Entertainment For Lively Minds
Danny Baker Show Axed!
Posted by Five-Centres on 7 October 2011 - 10:18am.
Part of BBC cutbacks, apparently.
Wonder how he feels about that?
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Not surprised.
In 2011, especially at the BBC, it's the c*** that rises to the top.
(see Mark Lamarr's wonderful shows).
Danny
Doubtless he could tell you in, ooooh, 14 hours of constant chatter, given the chance.
Couldn't work out if this was the case
while listening yesterday. With the anti London sentiment in BBC at the moment, I'm surprised they didn't get rid of Robert Elms seeing as his show is totally about London.
Sadly
I don't think he's safe either.
Hooray!
Can I be the one to hand him his coat and P45?
I know he divides opinion
and the way he cranks up the London accent on radio grates a bit but his show is surely what local radio is all about. Its about London for Londoners and doesn't talk down to them. His guests are generally not on the main book/film plugging circuit and are nearly always worth listening to. I haven't heard anything close to it on other BBC local stations and the commercial networks wouldn't put anything like this on.
Although he can be an irritating twerp
I'd really miss Elm's show if it were to go. I'm not a fan of his musical taste or fashionista pretensions, but he has consistently interesting guests and features on his show. The idea of him being replaced by some dumb Vanessa Feltz style phone-in show is very depressing indeed.
Elms
Couldn't agree more;
The geezer accent adopted for calls, combined with his almost pathological dislike of rural England make him someone I wouldn't be expected to like. However his genuine enthusiasm for the city, intelligent interviews with people who aren't all flogging something along with some reasonable music make hi show one of my regular listens and I live miles from that London.
I've not noticed
a "pathological dislike of rural England" - I'll have to listen more carefully from now on! However, as a London Boy, I would have to say it would be a blow if we lost both the Candy Man and Elms as they are essential listening in our house (sadly so is VF - but that's the GLW's choice). It does make you wonder about the BBC and those who control it.They are incredibly out of touch with their audiance.
His London stuff is very good.....
.....but Elms was a punk wasn't he?
Now, I don't expect, and personally I would run a mile from, solid punk on his show, but his playlist is about as out there as the average Jimmy Young Show circa 1977.
His concept of Funk is also very shaky and even today when he did a four-in-a-row by The Who (Goldhawk Road, Shepherd's Bush, Mod.....i.e. everything you'd think he'd deliver on) his grasp of them or even enthusiasm for them came over as about 10% of his enthusiasm for M.O.R. 1970s soul/pop/rock and Spandau Ballet.
Definitely a show to Sky+ and rapidly skip through.
I think he was a punk
only in as much as it was the thing to be at the time. He doesn't like The Who or rock music in general, so fair play to him to give over so much of his show to their songs today.
I think it's a bit unfair to bash the music, he plays a lot of jazz, country, soul, reggae and world music that you wouldn't find anywhere else on daytime radio in the UK. I find the music a lot more varied on his show than it is on 6 Music.
Also, I think "Funky Friday" is meant to be a very loose term for some dance and disco tracks in the last half hour on a Friday. I don't think it's ever meant to be Funk.
I just wish Robert
would talk more about his family coming from Notting Gate originally. And that he likes cycling.And that he likes tha Barbican but he can never find his way in. And that he is a soul boy etc etc
Oh
I forgot to say he should mention the fact that he doesn't like the Beatles. But loves the Monkees ...
And did he mention....
His wife is Chinese and he takes little Alfie up QPR, And that he is a working class boy from shepherds bush/ burnt oak (depending on who is talking too).
Never mind Bob, I do still genuinely love the show, and even subscribe to the podcast, and I will be bereft if both his and danny's shows are axed.
Yep.....
....that Burnt Oak/W12 bit is very confusing.
I went to Burnt Oak a few years ago (before they pulled down Edgware Town's ground, sob) and it's bleedin' miles from Shepherd's Bush.
Like me, who comes from E17, saying that I'm from Greenwich!
london
a show by a londoner about london on radio london.
the world truly is a strange place.
Yes, obvious isn't it?
So why isn't there more of this kind of programming?
