A quick round-up of BBC-related announcements and blog posts which appeared this week, plus a look forward to some selected highlights on TV and radio.
THIS WEEK
On Sunday 16 February the BAFTAs were held in London, and also broadcast live on BBC One. Congratulations are due to BBC Films as Philomena, starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan, was awarded Best Adapted Screenplay for writers Jeff Pope and Steve Coogan.
Monday kicked off an exciting dinosaur themed week on CBeebies to celebrate new animated series Dinopaws. We also had a blog from Peter Salmon, Learning Lessons – The BBC in the North about the exciting projects coming up in the region.
In a speech on Tuesday Director Global News (now known as World Service Group) Peter Horrocks announced an £8 million pound investment in the BBC World Service including the piloting of a ‘Global Newsbeat’ programme aimed at younger worldwide audiences, new video bulletins for Burmese TV, a new Africa edition of the BBC website and the creation of 130 new jobs.
Also on Tuesday Elise Cobain blogged for us about Programme Maker for a Day – a wonderful project from BBC Outreach and Corporate Responsibility that saw Elise welcome a group of students into the BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra studios for a day to have a go at recording – you can hear the results on Elises blog.
On Wednesday it was announced that Adam Barker would step in as Acting Controller of BBC Two and BBC Four from March until a permanent replacement is found for Janice Hadlow who last week became Controller, Special Projects and Seasons.
Also on Wednesday, the Folk Awards were broadcast live from the Royal Albert Hall on Radio 2, online and via Red Button. Presenting the Young Folk Award Bellowhead’s Jon Boden said:
"It’s a real honour to present the award .. not least because I know the value this competition brings. This award has been running for 15 years so the folk scene is now teaming with singers who have gone through the Folk Award boot camp. Only last year I was involved in the celebrations of the centenary of composer Benjamin Britten’s birth and was lucky enough to work with Tim van Eyken and James Finlay. They were of course winners of the award in 1998 and 2010 respectively and are both wonderful singers and musicians who have gone on to build eclectic careers in folk music and beyond . Now, we’re living in a period of austerity and we all know that the BBC is under constant pressure to demonstrate value for money as a public service broadcaster. I believe that the Young Folk Award is something the BBC should be very proud of. And I believe that its presence at these awards demonstrates its unique and ongoing role the BBC plays in sustaining our cultural life."
The Folk Awards are available to watch via BBC iPlayer. BBC Playlister have made a special selections from the evening available as well.
On the same night, over at the London Hilton, a number of BBC news staff were recognised at this years RTS Television Journalism Awards including veteran BBC journalist Peter Taylor who was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
This week saw the publication of the first BBC iPlayer Performance Pack of 2014, revealing a record breaking month with over 315 million TV and Radio requests.
On Thursday the BBC Trust published its conclusions to the results of an ICM report which investigated the BBC's complaints service.
Finally for this week, we’re delighted to see that the @AbouttheBBC Twitter account has passed 9000 followers. Onwards, to 10K!
NEXT WEEK
On Monday 24 February, BBC Nations and Regions launch the World War One at Home project which gathers stories from all over the UK about how civilian lives were affected by the war. Also on Monday, courtroom drama Silk reteurns for a third series.
On Tuesday a new series Hair, begins on BBC Three, in which contestants battle to be crowned Britain's best amatuer hair stylist, and the channel sees the return of bomb disposal unit Bluestone 42 on Thursday as they embark upon a second series.
On Friday Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra's Access All Areas comes to a close for another year and on BBC One, Alan Davies returns as magician/supersleuth Jonathan Creek.
Jen Macrois Digital Content Producer, About the BBC Website and Blog
- Read previous round-ups here.
