On Jun 6, 3:43*pm, Sacha wrote:

I do the GfK Media Survey almost daily. Obviously there has been a bad
reaction to the new GW as we were given an extra questionaire after
the first three episodes of the new series which in effect asked,
"What's wrong with it then?" *So I told them! *Let's hope it does some
good.

Good for you and can you give a link to that Survey, please?

Don't quite know how it works but I guess anyone can join:

should get you there. I have a different
link but that can only be used if you are a panel member.

On 2009-06-06 17:25:44 +0100, "Bob Hobden" said:


"michael" wrote...
I cant avoid watching Gardeners World,since it seems part of our
Friday evening ritual.However,last night the programme was
awful.Making raised beds using a curved design,and requiring
individual timber pieces was just ridiculous.Also the silly 30 min
tasks got sillier this week with trying to make roof gardens over
sheds and guinea pig hutchs.In the spice bed plants were thrown in at
random,with few described.The only interesting thing was the sowing of
green seed for the propagating of primroses,but since primroses seed
themselves naturally,even this was hardly worth it.
The content now is awful,and I am afraid to say that I think the
series should be pulled.

It's all about viewing figures. If they drop to a certain low level then it
will be pulled just like "Richard and Judy".

In the week of the 11th May GW was 6th in the ratings for BBC2 with 2.4
million viewers, so no chance of it being pulled.
http://www.barb.co.uk/report/weeklyT...ammesOverview?

Looking at the most popular programmes gives one some idea of the average
viewer, it says it all!

I think part of the problem was the blizzard (it seemed, at times) of
'instant makeover' programmes for both house and garden. The newcomer
to gardening so often thinks that it's both desirable and easy to
simply plant something 15' tall and sit back and admire it. Very
occasionally, we've had a couple of younger people wanting a 'mature
tree' and have had to explain that if they really mean that, it would
cost them hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds, they'd risk it dying
anyway and that few nurseries actually sell genuinely mature trees.
Usually, one does have to wait for them to grow.
Maybe the other problem is that people move around more often now -
they don't buy a house and live in it for 30 years, so they want a
garden with plants that they can enjoy at full size now and too many
think that can be achieved by a quick trip to the local gc or nursery,
so they're frustrated or disappointed? Do new, young gardeners grasp
the concept of planting trees for future generations? And if not, is
it either because they do want the benefit of their planting
themselves, or because they don't expect to remain in their house
forever and pass it on to their descendants?

--
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

On 2009-06-06 18:07:18 +0100, moghouse said:

On Jun 6, 3:43*pm, Sacha wrote:

I do the GfK Media Survey almost daily. Obviously there has been a bad
reaction to the new GW as we were given an extra questionaire after
the first three episodes of the new series which in effect asked,
"What's wrong with it then?" *So I told them! *Let's hope it does s
ome
good.

Good for you and can you give a link to that Survey, please?

Don't quite know how it works but I guess anyone can join:

should get you there. I have a different
link but that can only be used if you are a panel member.

Sorry but that's telling me it can't open the page.... ;-(
--
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

On Jun 6, 6:18*pm, Sacha wrote:
On 2009-06-06 18:07:18 +0100, moghouse said:

On Jun 6, 3:43*pm, Sacha wrote:

I do the GfK Media Survey almost daily. Obviously there has been a bad
reaction to the new GW as we were given an extra questionaire after
the first three episodes of the new series which in effect asked,
"What's wrong with it then?" *So I told them! *Let's hope it does s
ome
good.

Good for you and can you give a link to that Survey, please?

Don't quite know how it works but I guess anyone can join:

*

Sorry but that's telling me it can't open the page.... *;-(

It seemed to have got changed after I entered it - could be Big
Brother controlling us again. I have corrected it above. On the other
hand perhaps I am more special than I thought - I was invited to join
(probably because I give my opinion to all and sundry whether they
want it or not!)

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

"michael" wrote...
I cant avoid watching Gardeners World,since it seems part of our
Friday evening ritual.However,last night the programme was
awful.Making raised beds using a curved design,and requiring
individual timber pieces was just ridiculous.Also the silly 30 min
tasks got sillier this week with trying to make roof gardens over
sheds and guinea pig hutchs.In the spice bed plants were thrown in at
random,with few described.The only interesting thing was the sowing of
green seed for the propagating of primroses,but since primroses seed
themselves naturally,even this was hardly worth it.
The content now is awful,and I am afraid to say that I think the
series should be pulled.

I agree. The show has always been something to look forward to, but now I
somehow feel short-changed and somewhat "embarrassed" to see how much the
quality has deteriorated.
With this format of creating a new garden on this huge virgin site there is
now no sense of connection with the reality of normal average gardens. In
previous series the average viewer would not have given a thought to who
does all the real gardening work, but now it yells out that there must be an
army of unseen gardeners in the background and the presenters are just
front-of-stage stooges. The format is now more "showbizzy" and shallow and
"anything for a laugh" and for me the main problem is that the three
presenters just don't mix together well as team personalities. I get the
impression that they irritate each other and there is an undercurrent of
resentment.
Carol Klien wanted the top job, I read somewhere, and now stays away from
this new project. Alyse is over-promoted into a presenter role and one can
almost hear her teeth grate when Toby does his Happy-chirpy-chipmunk teasing
act......she doesn't like it, poor lass. And Joe doesn't have the respect
for Toby as he used to have for the predecessors, Titchmarsh and Hamilton.
Joes weirdly shaped allotment is a space-wasting joke and he is just not
competent to lecture anyone on veg growing.
I know its not possible to please all the people all of the time and there
will always be aspects of shows that irritate......mine is when they try to
create a rain forest with huge rampant densely packed plantings in a 10 foot
square......but perhaps My overall criticism is that the new format is
sufficiently mature, its too juvenile and, dare I say, juvenile.

vsop

On Jun 6, 10:38*pm, Martin wrote:

*

Sorry but that's telling me it can't open the page.... *;-(

It seemed to have got changed after I entered it - could be Big
Brother controlling us again. I have corrected it above.

