Sunday 29 March 2009

Year 13 Media Debates; The Peacock Comittee, 1986, The Broadcasting Act 1990 and The Hutton Report 2004

The Peacock Commitee 1986;

The Peacock Committee, was a review into financing of the BBC. It was initiated by the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher on March 27, 1985 and reporting on May 29, 1986. The committee was led by Professor Alan Peacock. The other 6 members were Samuel Brittan, Judith Chalmers, Jeremy Hardie, Professor Alastair Hetherington, Lord Quinton, and Sir Peter Reynolds. Miss Kimberley Taylor was the key paper holder throughout proceedings a back seat member but later sacked and dismissed due to a national newspaper outing her as a non licence fee payer.


The government had expected the committee to report that the television licence fee used to fund the BBC should be scrapped. However, the Peacock Committee favoured retaining the licence fee as they believed it was the 'least worst' option.


The immediate recommendations of the report were:

  • BBC Radio 1 and 2 should be privitised
  • All Television receivers should be built fitted with encryption cdecoders
  • The TV license fee should be indexed to inflation and the BBC should become responsible for its collection
  • The licence fee should be extended to car radios
  • Pensioners dependent on benefits should be exempt from the licence fee
  • No less than 40% of the BBC's and ITV's output should be sourced from independent producers
  • The transmission space used by the BBC and ITV overnight should be sold
  • ITV Franchises should be put out to competitive tender
  • Channel 4 should be able to sell its own advertising
  • Censorship should be phased out

The Broadcasting Act 1990;

The Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British Parliament, often regarded by both its supporters and its critics as a quintessential example of Thatcherism.


The aim of the Act was to reform the entire structure of British Broadcasting; British Television, in particular, had earlier been described by Maggie Thatcher as "the last bastion of restrictive practices". It led directly to the abolition of the Independent Braodcasting Authority and its replacement with the Independent Television Commision and Radio Authority (both themselves now replaced by OFCOM), which were given the remit of regulating with a "lighter touch" and did not have such strong powers as the IBA; some referred to this as "deregulation". The ITC also began regulating non-terrestrial channels, whereas the IBA had only regulated ITV, Channel 4 and the ill-fated British Satellite Broadcasting; the ITC thus took over the responsibilities of the Cable Authority which had regulated the early non-terrestrial channels, which were only available to a very small audience in the 1980s.


An effect of this Act was that, in the letter of the law, the television or radio companies rather than the regulator became the broadcasters, as had been the case in the early (1955-1964) era of the Independent Television Authority when it had fewer regulatory powers than it would later assume.


In television, the Act allowed for the creation of a fifth analogue terrestrial television channel in the UK, which turned out to be Channel 5, now renamed Five,and the growth of multichannel satellite television. It also stipulated that the BBC, which had traditionally produced the vast majority of its television programming in-house, was now obliged to source at least 25% of its output from independent production companies.


The act has sometimes been described, both as praise and as criticism, as a key enabling force for Rupert Murdoch's ambitions in Britain. It reformed the system of awarding ITV franchises, which would prove controversial when Thames Televisionwas replaced by Carlton Television, for what some felt were political reasons, and when Tv-am, admired by Mrs Thatcher for its management's defiance of the trade unions, lost its franchise to GMTV (the by then former Prime Minister personally apologised to the senior TV-am executive Bruce Gyngell). It also allowed for companies holding ITV franchises to take over other such companies from 1994, beginning the process which has led to the creation of ITV plc.


In radio, it allowed for the launch of three Independent National Radio stations, two of them on Medium wave using frequencies formerly used by the BBC, and the other on FM using frequencies formerly used by the emergency services. It set out plans for many more local and regional commercial radio stations, generally using parts of the FM band not previously used for broadcasting, which have since come to fruition. Its plans for expanding community radio would only really be developed in the 2000s.

The Hutton Report 2004;

The Hutton Inquiry was a British judicial inquiry chaired by Lord Hutton, appointed by the United Kingdom Labour government with the terms of reference "...urgently to conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Dr David Kelly". On 18 July 2003, Kelly, an employee of the Ministry of Defence, was found dead after he had been named as the source of quotes used by BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan. These quotes had formed the basis of media reports claiming that Tony Blair's Labour government had knowingly "sexed up" the "September Dossier", a report into Iraq and weapons of mass destruction. The inquiry opened in August 2003 and reported on 28 January 2004. The inquiry report cleared the government of wrongdoing, while the BBC was strongly criticised, leading to the resignation of the BBC's chairman and director-general. The report was met with criticism by British newspapers opposed to the Iraq invasion, such as The Guardian and the Daily Mail, though others said it exposed serious flaws within the BBC.

