Alan Yentob: 'The BBC can't compete with its hands tied behind its back'

BBC's creative director on his closeness to Tony Hall, competition from rivals like Google – and his plan for more appsAlan Yentob is having his picture taken on a staircase overlooking the vast BBC newsroom at New Broadcasting House and telling me about the flooding at his house in Somerset when we are interrupted by annoyed news staff.They ask us to move as flashes from the camera can be seen on-screen on the BBC News Channel – illustrating the perils of having a newsroom as a backdrop for live bulletins.Yentob apologises and we retire to his office – a former radio drama kitchen that sits between Old and New Broadcasting House. Apt, as Yentob bridges the old and new within the organisation. His office is narrow but cosy – desk stacked with books and an Alan Yentob mask someone sent him. There is a fold-up bike below his desk, just like the one Hugh Bonneville's character Ian Fletcher has as head of BBC Values in John Morton's forthcoming follow-up to Twenty Twelve, W1A, in which Yentob has a cameo.But as there's no table, we move to director general Tony Hall's office. As he confirms, Yentob played a part in bringing Hall back to the BBC after George Entwistle resigned. "I always felt that Tony should've been the director general. Yes, I did talk to [Lord Patten] about it and I did speak to Tony. For Tony it wasn't without its risks, he loved his [Royal Opera House] job."It seemed his influence might wane under Entwistle, but it is obvious he is now back at the heart... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-02-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Gaiman's fairytale to be released as digital download

BBC Audio will release the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Sleeper and the Spindle as a digital download in January 2021, with an exclusive introduction from the author.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-30 14:33:55 UTC ]
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Bonnier's Mann signs up to BBC allyship scheme

Bonnier Books c.e.o. Perminder Mann is part of a new scheme which aims to unite organisations inside and outside the creative industries to promote allyship. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-30 00:21:01 UTC ]
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Headline Home to publish Raymond Blanc tie-in cookbook

Headline Home is publishing a cookbook by chef Raymond Blanc OBE to accompany his new ITV television series focusing on simple recipes for home cooks. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-23 20:53:47 UTC ]
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Canongate bags Alan Rickman's diaries

Canongate is to publish The Diaries of Alan Rickman, after securing world English-language rights.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-23 02:19:59 UTC ]
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Why I Went Into Debt to Buy Back the Rights for Two of My Books

Yesterday, I attended a virtual book club where Heavy: An American Memoir was being read. When I clicked the link to join the Zoom, I saw the faces, necks, and shoulders of seven beautiful pixelated Black women from as far west as Las Vegas and as far east as Long Island. I assumed from their... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-11-10 09:49:30 UTC ]
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Summer Scares Is Back to Celebrate Horror In Libraries (And Beyond!)

The Horror Writers Association, in collaboration with United for Libraries, Book Riot, and Booklist are excited to announce Summer Scares 2021. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-11-05 11:35:00 UTC ]
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Hachette backs bookshops' online sales of Rowling's Ickabog

Hachette Children's Books has said the publisher will be "pivoting" promotional plans for J K Rowling's The Ickabog to support closed bookshops. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-11-05 10:01:07 UTC ]
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A rock photographer who captured John Lennon, Mick Jagger and Gene Simmons looks back on a charmed life

Bob Gruen’s “Right Place, Right Time” is a low-key chronicle of a man going with the flow. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-11-04 14:40:16 UTC ]
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Screen legend Sophia Loren is back in an adaptation of a Goncourt Prize-winning novel.

The late French author Romain Gary is the only writer to have won France’s most prestigious literary award under two names: he received the Prix Goncourt for The Roots of Heaven (Les Racines du ciel; 1956) under his birth name and, more than 20 years later, “Émile Ajar” won the prize for The... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-10-29 17:36:47 UTC ]
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Evaristo curates new series Black Britain: Writing Back for Hamish Hamilton

Bernardine Evaristo is curating a new series of lost or hard-to-find books, now rediscovered, by black writers who wrote about black Britain and the diaspora across the last century.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-28 09:32:56 UTC ]
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The Thursday Murder Club boomerangs back to the top spot

Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club (Viking) has bounced back into the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, selling 28,756 copies through Nielsen BookScan's Total Consumer Market. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-26 19:38:08 UTC ]
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Plant-based meat sales exploded during the pandemic. Here’s how to keep consumers coming back

Four in five consumers say sustainability matters, but taste and health both rate higher. During the early stage of the pandemic, consumers had trouble buying meat as food processing facilities shut temporarily to slow the spread of COVID-19. As a result, consumers turned to plant-based... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2020-10-21 06:00:54 UTC ]
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Nielsen Boosts Addressable TV Ambitions With Tru Optik Tie-Up

Nielsen is beta testing new features in its addressable TV platform through a data-integration with Tru Optik, a company recently purchased by TransUnion for a reputed $100 million. The tie-up will see Tru Optik's identity data from more than 80 million homes fuel Nielsen's addressable TV... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2020-10-14 10:00:00 UTC ]
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Former CIA director John Brennan takes on Trump, and doesn’t hold back

His memoir recounts his suspicions on Russia and has intriguing comments on Joe Biden. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-10-09 12:00:00 UTC ]
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The biggest threat to the BBC's independence is the corporation itself | George Monbiot

It follows a news agenda set by media oligarchs. Instead it should be investigating power, money and their influence on our livesThey don’t want balance, they want possession. The oligarchs who own the newspapers will never accept the BBC, because it does not belong to them. However tame and... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-10-07 06:00:30 UTC ]
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Sarah Hall wins BBC National Short Story Award for second time

Sarah Hall has become the first author to win the BBC National Short Story Award twice in its 15-year history.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-10-06 01:38:09 UTC ]
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Five excellent new thrillers and mysteries take us back to the pre-covid-19 era

Val McDermid, Brad Parks and Ann Cleeves have new novels to distract readers from reality. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-10-05 12:00:00 UTC ]
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How to back up your computer to Google Drive

Syncing with Google Drive is one of the easiest ways to safeguard your data. And you can even specify how much of your internet connection’s bandwidth to use. As our digital libraries get larger and larger, we’re fortunate to be living in a time when cloud-based storage keeps getting cheaper and... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2020-10-01 00:00:11 UTC ]
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Amazon Charts: Partridge flies back to the top

Robert Galbraith's Troubled Blood (Sphere) has held the Amazon Charts' Most-Sold: Fiction number one for a second week running, while Alan Partridge's From the Oasthouse (Audible) ousted Brian Masters' Killing for Company (Cornerstone) from the top of the Most-Sold: Non-Fiction chart. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-29 21:57:14 UTC ]
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Tbilisi Book Fair States Support for Belarus Opposition; PEN America Backs Alexievich

Georgia's book fair surveyed the impact of the pandemic and issued a statement of support for Belarusian writers and publishers. The post Tbilisi Book Fair States Support for Belarus Opposition; PEN America Backs Alexievich appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-09-28 19:12:36 UTC ]
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