Are there the equivalent programmes in other parts of the country?
Make your views count
I was so incensed by the cuts to BBC local radio that I completed the BBC's online consultation survey :
http://consultations.external.bbc.co.uk/bbc/localradio/
That's really putting it to The Man!
Seriously, I wanted to make my views about potential changes to BBC Radio Cornwall which is a really good local station, with a clear local identity. Also, we moved down here 8 years ago and I still make the effort to listen to BBC Radio London ( Elms and The Candyman ) as often as I can, online. So I added my views on that in the survey as well. Why do we need endless rolling news programmes and vacuous phone-in shows instead of presenters that make the radio come alive. Just listen to Danny Baker's hour with Nick Lowe recently to see what I mean.
Likewise with BBC Tees
which has a very distinctively Teesside vibe to it. I'm a regular listener in the evenings, which would be affected but, to make things worse, there is already some shared programming after 2200-0100 with BBC Newcastle.
And of course the stuff that will get cut is, as you rightly point out, the stuff that the chart heavy local commercials won't do; Bob Fischer on BBC Tees plays lots of new and local music, plus the BBC Introducing stuff that works its way through to the nation al network and Tom Robinson on 6.
So I'm off to fill that in too.
Is this true?
Is this true? Last I read, BBC Local Radio srtations were having to share content after 7pm weekdays and 1pm weekends. I thought that was bad enough, given that it would cull shows such as Down In The Grroves on Radio Leeds. But they can't axe Baker. I'll rip up my TV licence.
Cuts
BBC London's cuts are huge, especially as it has the remit to cover the Mayor & City Hall, so I'm not exactly surprised: BBC London will become a shadow of itself. And it's pretty lame now.
However, how expensive can Danny B's show be? It's him bringing his own records in, chatting to people.
Shame.
I've only just discovered Down In The Grooves (owing to a thread here): I'd be gutted to lose it. Also Sean Rowley on BBC Kent and the northern soul shows on Sheffield/Stoke etc which they never do down here.
*cries*
Danny Baker
I used to enjoy his show on 606. It was a lifeboat of humour in the ocean of grim-faced seriousness that is contemporary football coverage.
Twitter
To quote his twitter feed:
"Nothing like having your show axed under an initiative called Delivering Quality First to let you know how valued you are. #CrapOutFirst"
His agent begs to differ
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/10/07/danny-baker-not-axed-from_n_9...
Which Show?
Is it his London show or his Radio 5 program?
Jape
More than likely Candyman is stirring things up on Twitter. A pinch of salt is recommended for most of his pronouncements.
Sport programmes will certainly be cut, losing cricket commentary will be a sore one for me, but the afternoon show should, please God, remain safe.
They daren't
axe Test Match Special. Even the clueless Mark Thompson would realise that his job would disappear in no time if that was mooted.
TSM probably safe but county
TSM probably safe but county cricket commentaries likely to disappear.
TMS
I've never listened to it, but would feel bizarrely aggrieved if it were axed. Ditto The Archers. Some things are just English institutions!
I knew something in the BBC's heart had died
the day they axed One man and his dog.
And "come dancing" - which must have cost 50p to make and was roll on the floor laughing funny.
"And now the Penge Latin team...."
Anyway
my offer to do the Jools Holland show still stands.
£5
Ham Sandwich.
Bus Fare home.
Seriously - they need to save £700million / year - start by "letting go" anyone who wants more than, oh, I don't know, £50,000 a year.
Hire some new young talent. Or new older talent. Just spread the effing net a little wider - there must be someone cheaper than Graham Norton who can giggle like a stuck pig whilst looking at net soft-porn.
And if they get poached by ITV 2 years later - just do it again, there's plenty of people who could sit and pontificate on books and music and....you get the idea.
And stop arsing around with TOTP 1976 - just rerun the whole archive, and whole OGWT archive, and do the same on the radio - every live session from 1960 to today, dig it out, stitch it togther and broadcast for 3 or 4 hours every day. What's the point of having one of the most extensive radio and TV archives in the world if you only ever repeat ~5% of it ?
And don't pay for sport - just give it away to the satellite channels. All of it.