Year 13 Media Debates; Jonathan Ross And Russell Brand Debate

in lesson we started to look at the controversial issue that raged between the BBC and Ross/Brand regarding there abusive phone calls to comic legend Andrew Sachs. for those who have been living in a box for the past 6 months, ill give a short back drop on the story. they rang his house phone but could only reach his voicemail so decided to leave a message in which Ross shouted "He Fucked Your Grand daughter!". from this point onwards the situation escalated into mayhem and revolved in circles with sarcastic apology after insult. In my opinion it was actually funny, but from the point of view from Sachs and his family, it could actually be considered abusive and i wouldn't find it at all amusing. however, it was pr-recorded and the shows inexperienced producer still decided to let the show be aired, therefore the blame can be placed on more than one person.

These are some notes we came up with from different points of view and could be argued;

Public Views:

  • Younger generations wouldn't be offended and in stead, would find it funny
  • Family would obviously be upset and offended
  • People don't want their money to fund such a controversial show
  • Was only aired because producer was inexperienced and didn't realise the potential outrage it would cause, placing the blame on the BBC, not the entertainers.

Were BBC's actions correct?

  • Shouldn't have been aired as it wasn't recorded live
  • BBC had the option to prevent the public hearing it but passed it up
  • Russell Brand shouldn't have been the only one to to take the brunt of the blame, Ross was just as fundamental in the harassment, yet virtually got off unscathed
  • Brand shouldn't have been used as a scapegoat, especially to save the BBC's reputation
  • On the other hand, it was a smart move on their behalf, and justice for the fee paying public, so it was resolved in some way

Was Any Lasting Damage Done?

  • Jonathan Ross has to be more careful with what he says so that the same ting does not happen again
  • No, because Brand was used as a scapegoat, all the blame was placed on him as he is branded the rogue of show business and he could be blames for influencing Ross, who is usually uncontroversial. Also upon his resignation speech, he was told to "big up" BBC and say how great it was to work for them
  • Ross a huge star for BBC so has more power and influence, therefore was not sacked

The recording from youtube:

Part 1;



Part 2;



Brands Resination;

Friday 20 March 2009

Year 13 Media - The Future's Bright Bright For British Broadcasting? Argument For And Against.

Arguments For:
  • Britain own the rights to 53% of formats across the world.
  • Pop Idol, Millionaire, Deal Or No Deal, Britains Got Talent and the Office are all british formats that have been replicated in numerous other countries.
  • Elsewhere, countries are relying on briain to create fresh new ideas from which they can use as a basis to create their own programmes.
  • "The Uk has a better tradition in making interesting more factual prgrammes + formats. In the US alot of talent comes from Hollywood."

Arguments Against:

  • There is an increasing concern that britain is running out of fresh innovative ideas for tv programmes.
  • The cost of importing an entire series from America such as "Heroes" is considerably cheaper than creating a series from scratch.
  • the role of the internet in accesing tv programmes has becaome increasingly larger. Websites such as Youtube, BBC i-Player and 4 On-Demand have made it alot more convienient for people to miss their favourite programmes and to catch up a day or so later by just simply typing it into the website.

Wednesday 11 March 2009

Year 13 Media - Contempary British Broadcasting.

Key Issues Raised By Documentary;


What Are The Key Issues Affecting British Television Today:



  • Funding - Product placement, this is not allowed in britain but in america, products such as macs are frequently used in a specific soaps ect to advertise them. although british programmes are not allowed to contain any form of product placement. british broadcasting companies however are allowed to air shows imported from overseas, containing product placements.

  • New Technology

  • Fragmented Audiences - Less common to get large audiences because of people watching online or one of many other channels.


What Will Be The Key Factors In Ensuring Its Success Or Downfall In The future?

  • Selling Format Shows

  • New Funding/Production models Eg. Deregulation to allow product placements to improve money invested.

  • Transmedia Model - Sharing studios - more cost effective particularly in poorer countries.

  • Using New technology.

What Other Issues Can You Think Of That May/Will Affect British Broadcasting?

  • Imported American Tv Shows - too cheap therefore could stop making british shows instead. Quality of American shows threatening British ones - cheaper to import shows from abroad then it is to create a new show from scratch.
  • PSB Tradition - laws regarding advertising and output.

Monday 9 March 2009

Merchandisng

Because Quantum of Solace is an action film, the obvious types of merchandising would be directed towards me such as a computer game or he latest watch that james bond is seen wearing. i searched th web to find othr ways in which the films name has been sold across the world, and its profile made aware of.



Firstly i checked the onlne shopping webse, http://www.play.com/, this website had a few produsts associated with the film. som of theses were;




  • Computer games on all platforms, based on th films events and storyline.

  • The dvd availibl for preorder with a special offer and promotional poster included in the deal.

