ChrisG46

New promo video, from the Thames, shot last week . .

Nowt to do with me, Lee - its up to the broadcaster when they show and reshow programmes, so you might get a result if you complained to them! There's due to be some new shows come up on June!

Here's a clip you might like from the new series of UK Boating - its at Hermitage Lock on the Gt Ouse . . If you start it running, you can clip on the numbers that show on the task bar, and select 720p to get hi-def - but you have to watch it on YouTUbe to get full-screen

An excellent filming day on the Fens, at Earith Lock and at Ely Marina near the heart of the city. Here's Giles at work . .

We'll be filming on the Thames during the last week in April . . and as well as our main boating story, plan to have a couple of other Thames stories to film too. More details soon.

I make programmes and put together packages to broadcasters, in fact, and am probably one of the msot successful of the very smallest similar businesses - for instance, I completed my 107th (over 4 years run) edition of a fortnightly half-hour called The Caravan Channel just before Christmas, and for that, always put the show together and sold the advertising and sponsorship. I did the same with the first 16 editions of UK Boating in its ealier wider (sea/offshore/coastal) format, and with around a dozen other short runs shows, so I think I'm pretty aware of the market and its realities. Oddly, I was also the first person/business in the UK to start an exclusively web-based hyperlocal broadband TV station back in 2004, as evidenced by the national press, TV and continental TV coverage, including the mighty BBC Newswatch . . ! So I've always had an interest in the web video side of things too, and am presently having a surprisingly loud arguement with Ofcom and their new online buddy, ATVOD. The reality into todays niche marketplace is that many genuine enthusiasts are a bit sick of slick TV, and want to see content which is genuinely interesting, genuinely expert, and in my case, genuinely disinterested in appealing to major mass-market audiences . . If the you recall the fragrant Richard and Judy when they made their terminal appearances on Sky 1, to audiences of 10k per show, The Caravan Channel was then hitting around 70/80,000. My last shows before I sold the catalogue and the rights were hitting 130,000/150,000 - pretty high by satellite reckoning.

We've always shot as 16:9 and HD (HDV and more recently XDcam) - I've made and been paid for 150 broadcast half-hours over the last 5 years, making a very enjoyable living and a reasonable income, too. I don't really understand why I'd have any concerns about "airtime licenses" or Sky fees - they'd be broadcaster issues, not programme makers concerns. You also seem clearly unaware that where we put the money is precisely defined by the broadcaster, too - they pay our budget. We have done some work for one or two of the larger mainstream outfits, but I find I can make programmes that interest me more, and thus fulfil one of my personal ojectives, working with minority broadcasters on niche audience shows, increasingly delivered in very specific ways. I think that you must have only worked in part of a major terrestrial outfit - its that kind of viewpoint that prevents large broadcasters addressing niche audiences clearly, and leaves plenty of room for people to make an interesting living doing things that really interest them!

It's just a light entertainment programme - they'd never get funding for a serious canal programme on BBC1! But I think lots of people (including me) think its pretty funny, and why not?

Interesting! Was there a 2010 survey, or just a 2009 one - I can find the 2009, but can't see anything for 2010.

They'd be excellent locations for some feature films or dramas - and they can charge thousands a day for the right location!

Haven't made anything new since Aug 2010! The reality, Charles, is that small shows like our boating show are literally made for out of pocket expenses, because the big broadcaster don't think that there's an audience there . . We use normal broadcast equipment, but don't put money into post production, essentially 'cos there isn't any way to pay for it. Most of the shows are made 'cos we find them interesting to do . . The reality is that they "cost" around 1/5th of the BBC's lowest budget cost for daytime tv . . Our caravanning show was the same when it started, but now (after 4+ years of plugging away) it gets large audiences and makes money . . you have to give things time at this minority end of the market.

The latest from BW is that they say they only want to charge us an "administration fee" of £150, and it isn't clear what that's for! We can do a whole day's single-handed shoot for less than that, so i think they're looking at us doubling our production budget in order to cover stories that THEY want to see covered - tres odd!

In about 6 years in which I've made over 150 current affairs magazine half-hours, Tony, I've never paid a facilities fee - and never been paid to show anything in a programme, although I imagine some people might have been willing to do so. I certainly get paid via the advertising income that programmes have generated, but we don't allow strong links between advertising and editorial coverage. Very obviously, most organisations are delighted that I've covered them, because the exposure and publicity has been very welcome. We always get permission to film, usually from whoever we've been working with, and have never once had any issue with this. I've made some comments directly to BW - it'll be interesting to see what they say in reply (if they bother!) . .

I remember - its nice to see you here! I agree that our programmes are a bit slow - but I'm really just a journo who finds making programmes an interesting way of making a small living while doing something I enjoy a lot . . I did a similar programme for around 4 years on caravans, and while a few people said that was slow, too, i think a massive number of people (said to be around 250,000 per programme) seemsed to enjoy it! See above - it'll be nice if we can continue to make UK Boating . .

Amazingly, there's now a question mark over the new series of UK Boating Inland waterways, thanks to a BW decision to hand over all filming rights on the UK's inland waterways to a commercial location management company, Itasca Locations. When I spoke to someone from that company, she told me that photography and video on the network (obviously not personal photography, I hope) would be subject to permissions, fees and costs . . and that this might include photography and video carried out by the magazines, too! We love the waterways, love working with them and with BW and the companies who making their livings from the UK's canals and rivers, but we won't be paying for the priviledge . . . !