Outdoors TV

We have lift off!

2009-05-27T12:40:00.000+01:00

It’s been a while since our last blog and while there’s really no excuse for that, we have been getting ready for Outdoors TV to go live over the last three months, so time has been a little tight.

Now, we are live but in case you were expecting some kind of big launch…..sorry! We did think about having a stand at the Outdoors Show & announcing the arrival of Outdoors TV to the world with a splash but that would have consumed valuable resources & taken them away from programme making.

Also, it is fundamental to our plans for Outdoors TV that it grows organically & sustainably, so we’re not making a huge song & dance to get lots of viewers in straight away. Over time, outdoors people will come to know about the channel because of our programmes & that’s good enough for us.

There is something of a rule of thumb on the internet that catching high volume passing traffic is the only way to success. We don’t fully sign up to that theory although we do understand how it came about.

If you’re surfing, or searching for information (the thing the internet has been used for predominantly over the years) you are a transitory visitor to a site – there for a fleeting moment unless you find exactly what you are looking for.

The accepted view is that internet users are somehow like the cash flying around in Noel Edmunds’ ‘Grab a Grand’ pod – you have a very short period of time in which to grab as many viewers as possible before they move on to something new.

This may be a good approach if you have set up a site to try & sell advertising around your visitor stats & then need content to get as many people to view your pages as possible but, for us, the internet is simply a delivery channel, a means of delivering programming to a specialist audience.

We believe that in the longer term, the internet will change significantly & become THE dominant delivery medium for TV, music, films, pictures & the written word. Yes, information dissemination will continue to be a major function but over time, the emphasis will shift more towards multi-media content delivery.

In ten, maybe twenty years time, we will look upon the internet in the same way we look at terrestrial & satellite TV or radio – we’ll just take it for granted, not thinking that it somehow provides something different, special or supplementary. After all, you don’t sit down on the sofa & say to your family, “I’m just going on the satellite for a bit”. The internet will just be the technical function used to give you what you want, just as the airwaves or satellite signals are today.

So what has all this got to do with Outdoors TV? Well, we’ve seen the future & are skipping all this ‘catch up service’ bunkum! We’re jumping straight to the place in history where the TV schedule has been extinct for years & viewers can just watch programmes on any device, when it suits them, as with BT Vision or Apple TV.

We’re going straight to the place where TV channels no longer promote additional online features as something special but where those ‘additional features’ are actually the benchmark for television provision. No more token ‘interactive’ red button services or catching up on the ‘iPlayer’. The red button or ‘iPlayer’ services are the way that TV actually works, period.

Why should viewers, having experienced the convenience of watching material on the ‘iPlayer’ for instance, actually want to return to scheduled programming, which is the television equivalent of having the central heating on full with all your windows open?

Of course, the death of TV schedules in favour of a more viewer friendly programme selector menu (the kind of which we use for Outdoors TV), doesn’t work for mainstream broadcasters because they lose control over what the audience watches.

But we’re not scared of putting control in the hands of our viewers. We have to run the channel as a commercial entity & that means advertising & sponsorship but it doesn’t mean we need to try & manipulate our audience. We know that if we simply work hard to make interesting programmes, people will watch – it’s as simple as that. So instead of trying to find clever ways to get people to develop or change habits in order to make money, we’re just going to give them what they want!

Time spent watching programmes is time lost in the outdoors (even after dark), so we made a decision from the start that for Outdoors TV, the model will always be ‘on demand television’. If only the mainstream TV industry would follow the same method, we could probably lose all of the channels showing regurgitated material & viewers would have fewer reasons to plant themselves on the sofa & more reasons to get active!

We’re not saying our way is the only way or that we’ve got it absolutely right (time will be the judge of that) but we do think that TV should be a supplementary form of entertainment for those moments when you have nothing better to do, not a replacement for life itself. TV should serve the audience, not the other way around & we’ll be working very hard to make sure that’s exactly what Outdoors TV does!

Devizes to Westminster Canoe Marathon

2009-04-20T12:05:00.003+01:00

It was with some trepidation, I have to admit, that I set off to film the Devizes to Westminster or DW as it is affectionately & conveniently known. This is a race that sees two person crews paddle non-stop for 125 miles, through the night, in any conditions. We had one camera, one presenter, one van & one chance to get it right!

The other pressure point was that this year Tim Cornish & Brian Greenham, whose record time of 15 hours & 34 minutes has stood unbeaten since 1979, were back for another go at the race. They were competing partly in celebration of the 30 years this incredible record has reigned supreme & partly because, as I was about to discover, the DW gets under your skin!

So, this year was going to be a significant one in the event’s history & we needed to get it right. Tim & Brian may have been playing down their chances but those in the know were happy to suggest in public that they could win it. As if the challenge of adequately capturing the essence of this remarkable race wasn’t big enough, we were in right royal paddling company! No pressure then!

Before the event we did some preview filming at a couple of ‘warm up races’ & identified three crews that would make a good story. There was Tim & Brian, obviously, Ollie Harding – last year’s winner with a new partner & then the ‘hot favourites’ – Owen Peake & Danny Seaford. But of course, the DW is far more than just the elite crews & we would need to capture that as well.

So, we set off on Good Friday to be at Devizes for the evening – to soak up the atmosphere & get a little intelligence about the race. It was also important to get there the night before because the slower teams would be starting at 7am. To give you a feel for the logistical difficulties of filming this event though, the fastest crew wouldn’t leave until nearly four in the afternoon!