Brilliant
Sounds like a plan to me, esp the TOTP bit.
No sport on the BBC?
I take it you don't like sport then? I'd be confident in saying there are a large number who do who don't want to spend £60 a month extra to watch any. Or can't afford to.
I don't like sport either
but it doesn't stop the schedulers putting sport across BBC1, BBC2, ITV1 and Channel 4 at the same time, sometimes even the same event on 2 channels and the cancelling of a programme on BBC1 because tennis or some other ball game has over run.
Not hugely
but it's just so expensive isn't it ?
"The BBC has secured the future of Match of the Day until 2013 after paying more than £170m to renew its TV highlights rights deal with the Premier League."
From http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jan/28/bbc-secures-match-of-the-day...
£170million, for just the highlights. And that's just soccer.
Chuck Whispering Bob £1million to make a top notch adult rock TV show, bank the rest. No tears shed here - except for the ones of joy.
Genuine question...
...but is the ability to watch sport on free-to-air telly an inalienable right? I mean, I know we could say the same about music or pretty much anything, but I think it's an interesting question. As sport (or music, or anything) fans, do we have a right to expect that the BBC cover our sphere of interest?
The Premier League, as I understand it, charges a flippin' mint to broadcasters for the honour of showing their soccerball matches. Is it reasonable for the Beeb to cough up whatever it takes? Or more reasonable for them to walk away from major sport and leave it for the commercial lot to scrap over? They could then invest their money in stuff that's more uniquely BBC-ish. Goes the argument, anyway. But I don't like sport, so I'm hardly the best person to make that argument credibly.
How many people have to be really into something to make the coverage of that something by the national broadcaster a given?
Every broadcaster
who just drops out of the bidding war will make it cheaper for the remaining ones - and the ultimate winner should (!) be able to make the subscriptions cheaper.
The same logic applies for not bidding for Graham Norton (or whoever). If they want to go to another channel - fine, p*ss off, we'll hire someone just as good for half the price (or less). The whole "TV Star showbiz" thing is too frozen and self perpetuating
Don't forget
that exec's like paying lots for talent. Because they count themselves as the talent as well. No one at the BBC should earn more than £250k pa. And then, very few. Its not as if they need to sell stuff is it? They get a pot of money to spend wisely every year. Regardless of how good the product is.
"its not as if they need to sell stuff...". Spot on.
I always thought that MOTD
was uniquely BBC-ish (just much copied).
It's been around a long time.
No sport on the BBC...
It just might work...
(it wont really - sadly as far as I am concerned)
they
should charge every adult 100£ who watches/listens rather than every house
You don't fool me Danny
See also
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2011-10-07/bbc-danny-baker-has-not-been-a...
and there's an online petition up already...
What's the ratio of program makers to bureaucrats?
Seems to be a lot of potential if you're looking for people who might not be delivering quality product.
Why not just
get rid of Steve Wright & give Baker the Radio 2 afternoon slot?
Steve Wright
Steve Wright is a national disgrace. I've heard that he put some weight on following a divorce, and likes eggs & bacon for breakfast.
The man's insane.
I heard Baker say this was going to happen
about a year ago. Another prank.
I wonder how much mileage there is in giving the BBC a kicking
these days? The primary sponsor of this sort of sentiment over the last 30 years seems to have been the more libertarian elements of the Tories, and media monkeys in the pay of the right wing media. All of which are - I suspect - about to go way out of fashion.
Coupled with the fact that the UK is just about to go down the crapper to a greater or lesser extent, you'd think any Government would like to keep control of the levers of mass communication and manipulation.
Sadly
Too many people think £150 is too much for getting BBC1,BBC2,BBC3, BBC4,BBC News 24,Radio 1, Radio 1 Extra, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, Radio 4extra, Radio 5, Radio 5 extra, Radio 6, Asian Network, Local radio, The BBC Website (with that handy listen again facility), ....and whatever I've forgotten, oh yeah, CBBC, CBeebies, ....
41p a day ?
For all that ?
Bargain.
Still, slashing £700million a year should save "the licence fee paying public" about 0.5p a day.
