Archive for the ‘Humour’ Category
GB News Farage-O!
By MARCUS STEAD
GB News needs all the friends it can get at the moment, and it appears to have one in the Guido Fawkes website, who triumphantly reported Nigel Farage’s new show as a ratings hit.
On July 26, Guido said of Farage’s debut week, “Farage has once again steered a political project back on course; to the annoyance of both his and GB News’ critics, Farage’s show was the most watched show on the channel this week, and beat Sky News Tonight with Dermot Murnaghan every single day it was on air.”
While this statement is correct, it doesn’t paint the full picture. Farage debuted on the Monday of that week with an average of 96,300 viewers. The following day it had dropped to 85,300, the day after that it was 71,700 and the final programme on Thursday saw a further fall to 67,100.
A more accurate description would be that Monday’s debut show had a ‘curiosity factor’ which prompted people to tune in to see how Farage performed, but the number of people tuning in fell each day and by the fourth and final show of the week, figures had dropped by 30%.
Cerys Hedges Her Bets!
By MARCUS STEAD
TRYING to be all things to all people rarely ends well, but former Catatonia frontwoman Cerys Matthews hedged her bets and didn’t enter into the Olympic spirit on 25 July by tweeting, “Why does the term ‘Team GB’ make me itch so?”
Matthews, 52, grew up in South Wales but has lived in Ladbroke Grove, West London with her husband for many years, and is nowadays best known for her music shows on BBC Radio 2, 6 Music and the World Service.
But with regular appearances on Welsh language outlets S4C and Radio Cymru supplementing her income, and with the Welsh establishment’s annual gathering at the National Eisteddfod only a week away, Matthews appeared keen to do her bit to stay on the right side of the nationalists who control much of the Welsh media.
Back in 1999, Catatonia’s third album, Equally Cursed and Blessed, included a passionate diatribe against the monarchy called Storm the Palace, which includes lyrics such as, ‘Turn it into a bar, let them work in Spar’, ‘Turn it into flats, make them all ex-pats’ and ‘You can stick your OBE, I’ll sort out your bad Feng Shui’.
But that didn’t stop Matthews from taking a trip there in November 2014 to be appointed a Member of the British Empire for services to music by the Prince of Wales.
An Ode to Project Fear
By MARCUS STEAD
They told us that Brexit would cause World War Three
But the real danger came from Donald Trump across the sea.
George Osborne warned of Emergency Budget woes
But the Christmas Eve deal saw us part as friends, not foes.
Donald Tusk said Western civilisation would cease
But membership of NATO gives us harmony and peace.
Mark Carney forecast a spike in inflation
But food prices stayed similar in all parts of the nation.
The Beeb said there’d be lorries that would tailback for miles
But truckers entered the ports with thumbs up and smiles.
The establishment warned Brexit would cost us all dear
But their predictions were based only on hot air and fear.
In Focus with Marcus Stead Episode 5: Graham Miller
By MARCUS STEAD
Graham Miller
In this edition, Marcus Stead is joined by Graham Miller, an experienced journalist and broadcaster, probably best known for his years as the face of Saturday teatime sports bulletins on the ITN news.
Graham began his career in hospital radio, but his big break came in 1973 when he joined BBC Radio Birmingham, where he worked on both news and sport. A year later, he moved to BBC Radio London, where he covered the Moorgate tube crash of 1975.
During his radio years, Graham worked alongside some of the giants of radio sports journalism, including Bryon Butler and Peter Jones.
Graham moved into television, where at Anglia he worked as an in-vision continuity announcer and newsreader/reporter on About Anglia. He then moved to HTV West, where he worked as a sports presenter and producer. Colleagues included legendary newsreader Bruce Hockin and long-serving sports broadcaster Roger Malone.
In 1983, Graham moved to Thames News, where he worked alongside veteran newscaster Andrew Gardner, and on 31 December 1992, Graham presented the last ever bulletin before Thames lost the ITV weekday franchise in London.
A move to ITN followed, and Graham quickly became associated with the Saturday teatime bulletin, where he fronted a comprehensive roundup of the day’s sports news and the classified football results. During his years with ITN, Graham reported from around the globe on top sporting events including World Cups and Olympic Games, and he twice won the Royal Television Society Sports Presenter of the Year award.
After leaving ITN in late 2002, Graham set up public relations and media training company Media-Vu. Graham helps a variety of businesses, sports federations and individuals by advising on media strategy. His client list includes executives at Manchester United FC, the banking industry, and a range of individuals.
