Ad Hudler - Ad Libbing

I'll pass on the BBC, thanks
Wednesday, March 25, 2009

When my local NPR affiliate went all-talk recently I thought I'd love the change. I specifically was excited about getting BBC-America.

Well, I guess I was wrong. Have you listened to BBC for more than 10 minutes? For the record, I like the Brit accent, but those BBC announcers seem to be over the top. They talk as if they are a caricature of a Brit accent, as if National Lampoon was taking its turn at making fun of them: too austere, too intense, NO laughter at all: "This is Betty Blah-Blah with the VERY-serious BBC, reporting from Tehran, a VERY serious place on this VERY serious planet, and even though we longer have a British Empire we are going to try to convince you that we still do by sounding VERY serious and arrogant."

5 Comments:

Keetha said...: When I first got XM I was all about Channel 133 yet it does seem to give an awful lot of airtime to the BBC.

As to how many of the BBC's reports and how they come across - you nailed it.; March 25, 2009 11:48 AM
Martha Hill said...: I got SIRUS and I listen to classical music all day long now.; March 25, 2009 11:54 AM
Ad Hudler said...: Martha: Is that an intentional pun: SIRISU/serious? HA!; March 25, 2009 4:35 PM
Drew said...: I don't care for all the talk talk talk on our local public radio now, but I do give the BBC reporters props for more aggressively questioning interview subjects than their American Public Radio counterparts. I think the BBC seeks more counterpoint and provides more depth than most American media reports -- accents notwithstanding. For the most part, they don't sound arrogant to me -- just less accepting of the official line than gullible, partisan NPR personalities. And this is coming from an NPR fan.; March 26, 2009 1:54 AM
Ad Hudler said...: Drew: You're right: they're downright badger-y at the BBC....very aggressive. And I have felt NPR moving even further toward an aw-shucks-we're-normal-like-you-folks demeanor.; March 26, 2009 4:39 AM