Media in Bristol

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Bristol is a city in South West England.

Radio

Bristol is homed to a number of local radio stations, the main being BBC Radio Bristol which is part of the BBC Local Radio network broadcasting on FM, an AM version did exist until it closed in 2016. [1] Commercial stations include Heart (previously known as GWR and Radio West), Smooth (DAB), Kiss 101 (FM), Greatest Hits Radio Bristol & The South West (FM) and Hits Radio Bristol & The South West, which replaced Sam FM (Bristol) in December 2009. [2] and Wire Radio, [3] broadcasts online. [4] Three community stations have been launched in the 21st century:BCfm, Ujima Radio, [5] and Bradley Stoke Radio, as well as two student radio stations, Hub Radio (University of the West of England) and Burst Radio (University of Bristol).

Contents

Urban radio projects such as the 1980s pirate, Savage Yet Tender and Dialect Radio (ceased October 2004) have proved to be more short-lived. [6] However, in February 2007, a unique online station, Radio Salaam Shalom was launched by a combined team of Muslim and Jewish volunteers allowing the two cultures to talk together and share their experiences. [7]

In 2015 Bristol was chosen as a site for a small scale DAB trial, this trial has been successful and Ofcom plans to officially license a local DAB operator in 2020. It has allowed a number of small local and community radio stations to broadcast on DAB, and has even allowed some new stations to start up including Noods Radio. [8]

Bristol is the home of the regional morning newspaper, the Western Daily Press , local paper the Bristol Post (and its Friday supplement Bristol Post Weekend, which covers events listings in the city), and The Bristol Cable which specialises in investigative journalism with a quarterly print edition and website. A Bristol edition of Metro is distributed for free on buses and on the streets. The now-defunct local listings magazine, Venue , covered the city's live music, theatre and arts scenes. It survived a threat of closure in 2011, [9] and is now published as a free monthly (jointly with lifestyle magazine Folio). [10]

Smile Census (%)
Bristol70
Glasgow68
Exeter54
Manchester54
Wrexham42
Cardiff41
Liverpool41
Norwich35
Newcastle32
Birmingham31
Southampton24
London18
Edinburgh4
Nottingham0

In 2003 several local publications reported Bristol the "smiling capital of Britain" due to a study being conducted by the BBC before Red Nose Day on 14 March. Psychology students from universities in the cities surveyed, found that 70 out of every 100 Bristolians returned a smile from Comic Relief researchers. This put Bristol first in their "smiles per hour" census, the table makes interesting reading with Londoners only returning a smile 18% of the time. Bristol comedian Tony Robinson said: "We do smile a lot in the city, but sometimes it is not really a smile - we are just a little bit constipated."

Bristol has a flourishing independent media scene, including The Bristolian, Bristle magazine and a local Indymedia website. The Spark is a magazine that was established in 1993 and is published quarterly. It covers the surging interest in all things green, ethical and complementary. [11]

The Bristolian news sheet achieved a regular distribution of several thousand, pulling no punches with its satirical exposés of council and corporate corruption. The Bristolian, 'Smiter of the High and Mighty', even spawned a radical independent political party that polled an impressive 15% in Easton ward in 2003. In October 2005 it came runner up for the national Paul Foot Award for investigative journalism [12]

The anarchist-oriented Bristle, a magazine with the strap line 'fighting talk for Bristol and the South-West', was started in 1997 and celebrated its twentieth issue in 2005. Its pages especially feature subvertising and other urban street art to complement news, views and comments on the local activist scene as well as tackling issues such as drugs, mental health and housing.

1970s women's liberation Feminist movement paper Enough, was succeeded in the 1990s by the environmental and pagan Greenleaf (edited by George Firsoff), West Country Activist, Kebelian Voice, Planet Easton, the anarcho-feminist Bellow and present-day punk fanzine Everlong, all of which have been published in Bristol.

