TV Presenter Bloopers

London, UK

A classic from the late great BBC tv presenter Robin Day:

BBC Presenter In Gaffe

London, UK

BBC TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson has made another gaffe. At a press conference in Sydney (where he's filming) he suggested that Prime Minister Gordon Brown was a "one-eyed Scottish idiot". You may feel that's a fairly unpleasant thing to say about the PM and he rightly apologised afterwards.

So another BBC presenter says something he shouldn't have. Why can't people handle themselves with a bit more dignity instead of behaving like unruly schoolchildren? Perhaps the BBC would be better off with a presenter whose up-and-coming.



Jeremy Clarkson

BBC Sack Thatcher

London, UK

The Carol Thatcher story appears to be turning into a major fuss and you can read about it here in the Mail on-line.

Iain Dale will be discussing the matter on BBC Radio 4 in a couple of hours time. He's already written this blog post on the subject.

BBC Presenter on Twitpic

London, UK

Another well known Twitterer(@ruskin147)and BBC presenter, Rory Cellan-Jones just added this photo to Twitpic a few moments ago. As you can see Rory is in the studio.

The Awesome Power of Twitter

London, UK

Here's a picture taken just a few minutes ago (23.05) of comedian David Walliams. He was just leaving the Jonathan Ross household, apparently. The BBC presenter is certainly enthusiastic about Twitter.

Top Television Boxing Commentator Dies

London, UK

Just a few days ago, we lost David Vine and now Reg Gutteridge has gone at the age of 84. Here's the Daily Telegraph report.

Barack Obama's Inauguration Coverage

London, UK

There'll be plenty of coverage of Tuesday's Presidential Inauguration. As you would expect, the BBC are providing these viewing opportunities

Alan Caruba is a top US political commentator. Here's his take on tomorrow's proceedings.

UPDATE

Just seen this blog post

BBC TV Weather Presenter Loses His Cool

London, UK

BBC weatherman Tomasz Schafernaker loses his cool. IMHO, a presenter must be cool, calm and collected.

Look we're all human and mistakes occur from time to time. The best remedy for ensuring you are ready to give a presentation, speech, piece to camera or radio news report is to be prepared.

Remember the Scout's motto. "Be Prepared"

Tom Cruise to appear with Jonathan Ross

London, UK

You maybe aware that tv presenter Jonathan Ross is back on air, Friday week, January 23rd. Joining him on his BBC chat show are comedian Lee Evans, Stephen Fry and Hollywood star, Tom Cruise.
Question is, will Wossy (as he calls himself on Twitter) be as popular as he was before his three-month ban?

Top Sports Presenter Dies

London, UK

Top Sports Presenter, Davis Vine has died from a heart attack. David was one of those sports presenters one grew up with on the television. As you can imagine the tributes have been pouring in. Read here and here

Interviewing Politicians

London, UK

You may have seen Sir John Major on Andrew Marr's programme yesterday morning. I would have loved to have presented the show and interviewed him.

The UK could be facing a very bleak 2009 as the former Prime Minister explained. "I fear we are going to have an avalanche of job losses in the first three or four months of next year" but I particuarly liked his scathing attack on Gordon Brown blaming him for the economic "train wreck" facing Britain as the country faced its worst financial crisis since the end of the war. Accusing Labour of having "squandered" the benign economic conditions they inherited in 1997, he said: ``They have spent and spent and spent. It's a frightening scenario.''

Sir John insisted that the relatively warm public response to the Prime Minster's handling of the economic crisis would not last as the recession began to bite more deeply, going on to criticise measures taken by the Government so far, such as the recent cut in VAT .

He said: ``The concept that Gordon Brown, who has been Chancellor for 10 years and Prime Minister for one and presided over this train wreck is the person to put right what he got wrong strikes me as being ironic to say the least.

``If a burglar has ransacked your house, you don't normally invite him back to fix the security locks.

TV Presenting For Business

London, UK

You will have seen other posts about business-guru, Geoff Burch on this blog and over at my other website. Very shortly on BBC2, Geoff continues presenting his hit tv show, All Over The Shop. Each episode has attracted over 2 million viewers. This must prove that Geoff is hitting a nerve with small businessmen and retailers alike.

