Interesting Facts

18th October 1922 - The BBC (British Broadcasting Corp.) was established.

2nd November 1936 - The BBC opened the world's first regular high-definition (not HDTV) television service, from  Alexandra Palace  (affectionately known as Ally Pally).   http://www.alexandrapalace.com/whats-on/the-worlds-first-high-definition-television-service-80th-anniversary/

The votes are in and Britain's favourite BBC children's character of all time is Shaun the Sheep. (Postman Pat came second and Sooty and Sweep third. The past winners were:- 1950s - Sooty and Sweep. 1960s - The Magic Roundabout 1970s - Paddington Bear (still my favourite, along with Winnie the Pooh) 1980s - Postman Pat (not forgetting his cat) 1990s - Bob the Builder (but he couldn't fix this vote) )

The head of the BBC has announced that the corporation will not make any more all-male comedy panel shows. (According to statistics 75% of the people appearing on quiz shows are men, and shows such as QI and Mock the Week often have an all male panel. When talking to the Observer newspaper about his plans for better representing his audiences on screen, Danny Cohen said: "We're not going to have any more panel shows with no women on them. It's not acceptable." Cohen, who ran BBC1 until last spring and before that was the controller of digital channel BBC3, also said he had work to do to make sure there are more older women featuring in the corporation's television programmes. There's hope for me yet.)

The BBC paid out £60m in severance payments in eight years. (This bonanza included £1m to former deputy director general Mark Byford and £486,500 to George Entwistle, who quit as director general at the height of the Jimmy Savile scandal, after just 54 days in the job. I know people are sometimes surprised when I am less than enthusiastic about the institution that we call the British Broadcasting Corporation, but this kind of "snouts in the trough"* culture is one reason.) *Not my words - Graham Norton's - He actually works for them and earned around £2.6m in the year to the end of July 2012 . :)

According to a new survey, run by the London School of Economics, the University of Manchester, and BBC Lab UK, there are no longer three social classes in the UK. (But that does not mean Britain is a classless society, oh no. There are now 7 social classes, which are (from the bottom up):- The precariat, or precarious proletariat - Most deprived group, with low levels of all three capitals. The traditional working class - Low on all three capitals, but not the poorest. Older on average than other classes. Emergent service workers - New class with low economic but high 'emerging' cultural capital. High social capital. Predominantly young and often found in urban areas. New affluent workers - Medium levels of economic, but higher levels of cultural and social capital. Young and active. Technical middle class - New, small class, with high economic capital but less culturally engaged. Relatively few social contacts. Established middle class - High levels of all three capit...

According to a "power list" compiled by BBC Radio 4′s Woman’s Hour, the Queen is Britain’s most powerful woman. (The top five movers and shakers were: home secretary Theresa May, Santander boss Ana Botin, Supreme Court judge Baroness Brenda Hale and businesswoman Elisabeth Murdoch. You can read the full list of 100 women here:- http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007qlvb/features/power-list I am proud to say, I didn't make the list.  I am not a mover and shaker, more a nudger and poker.)

Purely MHO:- Politics was a big theme in 2012. The Sunday Telegraph claimed that the Tories were launching a hunt to replace recently-departed "blue skies" thinker Steve Hilton using the format of a new reality TV show. The Observer said David Cameron had asked the Happy Mondays singer Shaun Ryder to come to Downing Street to advise him on issues of class. (Hubby and I fell for this one.) The Independent on Sunday reported on police stations holding "hosepipe amnesties" for the public to hand in garden hoses ahead of a hosepipe ban in south-east England (the hosepipe ban was real, just the amnesty was a joke). The Sunday Times' Style magazine hoped to catch out readers with its double-page spread on "Lemac", a new Middle-Eastern beauty treatment where customers are injected with cells from the humps of camels. Readers of The Sun on Sunday reported that Arsenal football club was releasing its own fragrance, which took its aromas from the E...

According to the Daily Mail, there are five times as many full time male staff who earn over £200,000, which is more than the prime minister does, as women at the BBC. (In addition, there are twice as many men on more than £100,000 at the BBC and the average man's pay is £41,916 while it is only £36,827 for female employees. They spent £212 million on star salaries last year, but I guess with a budget of £3.5 billion, they can afford it. I have to say I wasn't surprised by this story, the BBC is a perfect example of the "old boys network" in action. My question is, is there an ''old girls network'', and how do I get in it?)

The Amazon river, the second longest river in the world, has dropped to its lowest level in 40 years. (Following a long spell of dry weather in north-eastern Peru the river has dropped to 106m (347.8ft) above sea level, 50cm (19.7in) lower than a previous low record. At least six large boats have been left high and dry near the port city of Iquitos.) Source: BBC News

According to a poll by the BBC World Service, only 11% of people from 27 countries thought free market capitalism is working well. (In the United States (25%) and Pakistan (21%) of people agreed that capitalism works well in its current form. Luckily 51% of the people surveyed believed the problems can be solved with more regulation and reform, so there's hope for us yet.)

The BBC spent a massive £14m on taxis in 2008. (That works out at more than £38,000 a day. BBC staff took more than 406,000 taxi rides. I wonder how many times round the world that would go?) Source - Daily Mirror

According to pollsters the Superbrands Council, Google is the brand Brits like the best. (The popular search engine took the top spot, and Microsoft came in second. Third on the list was Mercedes-Benz, followed by the BBC at number four. The fifth favourite brand was British Airways. Foods and supermarkets were quite low down, Coca-Cola at No 14, and Cadbury at 19th. Of course they probably didn't ask the residents of Broughton in Buckinghamshire, who recently spotted Google's Street View car entering their village, when they saw the camera-equipped vehicle a small mob gathered, and they forced the vehicle into a u-turn before it left the village. Seemingly they were worried about being burgled if people online saw their affluence.)

Australian Soap Neighbours is the most watched daytime TV show other than the BBC's One o'clock news. (According to the Independent the BBC currently pays about £25000 per episode but Fremantle (the makers) are reportedly seeking more than £70000. So, now you know where your British TV licence money goes.)

The BBC has a Pronunciation Unit. (So now you know whom to blame.)

Bob Dylan first visited Britain - in 1962 - to take part in a BBC play, Madhouse on Castle Street. (The recording was wiped (erased), it featured a 21-year-old Bob Dylan as a young protest singer - talk about being typecast.)

According to BBC Two's TV series 'The Apprentice' on an average Saturday, 35,000 people will shop in Harrods. (I'm afraid I am the sort of person who buys a toothbrush just to get a Harrod's carrier bag.)