Graham continued to broadcast as a reporter for Gillette Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports, and he read news and sport for London Tonight and sports bulletins on Sky News.
In the latter part of the podcast, Marcus and Graham discuss modern trends in journalism, including the dangerous mixing up of ‘fact’ and ‘opinion’ in mainstream news and current affairs programming. Graham and Marcus share concerns about the BBC’s move away from the emphasis on ‘facts and analysis’ towards more opinion-led campaigning journalism.
The podcast concludes by Graham and Marcus providing advice to young people starting out in journalism today. The industry is very different to when Graham took his first steps at hospital radio and at the BBC in Birmingham, so what can people entering the industry do to help themselves get on in these difficult times?
You can read more about Graham’s work with Media-Vu by visiting his website.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Coffee Break with Marcus and James: April 2020
By MARCUS STEAD
MARCUS Stead and James Easton return with another Coffee Break podcast, taking a look at the lighter side of life.
Topics discussed include rude website URL names past and present, Brian Clough’s 44 days at Leeds United, Admiral retro football shirts, things you notice when watching old episodes of The Bill, home cooking experiments, darts gamesmanship, how much money you can save by taking a packed lunch and a flask of coffee to work, and the appalling way the FA has handled the pandemic situation.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, SoundCloud and the TuneIn app.
Coffee Break with Marcus and James: March 2020
By MARCUS STEAD
MARCUS Stead and James Easton return with an hour-long Coffee Break. Topics discussed in this month’s edition include:
- Products that used to be commonplace, but you can still buy if you know where to look.
- What obsolete technology are you still using?
- What technology do we use that will be obsolete in ten years’ time?
- Memories of the ‘good old days’ of independent local radio.
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts, SoundCloud, TuneIn and Stitcher.
Coffee Break with Marcus and James: 2020 Episode 2
By MARCUS STEAD
Marcus Stead and James Easton return with the second Coffee Break podcast of 2020.
Topics discussed include:
- Memories of Blockbuster video stores
- The future of the TV licence fee
- Other great podcasts, including the return of Danny Baker
- The importance of a good pillow
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts and the TuneIn app.
Coffee Break with Marcus and James: 2020 Episode 1
By MARCUS STEAD
Marcus Stead and James Easton return with the first Coffee Break podcast of 2020. Topics discussed include:
- Christmas shopping in January
- Do other countries ‘do Christmas’ better?
- Good manners/etiquette in Japan and South Korea
- 2020 in sport
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Spotify, Google Podcasts and the TuneIn app.
Coffee Break with Marcus and James: 2019 Christmas Special
By MARCUS STEAD
2019 Christmas Special
AFTER A GAP of more than two years (nearly three years, actually) the Coffee Break podcast returns in its new home on Talk Podcasts with Marcus Stead and new regular presenter James Easton.
Christmas isn’t far away and that’s the basis of our first podcast back. Topics covered include:
- Classic Christmas telly
- Advent calendars
- Crap Christmas decorations
- Retro toys
- Christmas dinners for pescatarians, vegans and vegetarians
- Hovercrafts (erm, very festive, we know…)
So pour yourself a cuppa, sit back and relax. Oh and don’t forget to send us your feedback!
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Marcus Stead 
Twenty Minute Topic Episode 44: Greg’s Pet Hates Part 1
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By MARCUS STEAD
Greg Lance-Watkins
IT’S AUGUST, and perhaps it’s time for some ‘silly season’ light relief. In this edition, Marcus Stead interviews Greg Lance-Watkins about his pet hates.
There may well be further podcasts along these lines in the future, but in this edition, Greg picks music in movies, dramas and TV programmes, and so-called ‘experts’ on TV programmes who don’t know what they’re talking about.
Greg isn’t a fan of the Sound of Music, or an orchestra piping up in an open field. He doesn’t like dramatic music during car chases in action movies, nor does he like soft music in romantic scenes. Does Greg have a point, or is he a miserable git who struggles with the suspension of reality?
Marcus and Greg do agree that the music is often too loud in documentaries, to the point where we cannot hear what the narrator is saying.
The discussion then moves on to so-called ‘experts’ appearing on TV programmes who don’t know what they’re talking about. How often have you tuned in to the Sky News paper review to see that the guest is some 25-year-old middle class recent graduate working for an obscure think tank who is going to tell you all about the world?
The podcast is available on the Talk Podcasts website, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spotify and the TuneIn app.
Written by Marcus Stead
August 6, 2020 at 3:36 am
Posted in Comment, Humour, Opinion, Politics