Posts Tagged ‘London’

It’s nearly a week ago since I was rising at 5am to travel into our radio studio for a morning of Guinness World Records and how quickly that week has gone (without digressing too much – being a Northern lad I think time goes very quickly in this big southern city)!

This early rise was for the 8th Guinness World Records Day, an annual event that unites every corner of the globe as hundreds of thousands of people come together for one very special celebration of the weird, wacky and downright astonishing.  A couple of highlights included Most People Crammed in a Mini on Potters Field, London and Largest Kaikottikali Dance in Mumbai, India.

For us in the studio – when I say us I mean me, the engineer and two Guinness World Record adjudicators – the highlights were hearing radio presenters from across the UK attempting to break world records live on air.  They had a choice from:

-          Most Sound Effects Named in One Minute

-          Most National Anthems Named in One Minute

-          Most Film Scores Named in One Minute

As you can imagine, hearing people shout ‘church bells’ ‘Indiana Jones’ ‘Bolivia’ made for great radio and a pretty hilarious morning.

How it worked

The two adjudicators – Gaz and Kris – were in our studio and monitored back-to-back record attempts with stations across the UK who called in to have a go.

Guinness World Records Day Adjudicators, Gaz Deaves and Kris Teufel in the TNR studio

The adjudicators oversaw the record attempts and at the end were able to immediately tell the presenters their result.

To give you a little taste of what it sounds like we threw our in-house Producer Collina Bloor and freelance cameraman Dan Martin into the studio to have a go at setting a record for Film Scores, albeit for a bit of fun:

Wasn’t that fun?! Head over to the Guinness World Records website if you fancy a go yourself.

Post by Daniele Baron, Production Assistant @ TNR Communications

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After much hype, controversy and general chit chat, BBC Breakfast has finally moved to Salford. 

The move has been planned for some years and is part of the BBC’s £1.5billion plan to shift 50% of its programming out of London by 2016.  BBC Breakfast joins 5 Live and the Children’s department at the Media City complex in Salford, Manchester.

But what does this all mean for the wider media landscape?

This grand plan by the BBC goes some way to squash the London bias within the media industry, which is all good and well but will the show now have a Manchester slant?  The Mail Online reported that the first show from Salford was dominated by North-West guests and the show’s former sports presenter Chris Hollins openly said this wasn’t an editorial decision, more a political one.  Hollins made a good point when he said, ‘it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to say that it will be practically impossible to get the Prime Minister on set, as we do at the moment’.

At TNR we often pitch guests to relevant broadcast media, including BBC Breakfast.  It will be interesting to see, over the coming months, how Breakfast manages its sofa guests and whether there will be a northern bias.  Even if this bias does arise, isn’t it about time?  This media growth in the north has been a long time coming and there are BBC employees excited about the move, including new presenter Susanna Reid who said, “BBC Breakfast really connects with its audience. We have fantastic, loyal, interested and engaged viewers who keep in touch regularly”

There have been other talking points flying around about the first show, from the chilly weather to the ‘crime land’ of Salford, but I think it is too soon to start speaking negatively about the move.  It’s surely going to bring more status to other areas in the UK and if the BBC can make it work it will certainly prove all the doubters wrong, including Hollins.

As Reid said above, Breakfast does connect with around 1.5 million average daily audience and they provide quality guests to discuss news of the day.  Ultimately, brands and PRs are going to have to be willing to urge spokespeople to travel north, whether that is celebrities or business types.  There is no doubt the BBC will strive to keep standards high.  Given time, I believe it will be as if they never left London.

Post by Daniele Baron, Production Assistant @ TNR Communications

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