There is a very good reason why there is such a huge start window & that is firstly, because the race is a time trial & secondly the DW is completely governed by tidal flow. In particular, high or ebbing tide at Teddington Lock on the Thames. Crews have to calculate how long they think it will take them to reach Teddington & then start their run from Devizes accordingly.

The general rule of thumb seems to be that catching the fastest flow, about one & a half to two hours after official high tide, gives you the best conditions for the final push up to Westminster, so timing is critical. Arrive too early at Teddington & the water will either be 'slack', giving you no assistance at all or you'll not be allowed to continue until high tide. Arrive too late & you’ll have missed the fastest flow & the river will be starting to work against you, getting progressively harder as you move further up towards Westminster.

You can begin to see why the prospect of this shoot was quite daunting. Like the paddlers, we had a non-negotiable, irrefutable need to be at Teddington for high tide. So everything else had to work around that & spending what was going to be most of the day waiting for the fastest teams to leave Devizes would mean we’d hardly get any other footage along the way. In the end, we decided to film the early starters then dash down stream to several interesting points to get some of the middle placed action before heading back in time to film the last starters.

This plan worked well & we managed to get all the main crews as they left. Two factors altered our original plan though. Ollie Harding’s team had to pull out through illness & they were replaced by the fast young team of James King & Richard Hendron, which added further to the potential for a tight fast race. Also new into the mix were Americans David Kelly & Carter Johnson who were being supported by Ivan Lawler. This crew had to then be a factor for us, given Ivan’s stature in the sport & the likelihood that they would be fast.

Unlike an F1 race, the DW reveals its secrets at the start line. The simple fact is that the team going for the fastest time will inevitably start last, because although there is a two hour window at Teddington, the fastest time will inevitably come from catching the fastest water toward the end of this window. The reality may turn out to be very different on the water, for any of the crews, but the plan almost always is played out in this way. Start last & if you are as fast as you think you should be it will work.

Of course, if you lose time for any reason along the way, you have no margin for error, so it’s a do or die approach but then sometimes athletes have to operate in this zone to achieve the great things they do.

As the various crews departed, it was clear that the estimations of tactics were proving accurate. The only dark horses were Tim Cornish & Brian Greenham who slipped out quietly while we were conducting an interview with another crew. Last to depart were Ollie & Danny – the favourites who, it has to be said, were as calm as the water they were about to 'put in' on. A quick photo call, followed by a final interview with us & they were off – all smiles & jokes, as if this was just another paddle down the river.

Once they’d gone, our work really began. It was 4pm in Devizes. Those who’d started at 7am were so far down stream we’d never catch them. We needed to jump to a location that would allow us to catch some mid-placed crews, then work our way along gradually coming back into contact with the faster crews as they caught us up. So, we shot off to Hungerford & the lock/bridge portage just past the common. As it turned out, this was a great spot but the weather was beginning to close in which would slow us down as we rigged & de-rigged the camera for wet conditions.

After Hungerford we jumped on to Newbury & caught a lot of teams on the west of town before moving out to the east as dusk & finally night fall set in. We caught Tim & Brian & David & Carter (US) at the portage east of the Newbury checkpoint & both looked super strong. Tim & Brian particularly made short work of the lock & seemed to confirm suspicions that they were on very good form.

As we finally lost light, we headed back into Newbury to the checkpoint, where Owen & Danny came through. Still some way back on the water but pushing on hard & looking impressive. One of the really challenging aspects of this shoot was the need for us to work without any lighting. Normally, when light fades, you’d use what’s called a ‘top light’ to illuminate your subject, but for this shoot such a set up would have made us about as popular as the blisters on the paddlers hands.

No, to capture the night sections, we were going to have to find places where there would be some natural street lighting or organized flood lighting for the race officials. This would inevitably limit our options, so with the race pushing on & time going a lot faster than it normally does, we sped off to Reading & Dreadnaught Reach. This was a compulsory portage, where many crews took the opportunity to change clothes, feed & generally get themselves psyched up for the second half of the race.

As luck & impeccable timing on our part would have it, we arrived in time to catch Owen & Danny arrive for their ‘pit stop’. And the F1 comparisons are not unfounded because as they got out of the kayak & ran with the boat to a clear area on the bank, the support team sprung into action with drilled precision. Each paddler had a dresser getting them in & out of clothing, food was shoved into their mouths at the same time & any piece of bare flesh that fleetingly presented itself was swiftly massaged before it was covered again. The total turn around time can’t have been much more than five minutes & then they were off into the night.

Sadly, Dreadnaught Reach also brought the news of Tim & Brian's retirement. They had pulled off the river around Aldermaston, when Brian's back gave in. This was a blow, because their times to that point had confirmed that they were on a charge & could have figured highly in the final results. Their record may not have been at risk - the conditions saw to that - but their presence added a real sense of anticipation to the race & their retirement was lamented by everyone on course.

After Reading we headed off in search of a suitable Thames portage to film &, after much deliberation & a few wrong turns, ended up at Chertsey Lock. We thought on arrival that this would be illuminated somewhat because crews have to get out then manhandle the kayak up a narrow bank then down the other side, with barely a few metres width at the top. However we found that this, like most other portages, was eu naturale, adding to the challenge both for the paddlers & the support teams.