  • Bundles in which youu will be purchasing a blue-ray dvd player and a blue-ray copy of the dvd, and also games console systems with the films official game.

  • A CD of the soundtrack.

  • A number of posters.

  • Playing cards.

  • The Original book written by James Bond creator Ian Flemming.

  • Audiobooks.

  • Downloadable software for both PC and molbile, such as games, ringtones, songs/albums and wallpapers.

  • Replica car models from the movie.

  • A scalextric set using th cars from the film.

Source: http://www.play.com/Search.aspx?searchtype=allproducts&searchstring=quantum+of+solace&page=search&pa=search


I found pretty much all of the same stuff on http://www.amazon.com/ aswell apart from replica sunglasses worn by Daniel Craig in the film.

Wednesday 4 March 2009

Advertisements

Upon the release of Quantum of Solace, a range a film posters were released and displayed pretty much everywhere possible. Some examples of these are;
































































































































International Box Office Takings

International - Detailed Reports

WEEK 1: Quantum of Solace only opened in two territories besides the UK during its first weekend of release, France and Sweden. The film smashed the 007 series’ records in both countries, taking in $10.6 million total from 824 sites in France and $2.7 million from 149 sites in Sweden.

Combined with the UK opening weekend numbers, the overall first weekend total for the film stands at an impressive $38.6 million, earning it the #1 spot at the box office.

WEEK 2: If the first weekend of box office business offered a preview of the success Quantum of Solace promised at its international markets, then the second weekend was when 007 truly delivered. The film went on general release in an additional 58 territories and managed the stunning achievement of opening better than Casino Royale in every single one of them. To further emphasize this, 13 of these opens actually did double what Royale did two years ago.
Counting all 61 territories, the film took in a whopping $106.5 million at 9,870 playdates, making it the 11th biggest international weekend ever. This take also propelled Quantum to the #2 spot of largest international weekends of 2008, behind behind the $146.6 debut of Indiana Jones and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

The film grossed more than triple the combined foreign take for the next four entries on the list: High School Musical 3, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, Body of Lies, and Saw V.

The average gross per location was a strong $10,790. Germany was the best new opening overall for the film, with a weekend gross of $14.8 million.

The record breaking continued as well with Bond posting the top opening ever in Switzerland at $3.8 million, Finland at $1.7 million and the United Arab Emirates at $1 million along with Nigeria, Romania and Slovenia. The film also managed the second best ever in both China and India for an international film with its $9.1 million and $3.7 million deubuts, respectively.
007 held strong for its second weekend in France and Sweden as well, declining 46% to $5.7 million and 42% to $1.4 million in the latter.

WEEK 3: Quantum of Solace remained the number one film internationally for the third straight weekend, earning $56.1 million from 10,460 screens in 67 markets.

Despite a near 50% drop-off from last weekend’s astronomical performance, Quantum of Solace opened or remained in the number one spot in 61 of the 67 markets it played in, bringing its cumulative international total up to $251.6 million.

New locations for the film included Mexico and Hungary, where—unsurprisingly—Bond rewrote the series’ record books. Quantum of Solace took in $2.4 million from 505 screens in the former and $430,000 from 34 sites (equalling a strong per-screen average of $12,647) in the latter.
Besides the strong holdover sales in the UK, Germany proved to be a winning location for the film yet again with weekend sals of $8.3 million (down 37% from last week) from 1,120 sites for a cumulative total of $26.4 million. The Bond film held strong in several other markets, including Switzerland, down just 20% to $2.4 million, South Korea down 39% to $2.1 million, Holland down 30% to $1.6 million and Brazil down 36% to $1.4 million.

In China, Quantum fell 41% to $4 million, 62% in Russia to $3.6 million and 52% in France to $3 million (it’s cumulative total in this country after three strong weekends stands at $26.7 million).
After just two to three weekends in release, depending on the market location, Quantum already managed to surpass the final market totals of Casino Royale in the following locations: France, China, Korea, Russia, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Ecuador, Indonesia, Lithuania, Malaysia, Poland, Romania and Ukraine.

WEEK 4: Quantum of Solace ruled the international box office for the fourth straight weekend in a row, pulling in $40.6 million at 10,400 playdates in 72 markets.

With a cumulative international total a little over $308 million, Quantum landed in the sixth highest spot for 2008 and 56th on the all-time list.

The biggest opening this weekend went to Austrailia, where the film debuted with $7.9 million—44% higher than Casino Royale’s debut. Spain was another new market and Quantum of Solace managed to take in $5.1 milion—surpassing the previous Royale record by 36%.

