BBC 1Xtra being crap

[*decibella~~]

1xtra do need to drop the "New Music -Black People" slogan....

Otherwise they were on point for a while, Live Broadcast from Sidewinder events.

yea man that was heavy!

All about Jenna G's show on a Sunday morning - lush! ..... but i still hate 1xtra - i jus love Jenna! lol

x x x

[gravious]

Axing J-Da was shit, and they still haven't quite made it up to me for that (even though their reasons for doing it were relatively fair...)

why did they axe J Da? i was gutted when they dropped his show

Long story short, I think 1X claimed that he changed the content of the show quite a lot without approval. Which is a shame, cos he made the show better! but I suppose they didn't see it that way.

after the recent shakeup of artists, they've brought good ol' timmy westwood in.

thats some forward thinking...

NEW BLACK MUSIC! DROP THE BOMB!

[elgato]

edit to say that i don't believe what i said here anymore, and that my speaking up with irritation was a shame on me

Bottom line is im not feeling the 'NEW BLACK MUSIC' tagline

talk about pigeion holeing people/genres

its bullshit. divisive and outdated

[contakt]

Expensive period dramas it can flog to the states, reality tv, turgid soaps, aspirational programmes for rich, middle class folks.

I like the idea of the BBC but it's pretty much degraded to the level of commercial tv over the last few years. Probably a couple of hours of anything worth watching in an entire week is fairly shite to my mind.

Yes, I agree that it produces some very poor programmes of the kind you have detailed above and needs to make a move back towards the '60s conception of BBC television being more educational and of substance. But I do think it produces more than a 'couple of hours' of good stuff a week.

Anyway, this is off topic so I'll meet you in the carpark behind Asda in Taunton and we can have a fight to see who is right.

[tha_illsta]

in defence of 1Xtra, this was a situation was imposed upon them, not one they chose. With the analog to digital radio switch over in coming, i dont think people are getting pieces of the FM spectrum anymore.

Soon everything (except the pirates... discuss!) will be on digital, so 1Xtra wont be at a disadvantage anymore.

Supposedly tha BBC is supposed to be a state run national entity, and as such, should be free to put WHATEVER they want onto OUR airwaves.

When it all goes digital (!) We'll all have to shell out for costly DIGITAL TUNERS and throw out our perfectly decent "old" gear. I for one am the owner of three high quality tuner units, a ZENITH, a SANSUI and a MARANTZ reciever. Replacing those is gonna cost a packet. And what about all those car radios!!! This is hardly ecologically friendly stuff..gross addition to landfill, and everyone wasting money on new and in all probability BADLY MADE, soon to be chucked out and replaced, IMPORTED gear, at little profit to BRITISH INDUSTRY.

Whilst good 'ol auntie BEEB prick about worrying about seperate recycling receptacles in their studios and offices.

And all this about the decline of the BBC and a direction towards COMMERCIAL PROFIT.. is clearly a result of the fact they will eventually lose the LICENCE FEE and be forced to become a profitable organization.
And it's not that far away.. Who is going to pay for tha beeb if they don't HAVE TO...we'll see.

As for tha PIRATES, my guess is DOOMED as the bandwidth freed up by the removal of legal FM radio is intended for use by new digital communications networks for emergency services, tha POLICE and other probably commercial uses.

NOT COOL.

[masstronaut]

And 1Xtra gets 128Kbps bandwidth on DAB, which is quite rubbish. Even Radio 3 only gets 160.

Another step backwards in audio appreciation.

[BaronVon]

^ If the BBC loses the license fee they will be dealing with some rioting on my part and i would hope many others.Fuck commercial radio/tv.I hate having products blasted at me every 15 minutes.It drives me mental.The beeb is a national institution and should remain that way.

[masstronaut]

Nah, sod the license fee. There's very, very little output on the BBC I would pay for.

[dutty yuppie]

I don't think they'll lose the licence fee and, when things like Planet Earth and Tribe are being made, I don't begrudge having to pay the current fee.

The recent furore is because the BBC wanted the fee to be significantly increased to be able to fund things like their iPlayer service which, from having to deal with licensing them programs at work, was verging on an abuse of their role as a public broadcaster.

I have to say though, looking at the money they've wasted on things like their failed Jam (online curriculum) project, does leave a bitter taste in the mouth.

