On 2009-11-09 17:18:36 +0000, "mark" said:


"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from ®óñ© © ²°¹°-°¹ contains these words:

On Sat, 7 Nov 2009 16:43:23 -0000, "Spider"
wrote:
Knowledge and enthusiasm, as well as an ability to
bestow these, is precisely what's needed on GW. I keep watching in
the vain
hope it will improve but, these days I rarely watch it in 'real time'
because I come in late from the garden during the summer. That shows
*just*
how much it's changed for me: I used to rush in from the garden to catch
every second.

The Daily Express today has a big and very critical article outlining
how Gardeners' World has gone from bad to worse. Basically saying
everything about it is wrong, poor presenters, dumbing down, stupid
little garden on waste land (not attached to a house etc)
The BBC really needs to up its game and get real or continue to leak
viewers when it returns

The trouble is, TV programming has vastly changed since the says of
St Geoff ( gardening by and for gardeners). Today GW is aimed at a
much wider
target audience than gardeners. Just like Strictly Come Dancing. is
aimed at people who don't dance. It's entertainment geared to
non-participants.


Whateverever target audience it is aiming at, it has missed as evidenced by
the diminishing viewing figures.
mark

Both from talking to customers and reading the majority opinion on
here, I think most viewers want straightforward gardening without the
fake friendship stuff and the gimmicky sheds etc. It doesn't mean it
has to be humourless or without its lighter moments but it does mean
less of the celeb culture and more of the cultivation! Roy Lancaster
told us that when he was doing his early broadcasting work he was told
very sternly to remember that the plants were the stars, not the
presenters! That's part of what needs to come back - let's forget the
silly hats and scarves and hair and whatever. More plants, less
people. AND PLANT NAMES ON THE SCREEN!! Are you listening programme
makers? ;-) It's no good showing people plants and not telling them
what they are. Learners need to know from scratch and more experienced
gardeners want to know the names of new things being launched. We get
customers saying "it was on a gardening programme 2 weeks ago, it's
blue/yellow/red/orange and it has green leaves that are pointed." Tell
them the names. Please! And at the end of the programme - having
warned them to be ready to write it down - tell them where there are
special courses or days out that would interest gardeners, e.g. Apple
Days, or places giving a week end course or a day course on veg and
herb growing, or taking cuttings, or how to save seed etc.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon