location too was really important when we were developing plans for the Festival. Musically, Manchester is such an important UK city. It has internationally recognised, genre-defining artists whose work spans the six decades of music you'll hear when listening to the network. We work closely with our colleagues at BBC North and over 30% of 6 Music shows are broadcast from Media City UK in Salford. Manchester was therefore a natural choice. We found a fantastic space - the Victoria Warehouse in Trafford - which worked as a venue, big enough to hold the audience, artists and stages. Across the Festival and Fringe, there were five stages in total. All looked wonderful, particularly the trees on our largest stage - certainly worth a look.

As Editor my role was to plan and oversee the production, joining together the various teams we had on site and at our broadcast base. A successful event takes a lot of co-ordination from all involved, especially given that the Festival content had a huge presence on the 6 Music website and Red Button as well as on the radio. Apart from the practical challenges of hosting 40 artists over five stages, we had 22 hours of live broadcasting from site. It can be difficult to work outside the comfort of a purpose-built studio - but the BBC has the best technicians and engineers in the world. That made the job a lot easier.

We knew there was an appetite for the Festival and this was reflected in the speed that the tickets were snapped up. And it helped contribute to a very special atmosphere on site over the two days with both the main Festival and the Fringe going down very well with those who came along. It was great to spot friends of the station, actor Cillian Murphy who recorded a show for us last year and voice of the Festival radio trail Maxine Peake. But a big challenge, and arguably the most important one, was to bring the Festival alive for those at home. The regular 6 Music programme schedule was transformed for two days, with the majority of our presenters teaming up tag-team style. Both the Festival and the Fringe were brought to life for the audience at home as the team explored the venues. Our presenters were key to this and were excellent at bringing the Festival to life for listeners wherever they were and I think that was reflected in the many messages we received from our audience at home saying how much they were enjoying the coverage. Plus what we did online as well was crucial. We’re really proud of the 6 Music Festival website – which we designed to look equally amazing whatever device you're using, from smartphone to tablet or computer. It was vital in helping us reach audiences who couldn’t be at the Victoria Warehouse to enjoy the Festival in person, offering audio on-demand, live video, galleries and the like. All the things you’ve come to expect from us, but all contained in one easy-to-access location – a window on a really special event for the station.

There were many highlights of course, but for the record, my personal favourites were: John Cooper Clarke’s two sets at the Fringe (hilarious), Franz Ferdinand, The National, Wild Beasts, Drenge and Damon Albarn on the main stages, the photography exhibition which documented a year in the life of 6 Music by Jason Joyce, the record stores, who came and traded for two days and all of the 6 Music presenters who performed DJ sets at the silent disco or on the main stage. The sight of a few hundred people wearing glowing wireless headphones, bobbing up and down to Don Letts spinning tunes is one I’ll remember for a long time, as will the sight of the Radiophonic Workshop performing the Doctor Who theme tune, which we played on Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone show. It was also incredibly exciting to see thousands of our listeners in one place, which we hadn’t witnessed before.

Initial indications of the numbers who heard or watched it are very positive. So, from my point of view the Festival was a roaring success.

We’ve collated some amazing photo galleries on the website where you can also enjoy many of the highlights from the Fringe and watch all 24 main stage performances until Thursday 1 April.

And as for plans for another festival … you'll just have to watch this space.

James Stirling is Editor, BBC 6 Music.

Listen to tracks from artists featured in the festival on the BBC Playlister.
Read Jen Macro's blog about performing live on Marc Riley's 6 Music show.
See more blogs about 6 Music.
Follow @BBC6Music on twitter

BBC at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

2011-08-30T10:31:38+00:00

On Saturday we ended our two week run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe which, for the first time, saw BBC television, radio and online come together under one roof at our own pop-up venue on Potterow in the heart of the world's largest arts festival.

Over the course of the last fortnight over 100 hours of radio and 200 hours of TV and red button content has been produced from our temporary home at the Fringe with more than 10 BBC networks involved and over 20,000 fringe-goers visiting our venue. I'm very proud that we've had every nominee from the Comedy Awards on our stage at some point during the last fortnight including the winner Adam Riches.

This venue was something of a pilot for us as we look to join up our Fringe coverage as well as the BBC's overall Edinburgh Festivals programming.

