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Media
Bannister says pre-recording Ross is not a solution
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 28 May 2009
Former Radio 1 chief Matthew Bannister has said that Radio 2’s decision to pre-record the Jonathan Ross radio show in a bid to ensure he doesn’t say anything that might piss off more sensitive listeners is “odd in a number of ways”.
Speaking to Radio 4’s ‘The Media Show’, Bannister, who was at one point tipped to take over at Radio 2 after former chief Lesley Douglas was forced to resign after the Ross/Brand Sachsgate debacle, said: “I think it is the safety-first choice. The issues behind the Ross-Brand affair were about the balance of power between the broadcaster and talent. It is another example of the BBC saying ‘We are in charge here, not the talent'”.
But, according to the Guardian, Bannister continued: “I am not sure if it is a long term solution to sorting out the balance of power between the BBC and talent because you can’t pre-record most of your music radio. This is a sticking plaster solution”.
Asked why more of the station’s music output couldn’t be pre-recorded, Bannister argued that non-live music radio shows were “less spontaneous and less exciting”, adding: “Once you have taken the decision to pre-record a music radio sequence, it does make a change to the show and to the adrenaline that not only the presenters but the guests feel. If you are recording it, you can go back and retake stuff. You don’t have that sense that every word you say on air counts. The audience will have a subtly different reaction to it. Somehow you can tell when a show has been produced a day before or a week before. [And] one of the joys of listening to Jonathan Ross has always been for me anyway to listen to him walk the tightrope between what is acceptable and what is not acceptable”.
Of course, another problem with pre-recorded shows on BBC radio these days is that after various ‘scandals’ over non-live Beeb shows encouraging listeners to text in when, in fact, there was no point, presenters of pre-recorded programmes that might appear live, or which usually are live, have to keep on stressing the fact they’re not actually there as the programme airs. Whether the Ross show, now a permanently pre-recorded affair, will have to follow that rule isn’t clear.
