On 2009-11-09 18:44:22 +0000, "mark" said:


"Sacha" wrote in message
...
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.
--



I'm sure that the Beeb is well aware of the GW failings and that is why they
are having chats with AT.
mark

They read this group as we know from a former member's experience
(IIRC) and they'd be wasting their time if they didn't listen to
opinions sent in to them. Nothing else would have caused a change in
approach, as happened with coverage of Chelsea.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon