Radio 2 in the Park 2024

[Jono]

Nick Grimshaw, Edith Bowman and Reggie Yates will present coverage on BBC Three from T In The Park with sets from James Morrison, Maximo Park, The View and Maximo Park Franz Ferdinand.

Friday 10th July 2009

1pm Edith Bowman live from T In The Park

Saturday 11th July 2009

4pm Huw Stephens' T In The Park Request Show

Sunday 12th July 2009

4pm Radio 1's Chart Show with Fearne Cotton (Reggie is at T In The Park)

7pm Switch with Tom Deacon and Annie Mac (Nick Grimshaw is at T In The Park)

Monday 13th July 2009

1pm Edith Bowman live from T In The Park

9pm Nick Grimshaw plays out three hours of highlights from T In The Park

[Hammer]

Are Maximo Park on twice then?

[Jono]

Corrected

[Computer]

I must say I really did enjoy Edith and Reggie presenting together at Glasto, even though I'm not a fan of Bowman, I'm looking forward to the shows already

[Ezza]

I'm going to T in the Park! Just thought I'd share this..

[Computer]

I'm going to T in the Park! Just thought I'd share this..

Have fun!

[DarkAngelMJH]

THE BBC has sent 324 people to cover the T in the Park music festival taking place this weekend.

The revelation has sparked criticism of excessive staffing of the event, which is being attended by almost 80,000 music fans, and claims it highlights the "unfair position" the corporation now has over its competitors.

A total of 139 BBC personnel, some of whom are travelling from London, 158 freelance or contract staff, and 27 people working for Radio 1 will cover the event, providing 111 hours of TV programming, 20 hours of radio content and online coverage.

The BBC refused to divulge the total cost of the broadcast operation, but one estimate put the bill for accommodation, travel and other expenses at up to £1m for the three-day festival in Balado, near Perth, where Kings of Leon, the Killers and Blur are headline bands.

Conservative MSP Ted Brocklebank accused the BBC of "rubbing the noses of commercial rivals in the Balado mud" over the numbers sent to the festival.

The MSP, a former ITV broadcaster, told The Herald last night: "T in the Park is a good thing but at the same time, the BBC has to get matters in perspective.

"More than 300 staff, even for Scotland's foremost music festival of the year, seems a huge turnout, particularly against the background in cuts at BBC Scotland, other cuts and the threat of top-slicing of the licence fee.

"Against all that background it seems like rubbing the nose of the commercial companies in the mud of Balado and shows that competition is now totally skewed."

One independent TV insider said that it is often difficult to draw the line between how many crew are absolutely necessary at live events and how many are there to be entertained. "In terms of how many are actually needed, it is always vague. But to me, this number seems excessive."

It comes after controversy surrounded the BBC's coverage of last month's Glastonbury festival, which was staffed by more than 400 people. It was around 30 fewer than the number sent to the Olympics in Beijing, which resulted in more than 3000 hours of coverage.

The corporation was also criticised after details of expenses claimed by BBC executives were released. But the BBC, which has broadcast T in the Park for 11 years, defended its staffing levels.

A spokesman said: "T in the Park is one of Scotland's major annual public events and is our Glastonbury.

"It attracts huge crowds, is particularly popular with younger audiences and is a landmark event that Scotland is proud to own and shout about - and we reflect that in our coverage.

"In addition to coverage over T in the Park weekend, we also feature highlight programmes throughout the year so our output is a year-long offering that maximises what we record."

It took fewer than 440 BBC staff and freelances to provide more than 3000 hours of coverage of the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing.

But last month more than 400 staff were deployed to Glastonbury, sparking criticism that the festival had become an "annual BBC junket".

Now the corporation has revealed that 324 workers are descending on Balado in Perth and Kinross to cover three days of T in the Park, providing 111 hours of TV footage and 20 hours of radio programming, as well as online content.

One million people watched last year's coverage on BBC3, while 659,000 tuned in to BBC Scotland. This year's output will be produced for 10 different outlets, including BBC One Scotland, BBC3, BBC Two and Radio 1.