Brilliant. After a couple of years I'm going to spend my saving on a £3 CD in FOPP. Or a cup of that new frothy coffee I've heard so much about (but couldn't afford due to the damn money grabbing BBC)
Apologies for repeating
the same point I made here http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/word-mouth-blogger-takeover-xxix#c...
but really this is nothing more than a political vendetta against the BBC dressed up in the opportunistic clothes of cost cuting. In its way, this is Thatcher v the miners, just 30 years down the line.
Meet the new boss. Same as the old bag.
You are Sandi Toksvig
And I claim my £5.
(Last Friday's News Quiz. Listen from 16:10. Only available until 15 Oct.)
It's very sad
The Beeb are going to cut Radio London's budget by about £1m which is 25% of its budget.
Alan Hansen is paid £1.4m a year by the Beeb. I think the world has gone mad. Would anyone really stop watching MOTD if there was just Gary Lineker and Lee Dixon? Do they really need two "experts"?
It costs £1m to run Radio 1's Big Weekend. Is it really that important for Radio 1 to have a festival when there are thousands of others out there?
The Beebs coverage of Glasto costs around £2m. Is it really worth it?
I think most Beeb viewers and listeners can see where cuts can be made and it isn't with valued services like Radio London that are already run on a tight budget.
Spot on
Couldn't agree more.
Well put
The Glasto coverage is an important part of the BBC schedule. Maybe there doesn't need to be quite so many of the BBc there for it though.
You have illustrated very well where the costs are out of control.
BBC Glastonbury coverage
Personally, I like the BBCs Glastonbury coverage, & would hate to see it cut back, but i am sre the same coverage can be provided with a few less hangers on (strap hangers).
Same with sport, particularly the big international events. With a large crew already at the world cup, why cant Lineker, hansen etc just stay in london to do match coverage.
On a similar note, do I remember correctly, a few years ago Anthony Worral Thompson had a completey new, top end (natch) fitted kitchen installed at his house so he could record a cookery show in his house?
He isnt willing to do the programme without a new kitchen ?
Good, fuck off & let someone else get the gig.
When you've nailed Anthony Worral Thompson to a T
you've made a TWAT.
When you've nailed Anthony Worral Thompson to a T x 2
you've made a TWAT..... keyboard now covered in snot & coffee
laughing my fat arse off.
The commercial guys are doing it already...
Watching the ITV coverage of the Rugby World Cup. Enjoying it immensely. Especially when I record it on my PVR and can fast forward through the inane adverts. Anyway, the pool matches were analysed by the pundits from the studio here in Blighty. It's only since the knock out matches began have they decanted to New Zealand from their warm studio. England got stuffed in case you all wondered. Yes, Saturday was a good day. England lost. Scotland won against the might of Liechtenstein.
Not really sure
much filming of music really translates into an unmissable experience. For me there are a couple of notable exceptions ie. Talking Heads Stop Making sense and the Neil Young Heart of Gold dvd from his concert at the Ryman. I usually record Beeb at Glastonbury and skip through to the bands I want to see after the event. Watched once only. I still primarily consider music as something to listen to or going to a gig to see. Watching it on a small screen rarely excites me unless it is some long lost footage. This is where BBC4 excels.
Some great points there
But... Glasto - keep, but no point showing the same stuff (often the same bands) two weeks later at T In The Park (and others).
£1.4m pa for Hansen? Blimey, that should keep him in golfing holidays and a colossal amount of red wine, allegedly.
£1.4m for Hansen?
Unbelievable.
It's...
... absolutely diabolical.
No it's
Unbeleeeable.
Danny B's
brilliant in small doses. Can't be beaten on irreverent sports chat though. Not a fan of the BBC London show.
If it's a cutback...
... does it mean there's not going to be anything on in it's place?
How expensive can any of the BBC London radio be?
most of it is talk based, unlike the much missed GLR. Danny's 18/19 year olds probably answer the phones for minimum wage surely!
Doh.
Edit. Someone else said the same thing as I was about to say in this post above. Soz.
When GLR took David Hepworth
and producer Brian off the air, it was a dark day round Mate Manor. Just shows they're capable of anything.