The Bristol Indymedia website, [13] like the wider Indymedia network, provides a mix of news and articles that often tend towards a left-wing, progressive or anarchistic perspective. Bristol Indymedia volunteers have also produced films [14] and run community media days [15] (often at the Cube Microplex).

Local broadcasters

Bristol is in the ITV West and BBC West television regions.

Film and television production

Statue of Cary Grant in Millennium Square, Bristol, England. Cary Grant Statue.jpg
Statue of Cary Grant in Millennium Square, Bristol, England.

Aardman Animations films Wallace and Gromit , Chicken Run , Creature Comforts and Robbie the Reindeer were all produced in Bristol, with premises in St Phillips Marsh. In 2006, a fire destroyed many of the sets from past productions. [16] [17]

Broadcasting House in Clifton is the headquarters of BBC West and the BBC Natural History Unit (NHU). Natural history TV programmes produced in Bristol include Life on Earth , The Living Planet , The Trials of Life , Life in the Freezer , The Private Life of Plants , The Life of Birds and The Life of Mammals . The NHU also produced Animal Magic, many episodes of which were filmed at Bristol Zoo.

Television programmes filmed in Bristol include BBC drama Being Human , Channel 4 comedy-dramas Teachers and Skins and the ITV series Afterlife, a number of which used local actors and residents as extras. Several games shows also film in the city, including BrainTeaser and Deal or No Deal . Other prolific series to be filmed here include Shoestring (1970s), Robin of Sherwood (1980s) and The House of Eliott (1990s). The sitcom Only Fools and Horses was filmed in Bristol, despite being set in London as was The Young Ones . The hospital drama Casualty was filmed in Bristol until it moved to Cardiff in 2012. [18]

In film, Bristol has been the location for:

Bristol is the birthplace of the actor Cary Grant. In 2001 a statue was erected in his honour in Millennium Square (Bristol) next to At-Bristol in Canons Marsh. [19]

Related Research Articles

Wallace & Gromit is a British stop-motion animated comedy franchise created by Nick Park and produced by Aardman Animations. It consists of four short films, two feature-length films and has spawned numerous spin-offs and TV adaptations. The series centres on Wallace, a good-natured, eccentric, cheese-loving inventor, and Gromit, his loyal and intelligent anthropomorphic beagle. The first short film, A Grand Day Out, was finished and released in 1989. Wallace was voiced by actor Peter Sallis until 2010 when he was succeeded by Ben Whitehead. While Wallace speaks very often, Gromit is largely silent and has no dialogue, communicating through facial expressions and body language.

Aardman Animations Limited is a British animation studio based in Bristol. It is known for films and television series made using stop motion and clay animation techniques, particularly those featuring its plasticine characters from Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run, Shaun the Sheep, and Morph. After some experimental computer-animated short films during the late 1990s, beginning with Owzat (1997), Aardman entered the computer animation market with Flushed Away (2006). As of February 2020, it had earned $1.1 billion worldwide, with an average $135.6 million per film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Park</span> English filmmaker (born 1958)

Nicholas Wulstan Park is an English filmmaker and animator who created Wallace & Gromit, Creature Comforts, Chicken Run, Shaun the Sheep, and Early Man. Park has been nominated for an Academy Award a total of six times and won four with Creature Comforts (1989), The Wrong Trousers (1993), A Close Shave (1995) and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radio Bristol</span> Radio station in Bath and Bristol

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<i>The Wrong Trousers</i> 1993 short film by Nick Park

The Wrong Trousers is a 1993 British stop-motion animated short film co-written and directed by Nick Park, featuring his characters Wallace & Gromit, and was produced by Aardman Animations in association with Wallace and Gromit Ltd., BBC Bristol, Lionheart Television and BBC Children's International. It is the second film featuring the eccentric inventor Wallace and his dog Gromit, following A Grand Day Out (1989). In the film, a villainous penguin, Feathers McGraw, posing as a lodger, recruits Wallace by using his techno-trousers to steal a diamond from the city museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack FM</span> Radio station

Jack FM is a radio network brand that is licensed by Sparknet Communications, with the exception of the European Union where it is licensed by Oxis Media. It plays an adult hits format, in most cases not using DJs.