Presenting Russell Brand

London, UK

Last night, I was asked once again, "why do you have Russell Brand on your showreel"? My reply, "why not"?

Just because Russell has resigned from his BBC Radio 2 show doesn't mean he'll never return to host a radio show or present on the BBC. Russell Brand is a brilliant comedian and he'll soon bounce back from the "Wozzagate" affair.

Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross to quit BBC?

London, UK

Both of these two presenters have featured on my two sites in recent times. Russell Brand even appears in my current presenter showreel and I wrote this about Jonathan last year.

Like Iain Dale, I don't think you can completely blame the two for what's happened but the number of complaints about their telephonic misdemeanour received by the BBC has risen to over 10000. This could become a real problem for the Beeb. Question is, will the two presenters be forced to quit the national broadcaster?

How to be a compelling tv presenter

London, UK

Did you see Geoff Burch in action last Tuesday on BBC2? His tv series, All Over The Shop had a viewing audience in the millions. If you missed it, then you have another opportunity to see it here on the BBC iPlayer

Geoff must have really connected with viewers, as his website has been inundated with requests from small businesses asking for help. This proves one thing at least - that his message struck a nerve with many of you.

Sports Reporting

London, UK

At a BBC training day a couple of years ago, some sample sports reports were played to me and my fellow sports reporters. One such clip was from 1989 at Hillsborough. BBC legend, Stuart Hall wrote about it in the on-line Daily Telegraph recently.......

Except that one afternoon in April 1989, we didn't play that famous tune. It was five o'clock, and the music died the day that 96 fans lost their lives at Hillsborough. In the 10 minutes or so leading up to the top of the hour, we had frantic discussions about whether we should drop the signature tune. It was sacrosanct, after all. But some things are more important than that.

In its place, the incomparable Peter Jones delivered one of the greatest pieces of live broadcasting it has ever been my privilege to hear. His vivid description of the red and white bobble hats lying scattered on the terracing as the stewards took away the possessions of the dead or dying Liverpool fans can bring a tear to the eye even now.

An amazing but brutal piece of sports journalism.

Public Speaking to a TV Audience

London, UK

Many of you would have seen the City Salute which was presented by Jeremy Clarkson and broadcast on BBC One earlier this evening. During the hour long programme, actor Ross Kemp narrated a piece written by Field Marshall The Viscount Slim on the attributes of a British soldier. Kemp's delivery was superb and full of passion. It's worth seeing again. It may appear on BBCiPlayer.

Patrick McGoohan at 80

London, UK

On BBC Radio 4 this lunchtime, was a programme on the 60's cult tv series "The Prisoner" starring Patrick McGoohan who turned 80 today.



The series was backed by Lew Grade. In all, only 17 episodes were made but they stand the test of time, are like no other and to this day is still a bit of a mystery (a bit like 2001 A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke who has just passed away at 90). McGoohan directed, produced and starred in the series which was shot, mainly at the Welsh seaside village of Port Merrion.

10 Radio Broadcasting Tips

London, UK

Over the next few weeks, I'll be re-posting some radio broadcasting tips. Here's one from December 2006.

Saturday, December 09, 2006
Top Tips for Sports Broadcasting on Radio

Earlier today, I paid a visit to Sussex. No BBC TV haven't moved from London W12. Just my latest outing for BBC Radio Kent earlier today. Not Gillingham FC but Margate FC who were playing at Horsham.

Sports presenting on radio, as many of you know, is one of my great passions. It's fun and particuarly great when your broadcasting about your own team! It may sound easy but let me assure you that to be reasonably good at it, you'll need these qualities and characteristics:

The ability to write scripts under pressure.

Prepare in good time - and get there in good time!

Research the match you're covering.

Understand what's at stake.

Listen to and carry out instructions from your producer/anchor/editor.

Ensure all technical equipment is in good working order.

Understand the laws of libel , and how they relate to journalists.

Be tactful

Don't engage in polemical arguments.

Have a great radio voice


........and that's just for starters

BBC London 94.9FM Non-League Football Show

London, UK



On Christmas Eve at 9pm, I'll be appearing with
Caroline Barker of BBC London and her guests David Watters and "Willie Wordsworth" of the Non League Daily. We'll be joined by Alan Alger of Blue Square Football

The only place to hear the show is on-line. See here for more details