Thursday 5 August 2010

A busy week, and it's not over yet!

Busy, but rewarding. Had some great guests on the programme and interesting discussion which is a good combination for radio.

I met a young lady who is qualifying as a funeral director, and talked to an MP who was on the phone from a very unusual location.

Then there was the discussion about the Civic Centre. The councillor responsible for the city budget revealed on the show that the crumbling building, still used on a daily basis, would be sold - although that may prove difficult. As with many stories, it was picked up my other areas of the media (it often happens, but I like to think other areas of the media are helping to boost our listening figures, of which more in a moment).

That was followed by a piece with a member of the 20th Century Society, the body responsible for applying to English Heritage for listed status. My immediate first point, informing the listeners that the lady from the society does not, or never has, lived in Plymouth did not go down well with her. It kicked off.

On telling her that the actions of the group led to a decision that did not affect her as a taxpayer, she seemed to stumble around her words.

The reaction from listeners showed that the item had certainly got people thinking and feeling that their views had to be aired - whether in favour of pulling down the building or not.

While each guest is an important part of the programme, I particularly enjoyed Gyles Brandreth. The former MP and well-known writer and broadcaster did a piece about our relationship with the French.

This followed a news story that reveals we still have the same stereotypical views of the nation and its people as a generation ago, but they, too, have views about us.

He was humourous, and just as I hoped he would be - essentially eccentric.

The official radio ratings were released and both programmes I present each morning have received a good increase in numbers. Always a good thing to hear - it's our equivalent of sales figures.

Of course, we are hoping the next set of figures, released in three months, also reflect good audiences for our football coverage. Again, BBC Radio Devon provides live and exclusive coverage and the first match takes place at Southampton on Saturday.

A new season means preparing a new stats book and refreshing myself with all the records I keep on individual players and on the club in general.

So after my on-air duties on Friday morning, I will be travelling to Hampshire in readiness for Saturday's match at Southampton.

With a new manager in Peter Reid and player personnel changes that always occur at football clubs, hopes are there for a good result to get Plymouth Argyle underway as The Pilgrims look to recover from last season's dismal season which ended in relegation.

A win, or a draw, and the drive home will be so more enjoyable. Particularly as it is a lunchtime kick-off. I would hate to see Argyle lose and hear about other teams scoring goals and claiming points in the afternoon matches.

But hopefully, it will be the rarity of arriving home in daylight from an away game. All being well, I can meet up with a group of friends that I normally only see on Saturdays after home matches - The Coffin Dodgers.

I may reveal more about this odd group on a future blog.

1 comment:

  1. Good stuff Sparksy.

    Was hoping to enjoy your commentary last night (lunchtime kickoff for me on left-coast USA) but BBC Devon once again screwed up the feed to Argyle Player.

    It sounded like you had your own problems as well, just before half-time (when we did finally get some commentary).

    We probably got less than 30 minutes of BBC Radio Devon commentary and the rest, we had to scrounge from the BBC Nottingham feed - most of the first half and half of the second half.

    A very frustrating evening all round.

    Any word on how BBC Radio Devon are going to fix this? Just having someone monitor the feed might be a start. We have our DJ's do that at the college radio station so it should be a pretty simple check for an engineer, back at base.

    Hoping to hear you for the Carlisle game on Saturday....

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