Crew after crew arrived & were guided in by their support teams, who were desperately trying to ensure that their head torches didn’t blind the paddlers. Then, the crew had to pick up the boat & turn it, ensuring that they didn’t smash the bow into a tree, before climbing up the bank & along to the steps down the other side. Get two crews arriving at the same time & carnage would ensue! These racing K2s are not the kind of craft you’d choose to negotiate this obstacle but these guys had no choice.

Our challenge in filming this frantic activity was, of course, nothing compared to the crews & their support teams but it was a challenge none the less. Without the use of lighting, our footage comprised large amounts of black with a truly frenetic soundtrack, interspersed by quick flashes of well illuminated faces or segments of kayak. At the time it seemed as though large amounts of the footage would be unusable but in the end the conditions meant that the film we shot of this portage portrayed the reality of the challenge extremely well. The difficulties we had in generating any usable visual clips were exactly the same as the crews faced in negotiating the portage or the support teams faced in helping them.

With this unexpectedly fantastic portage captured, we set off for Teddington. Luckily, a client of mine had given us use of their office car park at Teddington Studios, which sat directly beside the river & the lock. We arrived shortly after 5am & went straight down to the rollers at the lock, where crews had to portage one last time before the final stretch up the Thames to Westminster. It was a good job we did too, because as the light grew, so did the flow of the teams arriving. This was like some huge migration, where flocks of birds all descend on a single source of water, somewhere on their route to Europe. All the crews - slow or fast- were arriving at Teddington for their window of opportunity to proceed to the finish. It was like ‘Stargate’ & the portal was open!

We spent a good couple of hours at Teddington, catching all the main players as they went through, but then, as had been the case all along, time caught up with us & we needed to dash off to the finish line.

At Westminster the crowds had long since gathered. Many crews had already gone through including Olympic rower James Cracknell. He had slipped through Teddington at almost precisely high tide, perhaps ensuring he passed Putney before any of his rowing mates would be up & ready to hurl abuse at him for his defection to canoeing, even if only for this race! We arrived in good time to see all the main protagonists arrive home, including eventual winners Owen Peake & Danny Seaford, both of whom were utterly spent after their winning paddle of 17:16:51.

And so, at the end, I had to admit that all my fears were unfounded. I had a great chaperone & presenter in Matt Thornton- Brown, who had both paddled & supported the race in the past. We had good conditions, allowing us to film in relative comfort & we were among hundreds of other people all going through the night, whether in competitive or supportive roles, which meant that at no time did the task feel difficult to endure. There is absolutely no comparison between the work we did in filming the event & those taking part but we did gain a good sense of what it must be like to participate. By travelling with the race, in a similar way to a support crew, we gained an invaluable insight into the event & came away with an immense respect for it & all those who take it on.

Roger Burlinson
Director of Programming - Outdoors TV

Does Golf count as an outdoor pursuit?

2009-03-16T11:58:00.002Z

I hope the answer to that question is yes because I have to admit to being rather smitten with it! My son started playing & in order for us to be able to spend some ‘quality time’ together I decided to take it up too. But, very quickly, this became like a guilty pleasure - as though I was betraying the outdoors by fraternising with the enemy. Surely, as someone committed to the enjoyment of the great outdoors, let alone running a channel dedicated to outdoors programming, I couldn’t side with the 'pink roll neck & chequered trouser' brigade? Surely I must be on side with Mark Twain, not wishing to spoil any walk with the disruption of hitting (let alone trying to find) a small white ball!

So why then, do I find myself with similar feelings & thoughts when setting out on the course, as I do when heading out into the New Forest for a good hike? The other day we came across a Green Woodpecker on the fairway, gloriously oblivious to our presence & closer than I have ever managed to get in the wild. So does this encounter not constitute an ‘outdoors moment’ simply because the environment is man made & there purely for the enactment of a rather silly, if incredibly engrossing game?

Let's consider this a little. When venturing out into the wilderness, we often think we are experiencing an environment devoid of human intervention – it’s wild, untouched, beautiful in its purity. But in reality even our wildest spots are as they are because of man’s activity, from the Scottish Highlands, shaped by the great clearances to deforested mountain ranges. There really is very little in the world, let alone in this country that represents the planet left untouched. So maybe we should worry less about the nature of the landscape & just celebrate any activity that takes you outside & into a beautiful environment, whether that be a golf course or the Isle of Skye.

In defence of golf (albeit with a remaining air of detachment from the golfing community itself) it is a gentle sport where taking pleasure in your surroundings is all part of the game & that surely is no bad thing? OK there are arguments against the building of courses & water usage which are fully justified but that’s a different discussion.

It could be argued that golf is just ahead of the curve in that it requires a landscaped facility. Mountain Biking is burgeoning again partly as a result of the construction of trail centres, which are hugely popular. White water kayaking now almost exclusively uses man made courses for major international competitions & one of the oldest outdoor pursuits – skiing - has used pistes for 150 years or so. So the argument about golf using a man made course just doesn’t stack up.

It is more likely then that the qualification for inclusion in the outdoors enthusiast’s acceptable pursuit list is more about a certain lifestyle image than the activity itself. In that respect golf just doesn’t cut it! But I don’t care. I like to dress in sharp suits & stroll round Westminster & the Embankment whenever I’m in town but equally, I love crashing in the back of my van on filming trips, cooking up pasta on my Trangia & layering up in fleeces & a softshell! The suits don’t cancel out the softshell & golf doesn’t cancel out mountaineering. Nor should it. An ‘outdoors lifestyle’ shouldn’t be an exclusive set up, an ‘either, or’ option.