As the person responsible for bringing all of the production teams together at this single venue it was great to see Radio 1's Fun and Filth Cabaret hosted by Scott Mills and Nick Grimshaw, with guest hosts Dappy from N-Dubz and The Hoff, crossing paths with the team from BBC Radio 4's Fringe favourite Just a Minute, chaired by the legendary performer Nicholas Parsons, who not only recorded radio shows at the BBC venue but also hosted his own daily chat show and appeared in a play at the Pleasance during the Festival.

Under the careful eye of Headmaster Arthur Smith, and new for 2011, the Comedy School at the Fringe included masterclasses with some of the most respected names in comedy including the team behind BBC Three's Mongrels, Miranda Hart and Ricky Gervais.

In addition, with a host of performance and comedy writing workshops and the BBC Three Funny in 15 seconds video booth, we hope to have found a few stars of the future.

For a taste of the last two weeks from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe our short film and website will, I hope, whet your appetite for Edinburgh 2012.

Sophie Taitt is Project Director, BBC at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2011

The BBC Edinburgh Fringe 2011 website
In Pictures: The best of the BBC at the Fringe
Film: Planning a radio ob from the College of Production website

BBC One - reflecting the nation

2011-08-27T14:00:00+00:00

I've been the Controller of BBC One now for ten months and have begun to put new plans in place to make the channel as vibrant and creative as it can possibly be.

One of the big things for me is to try and make sure that BBC One offers something for everyone and does a good job of reflecting the nation back to itself. BBC One is the Nation's Favourite Channel, and I think it's important that all licence-fee payers find plenty on BBC One that informs, educates and entertains.

With this in mind, I hope that the programmes you see on this preview video are enticing - and encompass the quality, scale, thoughtfulness and entertainment values that I want BBC One to deliver.

The programmes previewed include brand new drama Call The Midwife starring Miranda Hart and Jessica Raine, the epic new natural history series Frozen Planet, and new comedy starring Sir David Jason, The Royal Bodyguard. It is thrilling to have Sir David returning to the BBC for his first comedy since Only Fools and Horses, and this video gives you the very first exclusive snippet of a show that is currently still in production.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to announce a raft of exciting new commissions for BBC One.

In Drama, we've just given the green-light to The Village - a bold new series from Peter Moffatt. It's the story of one man's journey through the 20th Century, beginning with his humble childhood on a downtrodden farm. The Village is one of those scripts you read and can't wait to see realised on-screen from the moment you turn the final page. It has the richness and emotional depth of the very finest television writing.

Also on its way for BBC One viewers is Fight For Life, a major new natural history series which will use the latest live technology and filming techniques to tell the story of young animals right across the world. This is a very ambitious new live event for BBC One that we hope will bring viewers closer to the daily experience of wild animals than they have ever been before.

In entertainment, we're delighted to be able to announce a new series starring one of Scotland's brightest young talents, Kevin Bridges. BBC One should simultaneously be the home of Britain's national treasures in comedy and also a place where new talent can flourish. We are therefore thrilled to be working with Kevin, who combines brilliant jokes with an acute vision of human nature.

Finally, I'd like to announce two new projects that introduce a new level of risk and experimentation to BBC One. BBC One should be known for boldness, quality and mainstream impact, but I'd also like it to be known for a commitment to risk and innovation that is unusual on a mainstream channel.

To this end, we've commissioned a six-part improvised drama series from Dominic Savage for BBC One - Love Life - that will test the boundaries of fiction on the Channel. We are also announcing a run of new transmittable comedy pilots in order to supercharge the comedy development process for BBC One. Our aim here is to use a run of transmittable pilots as a way of reaching out to joyous new things, in the way we managed with Being Human on BBC Three.

So, from the African savannah to a small English village, from major live events to one of Britain's hottest young comic talents, these commissions show the range and ambition we have for BBC One, and our aim to combine world-class quality with risk and innovation.

Thanks again for taking the time to read this and watch the video - and I hope you find plenty to enjoy on BBC One in the coming months and years.

Danny Cohen is Controller of BBC One

The Media Guardian Edinburgh International TV Festival finishes tomorrow. Details on the official web site. Follow @edinburghtvfest on Twitter.
The Guardian has a special page for news from the festival.
There's also a special page on the BBC Press Office web site for announcements from the Festival.

BBC Two - ancient Rome to London in the fifties

2011-08-26T17:00:00+00:00

I've just finished my 'Meet the Controller' session at the Edinburgh TV Festival where I was interviewed by Kate Silverton. It was a chance to reflect on what I think has been a really good year for BBC Two. We screened some of the highlights and you can see them in the video.