In Germany, Bond fell 47% to $4.3 million for a $32.3 million total and in France, fell 45% to $1.7 million for a $28.8 million total. The film dropped 63% to $1.3 million in China, while South Korea declined 47% to $1.1 million and Switzerland fell 49% to $1 million. With a cumulative total of $8.1 million in Switzerland, Quantum of Solace became the highest-grossing film this year in that market.

WEEK 5: Yet again, Quantum of Solace proved that James Bond is indeed a worldwide icon by winning its fifth consecutive international box office. The film took in $20.1 million at 8,755 playdates in 73 markets, joining Mamma Mia! (which starred former 007 Pierce Brosnan) as the only two films of the year to win five international weekends.

The box office victory for Bond was easy once again, despite a 50% drop due to new competition and only one new debut around the world (a 27 November opening in New Zealand). To date, the 22nd Bond entry has grossed $340.5 million internationally (not counting the US numbers).
In its second Australian frame, Quantum of Solace slid 64% to $2.8 million, taking silver medal thanks to the solid $5 million launch of Baz Luhrmann’s aptly-titled Australia.

Other notable numbers for 007 included a $2.3 million take in its fourth German frame for a cumulative total of $35.3 million and $2.1 million in its second Spanish weekend.

WEEK 6: After five straight weekends of being number one, Quantum of Solace finally fell to second place internationally after Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa rolled out around the world to great success.

007 grossed a solid $10.8 million from 6,350 screens in 72 markets, bringing its international cumulative total to $357.7 million. This total, combined with the the US gross during the same weekend, pushed the worldwide box office total for Quantum of Solace over the $500 million mark—the 61st film overall to hit the milestone.

The sole new opening for Quantum was in Venezuela, where it brought in $415,000 from 75 screens, hailed by Sony as 98% bigger than the comparable bow for Casino Royale. Notable market grosses to date included $30.8 million in France and $37.1 million in Germany.

WEEK 7: Internationally, Quantum of Solace came in third place overall, behind The Day the Earth Stood Still and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.

The James Bond film continued to play strong at 4,200 screens in 70 markets, where it grossed $5.2 million, bringing its international total to roughly $367 million. The sole new opening was in the Dominican Republic, with a weekend gross of $70,262.

WEEK 8: Internationally, Quantum of Solace pulled in $2.2 million over the weekend from 2,730 screens in 68 markets, falling out of the top five internationally for the first time. Theatre counts for the film were heavily slashed after last weekend, when it grossed $5.2 million from 4,200 screens.

This was also the first weekend without a single new opening for the Bond film around the world. It’s cumulative international stands at $372.7 million.

WEEK 9: As was the case for the previous weekend, Quantum of Solace again grossed $2.2 million internationally—this time from 2,225 screens in 61 markets (down from the 2,730 a week ago). The film’s international total stands at an estimated $374.9 million.
The Bond film’s single new opening was in Uruguay, leaving Japan now as the final territory left for Quantum to debut in.

WEEK 10: The international total for Quantum of Solace stands at roughly the $382 million mark. Following up last weekend’s opening in Uruguay, the final territory left for the film is Japan on 24 January.

WEEK 11: Quantum of Solace ended up as the top box officer earner of 2008 in Germany and fourth overall in Australia. To date, the cumulative international total stands just shy of $384 million.

WEEK 12: The cumulative Quantum of Solace international total stands at $384.3 million, with the film’s Japan opening taking place this upcoming Friday (23 January).

WEEK 13: The international box office for Quantum of Solace got a boost this weekend thanks to an opening in Japan, the final territory for the 22nd James Bond film. The film grossed $6.4 million there over the weekend, soaring past the previous opening record of $3.2 million held by 2006’s Casino Royale. The cumulative international total stands at $391.5 million.

WEEK 14: The international box office for 007 grew an additional $7 million, the overwhelming majority of it coming from Japan, where Quantum of Solace entered into its second weekend of business. This boost in business brought the international total (non-US) for the film to just under the $400 million mark cumulatively.

WEEK 15: The fifthteenth weekend of business saw Quantum of Solace surpass the $400 million mark thanks to an additional $3.3 million in box office business, the majority of it coming from Japan.

WEEK 16: An additional $2.5 million was added to the international box office total for Quantum of Solace, once again the overwhelming majority of this coming from the film’s mid-January opening in Japan.

WEEK 17: Roughly $1.5 million was added to the international box office total for Quantum of Solace, bringing the film’s total (not counting US) up to $405.5 million.

WEEK 18: Japan contributed almost all of the roughly $1 million that was added to Quantum’s international box office over the weekend.

wow that was alot! it might seem abit of waffle and slightly surplus to requirements, but i think the box office takings from all over the world aswell as the UK and US, is quite important to my case study.this is because the takings and gross reflect whether or not the marketing was cost effective.