So, my guilty pleasure is not golf, it is not caring! All I have to do now is worry about my handicap which is, at the moment, being really rather bad at golf!

Roger Burlinson
Creative Director - Outdoors TV

Building up to DW

2009-03-04T15:22:00.003Z

In April, we're filming the Devizes to Westminster canoe race. Now, I confess this is an event that, until recently, I had no idea existed. I did all my canoeing in the Scouts & that was longer ago than I care to divulge here, so this fixture just wasn't on my radar. That was until a climber we interviewed for the Tremadog Revival Festival programme revealed that he was attempting the race for the first time this year.

After that, we made the decision to film it & last weekend I went along to one of the warm up events with Matt - our presenter to take a look & do a little filming practice. Now, I ought to point out that we don't normally need to practice filming - it's what we do & it comes fairly naturally. But this was mobile camera work, on a bike, along a narrow bumpy towpath, chasing canoeists who really ought to be going a bit slower, if only out of consideration for the poor bloke on a bike trying to film them!! I soon realised why Matt had suggested we go & "practice"!

We certainly revealed some weak points in the production plan (namely me..... on a bike.... with a camera) but this meant that we could go away & figure out some better options before the big one on the Easter weekend. I certainly wouldn't want to detract from the amazing feat these paddlers are taking on (125 miles non-stop, over night), nor their support crews who probably endure more stress, if not physical exhaustion, but it occurred to me that filming this event was going to be something of a marathon endeavour in its own right!

It's not the mileage or the 24 hours non-stop. It's the logistics of ensuring we're in the right place to catch the hot favourites in action at each major point along the whole length of the course. Then there's the mobile shots from a bike on the tow path & capturing the essence of the checkpoints & portages, while being at the finish when the leaders come in. And all this with just two people & one main camera!

Military precision will be essential for us, but looking seriously at our ever evolving plan, I think we should just be OK & that will be fantastic, as this year's event is looking like being one of the best ever, which could give us a great programme &, hopefully, a really good portrait of the amazing challenge that is: The DW.

Oh, and we're going to be filming ourselves during the 24 hour production, to tell the story of this great adventure, so if we don't manage to be in all the right places at all the right times, there's bound to be something to keep Ann Robinson happy from the 'making of' footage!

Roger Burlinson
Creative Director - Outdoors TV

Everyday Adventures

2009-02-18T10:15:00.003Z

I've been walking all my life. Well, ever since I could walk. As a child, I was lucky. We lived in a small village in the Surrey countryside, close to a mainline London bound train & with reasonably good bus services. Of course we also had a car but, from an early age, I associated freedom & travel with walking or cycling.

Dad would have the car, so to get to junior school, which was about a mile away, we cycled. To catch the bus we would often have to walk up to "the top road", where there was a more frequent service. To go up to London or the other way to our nearest town, we might walk a mile & a half to the station.

When I went to secondary school, I had to travel about 10 miles or so over the North Downs, first walking to the station then catching either a mini bus service or, later, the train. Although we were in an isolated position, there were transport options but everyone involved walking or cycling at some point.

I remember valuing those long walks to the station, often dreaming of exploration. Maybe because I was walking, my thoughts automatically turned to doing the same thing in a more inspiring environment. I would long to just put on my rucksack with enough provisions for a week or two & head off somewhere, just as I would for my commute but with no destination in mind.

Now, looking back I was just making the most of everyday situations to get my fix of the outdoors. A walk to the station was s pseudo trek. A long distance commute to school was an expedition! And there’s so much potential to do the same thing today. Often our lives revolve around long hours in the office & car travel to access remote business parks. But whenever there’s an opportunity to take the hard option, we should grasp it & bring a little adventure into our everyday schedules.

If we reserve our desire to be active outdoors to those occasions when we can access beautiful locations, we miss so much. A walk through a busy city is still a walk & you can always find something of interest or pick out landmarks that you otherwise wouldn’t notice. It’s surprising how easy it is, once you accept the principle – build a little adventure into every day.

Roger Burlinson
Creative Director – Outdoors TV

Celebrate Glorious Chaos!

2009-02-04T12:45:00.003Z

We don’t get much snow down here in the south of England. Especially here on the edge of the New Forest. So this week’s ‘hit & run’ blizzards have gifted southern outdoors enthusiasts a fantastic opportunity.

While most of the nation seemed pre-programmed to take the car, no matter what, outdoors folk, who didn’t have large distances to commute, were immediately in the ascendant – we just broke out the winter kit & walked! OK, so it took longer to get where we needed to go & we maybe arrived late but at least we made it, unlike those who had to turn around because the car had no grip.

Let’s face it, these are conditions that most of us cherish. We can, for a few days, pit ourselves against pseudo arctic conditions. A trip to the shops can become a Scott like challenge &, for once, a rucksack doesn’t look out of place in Tesco! There’s something very fulfilling about being able to maintain a relatively normal existence by being well equipped & self reliant, when all hell is breaking loose around you. So there’s no public transport & you can’t get the car off the driveway? Whoopee, better walk then!! “I’m going outside…. I may be sometime….!”