If you really have it still doesn't work.

That's weird, it changed again! The word that distorts should read "
helpdesk" not "helpd..." But of course if you are not one of the
chosen ones.....!

On 2009-06-06 23:19:16 +0100, moghouse said:

On Jun 6, 10:38*pm, Martin wrote:

*

Sorry but that's telling me it can't open the page.... *;-(

It seemed to have got changed after I entered it - could be Big
Brother controlling us again. I have corrected it above.

If you really have it still doesn't work.

That's weird, it changed again! The word that distorts should read "
helpdesk" not "helpd..." But of course if you are not one of the
chosen ones.....!

Maybe they've read urg and don't want to be bombarded by irritable
gardeners! I can't get it to work, even if I type in 'desk'. OTOH, my
tinfoil hat is feeling a little tight today. ;-)
--
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

On 2009-06-06 23:44:28 +0100, Martin said:

On Sat, 6 Jun 2009 23:26:03 +0100, Sacha wrote:

On 2009-06-06 23:19:16 +0100, moghouse said:

On Jun 6, 10:38*pm, Martin wrote:

*

Sorry but that's telling me it can't open the page.... *;-(

It seemed to have got changed after I entered it - could be Big
Brother controlling us again. I have corrected it above.

If you really have it still doesn't work.

That's weird, it changed again! The word that distorts should read "
helpdesk" not "helpd..." But of course if you are not one of the
chosen ones.....!

Maybe they've read urg and don't want to be bombarded by irritable
gardeners! I can't get it to work, even if I type in 'desk'. OTOH, my
tinfoil hat is feeling a little tight today. ;-)

All those thunderstorms have gone to your head.

No thunderstorms here. nyah nyah! Lot of rain, though - puddles on the
top lawn.
--
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

On 2009-06-06 23:55:51 +0100, Martin said:
snip
All those thunderstorms have gone to your head.

No thunderstorms here. nyah nyah! Lot of rain, though - puddles on the
top lawn.

There is stuff on the BBC website about thunderstorms in the West Country.

The West Country is a large area. Our tiny bit seems to be a rather
particular weather area and while it can be pouring in Plymouth, 30
minutes down the A38 from us, it can be sweltering here, or vice versa.
We were told it was going to pour here on Friday and we baked while
the tea room had people sitting on the lawn fanning themselves and
lolling about in a most un-British fashion! In the end, we look out
the window and make up our own minds about what we're getting. But
from a business pov, it is extremely annoying to hear doom and gloom on
the forecast and receive the complete opposite! I was told about this
site today and am going to check it for a few days to see how reliable
it is: www.weatherbonk.com

--
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

I think it went this way when it became an hour long, its little to do with
the presenters.
One full hour each week is too much to fill, hence padding

On Jun 6, 11:49*pm, Martin wrote:

Here is the link, if you would like to join:

http://www.surveymedia.net/imm/index.php?Sr=594619"

Well thank goodness for these sophisticated townees. I just knew that
even on urg there would be one smart arse with sufficient savvy to
sort out the electrickery for us. Thank you, Martin to the rescue
again.

In the village, in which I began life, they had a saying: "Them
country boys they don't know narfin'!" I've been proving the veracity
of it ever since.

"Martin" wrote
The BBC get £3 billion a year whether they show popular crap or quality
programmes. Nobody has told them that they have to compete with the
commercial
channels or that viewing numbers are the only criteria for success.


They have to compete to justify their income both as a corporation and
individually and viewing figures are the accepted way of judging success
with all broadcasting.
Probably why there are fewer and fewer programs that impart knowledge,
scientific or otherwise. (or is it just me?)
--
Regards
Bob Hobden
just W. of London

On 2009-06-07 10:32:21 +0100, moghouse said:

On Jun 6, 11:49*pm, Martin wrote:

Here is the link, if you would like to join:

http://www.surveymedia.net/imm/index.php?Sr=594619"

Well thank goodness for these sophisticated townees. I just knew that
even on urg there would be one smart arse with sufficient savvy to
sort out the electrickery for us. Thank you, Martin to the rescue
again.

In the village, in which I began life, they had a saying: "Them
country boys they don't know narfin'!" I've been proving the veracity
of it ever since.

Raymond's family from a small village in Essex had their own version of
that. Whenever anything broke down/went/wrong, they used to say "We'll
have to get a man in from London". ;-)
--
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

On Jun 7, 11:50*am, Martin wrote:

Well thank goodness for these sophisticated townees. I just knew that
even on urg there would be one smart arse with sufficient savvy to
sort out the electrickery for us. Thank you, Martin to the rescue
again.

In the village, in which I began life, they had a saying: *"Them
country boys they don't know narfin'!" *I've been proving the veracity
of it ever since.

I was a country boy.

Does that mean you were an escapee or a traitor? I knew enough even as
a boy to hide the fact that I had a ridiculously high I.Q. People just
don't like that especially in a child!

On Sun, 07 Jun 2009 12:56:40 +0200, Martin wrote:

The BBC are supposed to inform, educate and entertain.

Agreed, that is what public service broadcasting should do and note the
order of those things. It now appears to be entertain, inform and educate.

Public non commercial broadcasting would be funded from the
infrastructure budget as it is in for example the Netherlands.

Heaven forbid that should ever happen here. The licence fee is not ideal
but at least it keeps the government of the day at arms length. I really
doubt that even the vesitages of impartiality that still exist within the
BBC would survive long if the goverment had direct control of the purse
strings.

--
Cheers
Dave.