BBC Three moving homes….

So last week it was announced that BBC Three is set to become an online channel. I'm not going to lie, the announcement doesn't really surprise me. Over the last few years I'd say the quality that has been delivered on the channel has been variable.

When I look back across the years, you realise BBC Three has been home to some decent stuff. It was the original home of Gavin & Stacey, Little Britain & not forgetting of course a wee programme called Torchwood. There was documentaries that got you thinking (anyone remember Blood, Sweat & T-shirts that started Stacey Dooley's career?). Being Human (I remember seeing the pilot episode when it was part of a showcase on Three of new writers). In The Flesh. Russell Howard's Good News. And that's just what I can pull from the top of my head.

And then you can look at some of the other....questionable content. Snog. Marry. Avoid? Sun, Sex & Suspicious Parents (how many series does this need...and why do the participants not realise what's going on....after all the time?) And then there's the repeats. Repeats of Family Guy & American Dad (although they have lost the rights of these to rival ITV though the current series of Family Guy the BBC has moved to BBC 2 and something tells me they might be trying to get through it as quickly as possible), Top Gear (maybe no longer) & Eastenders (isn't that what the weekend omnibus was for?)

It's a shame too. BBC Three had all the potential there to be something for what is basically an unheard generation. But somewhere along the line, it's got lost. Occassionally it hits the right notes. But maybe it should take notes from Amigo loans and go back to the good old days. Time will only tell what's likely to happen when it moves online.

The day the charts moved days….

5^th July 2015 – The day the charts changed. Not that they had been changing since the introduction of the digital download (heck recently in the UK's official chart streams were also included in the official charts)

Yes, the 5^th of July is the last ever Sunday chart show. Why? Because we're moving to a global release day on a Friday. Why a Friday? Well, according to the IFPI, that's when there's most footfall in stores and the most digital traffic online. And apparently it's an attempt at trying to stop piracy. See, until now, most places have had their own release days: Monday was UK, Tuesday was US, Wednesday is Japan, don't know any for Thursday but Friday was the likes of Germany & Australia. And here in lay the problem. With releases from Germany , Ireland & Australia, they would usually see their release date on the Monday or the Tuesday, so over the weekend it would be 'released' by means not necessarily legal.

Sundays from 4pm were chart time. I never really enjoyed listening to the official chart to be honest. I was more of a Pepsi Chart person (which was a tad annoying when you discovered that the top 10 you'd heard on the Pepsi Chart wasn't the same as Official Chart) but it got me through hours of homework back in the day. And who didn't back in the day wait for that moment when their track came on and record it to cassette? Now we probably just use audio capture on a computer.

I don't know how I feel about the whole global release date (being marketed as New Music Fridays). I can see why they want to do it. But at the same time, I don't know what difference it's going to make. After all, we still see audio only videos up on Youtube/Vevo long before any single is due to be released, so if folks pull the audio only from the video, what incentive do they have to purchase the release when it comes out? Sure the fans may wait but in the long run? It's going to be odd hearing the charts on Friday (and that's what so odd that we'll have new releases on a Friday along with a chart?) and not the Sunday (although you may, in the UK still have The Big Top 40 which focuses on iTunes downloads alone)

I know that this global release day isn't set in stone. Officially, folks can release a track whenever they want. It's going to be an interesting few months. Will we see the big artists hanging around longer? What will happen to the independents who don't have the budgets/resources to compete with the big guns? There might be separate charts for different genres, but everyone knows that it the big official chart position that really counts.

Photos: © Vhari Lannigan
Lionel Richie @ S.E.C.C Glasgow 8th April 2009
Alex Cornish @ Edinburgh Corn Exchange 18th August 2010
Sandi Thom @ Howden Park Centre, Livingston 17th April 2014