The Stage

Variety channel will not be outlet for ‘cobweb’ acts - Digance

Published Thursday 25 November 2004 at 13:05 by Liz Thomas

Entertainer Richard Digance has claimed his plans to launch a digital television station for traditional variety acts in the new year are being marred by accusations it will be an outlet for ageing, politically incorrect performers who cannot get work on mainstream channels.

Digance, co-founder and director of the Great British Television Channel told The Stage: “We are not a cobweb channel simply aiming to give an outlet for artists who can not find a home elsewhere.

“People have branded us with this politically incorrect tag and I just don’t know where it has come from. I would like people to judge us over what we actually broadcast, not what they imagine we will broadcast.”

The station has received backing from well known and established light entertainers including Jethro, Brian Conley, Bradley Walsh and Stan Boardman but Digance said he aimed to provide a platform for promising younger artists who are increasingly being denied the chance of television exposure since the advent of reality TV.

Digance added: “A large part of our remit is to encourage new talent, particularly in drama and music and we will feature programmes that will highlight this. Reality shows are fine but there are an awful lot of them and it isn’t really fair to the people who have been to drama school or college or who really have the natural talent but do not necessarily fit those types of shows. We want to give them a chance, just like I was given many years ago.”

To be launched on January 29, GBTC will air for eight hours a day from 4pm to midnight, and will become a round the clock channel from June 30. Chris Tarrant and Joe Pasquale are members of the board in a joint venture with InformationTV.

Digance said: “We are not in direct competition with the BBC or ITV and we are working with Granada on a project. This is about providing a wider outlet for talent. This idea started two years ago as a conversation between Mike Osman and Chris Tarrant about the need for a broader range of entertainment shows.”

The channel will produce its own programmes as well as acquiring and importing them and has financial backing from the Barnes Trust - which owns Teddington Studios.

Veteran comedian Jimmy Cricket welcomed the prospect of such a channel. “This gives people choice. There are huge masses of the public that need to be catered for and who would like a more traditional form of entertainment on television,” he said.

Journalist Garry Bushell also voiced his support but added it was a shame terrestrial television could not find room for updated versions of variety shows.

He said: “Television is obsessed with demographics, which creates misconceptions of who really watches what, this then affects what goes on air. For example there’s this tendency to think only grandmothers watch Joe Pasquale but if you go and see him live, the audience is made up of people of all ages.

“TV is far too led by focus groups. Take a look at what is popular on Saturday nights now. Strictly Come Dancing takes all the glamour of a dancing show even though the BBC axed Come Dancing years ago. The X Factor and the like are basically talent shows similar to those killed off by ITV before.

“Nothing makes more sense in the multichannel arena than variety, it is perfect. If you don’t like singing then you just wait five minutes and you can watch a magician or a comedian. We need to reinvent or modernise it for the mainstream.”