A spokesman for the corporation described it as a "technically complex operation", which required the use of "multi-camera set-ups" to record five live performance stages. He pointed out that the amount of coverage equalled that of Glastonbury, despite around 80 fewer staff being sent to the event.

Mike Lander, former BBC executive producer at T in the Park, ran the coverage for four years. He said that the large numbers of crew each year were proportionate to the demands of the job, adding that the event fills a lot of airtime for a reasonable amount of money.

"My experience is that it is very labour intensive because of the huge scale of the event," he said. "The BBC are covering multiple stages, with each one requiring its own scanner, sound and lighting crew, plus technicians on the ground.

"People don't realise how much preparation or equipment is needed for such a huge event, but by and large, there is no-one staying in luxury hotels - it really is a very rough few days."

The BBC came under fire last month after details of expenses claimed by executives revealed payments for expensive hotels and bottles of champagne.

It also comes at a time when fears have been raised that millions of pounds are to be diverted from programme budgets to plug a giant hole in staff pension funds. Mark Thompson, the director-general, is expected to be questioned by MPs next week over the claims.

The BBC refused to divulge costs for this weekend's coverage, but the majority of its staff and freelances are being accommodated at the Scottish Police College.

Lorna-Dawn Creanor, freelance executive producer, said she believed that coverage of popular arts events is often challenged unfairly.

"Live events are expensive to produce but per head of population actually represent good value for money," she said. "I believe it is important that younger licence payers' interests are represented on the TV schedule, and as a Scot, it is nice to see events north of the border being given prominence."

But Philip Davies MP, Conservative member of the Commons Culture Committee, argued that allocating less resources to T in the Park could benefit other arts events.

He said: "I wouldn't argue that they shouldn't cover it. My point is that they don't need 300-odd people to be there to cover it. And actually, if they were able to save a bit of money by sending fewer people to cover this event, then they might have a bit more money to cover other events in Scotland.

"I don't think they covered the Edinburgh International Film Festival, for example, and so actually, if they were to be a bit more careful with their resources, they may be able to showcase many more of the attractions that Scotland has to offer, rather than putting so many eggs into this one particular basket."

He added: "It's just evidence that the BBC is far too big and dominant a force in the media world."

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.2519345.0.BBC_denies_claim_T_in_the_Park_is_just_one_more_junket_for_staff.php

What another load of rubbish for people to moan about. Wondered how long it would take though after Glastonbury

[JonathanEx]

Straight away, I can point out 2 faults.

1: you cannot compare the numbers with the Olympics. The BBC were not the host broadcasters there, and so for much of the sports (all with the exception of 2, I believe) it was not BBC cameras or directors or other staff actually working on the events filming themselves that all the broadcasters used.

2: They did cover the Edinburgh Interactional Film Festival, 5live did a live show that used the visual console and also was on the red button for a week or two.

[DarkAngelMJH]

Yeah there are loads of things wrong with the article. There are going to be loads of people that have to go otherwise you're not going to cover enough with all thats happening. They seem to forget that the staff do have to have breaks and need to be covered for that too.

[augusta92]

I can see the arguement though. It does seem like a lot of staff are needed to present something that isnt a prime time show. I wonder how staffing compares to something like wimbledon or a major football match?

[Jono]

What they forget (or fail to mention) is 158 are on a contract. They're not going to be arsing around as most of them want to be shown in a good light and want to continue to work for the BBC. They're not BBC employees and they're going to work their damn hardest. So that's essentially half already accounted for.

The BBC do so much coverage for these festivals. It's on the red button all weekend, it's on the television on BBC Two, Three and (sometimes) Four. It's on several of their radio stations. All the sets are online too.

I would rather see this happening than not seeing all of those delights. I don't see how any other broadcaster could really compare to what the Beeb do.

[me_54m]

Next time they should use the Afghanistan Satellite link and see what people say then.

[John]

Who the hell is been paid to count this?

[James R]

Who the hell is been paid to count this?

You have got a point there. Surely thats a bigger waste of money

[Jono]

Who the hell is been paid to count this?

The BBC counting department.

[Chippy]

The BBC counting department.

me

[Jono]

Nick Grimshaw seems pissed to me. Either that or he's a bit tired. Doesn't quite seem to be getting a sentence out.