Guardian article
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/oct/07/danny-baker-bbc-cuts?newsfee...
If the Guardian article is right and BBC London have to syndicate an afternoon programme to all the surrounding radio stations, will they be able to choose Danny's brilliant but idiosyncratic show or will it be something more bland and generic instead?
I would be really gutted to lose Danny's show. He, his co-hosts, guests and listeners provide unique and sparky entertainment and also he's one of the few DJ's left who can choose their own music for the love of it, rather than just have the latest computer-generated playlist.
No !
Surely there heaps o' bland **** that could be axed on the BBC before they got anywhere near Baker and Elms's shows.. Been listening to both for several years and can't imagine being without them.. Really.
Thing is, I suspect he rather divides opinion.
I'd bet some small amount of money that for every person that adores him, there's at least one who thinks he's a big ball of (admittedly amiable) ego who couldn't shut up if there was a gun at his head. Or couldn't pick him out of a line-up.
(Incidentally, I get the strong impression that the Danny Baker Show continues wherever he happens to be, whether anyone likes it or not. Strikes me as a bit wearing.)
At any rate, I don't really *get* him. Until I started blogging here, I had no idea anyone thought of him as anything other than "that bloke who used to pop up on TFI". I was genuinely startled at this little enclave of love for him, but then I'm not a sports fan, so he's managed to entirely pass me by.
As I've said before, I don't bear the chap any ill will at all. He seems nice, if a bit hard work. But I'm not sure the rabid adoration exhibited on this website is particularly representative of everyone. Although there's a good chance I'm wrong. I usually am.
And in any case, *is* he being axed? Or was this a pre-emptive thing to whip the hordes up to protect himself?
I'm not a sports fan either
but I think he;s one of the few people ever to broadcast on the radio that deserves the title "genius".
Yeah, but you like "Accelerate".
;-)
Did you ever hear his football phone-in?
It was great, because unlike every other football phone-in, it wasn't a succession of angry blokes ringing up wanting their manager sacked or question the merits of Lampard & Gerrard in midfield.
He'd ask people to ring in one subjects like 'What's the strangest thing you've ever used as a goalpost?' IIRC the best answer was a buried lion.
So, something for everyone really.
The original 6:06 was great
As Spartacus says, it was about everything BUT football. Where are the best pies served? What's the strangest thing you've ever seen thrown on a pitch? Which manager's got the biggest willy, etc.
It was decided that football should be discussed.
"Well, Alan, I'm just calling to talk about the problems Aston Villa are having at right ba.." *CLICK* Off.
London
I wonder if it is a London thing, Bob.
He has been on London telly and radio since I were a girl, and I don't think of him as a 'football' presenter for sports fan.
He does that, yes (606 in the early 90's and those 'blooper' videos) but that is more his national, rather than London, profile, I would say.
Could well be.
Us yokels were lucky to have Alan Towers. Despite living in the West Country and not the chuffing Midlands. Who decided that our house should get "Midlands Today", for fuck's sake?
Sorry. Old wounds.
Regional TV Oddities
When Mrs Umpire was a lass living in Tenby, they used to get Points South West as their 'local' news. They knew about all the missing cats and old ladies stuck in trees in Cornwall and Devon, but had no idea what was happening in Haverfordwest or Narberth*.
* Actually, nothing ever happens in Haverfordwest or Narberth, so, to be honest, they didn't miss much.
Maybe if Danny
moves up to Salford he'll keep his job.
Not living in London, I'm not really bothered if he keeps his show or not as I never hear it. No desire to see anyone made redundant though. However if this is all a rumour started by himself it seems a little silly and rather like that self regarding nonsense he purports to dislike.
Danny Baker getting axed ?
The sun will still come up tomorrow, life will carry on.
BBC cuts?
I was in Lyme Regis recently. A kids CBBC show called Live and Deadly was in town to do an outside broadcast. They had two big specially branded OB trucks, and two or three branded vans all bearing the name of the show. So does every show that does outside broadcast have it's own fleet of vehicles? That smacks of ludicrous extravagance. Could they not just borrow smiley Miley's Radio 1 roadshow truck and put a sticker on it?
