Adverts, mainly.

Does Channel Four need to be publicly funded? I think the beauty of something like Channel 4 is that it doesn't have any government input, so it can be, potentially free. Then again, advertisers probably define what it does more than we'll ever fully know. I know one thing for sure, it wouldn't be right for Channel 4 to go along the same route as Channel 5 and ITV - i.e. producing rubbish and relying solely on American imports (respectively). Perhaps if Channel Four could come up with something a bit better than the now extraordinarily stale Big Brother to be this summer's breakout hit, then it might stand a better chance of a brighter future.

The ASA has banned some of the gambling adverts which are prolific on many of the lesser quality channels nowadays, given the vulnerable nature of the brains watching these channels (bit of a generalisation I know - but oh well). I'm a bit surprised they were allowed at all in the first place. Even I, a (resonably) sensible person has often wondered if I could end all my problems by winning big on a gambling site. And don't even get me started on that one where that stupid bint wins 20p and goes running round the house in excitement. I'd rather stick with a safer form of gambling - eBay.

The new Oxfam ad is pretty good as charity adverts go. We all know my ambivalence to the Donkey ad (see my main blog) but this one is a real departure for Oxfam. Away are the images of malnourised Africans, a sight which we are all too used to seeing (unfortunately). Awash with such images on television, we become blaze and forget the real cause. So good on them for employing Tim Burton-esque graphics to shed some light on the matter. This charity is much more deserving than any donkey charity anyway!

ITV's "finally" launched it's own on demand service. I can't quite figure out if ITV genuinely believe it when they say that "quality entertainment" is "finally" available, or if they are for once acknowledging the fact that they are incredibly slow and miles behind their competitiors, 4OD and BBC's iPlayer.

And finally, the Daily Sport has rebranded itself. I hope I'm not the only one who is sick to death of the "be a bloke, read the sport" advert that is being paraded around. I have long-been cradling the naive hope that this kind of bloke had become extinct, then again, praise indeed that they have in fact managed to learn to read anything that resembles a newspaper, even if it is the Sport.

That's all for now on this Media Ramble.
I hope you have enjoyed today's blogging extravaganza - next week this blog will be rebranded just like everything else out there.
Keep media savvy.

16th April

So ITV, with their endless dirth of digital channels with 24 hours to fill have decided to enrage fans by missing out the second episode of new hit drama Pushing Daisies. How pathetic. I admit that this program is probably not the best program ever to be broadcast (then again, coming from ITV, maybe it is), but surely finding an hour to stick this program on ITV4 instead of showing 30-year-old repeats of The Sweeney wouldn't harm anybody.

So Shameless inspired the entire Shannon Matthews saga. Admittedly, no good plan starts with getting the inspiration from an episode of Shameless, but I hope it doesn't turn into another whipping boy for the tabloids and mid-markets to blame society's ills on.

The French are in uproar because their Eurovision entry is going to be in English in a vain attempt to win. Why they care is beyond me, nobody cares what the entry is like, as long as you've got enough countries that are basically the same as you and have not done anything controversial to make any enemies - you'll probably win, whether it's in English, Polish, Afrikaans or Gibberish. Having said that I don't think Afrikaans or Gibberish are actually allowed because they are not official languages of any European state.

Crappy Five channel "Five Life" is being renamed "Fiver" in a bid to attract younger audiences. Yes that will surely work.

Finally, after watching an episode of Animal Park today on BBC2, starring Ben Fogle and Kate Humble, I feel compelled to remind readers that Longleat is not actually that great, and I think you'll find that West Midlands Safari Park is much better, although Longleat does beat WM on its monkey front.

That's all for now.

Keep media savvy.