I remember in my teens, I would get kitted out in full winter mountain gear & go for a long walk in the dark whenever snow came, as it relatively reliably did back then. The dark was always an added bonus - the illuminating property of snow is one of nature’s treats. During the day, you’re just one among many, enjoying the snow. At night, the atmosphere is completely different – solitary, moody, serene.

And, of course, snowfall gives us all the opportunity to indulge in the glorious pastime of emergency equipment preparation. A necessary trip in the car (if you can get out of your driveway) can become a full blown logistics exercise: “Sleeping bag – check! Extra layers – check! Kendal Mint Cake (any excuse) – check!!!"

Sadly, we get so little opportunity to indulge our winter potential down here, that the arrival of snowfall can seem like an inconvenience to start with. We know that the infrastructure won’t cope & we also know that there will be more incidents than are necessary because most people seem to believe that they can beat the conditions. And as soon as you’ve adjusted to the snow, it leaves as quickly as it arrived, so what’s the point?

But the truth is that these short blissful blizzards offer up the chance to at least absorb the conditions you’d normally have to go to the Cairngorms to experience and all on your front doorstep.

Enjoy!

Roger Burlinson
Head of Programming - Outdoors TV

Outdoors TV Rebranding

2009-01-27T20:54:00.004Z

At the end of the week, we'll be putting up our new look site, which is the first step on the road to Outdoors TV going fully public in May 2009. This will be 'Outdoors TV Beta', a close representation of what will follow in every sense apart from the playout functionality, which is being held back until the channel's launch in May.

From day one, we've been very careful to keep our ambitions in check & given the times we all now find ourselves living in, that's probably not a bad thing. This new step is a continuation of this principle - cautious progress. So, first the new look & the new website. Then will come the final incarnation of the site, together with new playout functions for our programmes, followed by the channel's full launch in May. After that, it will just be business as usual - we'll make programmes, upload them & leave them there for everyone to watch for about a month. That's it! No clever "video on demand" campaigns, no social networking, no subscriptions.

We know that our viewers would rather be active in the outdoors than sitting in front of the telly, which is why we're not creating a schedule like those found on mainstream TV. Our programmes will be available for a fixed period so you can watch them as & when you want, to fit around your active lifestyle.

We're also determined to stick with our principles of delivering new programmes, so we'll be adding to the schedule gradually, to ensure we can continually provide new content without resorting to buying in repeat material that you may already have seen.

So, with our new look site, Outdoors TV is coming to life & knowing what we've got lined up for production this year, we can safely say that the channel is set for an exciting birth!

Closing down to start up

2008-12-19T14:59:00.000Z

This week we closed our channel player, having run it in ‘Beta’ mode since March. This might seem like a strange way to move forward but bear with me!

This first incarnation of Outdoors TV has been run as a test bed for future programmes that will go into production in the New Year. With the public launch scheduled for May 2009, we’re now closing down the test operation in order fully to prepare the channel for its post launch life.

The funny thing is that in closing the player, we’ve gained a good snapshot of the overall interest shown in Outdoors TV & its programmes. We’ve had nothing but good feedback on the content we’ve shown so far, but we’ve tended to look solely at the performance of a particular programme, rather than the bigger picture.

Now, we have a ‘closing balance’ if you like & have discovered that we’ve had over 14,500 viewings in the last nine months. Depending on your perspective, this is either a significant or derisory sum but, for us, it is confirmation that there are people out there who want to watch what we want to produce.

OK, so fourteen & a half thousand views in nine months is nothing compared to You Tube or the BBC, but considering that these figures were achieved with nothing more than a bit of word of mouth publicity through the people & organisations we filmed during production, I think that’s a reasonable bit of market research!

It’s also funny how you tend to look at something differently if you are finishing it for good. Because this was the final set of statistics we looked more carefully at the overall picture, rather than how each individual programme was performing.

While it feels really quite negative, closing the very player that has defined the channel until now, this is simply a transformation. We’re not closing the channel, just changing the way people will watch our programmes (hopefully for the better). This is not the end but the beginning of the final incarnation of Outdoors TV that will be launched to the wider world in about six months.

This will be the last blog entry until the second week of January, when the build up to the channel’s launch will begin in earnest.

Equipment Report - Bring on the Night!

2008-12-04T20:53:00.001Z

You’d think that winter, with all the short days & long hours of darkness would be a hindrance to outdoors programme making, but not for us at Outdoors TV. In fact, we’re turning the winter to our advantage by testing some new kit to help us film in low light or night time conditions in the wilderness.

Everyone knows of the importance of taking a head torch into the mountains for safety, but what do you do if you’re filming? Weight is everything, especially as even the most compact of full broadcast cameras takes up a sizable chunk of rucksack space & weighs more than you’d rather carry, in addition to your rack.

High quality directional ‘top lights’ as they are called do offer great lighting but there is often a downside. Self sufficient lamps mostly need large batteries that are also quite weighty. Others run off of the camera’s battery supply but then there are adapters & cables to accommodate.

So, what’s the solution? We’ll, we’re testing a rechargeable mountain bike lamp from USE, for use as a compact long life wilderness lamp. It will be used when filming longer multi day adventures, wild camps or night activities & it also offers us a solution for lighting interviewees up on the crags or away from power supplies.

The unit we’re testing is the Exposure Enduro MaXx 2 lamp, which is roughly the size & weight of a small microphone. It’s a durable metal lamp that is rechargeable, so there are no batteries or cables to carry around. On the lowest light setting, which is perfect for filming, the stated burn time is 24 hours, so the camera’s batteries will fail long before this baby!