They could use the really expensive studio
thats already paid for.
Well I suppose they could have done
but they needed someone to be picked up in a helicopter and flown around Lyme Bay at great expense for a short feature lasting 3 mins or so. I should point out that the entire crew and their fleet of vehicles needed to park up on the harbour and mill around filming bits and bobs for two days prior to the actual Outside Broadcast. There seemed to be quite a lot of 'em, and presumably they were all booked into local hotels and guest houses.
There is plenty of slack in the BBC vast budget.
"A Kids CBBC Show Called Live and Deadly"
Think you've picked a very bad example there. Given the Reith Principles of "inform, educate and entertain" this is a programme that ticks all those boxes repeatedly.
Not only does it educate about wildlife, and encourage kids to take up a whole range of outdoor activities, but it does it in an entertaining, humorous and non-patronising way. It is not only broadcast on CBBC but also simultaneously on BBC2 (so that anyone still on analogue can see it), and it is accompanied by a roadshow which takes place after the broadcast which sells* out incredibly quickly (I know - I've tried to get tickets). It's also the sort of programme that I can happily leave my 6 year old in front of.
Still, it's only for kids and we all made do with Johnny Morris doing funny voices around Chessington Zoo, so who knows why the BBC are wasting money on it?
(*it's free of course, the BBC waste more licence payers money on it, what I meant was that tickets are fully subscribed weeks in advance)
The cuts
I did have a wry smile when I heard that the Blue Peter presenters arrived in Salford by Sea King Helecopter. Could they not have used the train? Such blatant cash burning seems rather daft in times of cutbacks. I like the BBC but it is ultimately trying to do too much with the budget it has. Concentrate on good content and reduce the number of channels BBC3 & 4 could both go and the best of their content placed on BBC1 & 2. Give me a day and a red pen and I would soon sort it out.
Have you got a train up to Salford recently?
Hiring, or possibly even buying, a helicopter probably isn't much more expensive.
More to the point, I thought these BP types were so fit and hard that they could HIKE up to the new digs. Get your pack on, get your knees out and hit the tarmac, chirpy chappies!
Another programme commissioning idea
A docu-drama following the adventures of a group of hacks as they attempt to make a one way journey from White City to Salford using a variety of modes of transport. Sort of like Long Way Round, but with BBC staff rather than film stars.
For added fun some of them would be forced to travel through Moss Side (Westwood perhaps). Others might get stuck at Pebble Mill.
On the point, the train from London to Manchester is quite reasonable. As long as you travel off peak. Ideally at a weekend. On a specified train. That you booked 3 months ago. Otherwise it is ludicrously expensive.
A joke, really..
Danny B is one of the most 'real' presenters on radio. A man who loves people and dying art of storytelling. He brings the most human element of humanity to the airwaves. It will be their loss. I'm sure he'll find a way to continue bringing content to the people who admire him.
The airwaves seem to be permanently full of people
who nobody *really* likes - they just don't make the mistake of "doing a George Lamb" and being noticeably obnoxious. They are immoveable. and yet DB seems to get moved on about every 3 years in spite of the fact that hundreds of thousands of people really, really like him.
Glasto
They'll save £2 million on Glasto coverage next year. Probably give Hansen a pay rise.
Given the indie-fest that is 6Music.....
.....and given Radio 1 itself, and given the fact that there isn't even a market for 'Top Of The Pops' in 2011, can anyone please tell me what the point of Radio 1....erm....Xtra is?
No
but then I'm not an 18 year old living in Peckham. i'll bet they could
It is certainly odd
That the Olympics arrive in London next year just after BBC Sport has moved to Manchester. I assume this might increase the costs of coverage if all those journalists and technicians have to return to London and stay in hotels.
Desert Island Discs
If the reader has not yet downloaded the 'free' BBC podcast of Mr B on Desert Island Discs with Kirsty Young, can I suggest you do so.
A very interesting piece of broadcasting where you get the feel that Danny is very cautious because someone else is in control.
The record he couldn't be without was not some rock obscurity, but a Bernard Cribbins track!