I don't understand - yes all of these events have been given lots of coverage but nobody is saying you are 'expected' to watch, it is a choice for the individual.
Post 19 said all broadcasters should have done something I replied no they shoudn't as I want a choice of something else to watch.
Post 19 said all broadcasters should have done something I replied no they shoudn't as I want a choice of something else to watch.
The cycling and Commonwealth games were only on one channel so you had plenty of other options as you were not being forced to watch them. If every channel had covered WWI this evening then surely you could have accepted it for one evening due to the nature of the broadcasts.
It would be good if ITV had shown their own coverage though. The BBC for whatever reason keep using Huw Edwards to present the national events, and because I cannot stand the man I can't watch any coverage.
I know the war lasted more than just one day but itv have chosen not to mark the start with any programming today. They chose to adopt a normal schedule. ITV could have done more than just do tokenistic coverage
BBC coverage has been extensive all day, rather too much in my opinion. What would be the point of ITV simultaneously duplicating such an effort? Most news programmes I've seen, including C4 this evening, have shown long pieces about the commemoration. Lots of different people saying very similar things all day.
It's not exactly been illuminating or interesting coverage either for the most part. If every WW1 event centenary is covered in a similar way it's going to be very hard going over the next four years. Four years of collective mourning will be very draining.
It's a shame that they were one hour out of sync. In 1914 the UK declared war on Germany at 11pm GMT as there was no British Summertime until 1916.
As we are currently in BST then the a century on from this should have been marked at midnight.
It is a staggeringly arrogant post to even think that the BBC, the services and the Governments of however many countries were involved in this event got it wrong!
War was declared when the ultimatum expired at midnight BERLIN TIME. The anniversary is, quite correctly, being observed at midnight, Berlin time, so 11pm UK time.
It would make no difference what time zone was being used in the UK, the actual moment of the declaration of war will always be midnight, Berlin time.
The commemoration of the start of World War I (as distinct from "celebration" as I've heard it called in some quarters..... who would want to "celebrate" such a thing, I wonder..?) is best done by BBC, in my opinion.
This sort of thing is in the remit of the BBC, as national public service broadcaster. They do it better than ITV and I suppose you could even say it is their obligation and duty to "lead the nation" in commemorating this event of historical importance.
If ITV have stepped aside and allowed the BBC an unchallenged run at this event, then fair enough, I say. To turn it into some sort of ratings contest would demean the whole thing and would probably be seen through quite quickly. There would then be accusations of disrespect..... of turning it into a commercial opportunity.
So, it may be said that, perhaps, ITV have made a gesture of respect by marking the occasion with a programme but have then said "Over to you, Auntie".
It would be good if ITV had shown their own coverage though. The BBC for whatever reason keep using Huw Edwards to present the national events, and because I cannot stand the man I can't watch any coverage.
He is the anointed successor to David Dimbleby although Dimbleby will still be doing election night and Huw the following day.Dimbleby is now 75 and Edwards 52.
The commemoration of the start of World War I (as distinct from "celebration" as I've heard it called in some quarters..... who would want to "celebrate" such a thing, I wonder..?) is best done by BBC, in my opinion.
This sort of thing is in the remit of the BBC, as national public service broadcaster. They do it better than ITV and I suppose you could even say it is their obligation and duty to "lead the nation" in commemorating this event of historical importance.
If ITV have stepped aside and allowed the BBC an unchallenged run at this event, then fair enough, I say. To turn it into some sort of ratings contest would demean the whole thing and would probably be seen through quite quickly. There would then be accusations of disrespect..... of turning it into a commercial opportunity.
So, it may be said that, perhaps, ITV have made a gesture of respect by marking the occasion with a programme but have then said "Over to you, Auntie".
Seems reasonable to me.
It is a nice thought but I doubt this is the reason.
It is a staggeringly arrogant post to even think that the BBC, the services and the Governments of however many countries were involved in this event got it wrong!
War was declared when the ultimatum expired at midnight BERLIN TIME. The anniversary is, quite correctly, being observed at midnight, Berlin time, so 11pm UK time.
It would make no difference what time zone was being used in the UK, the actual moment of the declaration of war will always be midnight, Berlin time.
It's not arrogant in pointing out the obvious.
In 1914 there was no summertime.
UK gave Germany the ultimatum at 12midnight Berlin time in 1914.
As both UK and Germany are currently in summertime the exact time a century on was 12midnight in UK and 1am in Germany.