The Exposure range uses super bright LEDs which give a very cool light. USE tell us that apart from the normal application of this light, it has also been used by bat watchers, as the wavelength of the light doesn’t interfere with the bats’ sonar. So, this type of LED lamp appears to be wildlife friendly which is another bonus!

The lamp does have its limitations for filming, in that the beam is quite narrow, however for us, it is all about the balance of weight & size over functionality. The beam width issue can be improved for interviews & presenters, by placing the subject further away from the camera. On a positive note, the beam width does mean that there is very little spillage, giving a real sense of the dark, something that is obviously important when trying to portray night time activities.

For us, the lamp is proving to be an invaluable tool, helping us to film in conditions & locations that would otherwise be problematic or require heavier loads. While we are still waiting for a programme to give us the opportunity to use the lamp in anger, we will be reporting on our test shoots in our next Channel Update programme which will go into production in January.

Roger Burlinson
Director of Programming - Outdoors TV

What exactly IS television?

2008-11-23T13:50:00.004Z

Why ask the question? Very good point, but in our world it seems to be an issue dividing the major broadcasters & independent channels & producers like ourselves. Traditional style broadcasters like to think of channels like us as something supplementary, not ‘proper’ television.

In September, Michael Grade accused Google & You Tube of being “parasites”, because they weren’t spending money on creating content themselves but were feeding off of programmes made by, or for, broadcasters. His accusation seems to substantiate this view - that traditional broadcasters see (or at least are trying to brand) their new internet competition as something other than real television.

Mainstream broadcasters still rule the television world through monolithic power, although that power is shifting. The vast majority of people still watch programmes on a television set & most still rely on the main terrestrial channels available on, say, Freeview. However the runaway success of the BBC’s iPlayer confirms that internet delivery of programmes is not only viable but actually suits some viewers’ habits better than the traditional rolling schedule of mainstream TV.

Perhaps a little history is called for here: When we were sold the concept of digital TV, we were promised a golden era of viewer control & interactivity. Digital TV was supposed to place in the hands of viewers the power to decide what they wanted to watch & when.

In reality, this was just a hollow promise. We do get a glimpse of the potential of digital TV when there are major events such as the Olympics - the red button providing both choice & catch up services – but these occurrences are few & far between.

The fact is that traditional TV has changed little, simply providing a rolling schedule of programmes that you can either watch, record or miss. If you miss the programme, you have to either scour the listings to see if it will be repeated or catch it for a limited time on the internet, which perhaps reveals the problem for mainstream broadcasters in the new era of internet TV.

If viewers are so dependent upon video recorders (of various types) or the internet to get the full promise of the new TV age, why do they need a traditional TV set? Why not just watch what they want online, when they want to? This is exactly what some viewers are doing with BBC content. They aren’t bothering to watch programmes when the BBC schedules them, instead they look at what’s currently available in the iPlayer & watch when it suits them.

The problem this causes major broadcasters is that the internet places them on a level playing field with small independent producers - something the prohibitively costly terrestrial or satellite platforms have hitherto prevented. In this situation the audience not only has real programme choice but they also have alternatives to the blunt instrument that is the TV schedule.

Since the beginning of television, broadcasters have competed with each other on the basis of their schedule. There is even a science of TV scheduling – what you place next to what, in order to retain an audience at a particular time of the day or night. Programmes are still scheduled in this way but why does the audience even need a schedule in this modern age? The answer is they don’t but the traditional broadcasters are so tied in to their schedule dominated model that they are unable to radically adapt to the new landscape.

So, to return to the original point about the definition of television: Are programmes viewed online then NOT television? If you watch a programme in the iPlayer, are you not watching television? Is satellite television then not television because it differs from the original terrestrial broadcast method?

Of course not! Television is: the making available of programmes for an audience to watch in their homes, no matter how the programmes arrive there. In this respect the internet & channels available exclusively on it are just as much television as those available on analogue, digital or satellite. In the same way, internet channels that don’t provide a rolling schedule that replicates the mainstream experience are no less television channels than say the BBC or Sky. It is not about how the programmes are provided but the provision of programmes in the first place.

But that’s not how the broadcast industry would like you to see things. The internet generally is a big threat to traditional television & internet channels tend to appeal to those who already spend time online rather than watching television. So, the broadcast industry would like you to look upon internet only channels as Video on Demand or video websites, as that way they can differentiate themselves & claim that you will not get the same experience.

Of course this is all just about names & definitions, but the reality is that viewers are choosing You Tube over mainstream TV because they are finding what they want. They ARE watching television, they are just using a different delivery format. They are watching TV in the way THEY want, rather than the way traditional broadcasters want them to.

Power to the people!

Roger Burlinson
Director of Programming - Outdoors TV

OMM - Original Media Mayhem!

2008-10-28T20:06:00.002Z

If, like me, you arose last Sunday morning to see images of the Original Mountain Marathon blazoned across your TV screen & felt excitement that perhaps you might actually be able to watch it on mainstream telly, you will also have surely felt slightly sick to find that it was only there to receive a right royal kicking from the news media!

The patronising nature of almost all reports about this event must surely rile outdoors enthusiasts. Particularly the accusations that we are somehow selfish, mad or negligent when venturing into the hills in conditions many people wouldn’t even walk down the street in. Fell running has a rich heritage of pressing on regardless. It’s what makes the sport the pinnacle of mountain running & should be maintained.

