Controversial plans to privatize Channel 4 are set to be dropped as British PM Rishi Sunak reassesses campaign and policy pledges made by his past two predecessors and gears up to set his own legislative agenda, according to new reports.
18.10.2022 - 15:43 / deadline.com
The BBC turns 100 today and it appears the centenary is helping to build bridges between the UK public and the Conservative government — at least in the short term.
Culture Minister Michelle Donelan struck a conciliatory tone in a statement released in the past hour noting the anniversary, pointing to several achievements from the BBC’s history and its outsized impact on the world beyond the UK.
“Since the first BBC broadcast hit the airwaves 100 years ago, few could have imagined that BBC broadcasting history would become British history,” she wrote, while also pointing to shows such as Doctor Who and classic sitcom Only Fools and Horses as cultural milestones in the UK.
Donelan said the BBC “became a crucial method for keeping up morale” during World War II, adding: “Now, as Russia targets the media in Ukraine, the BBC has once again stepped up to serve war-torn Europe.
She referenced how the BBC had covered important historical moments such as former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher travelling to meet U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and both the coronation and funeral of Queen Elizabth II.
This is markedly different tone to that most Conservative ministers have used when addressing the BBC in recent years, as debates of the future of the license fee and perceptions of bias continue to bite. Donelan, a former WWE Entertainment marketing exec, herself has previously said it is “no secret” she has been “a sceptic for a long time of the license fee” but has pledged to listen to evidence before making decisions on the BBC’s future.
Donelan was appointed Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport last month, replacing Nadine Dorries, whose position was much more openly hostile to the BBC and its
Controversial plans to privatize Channel 4 are set to be dropped as British PM Rishi Sunak reassesses campaign and policy pledges made by his past two predecessors and gears up to set his own legislative agenda, according to new reports.
This year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will include the traditional line-up of Broadway performances, with Lea Michele and the cast of Funny Girl scheduled to be among the holiday revelers, Macy’s has announced. Though organizers don’t indicate which musical numbers will be performed, could it be Funny Girl’s be anything other than “Don’t Rain On My Parade?”
Former UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock has been suspended as a Conservative MP for being a contestant on I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!.
Seven SNP MSPs have defied Nicola Sturgeon by voting against plans to make it easier for people to change their gender.
EXCLUSIVE: Lyse Doucet, the BBC’s international news supremo, has said she felt she was “fighting for the license fee” when broadcasting for weeks on end in Ukraine earlier this year, as she opened up about covering warzones, “painful” World Service cuts and the digital news revolution.
Michelle McManus has shared a blast from the past picture of her and Rylan as she wished the It Takes Two presenter a happy birthday.
Former WWE marketing manager Michelle Donelan has been reappointed UK Culture Secretary, with responsibility for the future of the BBC and Channel 4.
A former Wren among the first people to receive 100th birthday cards from the new King has told of her joy at the delivery from the third monarch in her life.
Former UK Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has been strong criticized by a British government report over her claims a Channel 4 documentary used actors.
The BBC has ready secret scripts to read on emergency broadcast channels if the UK experiences energy shortages that result in blackouts or loses gas this winter, according to the Guardian.
Will Mellor had Strictly Come Dancing fans worried on Saturday night as he took to the dancefloor again on the BBC dance contest. The Coronation Street star, who has had fans of the BBC dance contest hot under the collar with his 'snake hips' still dazzled with his moves on Saturday night, but viewers were concerned that he wasn't well.
Iranian protesters have demanded "justice" for a woman who was assaulted by anti-riot police, with one officer forcibly grabbing her bottom and then pushing her on the ground. The video, captured on a security camera at the Argentina Square in Tehran on Wednesday, shows police surrounding the woman. When they start to cart her away, one officer grabs the woman’s bottom before she drops to her knees. Another woman can be heard saying that the officers were pulling the victim’s hair as she knelt on the ground. Tehran’s Police Public Relations office has said the incident will be investigated, the BBC reported, but the police provided no statement as to what might have happened.
Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Cinemed, the Mediterranean Cinema Film Festival, is partnering up with Lebanese film org Aflamuna / Beirut DC to launch a new co-production and co-financing initiative aimed at high-profile projects from the Arab world. The new program, which is also backed by France’s National Film Board and is part of the festival’s industry showcase Cinemed Meetings, will present seven projects involving 22 Arab countries, including Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Liban, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Syria, among others. All selected projects are currently in development and are being brought by filmmakers who have previously directed at least one short film.
Do not expect to see Chris Colfer in the audience for Lea Michele’s Broadway show Funny Girl.
Julie Benko is currently the alternate for Lea Michele in Broadway’s Funny Girl and she performs the role of Fanny Brice every Thursday night.