There's been an amazing resurgence in drama and comedy, with programmes like The Hour, The Shadow Line, Crimson Petal and The White, The Trip and Episodes. We've proved that quality can rate with programmes like Wonders of the Universe, Stargazing Live, Battle of Britain, and we've not been afraid to tackle sensitive subjects in factual programmes, for example Terry Pratchett Choosing To Die and the recent Life Of Muhammad series. We've also nurtured some really engaging and authoritative new presenters on the channel, like Mary Beard, Amanda Vickery, Brian Cox, Lorraine Pascale and Ben McIntyre. We've won five RTS awards and five Bafta awards this year across the range of genres and I'm pleased to say that BBC Two share is up in peak so far this year, which suggests that viewers like the direction that the channel is moving in too. Thank you for all your support.

If you look at what has worked over the last year you can see what the channel needs more of going forward, and this is what we were talking about in the session. I was pleased to be able to announce that The Hour will be returning - a programme that has had tremendous impact and has seen its audience appreciation figures rise over the series. We have agreed with writer Abi Morgan that the next series will be set ten months later and it will be interesting to see how the plot develops. You can read more about it on the BBC Press Office web site.

I'm also delighted that Mary Beard will be returning to the channel with a three-part series on Rome. Following her ratings-busting first appearance on the channel with a one-hour documentary on Pompeii, we have persuaded her to put academia aside for a few more months in order to make a series for us on what life was like for ordinary people in ancient Roman Society. Mary is a wonderfully engaging and charismatic communicator, with a wealth of knowledge on her subject - always compelling, always passionate, she's a joy to watch. There's more about the new series in the press release and if you'd like to know more about our forthcoming programmes, take a look at our summer and autumn press pack.

Janice Hadlow is Controller of BBC Two

The Media Guardian Edinburgh International TV Festival starts today and goes on all weekend. Details on the official web site. Follow @edinburghtvfest on Twitter.
The Guardian has a special page for news from the festival.
There's also a special page on the BBC Press Office web site for announcements from the Festival.

BBC Three - gripping, relevant and entertaining

2011-08-26T15:15:00+00:00

The Media Guardian Television Festival has kicked off and it's one of the few times in the year when the TV community takes time to discuss the challenges facing the industry. For me, it's the first time I've been to the festival as Controller of BBC Three. In a session earlier today I was interviewed about my vision for the Channel and what kinds of programming I'm looking for.

For me, BBC Three should have a creative or social purpose in everything that we do. Creatively we are a channel that should take risks. These risks can give new faces their break both on and off screen, help break new formats and investigate areas the more mainstream channels shy away from. On screen, I want to work with new talent in comedy, entertainment and drama and give them a chance to work in TV, often for the first time, but also to help develop people into household names. BBC Three has helped bring some outstanding comedy talents to the publics attention like Ruth Jones and James Corden in Gavin and Stacey, Matt Lucas and David Walliams in Little Britain and the amazing Mighty Boosh. I also want to give established artists a chance to try something new - and that's why I'm announcing today that Billie Piper is starting in a new comedy for us for next year called Tom and Jenny. We have already announced two other new comedies for early next year, Pramface and Life Story with Sharon Horgan. The video includes previews of these programmes along with our new drama for this autumn from Jack Thorne - The Fades.

Off-screen, I want to work with new writers and directors, especially in factual where we run a scheme called Fresh (more information on the BBC Commissioning web site) which gives new directors a chance to make their first full TV films. Here are a few more details on the scheme and some information on other shows we are making for the channel:

In terms of social purpose, BBC Three is dedicated to the highest quality factual programming specifically made for our youthful audience. Our factual programming should inform and educate, but in gripping, relevant and sometimes entertaining ways. We want to encourage debate and really look at the issues facing young people. Today I am announcing that through the autumn and winter our documentaries and factual programming will be scheduled every Monday night at 9pm so our audience knows every week where they can see high quality, intelligent, issue-led programming.

Its been a busy five months running a channel which is now the most watched digital channel for the hours it's on as well as being the most popular for young audiences. It's a huge responsibility looking after any channel, but particularly a BBC one, I hope it will also continue to be a very fun experience.