Sure, conditions were extreme on this occasion & the organisers cancelled the event when the forecasts proved to be correct. But what would have happened if they had cancelled the event in advance only to find that the weather had abated? Wouldn’t they have failed in their obligation to the entrants, many of whom had travelled long distances to compete in, potentially, these conditions? Where do you draw the line?

To those who complained about the cost of the “rescue operation” I simply ask: how much does it cost the Police Service to maintain even a basic low risk presence at a single football match anywhere in the country week in, week out?

What this has all shown is how little the outdoors community can rely on the mainstream media to help it grow & prosper. We may get some good shows on telly with various personalities having a go at climbing or canoeing & this will give us a brief view of our sports in fabulous high definition. But there is a fundamental fault line in the media's understanding of outdoor pursuits & we need to accept that the relationship could fail at any moment.

Broadcasters will always look at the bigger picture which is, for them, the sensibilities of the wider mass audience. If ‘Indignant of Islington’ feels that a fell race in torrential rain is down right insanity, the mainstream broadcasters will reflect that view because they have more to gain by following the pack than the lone wolf. Of course we all know that what they should do is to deliver a balanced, well informed summary of fact. But then that doesn’t make for very good television, does it!

With the serious outdoors community numbering the hundreds of thousands, if not millions & the health benefits of outdoor pursuits potentially being a cure for many of the nation’s health issues, shouldn’t we be seeking to nurture a sense among people that taking on a challenge like the OMM, in conditions just like this, is something to aspire to, not ridicule?

Why is it that scaling Everest as a ‘tourist’ climber is seen by society as an acceptable achievement, perhaps even one of the ‘top ten things to do before you die’, inspite of the very serious risks & yet allowing 2,000 runners to go well prepared into the mouth of a storm in the Lakeland fells is criminally insane?

Maybe only we understand. Maybe it should become the sole aim of all outdoors enthusiasts to get more people to share our understanding?

Roger Burlinson
Director of Programming - Outdoors TV

Outdoors TV Facebook Pages

2008-10-24T15:54:00.004+01:00

This week has been mostly taken up with the creation of a number of Facebook pages, allowing us to connect & communitcate with viewers of the various main programme strands on Outdoors TV.

So, we now have a page dedicated to: Race Day - our competition profile programme; Out There - our non competetive event coverage programme; The Gear Room - our product & equipment profile programme & Hidden Forest - our forthcoming chill out music video slot. We've also created a page for the channel itself, giving an overview of what's going on.

The greatest benefit from all this work will be our ability to encourage those who are interested in following the channel's progress to become "fans" of the pages, allowing us then to regularly send updates to them, leading them back to Facebook, where additional information will be waiting.

We've also been extremely impressed with the video playback quality on Facebook & we'll be producing some special short clips to go exclusively on the page, rather than on the channel or our You Tube channel.

So, we're pleased to announce here & now, to anyone who may be listening (reading), that the Outdoors TV Facebook pages are, officially, OPEN!

OK. This is all nothing new & just as Blogs have been quietly getting on with the task of allowing people to air their views, so too will our Facebook pages simply get on with the task of telling the world what we're up to. However, we have found that the particular structure of the Facebook pages suit our needs & the ability to produce special videos & photo albums to help us tell the story of the creation of Outdoors TV is a pleasing development.

Roger Burlinson
Director of Programming - Outdoors TV

Climbing Everest by canoe?

2008-10-20T21:39:00.004+01:00

It’s interesting how humans can become used to pain or discomfort, especially when enduring a major challenge. It’s also curious how those of us observing such exploits can become complacent about the achievement of those taking part.

Climbing Everest is practically derided nowadays as a tourist trip and yet, in spite of the assistance most climbers receive, this is still a challenge that can take you to the very brink of existence. Once upon a time, running the London Marathon was a major achievement, now it seems that if you haven’t yet run it, you are somehow not complete!

Is it because of the perceived ubiquity of these challenges or is it media over saturation? Does this mean that, as a society, we have simply become numb to acts of great adventure – have we got ‘achievement fatigue’?

I hope not, because we’re going to be making a documentary next year about one of the toughest inland water challenges going – The Devizes to Westminster canoe marathon. This is an event that caught my imagination as soon as I heard of it & I must admit I’m really looking forward to spending four days living out of the back of a van filming it!

There are a couple of categories to the ‘DW’ but the main race is the non-stop doubles race – 125 miles without rest & going right through the night in sub zero temperatures. The current record is a little over 15 hours & 30 minutes. The canoeing community call this the Everest of canoeing. While the conditions may seem a bit more welcoming than the Lhotse Face, the gruelling nature of the challenge, surely justifies the comparison.

Tactics will play a major role as well. All paddlers will have to plan to arrive at Teddington Lock in time to catch the flow of the tide up to Westminster. Otherwise, they’ll be on a wet & turbulent tread mill!

This will be our first major documentary following the public launch of the channel next Spring &, hopefully, it will be an inspirational story to counter that ‘achievement fatigue’.

Roger Burlinson
Director of Programming - Outdoors TV

Rumble in the....woodlands!

2008-10-14T20:29:00.004+01:00

Recently, a rather nice golden egg fell into our laps! Being based on the edge of the New Forest has, so far, been a bit of a hindrance in the production of our programmes for Outdoors TV. I joked once with a rock climber I was filming that I lived roughly half way between the Alps & the Scottish Highlands. “Ah yes”, she replied “but not close to either”!