[pk-]

from having to deal with licensing them programs at work, was verging on an abuse of their role as a public broadcaster.

you work for SBS?

[dutty yuppie]

Nope, somewhere else. I hope you don't mind my keeping where I work off the boards though.

[BaronVon]

Nah, sod the license fee. There's very, very little output on the BBC I would pay for.

Mary Anne Hobbs experimental show is worth the license fee alone imo

[masstronaut]

It's a good show if you're into that kind of thing.

But you'll find lots of comparable output for free on stations like Resonance FM, WFMU etc...

[tha_illsta]

Nah, sod the license fee. There's very, very little output on the BBC I would pay for.

Mary Anne Hobbs experimental show is worth the license fee alone imo

True say this is one of the few decent radio programmes they offer.

As a child I used to enjoy "listen with mother" which I believe was educational to a point, and doubtless a calming and entertaining influence on little children.
They don't appear to offer fuck all in this line though, any more.
Just a load of crap to make the kids even crazier than they are allready.

For the record, it's my personal view that they DO offer some great programmes at times, particularly many of their nature programmes, in which they are world leaders. Some of their documentaries are of a good quality too.

However, 1Xtra is not a fairly distributed or high quality service, and one with a particularly dubious brand identity. As previously mentioned by others here.

[masstronaut]

I suppose the BBC as it stands would almost certainly get worse without the license fee.

You don't have to have a license to legally listen to the radio now though.

[blackdown]

people need to turn on to US TV or radio before they complain about the BBC. The licence fee, protecting a broadcasting network from direct market forces, is the single greatest thing in the UK media and enables them to take risks and support underground music far more than commercial broadcasters do.

i think its too easy to take it for granted as we've all grown up with the BBC. whatever your issue with 1Xtra's branding, it's still far better than commercial radio and better than if it were not to exist at all.

[ctop80]

the tagline is supposed to be acknowledging the history of the music culture in the UK that these things come from, not a divisive measure.

It's easy to forget that 20 or 30 years ago black kids couldnt even get in to the clubs that were playing disco, funk, soul, rare groove etc. and that DJs like Norman Jay were doing things to change this approach, often facing great challenges to do so.

I think 1xtra was trying to pay credit to these people and the music that paved the way with their tagline rather than fall back on the rank term 'Urban' which doesnt pay credit to anything, is a catch all term (just look at HMVs Urban section) and has all kinds of negative connotations unfortunately.

The tagline certainly doesn't refer to the people who 'must' make/listen to the music on the station. I think it's good that they are at least reminding us of the struggles others have gone through to afford us the opportunity to not think of music on colour terms.

obviously as a term it is also open to interpretation and disagreement as a description - see the MOBOs - but it serves a purpose too.

their line up choices have been getting progressively worse/safer, they are obviously feeling the pinch from upstairs regarding the audience numbers not growing fast enough, hence more hip hop and Westwood.

As for the licence, the BBC is not state run but is publicly funded and also not tasked with profit making but rather offering value for money. It is a huge corporation and a massively costly one at that, their public service broadcast mandate means they should be providing some content that would not be available commercially i.e. expensive, niche, arts programmes, nature programme etc.

The fee will probably eventually be split so that a portion of it also goes to commercial broadcasters though channel 4 are already publicly owned and their digital switch over will be funded by the licence. it would be impossible to fund the bbc as it stands without the licence.

[corpsey]

1xtra is alright- I remember when back when I was into hip-hop the only option on the radio was basically Tim Westwood (unless you lived in London/had constant internet access).

Although now 1xtra has got Westwood in lol

[tha_illsta]

As for the licence, the BBC is not state run but is publicly funded and also not tasked with profit making but rather offering value for money. It is a huge corporation and a massively costly one at that

Most of tha cash being wasted on overpaid execs e.t.c

[seckle]

people need to turn on to US TV or radio before they complain about the BBC. The licence fee, protecting a broadcasting network from direct market forces, is the single greatest thing in the UK media and enables them to take risks and support underground music far more than commercial broadcasters do.

i think its too easy to take it for granted as we've all grown up with the BBC. whatever your issue with 1Xtra's branding, it's still far better than commercial radio and better than if it were not to exist at all.

nail on head!!!

you guys are so lucky! US FM and satellite radio, apart from things like npr are 80% crap.