Archive

KOL NEED NO INTRODUCTION

Published on September 11, 2008 in MUSIC and RADIO. 0 Comments

Kings of who…?

This week it was announced Radio1 is doing another of its famous Maida Vale gigs, this time with Kings of Leon playing the small intimate venue to a handful of fans.

Naturally the gig is being promoted across all the station’s shows, but with a trailer that unfortunately epitomises everything that is wrong with Radio 1 at the moment.

In case you haven’t heard it, it features Zane (”I’ve hit a new career-”) Lowe pandering to the daytime audience in the most cringeworthy of ways. Roughly speaking it goes as follows:

Zane Lowe {in usual big furore style}:

“Radio 1 is pleased to announce Kings of Leon… yada yada yada… Maida Vale… yada yada yada…”

Zane Lowe {completely changing tact}:

“Y’know, Kings of Leon…. they’ve had hits like… (proceeds to play clips of virtually all their singles, naming them one by one in the hope you might know one)…”

and ends with Zane Lowe {now completely cringeworthy}:

“Well if you didn’t know them before you will after this performance…”

Horrible. Absolutely horrible. Okay, we understand Radio 1 want as many people to listen to the gig, but do they really have to stoop that low? We aren’t big KOL fans at all, far from it, but this is a band that headlined Reading Festival last year to much critical praise, and this June stood at the top of the bill at Glastonbury - indeed, both events that Radio 1 covers extensively. Their first three albums have gone top 3 in the album charts, for God’s sake, with their last reaching the top spot.

Despite featuring a fantastic evening line-up of shows covering many genres, and promoting new music to the rafters, it seems Radio 1 executives just can’t let go of its cheesy daytime image. Out of the four main DJ’s, only Edith Bowman has any musical credit, but she has missed a great deal of the year already due to her pregnancy. Both Scott Mills and Chris Moyles, by their own admission, care little about the music they play, and Jo Whiley, although occasionally shaking off her advancing years, simply usually plays to the Keane and Coldplay fans.

For a station that is doing so many good things after 7pm, it is such a shame to see its daytime schedule going down the drain. But whatever happens, please don’t drag the usually excellent Zane Lowe into it, or we are all doomed to listening to Snow Patrol forever.

YOU’VE ONLY COME TO WATCH ENGLAND

Published on September 6, 2008 in SPORT. 1 Comment

Or not as the case may be…

Today marks the start of a new era for the England national football team. Yes, we all know it’s the first big game in charge for new boss Fabio Capello, but far more importantly to the English public, tonight’s match against Andorra will be the first competitive game that hasn’t been possible to watch either live or as highlights for free.

So while the Capello reign begins, hopefully with a winning start for John Terry and his team, hardly any of the country will actually be able to see it, due to the match solely being available on subscription service Setanta Sports.

Although exact figures aren’t available, at this time last year Setanta only had an estimated 0.1% market share of the audience, and given that it can be expected that that number hasn’t grown significantly, the result is that millions of football fans across the country are left without seeing their national side play tonight. Indeed, it will be the same situation for the crucial match in Zagreb against Croatia on Wednesday.

When Sky have had the rights to England away games in recent years, they have always sold a highlights package of the games to a terrestrial channel (normally the BBC) – a policy which is commonplace throughout sport in order to recuperate some of the huge costs of obtaining the right in the first place. As The Times reports, it seems Setanta are unwilling to play ball with the BBC and ITV though, with any deal between the companies falling at the first hurdle.

As the Irish newcomer looks to establish themselves in the marketplace it is a bold move, for while it makes its package – which also includes over 40 Premier League matches, IPL cricket and PGA golf – far more attractive, it also risks upsetting the majority of its potential customers who are left without a chance to watch their country play football.

While it is easy to blame Setanta for this pathetic situation, you also have to question the root of the problem, namely The FA, who turned down the option of terrestrial highlights in favour of more cash. Yet again money has been allowed to rule commonsense, and it is the fans who are left truly out of pocket.

GOTB v3 IN DEVELOPMENT

Published on September 4, 2008 in GET OFF THE BANDWAGON. 0 Comments

It’s early stages yet…

We’ve been busy this week redeveloping the site to enhance the user experience. This will be released in the form of a GOTB v3 update, hopefully at the turn of the year.

We are mainly working on the two most common issues with the site, loading-time and navigation, as well as a new skin to add a cleaner look. Any other suggestions - let us know in the usual way, either by commenting below or on our contact page.