20 MusicWeek 15.11.13 REPORT SKY ARTS
IS SKY THE LIMIT FOR MUSIC TV?
www.musicweek.com
The music industry has accused broadcasters of ignoring the potential of music-dedicated TV shows, which seem to have been dwindling in recent years. The two Sky Arts channels buck that trend by showcasing a host of live performances, festivals and music-themed series
MEDIA n BY RHIAN JONES
W
hen BBC director-general Tony Hall unveiled ambitious plans to increase the funding for arts television programmes by
20% last month, there were internal whispers that Sky Arts could have been the inspiration. Music programming has been the staple to Sky
Arts schedules over the past few years and in a recent speech Harriet Harman MP, Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary lauded the channel for “giving Radio 3 a run for its money”. Over the past year, the broadcaster has screened
The New York Metropolitan Operas, the Isle of Wight Festival and a series of live dates from André Rieu, plus seminal shows from the archive such as
ABOVE Going its own way: Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham is just one of the big names to have featured on Sky Arts’ Talk Music series - part of its autumn line-up
“We’re not governed by overnight ratings. That allows us to cater for the interests of a host of different groups. We’re happy to do that as the
BBC, ITV and Channel 4 increasingly don’t” JAMES HUNT, SKY ARTS
The Rolling Stones in Hyde Park and master classes by Leonard Bernstein from the 1960s across Sky Arts 1 and 2. Considering it’s only available through an
arguably pricey subscription package, the viewing figures are impressive. Around 450,000 people tuned
in to watch the Isle of Wight Festival while the operas attract up to 30,000. Put into context, the BBC’s freely available Jools Holland Tuesday night show typically attracts around 700,000 viewers. The channel’s autumn line-up of programming
includes a 10 part interview series called Talks Music. Screening now, it features names such as Lindsey Buckingham, Boy George, Ray Davies, Blondie and Jeff Beck and is presented by Malcolm Gerrie - the exec behind legendary music shows such as The Tube, The White Room and the Pepsi Chart. They’ve also commissioned an exclusive new 10 part series with channel favourite André Rieu. Here we talk to channel director James Hunt and discover how he’s reviving the appetite for music TV…
Your programming is pretty diverse – especially in
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