Podcasts, Radio, TV, Books, Cycling, Photography and More
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HBO Max and Paramount+: What It Might Mean For Sports
Today the deal was done, and Paramount took over Warner Bros. Discovery in a massive deal that has much of Hollywood quaking. There were some last minute wrinkles with a deal being struck a couple of weeks ago with a group of US Attorneys General, with the general view being that they folded and didn’t…
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Netflix and Live Streaming
Over the past couple of months, Netflix has dipped its foot into the world of live streaming. Back in March, they broadcast a Chris Rock comedy special live. I can’t think of a real reason for making it available live, aside from building up some audience excitement. But I’ve no doubt it was a useful…
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Ofcom UK Podcast Survey 2023
Ofcom has just published its latest Audio and Podcasts survey data for 2023. They tend to just publish the raw data tables, so I like to dig into the data and get into what the data actually means. I’ve done this for the last couple of years, and you can expect many charts and graphs.…
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Gravel Rides Around London #1: Cambridge to London
93.2 KM (57.8 Miles) | 953 Metres (3,127 Feet) This is the first, in what I hope will be a short series of rides you can do on your gravel bike in the vicinity of London. The first couple are going to be point-to-point rides which means that you will need to do one leg…
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Max
With Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) having yesterday confirmed what everyone expected, that the new combined HBO-Max/Discovery+ streaming offer will now be called simply “Max“, I have a few questions about what true global ambitions WBD has for the service. To date, HBO Max has only been available in a relatively narrow list of countries. Having…
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Peak TV and Not-So-Peak TV – Early 2023
Earlier this year, John Landgraf, the Chairman of FX Networks, presented his annual update where he spells out just how many shows there are now. He counts shows available on US services in the English language, excluding kids and soaps. In 2022, his team counted a record high of 599 programmes. This is widely thought…
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RAJAR Q4 2022
This post is brought to you in association with RALF from DP Software and Services. I’ve used RALF for the many years, and it’s my favourite RAJAR analysis tool. So I am delighted that I continue to be able to bring you this RAJAR analysis in association with RALF. For more details on the product, contact Deryck Pritchard via…
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Algorithmic Promotion Shouldn’t Be Everything…
As an addendum to my last blog on the lack of physical media for the leading Oscar contender, Everything Everywhere All At Once, I thought it was worth seeing how sharp the streamers have been reacting to yesterday’s Oscar nominations buzz. The nominations came out on Tuesday lunchtime, UK time, and I’m writing this a…
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Everything Not Everywhere on Home Media
Yesterday, the 2023 Oscar nominations were announced, and the film with the most nominations was Everything Everywhere All at Once with 11 nominations including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress (x2) and Best Supporting Actor. I know I’m banging a bit of a drum on this subject, but why on earth can’t…
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Ken Bruce
For some, the news that Ken Bruce is leaving Radio 2 is akin to the ravens leaving the Tower of London. He’s been on the mid-morning show pretty much non-stop since 1986 – a time when the Radio 2 schedule started with Derek Jameson at breakfast, and following Ken came Jimmy Young, David Jacobs, Gloria…
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Book Pricing
I should state up front that I have no interest in reading Spare the new book from Prince Harry which has perturbed much of the UK press so much for the last few weeks, alongside the Netflix series he’s made with his wife. I hold no candle for the Royal Family. However, if Harry and…
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Streaming Things
EBU/Warner Bros. Discovery’s Olympic Deal The IOC has just announced that a joint European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) bid has been successful for the next few Olympic cycles, from the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan through until the 2032 Summer Games in Brisbane. In the UK, that means that BBC will…
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TV – Good, Bad and Meh
We’re only two episodes in, but the third and final series of Happy Valley is just wonderful. The lines that writer/director Sally Wainwright gives to her Sergeant Catherine Cawood are just delicious. And yet it’s all so natural. I am glued to this on Sunday nights. When Reservation Dogs came to Disney+ back in 2021,…
Hadrian’s Wall
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