Zai Bennett is Controller of BBC Three

The Media Guardian Edinburgh International TV Festival starts today and goes on all weekend. Details on the official web site. Follow @edinburghtvfest on Twitter.
The Guardian has a special page for news from the festival.
There's also a special page on the BBC Press Office web site for announcements from the Festival.

BBC Four - curating content on-air and online

2011-08-26T12:00:00+00:00

Thank goodness my interview at the Media Guardian International TV Festival is over. It's always slightly terrifying and good to get some fresh air afterwards, but actually Penny Smith, who was interviewing me, was delightful. Hopefully the audience found it an informative and lively session.

Naturally there was quite a bit of interest in what the future holds for BBC Four post-DQF (Delivering Quality First). While there are no final decisions yet, there's one thing we do know: we've all got to take our share of cuts. Of course no one welcomes being cut back and it will bring changes. I'm not at liberty to talk about it what these changes will be yet as we don't know the outcome, but I promise I will do everything in my power to keep the essence and spirit of the channel - appealing to people who love to think, be entertained on every subject and who enjoy a channel that has an opinion and offers perspective.

In my session, I was keen to talk further about BBC Four's new role as the curator of content online as well as on television. It was recently announced that BBC Four will be the gateway through which audiences can explore the rich heritage of BBC TV programming. BBC Four's collections will be curated around seasons/themes, something I think we are very good at, and will take the viewer on a deeper journey through the subject via the BBC's extensive archive, with content from all genres and channels. Today I announced our first 'collection', which will be around the channel's Army Season in September. We've managed to find some amazing gems from the archive which chart the British Army from the 1950s to 90s, brought bang up-to-date with our programmes that form part of the season on BBC Four.

You can read more about our new 'collection' on the BBC Press Office web site, where we also announce a new arts series for BBC Four, Art Noveau, which explores the short but brilliant life of this movement at the end of the 19th century. I also announced two 90-minute film adaptations of Alan Furst's novels, The Spies of Warsaw - yes, I am still commissioning drama on the channel. The video is the one I showed in my 'Meet the Controller' session at the conference, which features some of our recent successes and offers a sneak preview of The Killing 2. (Talking of The Killing, I hope you are managing to catch our repeat showing of the first series which is stripped across the schedule at 10pm, continuing until 15 September.)

Richard Klein is Controller of BBC Four

The Media Guardian Edinburgh International TV Festival starts today and goes on all weekend. Details on the official web site Follow @edinburghtvfest on Twitter.
The Guardian has a special page for news from the festival.
There's also a special page on the BBC Press Office web site for announcements from the Festival.

The Edinburgh TV Festival - a word from the Chair

2011-08-26T08:00:00+00:00

The Edinburgh Television Festival is a key event in the broadcast calendar; it's an opportunity for media companies to debate the industry's biggest issues and showcase their upcoming content. As Advisory Chair of this year's festival I've pulled together a programme that promises not only to celebrate television but also to examine its future - and to look at how and why, several years after many prophesised its demise, it's actually more popular than ever.

The BBC is of course participating in many of the key debates and the channel controllers for BBC1, BBC2, BBC3, and BBC4 all be discussing their plans with a live audience. As the weekend progresses they'll all be uploading blogs to this page, linking to exclusive clips from some of the high quality programmes which will be hitting your screens over the next twelve months. They'll also be announcing brand new titles and giving an insight into their plans for their channels. I hope you enjoy the updates and for more information on the festival, do visit www.mgeitf.co.uk

George Entwistle is Director, BBC Vision

The Media Guardian Edinburgh International TV Festival starts today and goes on all weekend. Details on the official web site. Follow @edinburghtvfest on Twitter.
The Guardian has a special page for news from the festival.
There's also a special page on the BBC Press Office web site for announcements from the Festival.
The picture shows an unidentified cameraman and husband and wife team Nan Kenway and Douglas Young making a BBC television programme in 1947. It's from the BBC's picture library

BBC Radio 4's new home at the Edinburgh Festival

2011-08-17T11:26:35+00:00

This evening's edition of Front Row, Radio 4's nightly arts review programme, comes from the BBC's new, purpose-built Edinburgh Festival 'pop-up' venue on the corner of Potterow and Marshall Street. We asked Front Row presenter John Wilson to talk to Caroline Raphael, Radio 4's Edinburgh Supremo, about the new venue, the highlights of the BBC's Edinburgh coverage and the history of the BBC's involvement with the festival.