As both UK and Germany are currently in summertime the exact time a century on was 12midnight in UK and 1am in Germany.
I find this oversight quite poor.
It doesn't really matter, it's purely symbolic.
As it is, when you take into account the leap years over the past 100 years, the date would be a different one. And with leap seconds that have been added in the intervening century, it wouldn't have been exactly 12, midnight anyway.
It doesn't really matter, it's purely symbolic.
As it is, when you take into account the leap years the date would be a different one. And with leap seconds that have been added in the intervening century, it wouldn't have been exactly 12, midnight anyway.
Maybe so on leap seconds but to get it out by one hour.
The commemoration of the start of World War I (as distinct from "celebration" as I've heard it called in some quarters..... who would want to "celebrate" such a thing, I wonder..?) is best done by BBC, in my opinion.
This sort of thing is in the remit of the BBC, as national public service broadcaster. They do it better than ITV and I suppose you could even say it is their obligation and duty to "lead the nation" in commemorating this event of historical importance.
If ITV have stepped aside and allowed the BBC an unchallenged run at this event, then fair enough, I say. To turn it into some sort of ratings contest would demean the whole thing and would probably be seen through quite quickly. There would then be accusations of disrespect..... of turning it into a commercial opportunity.
So, it may be said that, perhaps, ITV have made a gesture of respect by marking the occasion with a programme but have then said "Over to you, Auntie".
Seems reasonable to me.
I agree with most of that, although I'm not sure about ITV making their decision not to broadcast the ceremonies as a gesture of respect, more like sound business common sense. For the audience that is interested in the commemoration, as you note, the BBC do generally an excellent job with those sorts of things, everyone will assume it's on the Beeb, and as ever, given the choice of watching essentially the same thing on two channels, very few are going to pick the one with adverts.
For those who don't wish to watch the WW1 services, then ITV offers an alternative.
UK gave Germany the ultimatum at 12midnight Berlin time in 1914.
As both UK and Germany are currently in summertime the exact time a century on was 12midnight in UK and 1am in Germany.
I find this oversight quite poor.
No, the exact time was midnight in Germany. The anniversary is at midnight in Germany, no matter what changes have been made to the clocks since. That's the correct way to mark things. Do you think that people who were born before BST came in should start celebrating their birthdays at 11pm the night before to account for BST?
The commemoration of the start of World War I (as distinct from "celebration" as I've heard it called in some quarters..... who would want to "celebrate" such a thing, I wonder..?) is best done by BBC, in my opinion.
I have heard a few people start to say 'celebration' but correct it to 'commemoration'. Simple slip of the tongue so not worth making a fuss about as I am sure any use of 'celebration' with being corrected was unintentional.
I know ITV showed a documentary but they could have had a commemoration across the hour leading up to 2300h that was perhaps less formal than the Westminster Abbey service. They did not need to use Ant & Dec, sure they have some people who could make it more relevant to the type of people who would not watch the service from the Abbey. I am sure ITV would have done so in the past. It could have been a good opportunity for STV and UTV to break away from the network for something apart from news.
Maybe so on leap seconds but to get it out by one hour.
Blimey. It's a good job it isn't Christmas Day.
A facetious point, i suupose. But with underying reasons. In August 1914 they genuinely believed the war would be over by Christmas. There is the famous Christmas Day truce.
But if we're arguing about BST / GMT / European / UK time for the commemoration and getting the time EXACTLY right (Leap seconds!)
Then what date is Christmas Day?
Perhaps - and this will be a wild stab in the dark - the hour to commemorate the "lamps going out over Europe" was partly symbolic, and partly because having it at midnight would mean few would stay up to observe it. No pint in having it in daylight so the 10.00 - 11.00pm time was chosen partly to be more encompassing and partly to make it visually relevant.
I watched the coverage at Westmenster Abbey - but found the event on Plymouth Hoe to be more moving.
I know ITV showed a documentary but they could have had a commemoration across the hour leading up to 2300h that was perhaps less formal than the Westminster Abbey service. They did not need to use Ant & Dec, sure they have some people who could make it more relevant to the type of people who would not watch the service from the Abbey. I am sure ITV would have done so in the past. It could have been a good opportunity for STV and UTV to break away from the network for something apart from news.
ITV does drag its heels when covering momentus events such as the anniversary of the start of our participation in world war one. Maybe thats because itv would like to distance itself from the older generation and cater more for the under 40s in its programming.
