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	<title>The TV Show &#187; Countdown</title>
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		<title>The TV Show pays tribute to Jade</title>
		<link>http://blogs.channel4.com/thetvshow/2009/03/30/the-tv-show-pays-tribute-to-jade/</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.channel4.com/thetvshow/2009/03/30/the-tv-show-pays-tribute-to-jade/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:53:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>The TV Show</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Big Brother]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Countdown]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.channel4.com/thetvshow/?p=762</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The next edition of The TV Show falls on Saturday 4 April, a day that is likely to see considerable media coverage of reality TV star Jade Goody&#8217;s funeral. Discovered and catapulted to fame through Big Brother in 2002, Jade came to epitomise the modern day television &#8216;celebrity&#8217; – we&#8217;ll will be looking back on [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-763" src="http://blogs.channel4.com/thetvshow/files/2009/03/jadegoody_120.jpg" alt="" width="120" height="90" />The next edition of The TV Show falls on Saturday 4 April, a day that is likely to see considerable media coverage of reality TV star Jade Goody&#8217;s funeral. Discovered and catapulted to fame through <a href="http://www.channel4.com/bigbrother/index.jsp" target="_blank">Big Brother</a> in 2002, Jade came to epitomise the modern day television &#8216;celebrity&#8217; – we&#8217;ll will be looking back on her uniquely documented life with Phil Edgar-Jones, Big Brother&#8217;s executive producer.<span id="more-762"></span></p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-764" src="http://blogs.channel4.com/thetvshow/files/2009/03/jadegoody_391.jpg" alt="" width="391" height="150" /></p>
<p>What was it that drove Jade to take part in Big Brother? What were the qualities that made her such a success as a reality star? Why were the media so fascinated by her? How did the tide of negative media attention turn in Jade&#8217;s favour, following her now infamous appearance on Celebrity Big Brother? We&#8217;ll be discussing some of these points and looking at how Jade&#8217;s very public battle with cervical cancer may have resulted in thousands of lives being saved.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/big-brother/articles/a-tribute-to-jade-goody" target="_blank">Read Phil Edgar-Jones&#8217; tribute to Jade Goody here.</a></p>
<p>Also on The TV Show this month, we&#8217;ll be discussing the future of daytime television. It&#8217;s no secret that money is tight for many broadcasters and programme makers, but where are the cuts likely to be made? Head of Channel 4 Julian Bellamy <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/mar/25/channel-4-focus-commercially-succesful" target="_blank">recently announced </a>that commissioning cuts would be made in the post-11pm slots, and that he would focus on &#8216;commercially successful shows&#8217;. But with the loss of Richard &amp; Judy and Carol Vorderman in 2008, it seems that many of the big names to go have so far been in daytime.</p>
<p>Last week it was reported that <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1164037/Countdowns-lost-numbers-Ratings-plunge-lowest-history.html" target="_blank">Countdown&#8217;s viewing figures were at an all-time low</a>. This news came as loyal viewers of the show <a href="http://blogs.channel4.com/thetvshow/2009/03/06/the-new-countdown/" target="_blank">continue to express mixed views</a> about the latest presenters, Jeff and Rachel. We&#8217;ll be talking to some loyal viewers to hear what they have to say about the future of Countdown, and of Channel 4&#8217;s daytime output in general.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;d like to contribute your thoughts on either of the topics above, please submit your comments below.</p>
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		<title>The new Countdown!</title>
		<link>http://blogs.channel4.com/thetvshow/2009/03/06/the-new-countdown/</link>
		<comments>http://blogs.channel4.com/thetvshow/2009/03/06/the-new-countdown/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:05:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Helen Warner</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Countdown]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.channel4.com/thetvshow/?p=734</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Well, what a huge reaction we have had to the relaunch of Countdown! We know how much the show means to its viewers but we&#8217;ve been blown away by the massive response from you all.

Des and Carol were always going to be a very hard act to follow but we think Jeff and Rachel are [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-736" src="http://blogs.channel4.com/thetvshow/files/2009/03/countdown_120.jpg" alt="" width="120" height="90" />Well, what a huge reaction we have had to the relaunch of <a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/countdown" target="_blank">Countdown</a>! We know how much the show means to its viewers but we&#8217;ve been blown away by the massive response from you all.<span id="more-734"></span></p>
<p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-738" src="http://blogs.channel4.com/thetvshow/files/2009/03/countdown_391.jpg" alt="" width="391" height="150" /></p>
<p>Des and Carol were always going to be a very hard act to follow but we think Jeff and Rachel are settling in brilliantly. Jeff has a natural warmth, coupled with a fierce intelligence which seems to fit perfectly with the show &#8211; and he has brought with him an army of fans from his Soccer Saturday show on Sky. After every recording, the long queue of audience members requesting his autograph is testament to how popular he is. Some viewers have complained that he talks about sport too much, so Jeff is trying very hard to limit his footie references!</p>
<p>Rachel is going from strength to strength and we are delighted to have found such an incredible talent. Despite never having set foot in a TV studio before, she has lost her early nerves and is now solving the most incredible sums with ease. She really is a maths genius and the proportion of men watching the show has noticeably increased – we&#8217;re not sure if this is down to Jeff or Rachel! Rachel&#8217;s high heels attracted a great deal of interest at the beginning, with many viewers commenting that they adversely affected her posture. The truth is that Rachel only saw herself on TV for the first time after having recorded six weeks&#8217; worth of shows! Having seen herself, she swapped the sky-high heels for some lower ones and her posture has definitely improved as a result.</p>
<p>The biggest complaint by far has been that we don&#8217;t put the words up on the board enough. Again, by the time we realised how important this was to viewers, we had recorded several weeks&#8217; worth of shows. But we have now addressed the issue and I hope those who rang us to ask that we start putting them up again will feel that we have listened to your views and taken action.</p>
<p>Overall, the response to the relaunch has been tremendously positive, with viewers particularly enjoying the fact that the game itself has now taken centre stage. Some viewers still miss Des&#8217;s showbiz stories and Carol&#8217;s glamour and charisma &#8211; which is completely understandable as they are both great TV talents &#8211; but we hope that viewers will agree that having new presenters is a better option than losing the show altogether.</p>
<p>Countdown is now in its 27th year and we are so pleased to have it on Channel 4. Now that things are settling down again after such a tumultuous year, we can look forward to enjoying it for many years to come.</p>
<p>On behalf of the Countdown team, I&#8217;d like to say thankyou to everyone who has contacted us to share their thoughts &#8211; we always appreciate feedback from our viewers, so please leave your comments below if there&#8217;s anything more you&#8217;d like to say&#8230;</p>
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