Steve Bowbrick is editor of About the BBC

All the details of the BBC's coverage of the festival are on the BBC's Edinburgh web site. Pictures of the the Potterow pop-up venue too.

The Proms are under way

2011-07-22T16:44:03+00:00

Roger Wright is Controller of BBC Radio 3 and Director of the BBC Proms. Last Friday he was at the Royal Albert Hall for the first night of this year's festival. He'll be there every night, for every performance. I spoke to him on the steps down to Prince Consort Road, amongst an excited crowd of Prommers, just before the first concert, featuring Benjamim Grosvenor and the music of Judith Weir, Brahms, Liszt and JanÃ¡Äek (you've still got a few hours to listen again to Prom number one: I can recommend it).

The Prommers - the passionately loyal and opinionated regulars who fill the standing places in the Royal Albert Hall's arena (and upstairs in the gallery) are the backbone of the festival. I spoke to some of them too:

Steve Bowbrick is editor of About the BBC

Keep up with the schedule for this year's festival on the brand new Proms web site. Visit the web site from your mobile phone and you'll find a tailor-made mobile web site with easily accessible information about the performances and a play button so you can listen on the move (live streaming is not available on all mobiles).

The BBC at T In The Park

2011-07-08T13:59:24+00:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/festivals/tinthepark/2011/

For one weekend every July something very unusual happens in towns across Scotland. Like a science fiction movie, McLogan's Run perhaps, Scottish towns lose their young people... the streets are quieter, the bars less crowded. Thankfully they all come home again on Monday, muddy and exhausted... they've been to T in the Park.

For most of the year Balado in Perth and Kinrosshire is a beautiful, greenfield location, buzzed by the local micro light pilots who use the old airforce site as a base. From early summer, though, construction starts on what will become Scotland fifth biggest town for that weekend, hosting 85 000 fans every day and, of course, some of the biggest names in music.

This year T in the Park favourites Arctic Monkeys will headline the main stage on Friday night, followed by Coldplay, Foo Fighters and Beyonce over the rest of the weekend.

For anyone who hasn't made it to 'T' yet, if you want find out where it is, draw a line between Edinburgh and Perth, ancient capital of Scotland, and right in the middle you'll find us. It's no surprise that it's between two capital cities because, once a year, 'T' does become the heart of Scotland; it's fair to say almost everyone in the country, from all walks of life, will know someone who is there.

And that's one of the things that makes T unique, it's an international event, with international stars but at the same time has a real local feel to it, perhaps that's why, when you ask any of the performers what they associate with 'T', they'll all say... the fantastic crowds.

BBC Scotland has been broadcaster of the festival for more than a decade now. Over the weekend we'll have 35 cameras covering four stages, making 15 hours of television coverage for BBC Three and BBC One and Two Scotland, featuring on the HD channel, 115 hours streaming on the red button across the three days and almost 90 hours on the catch-up service. All that plus highlights for BBC Two and BBC Scotland plus 12 hours of radio on Radio One and Radio Scotland.

The Prodigy at T In The Park 2010

So for anyone who knows someone at the festival, it will be easy to catch what your son, daughter, grandchild or neighbour's kids will be enjoying on site. That volume of coverage, and the whole team's commitment to delivering the highest quality, is also testament to how significant T in the Park is to Scotland and the wider audience.

Our production team of 218 BBC staff are just a small part of the 4,000-strong army involved in T in the Park but broadcasting a music festival always presents us with a few head-scratching moments, not to mention the occasional sleepless night. Getting around T's 600-acre site is a task in itself, and with numerous stages, attractions and a crowd who really know how to have a good time, it can be a logistical challenge- but it's one that our staff always rise to.

Although 'T' has a distinctive Scottish flavour, it is a national event proud of its place in the summer festival calendar. Our coverage is broadcast across the whole country, last year the overall audience broke 4 million for the first time with BBC Three audience over 3 million, also a new high.

In keeping with an event that is both local and national, staffing is made up of BBC Scotland crew and staff from all over the UK, including Radio One's Live Music Unit. Staff numbers are down on last year, and everyone will receive a warm Scottish welcome at our regular accommodation for the weekend... the local police training college.

We also draw on a wide range of production experience using staff with experience on productions including Glastonbury, Celtic Connections, the Royal Wedding, Weakest Link, The Culture Show and even last year's Papal visit to Glasgow.