Would like to also say there was no summertime at the beginning of world war one but there was during the war.
Comments
Post 19 said all broadcasters should have done something I replied no they shoudn't as I want a choice of something else to watch.
The cycling and Commonwealth games were only on one channel so you had plenty of other options as you were not being forced to watch them. If every channel had covered WWI this evening then surely you could have accepted it for one evening due to the nature of the broadcasts.
As we are currently in BST then the a century on from this should have been marked at midnight.
2300h UK local time so I can't see what the problem is.
But it's not exact. 23:00hr local time was 22:00 GMT in 1914. For them to say exactly is incorrect.
I remembered for a few moments at 11pm GMT (Midnight BST)- as l felt for such a sombre anniversary it was important to be correct.
I probably missed it- but I hope somewhere in the TV coverage the anomaly created by summertime was acknowledged.
It's not exactly been illuminating or interesting coverage either for the most part. If every WW1 event centenary is covered in a similar way it's going to be very hard going over the next four years. Four years of collective mourning will be very draining.
It is a staggeringly arrogant post to even think that the BBC, the services and the Governments of however many countries were involved in this event got it wrong!
War was declared when the ultimatum expired at midnight BERLIN TIME. The anniversary is, quite correctly, being observed at midnight, Berlin time, so 11pm UK time.
It would make no difference what time zone was being used in the UK, the actual moment of the declaration of war will always be midnight, Berlin time.
This sort of thing is in the remit of the BBC, as national public service broadcaster. They do it better than ITV and I suppose you could even say it is their obligation and duty to "lead the nation" in commemorating this event of historical importance.
If ITV have stepped aside and allowed the BBC an unchallenged run at this event, then fair enough, I say. To turn it into some sort of ratings contest would demean the whole thing and would probably be seen through quite quickly. There would then be accusations of disrespect..... of turning it into a commercial opportunity.
So, it may be said that, perhaps, ITV have made a gesture of respect by marking the occasion with a programme but have then said "Over to you, Auntie".
Seems reasonable to me.
He is the anointed successor to David Dimbleby although Dimbleby will still be doing election night and Huw the following day.Dimbleby is now 75 and Edwards 52.
It is a nice thought but I doubt this is the reason.
It's not arrogant in pointing out the obvious.
In 1914 there was no summertime.
UK gave Germany the ultimatum at 12midnight Berlin time in 1914.
As both UK and Germany are currently in summertime the exact time a century on was 12midnight in UK and 1am in Germany.
I find this oversight quite poor.
As it is, when you take into account the leap years over the past 100 years, the date would be a different one. And with leap seconds that have been added in the intervening century, it wouldn't have been exactly 12, midnight anyway.
Maybe so on leap seconds but to get it out by one hour.
I agree with most of that, although I'm not sure about ITV making their decision not to broadcast the ceremonies as a gesture of respect, more like sound business common sense. For the audience that is interested in the commemoration, as you note, the BBC do generally an excellent job with those sorts of things, everyone will assume it's on the Beeb, and as ever, given the choice of watching essentially the same thing on two channels, very few are going to pick the one with adverts.
For those who don't wish to watch the WW1 services, then ITV offers an alternative.
No, the exact time was midnight in Germany. The anniversary is at midnight in Germany, no matter what changes have been made to the clocks since. That's the correct way to mark things. Do you think that people who were born before BST came in should start celebrating their birthdays at 11pm the night before to account for BST?
It's like saying that all dates before 1752 are incorrect so all anniversaries of events before that date are wrong.
Blimey. It's a good job it isn't Christmas Day.
A facetious point, i suupose. But with underying reasons. In August 1914 they genuinely believed the war would be over by Christmas. There is the famous Christmas Day truce.
But if we're arguing about BST / GMT / European / UK time for the commemoration and getting the time EXACTLY right (Leap seconds!)
Then what date is Christmas Day?
Perhaps - and this will be a wild stab in the dark - the hour to commemorate the "lamps going out over Europe" was partly symbolic, and partly because having it at midnight would mean few would stay up to observe it. No pint in having it in daylight so the 10.00 - 11.00pm time was chosen partly to be more encompassing and partly to make it visually relevant.
I watched the coverage at Westmenster Abbey - but found the event on Plymouth Hoe to be more moving.
Would like to also say there was no summertime at the beginning of world war one but there was during the war.