<i>Shaun the Sheep</i> British childrens television series

Shaun the Sheep is a stop-motion animated silent comedy children's television series which is developed by Aardman Animations. A spin-off in the Wallace & Gromit franchise, the series focuses on the adventures of Shaun, the eponymous sheep previously starring in A Close Shave, as the leader of his flock on an English farm. The series premiered on 5 March 2007 on CBBC in the UK, also airing on BBC Two. Since 2020, the series is streamed globally on Netflix. In March 2024, it was announced that the seventh series is in development and will premiere in 2025. With 170 episodes over 6 series, Shaun the Sheep is one of the longest-running animated series in British television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jazz FM (UK)</span> Radio station in London

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Steven Royston Box is an English animator and director who works for Aardman Animations.

<i>A Matter of Loaf and Death</i> 2008 animated short film directed by Nick Park

Wallace & Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death is a 2008 British stop motion animated short film produced by Aardman Animations and created by Nick Park. It is the fourth short to star the titular characters of the Wallace & Gromit series, the first one since A Close Shave in 1995.

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Cabot Circus is a covered shopping centre in Bristol, England. It is adjacent to Broadmead, a shopping district in Bristol City Centre. The Cabot Circus development area contains shops, offices, a hotel, 250 apartments and formerly, a cinema. It covers a total of 139,350 m2 (1,500,000 sq ft) floor space, of which 92,900 m2 (1,000,000 sq ft) is retail outlets and leisure facilities. It opened in September 2008, after a ten-year planning and building project costing £500 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BCfm</span> Radio station in Bristol

BCfm or Bristol Community FM is a community radio station broadcasting to the City of Bristol in the United Kingdom on 93.2 FM. BCfm started broadcasting on 26 March 2007. This followed many years of community development and radio projects in Bristol, such as radio19, Commonwealth fm and B200fm . During the summer period of 2009, BCFM used funding provided by the Youth Opportunities Fund to build a brand new studio to cater to the growing number of presenters working at the station. Studio 2, also known as "Blue Studio," was built next to the current Studio 1 and allows live presenting from either studio with both having the ability to pre-record shows.

<i>Wallace & Gromits World of Invention</i> 2010 British TV series or programme

Wallace & Gromit's World of Invention is a British science-themed miniseries, starring Peter Sallis, Ashley Jensen, Jem Stansfield, and John Sparkes, produced by Aardman Animations, which aired on BBC One during 2010, from 3 November to 8 December. The programme focuses on inventions based around various themes, and consists of live-action films interlaced with animated claymation segments hosted by characters Wallace & Gromit, featuring a side-plot connected to that episode's theme. While Sallis reprises his role as the voice of Wallace, live-action film segments were either narrated by Jensen or presented by Stansfield, with Sparkes providing the voice of Wallace and Gromit's unseen archivist Goronwy, a unique character for the programme.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam FM (Bristol)</span> Radio station in Bristol

Sam FM was an adult hits format radio station that broadcast on 106.5 MHz FM in Bristol, United Kingdom and owned by Bauer Radio. The station formed part of the Hits Radio network, although its entire output and playlist was locally produced and took no network programming. It ceased broadcasting on 6 September 2021 when it rebranded to Hits Radio Bristol & The South West.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gromit Unleashed</span> Public charity art trail