Starting on Three at 8pm on Friday 8th July, Edith Bowman and Reggie Yates will be in our tree house studio overlooking a newly designed site, Greg James will be out-and-about soaking up the atmosphere and local lads Ally McRae from Radio One and Vic Galloway from Radio Scotland will be bringing expert local knowledge.

So, if you're at home that weekend let us give you the full T in the Park experience, if you know someone who'll be there, watch closely... you might just spot them, and if you just want some great music, on TV, radio or on line, from some of the biggest acts in the world... it's time for 'T'

Graham Mitchell is Executive Producer of the BBC's T In The Park coverage

Visit the BBC's T In The Park web site and read about the BBC Introducing stage on the BBC Press Office web site.
T In The Park is on Twitter and on Facebook. The official web site has a live picture gallery.

Glastonbury - covering a major cultural event

2011-06-07T14:09:38+00:00

Every year we have to counter the charge that the numbers of backstage talent the BBC sends to create Glastonbury is excessive. If the figures were 600, 300 or 100 people I don't think it would make any difference. Last year we sent 274 staff and freelancers and this year it will be less.

Glastonbury is a major cultural event and the UK's most significant popular music festival. Last year our coverage reached nearly 16 million people, was listened to by 5.7 million individuals and the website featured around 170 hours of video. The BBC prides itself on its high-quality coverage of major events like Glastonbury, so I thought I'd give you a glimpse of what I see backstage to give you a better scale to understand why, later this month, the BBC will send 263 of its best people to Somerset to bring a huge amount of content to our audiences across all our platforms.

The Glastonbury site is 1100 acres - more than double the size of the Olympic Park and Alton Towers and the equivalent of 550 football pitches - it's huge! It took me an hour to walk across the site (with no people there) and when at capacity over the weekend with around 135,000 people on site it can take much longer!

We have cameras and crew at six stages across this massive site - bringing audiences 38 hours of TV on BBC Two, Three and Four and around 50 hours of radio across 6Music, Radio 2 and Radio 1 plus extensive coverage on bbc.co.uk, as well as on four Red Button streams, offering a complete multi-platform experience.

As a former sound engineer, I'm going to tell you about the main Pyramid Stage sound for the Radio, TV and on-demand. We're talking about delivering some of the world's greatest artists (this year there's U2, Coldplay and BeyoncÃ©) to your TV, radio and computer in super quality. I can tell you that mixing the hundreds of sound feeds does not happen on mobile disco equipment - Sound II is the BBC's big digital mobile music studio - a truck crammed with the highest possible quality mixing desk, monitoring and FX systems. Inside, our very best sound engineers work on a shift system to deliver great sound day and night; there are stage technicians who lay the cables and set the mics; and production assistants who log, time, quality check and upload hundreds of tracks so that the BBC Radio stations can play out live music in their Glastonbury specials.

This is only one stage and only the sound - across a sprawling site which is bigger than Bath. There's also the John Peel Stage, West Holts Stage, The Park Stage, Other Stage and BBC Introducing Stage with each one having dedicated technical points. And there are dozens more stages, tents and areas where music and comedy acts are doing their thing - so getting around the site with equipment and artists can be a real challenge.

All this, even before we get to the multi hi-def camera points, the vision mixers, directors, vision control engineers, producers, the website techs and the fact that tons of kit has to be installed in a fairly remote valley in Somerset and taken down days later by riggers and drivers. I hope you'll appreciate that this is why it takes the number of people it does to deliver the BBC's high quality multi-platform content. I should add that as the broadcast partner, the BBC's pictures are beamed across the world with BBC WorldWide selling rights to coverage overseas and generating funds to be invested back into the BBC for making programmes.

And this is certainly no 'junket'. There's no BBC corporate hospitality and any BBC executives attending will also be working. Every member of staff onsite has a clear and accountable role - working hard and extremely long hours to offer unparalleled coverage. The people who work at the festival are some of the most dedicated, talented hard-working and professional crew I have come across in my career - and I have been around a long time!

Andy Parfitt is Controller Radio 1, 1Xtra, Popular Music and Asian Network

More details of this year's festival on the BBC Press Office web site.
The BBC's Glastonbury web site has this year's lineup and an archive or content from previous festivals.
The official Glastonbury festival web site has further news and information - although tickets are sold out.
The picture shows Lisa Elle from Dark Horses on the BBC Introducing Stage at Glastonbury 2010. It's by Rory Connolly.