Meanwhile over on the X place, Gary Lineker's obviously so delighted with Match of the Day's popularity he decided to share this screenshot, coincidentally featuring what looks like confidential BBC iPlayer viewing data. Just between you and me, obviously.

Haven't bought a copy of the Radio Times for YEARS but seeing this...well...there's four different logos for the collectors but so far I've only bought one copy (not this one). Plus that TV Times above looks surprisingly old-fashioned if you take away the logo strip at the top. The actual anniversary of when the first Radio Times was put on sale is next Thursday (28 September).

Looks like the Ideal World TV shopping channel has closed down, possibly for good unless they can find a buyer (unlikely under the circumstances). The closure will also affect ITV/STV who use Ideal World as an overnight filler service. Ideal World's Freeview channel seems to have vanished altogether without even an 'off air' caption (Edit: There is a caption but my Freeview box isn't receiving it) which doesn't bode well for them. Their website idealworld.tv is currently displaying this message:

When I previously mentioned the Meridian Waterside development built on the ex-Southern/TVS/Meridian TV studios site at Northam in Southampton, someone asked me if No. 73 was for sale. Well...yes, it is now, so if you fancy the address 73 Granada Meridian Way it's yours for £327,500 which for three bedrooms is still cheaper than the one bed flats in London's Television Centre. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/134166419#/?channel=RES_BUY

Meta/Instagram are now drumming up support for their new Twitter competitor & what's amusing to myself (plus to some of us at least of a certain age) is the name they're planning to use for their 'Project 92'...THREADS. Yes, Threads. Anyway, Meta's Twitter competitor will use the ActivityPub protocol therefore it should be possible to link to this with your Mastodon account unless blocked by your instance. Will be interesting to see what happens. https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/8/23754304/instagram-meta-twitter-competitor-threads-activitypub #Meta #Instagram #Threads

Anyone had any of these accounts (some from elonsucks dot org) mysteriously liking your toots/posts despite not following you, especially the duck one that seemed to like everything I posted? All blocked now and let it be said that creepy repetitive promotional behaviour is both creepy and repetitive.

Spotted in the same charity shop which had Granada TV's The Comedians album (containing highly dubious 1970s 'joke' content), this 'gem' of a forgotten/unknown 30 year-old single from everyone's least-favourite doomed Spanish-esque BBC One soap opera. Every bit as terrible as you might imagine it to be, though the opening line "It was over before it had begun" was very prescient so we'll give them that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETt-D2RfPoc #Eldorado #BBCOne

Almost everyone who wants a computer keyboard buys something off-the-shelf and that's that, but you can also buy separate keyboard parts to make your own custom-built special design. Normally not a fan of gimmicky key designs but whilst searching for something else I came across...well...JUST LOOK AT THIS. A television test pattern keyboard cap theme. Unfortunately not currently available to order. https://kbdfans.com/collections/interest-checks/products/pbtfans-no-signal

The local charity shop now has a selection of Blue Peter annuals for sale. From what I can see there's nothing undervalued here; I've checked on Ebay and there's more than a thousand Blue Peter books on there and they're not exactly flying out the door either. Nice collection here though.