She was right of course, but in reality, I don’t have a problem with that. I need to be relatively close to London for clients & also we have some great facilities & recreation opportunities down here. The forest itself is the most divine space. OK, it’s not as wild as Snowdonia or Scotland but it IS a real wilderness & can provide wonderful isolation if you know where to look.

So what about that egg? We’ll, the golden egg came in the shape of the New Forest National Park Authority’s Draught Recreation Strategy…………… Anticipating your confusion, let me explain!

Recently, the National Park Authority (NPA) published its plan for the future of recreation in the forest. Instantly the local newspaper published warnings that the end of the world was nigh!

For us, having a major outdoors news story on our doorstep is a great opportunity! Very quickly, we made the decision to produce an investigative documentary about the whole issue & to look at whether it might set a precedent for other National Parks. Being local, we would be able to devote a great deal of time to the programme & tackle some of the issues in detail, in order to get to the truth.

So far, we’ve filmed at two public gatherings, both of which seem to indicate that there is a significant subtext to the debate that has nothing to do with the specifics of the proposals – the question of whether the NPA should even exist.

So far, this question has been the main thrust of the argument made by the two local MPs and the ‘consultation process’ does seem to be getting increasingly political. So, the battle lines have been drawn & I’m not entirely sure that the NPA quite realises the full extent of the can of worms it has opened!

Keeping an objective viewpoint on these matters can be difficult, especially when proposals are being made about the area you live & play in. It is already clear to me that there are questions to answer about the proposals but whether the threat is as real as some are suggesting remains to be seen.

The big issues seem to be more about competence in the composition & publication of the report & how proposals can be made when there is so little factual evidence on which to base them, rather than any real & present danger to forest access. For instance, incendiary remarks have been included when at this stage there really is no need & the reaction of locals & the media could surely have been predicted.

So, after round one, the NPA has already received a cut under the eye & will need to take stock of the reaction to the report if it is to win round local people. I suspect from some of the remarks coming not just from the crowd at the last meeting but from the MPs & other officials, that this might be an impossible task. Whatever happens, producing this documentary is going to be a thoroughly engaging process!

Roger Burlinson
Director of Programming - Outdoors TV

Welcome to Outdoors TV

2008-10-10T11:16:00.000+01:00

Post number one on the Outdoors TV blog!

Outdoors TV is launching to the public in spring 2009. It will be a channel for all outdoors enthusiasts of the UK/European variety, rather the US type (with fishing & hunting etc). That's not to say we disapprove of these pastimes or don't want North American viewers, it's just that over here outdoors is mostly about camping, walking, mountaineering etc & over there, it has a different meaning, so we just want to make that clear from the outset!

Outdoors TV will cover mountaineering, rock climbing, walking, hiking, wild camping, mountain biking, canoeing & kayaking, triathlon, trail & fell running &, in fact, any other pursuit or issue that will be of interest to outdoors people. There will be documentaries, magazine programmes, event coverage & destination profiles. The channel is for the adult audience &, as such, will show proper programmes, not just video clips or DVD promos.

Everything that goes on the channel will have been produced specifically for Outdoors TV. You might think of it as a kind of BBC for outdoors enthusiasts, just without all the celebrity dancing! We're committed to producing interesting material that will provide informative entertainment for those times when you can't be outside.

We're forming links all the time with organisations who can help us get the style & content just right for each interest group & we're also open to invitations from clubs & organisations to make programmes with or about them. Inclusion is a big issue for us & we want all outdoors enthusiasts to feel that Outdoors TV is THEIR channel.

So how will it all work? We'll, for starters, in the UK & Europe, outdoor pursuits are largely free (apart from buying the kit you need). So, it seems logical that, to gain & keep our audience's support, the programmes should be free to view & that's the way it will be! No registering, no loging on, no passwords. Just go to the site & watch, because, after all, that's what you do in the outdoors. You don't go to the base of Helvelyn & enter your username & password into the stile to start your walk, so we don't want to put any obstacles in your way before watching our programmes.

What this does mean is that we will be including commercial elements in the programmes themselves, which will basically allow us to exist! Producing original programmes costs a lot of money & we think it is better to sell a little product placement or to have a programme sponsored by an appropriate organisation & to keep our independence & free programming.

In reality, commercialisation of programmes will have a minimal impact on the viewer's experience. Almost all outdoors DVDs have some form of sponsorship & this doesn't detract from the subject or the endeavour.

We will also be managing expectations in order that the channel can grow organically, which is the way we preserve our principles & deliver quality programmes. When you try to provide a daily schedule of programmes from scratch, that's when the quality & originality starts to slip. So, from the outset, we will be aiming to deliver a new programme every week & as the channel grows, so too will the variety of the schedule.

We hope our viewers will understand our desire to provide only new material & that this takes time to produce. We also hope that they will appreciate that this channel offers them something new & that in the long term, with their support, Outdoors TV will be a channel delivering an exciting schedule of programmes to satisfy their needs.

We'll be charting the channel's progress over the next six months in this Blog, giving you an insight into developments leading up to the launch. There are sample programmes showing on the channel already, so do take a look, if you haven't done so already. Otherwise, I'll see you next time.

Roger Burlinson
Director of Programming - Outdoors TV