Gromit Unleashed was a public charity art trail led by Wallace & Gromit's Grand Appeal and Aardman Animations, in which 80 giant artist-decorated fibreglass sculptures of Gromit were displayed on the streets of Bristol and the surrounding area between 1 July and 8 September 2013. At the end of the art trail, the sculptures were auctioned to raise funds for Wallace & Gromit's Grand Appeal, the Bristol Children's Hospital Charity. The Grand Appeal pledged to raise £3.5 million for state-of-the-art equipment for Bristol Children's Hospital, including an intraoperative MRI scanner, family facilities and child-friendly artwork to help save the lives of sick children at the hospital. All funds raised by Gromit Unleashed contributed towards this. The project follows the concept of the "Land in Sicht", the original Swiss project by artistic director Walter Knapp which inspired the subsequent worldwide exhibition "CowParade" and similar exhibitions in other cities, including Wow! Gorillas which took place in Bristol in 2011. To date Gromit Unleashed has raised over £5 million for Bristol Children's Hospital.

Ujima Radio broadcasts on 98.0 FM across the City of Bristol within a 3 mile radius of St Pauls.

Shaun in the City was a public charity arts trail organised by Wallace & Gromit's Children's Foundation and Aardman Animations, in which 120 giant, artist and celebrity-decorated fibreglass sculptures of Shaun the Sheep were displayed in famous locations and green spaces around London and Bristol. The first 50 Shaun sculptures appeared in London from 28 March to 31 May 2015, with a further 70 Shaun sculptures appearing in Bristol from 6 July to 31 August 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gromit Unleashed 2</span> Public arts trail

Gromit Unleashed 2 was a public arts trail in Bristol, England. The trail featured 67 giant sculptures designed by high-profile artists, designers, innovators and local talent. Sculptures are positioned in high footfall and iconic locations around Bristol and the surrounding area from 2 July to 2 September 2018. A sequel to Gromit Unleashed in 2013, the trail featured statues of Wallace on a life-size bench, Gromit, and Feathers McGraw. On the 23rd of August 2023 a fourth trail was announced, the trail in Bristol will run in 2025.

Aardman Animations is an animation studio in Bristol, England that produces stop motion and computer-animated features, shorts, TV series and adverts.

References

  1. ↑ https://radiotoday.co.uk/2016/02/bristol-sotations-end-medium-wave-transmissions/ [ dead link ]
  2. ↑ "Mike Ford 'row' with Bristol DJ launches new radio station". Bristol Evening Post . 2 December 2009. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  3. ↑ "Wire Radio" . Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  4. ↑ "About". Southsound Radio. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  5. ↑ "Ujima 98 FM" . Retrieved 23 December 2008.
  6. ↑ "Anarchist6[zero]6". anarchist606.blogspot.com. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
  7. ↑ ":: Radio Salaam Shalom - Jews and Muslims Talking Together :: LIVE internet Radio from Bristol, UK ::". www.salaamshalom.org.uk. Retrieved 11 January 2009.
  8. ↑ "Home". bristoldigitalradio.org.
  9. ↑ "Bristol's Venue listings magazine to close". BBC News. 22 February 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  10. ↑ "Bristol's Venue magazine saved from closure". BBC News. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
  11. ↑ "About The Spark". The Spark. Archived from the original on 15 June 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  12. ↑ Green (13 October 2005). "Bristolian Gets Runner-up Award - Bristol Indymedia". Bristol Indymedia. Bristol Indymedia. Archived from the original on 22 April 2008. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
  13. ↑ "Bristol Indymedia: About Us". bristol.indymedia.org. Archived from the original on 21 April 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
  14. ↑ "Video: DSEi solidarity demo in Bristol 14.09.05". Bristol Indymedia. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  15. ↑ "Mixed Media: A Report Back on the Community Media Day in Bristol". Bristol Indymedia. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  16. ↑ "Aardman fire caused by electrics". BBC News . 9 December 2005. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  17. ↑ "Fire destroys Wallace & Gromit props, sets". NBC News . 10 October 2005. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
  18. ↑ "BBC's Casualty to move to Wales". BBC News. 26 March 2009. Archived from the original on 18 August 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
  19. ↑ "Cary Grant Statue". Visit Bristol. Retrieved 26 May 2007.
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