Articles by Rob Buckley

About Rob Buckley
I’m Rob Buckley, a journalist who writes for UK media magazines that most people have never heard of although you might have heard me on the podcast Lockdown Land or Radio 5 Live’s Saturday Edition or Afternoon Edition. I’ve edited Dreamwatch, Sprocket and Cambridge Film Festival Daily; been technical editor for TV producers magazine Televisual; reviewed films for the short-lived newspaper Cambridge Insider; written features for the even shorter-lived newspaper Soho Independent; and was regularly sarcastic about television on the blink-and-you-missed-it “web site for urban hedonists” The Tribe. Since going freelance, I've contributed to the likes of Broadcast, Total Content + Media, Action TV, Off The Telly, Action Network, TV Scoop and The Custard TV.
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Technology

EyeTV for DTT stick

4 August 2006 Rob Buckley 5 Comments

I’ve just bought myself one of these (click on it to see it bigger): EyeTV DTT stick

It’s an EyeTV DTT ‘stick’ which allows you to watch FreeView on your Mac. You just plug it in a USB port, attach an aerial (tiny portable one supplied) and tune it in. You can then schedule your Mac to record the programs to your hard drive, just like Sky+. You can also pause live TV, etc.

Seems pretty cool so far and I’ve already set it to record a few programmes using the EPG. I’m using the portable aerial at the moment, and while it’s pretty good, I can’t get ITV (any channel) or Channel 4. So I’m going to buy myself a cable to plug it into a nearby aerial socket.

I’ll let you know how it works out.

US TV

Preview: The Knights of Prosperity

4 August 2006 Rob Buckley 3 Comments

The Knights of Prosperity



In the US: ABC, Wednesdays, 8pm. Starting January 3rd.

In the UK: Not yet acquired, and I suspect never will be

Knights of Prosperity? Dumb name for a show, huh. Very dumb given the previous name of the show was Let’s Rob Mick Jagger.

Now that’s a name I can work with. After all, it’s almost impossible to look at Mick Jagger and to avoid thinking, “You know, I’d really like to rob him.”

But Knights of Prosperity? It means nothing. As a result, I’m predicting a great big floparoo.

Continue reading “Preview: The Knights of Prosperity”

A good way to improve cinemas

4 August 2006 Rob Buckley Post a comment

I complained about the Odeon’s ‘Gallery’ a while ago. The Gallery is supposed to be ‘enhanced’ cinema, designed to improve the movie-going experience. It used to be good when it was UCI Filmworks’ Gallery, but ever since the Odeon took over, it’s been rubbish.

Over in the US, though, Regal Entertainment is trialling a new feature in its theaters, something all the cinemas here would do well to emulate to improve our trips to the cinema: ‘The Regal Guest Response System (RGRS)’.

Currently testing in 13 of Regal’s theaters across the country, the RGRS is a special pager with four buttons, one for each of the following problems: Sound, picture, disturbance and, of course, piracy. The pager is not located on the armrest or attached to any part of the seat, but is instead something given to some patrons to bring into the theater.

So they give you four magic buttons and if someone’s making a noise or the sound or picture is rubbish, you can page someone and they’ll turn up and fix the problem. Nice.

Of course, if the Odeon ever implemented it, they’d actually have to staff their cinemas, but that’s a problem for another day.

New gameshow from the creator of Deal or No Deal

4 August 2006 Rob Buckley Post a comment

What’s this one going to be about? They’ve got “opening boxes completely at random” covered…

SHOW ME WHAT YOU’VE GOT

For ONE NIGHT ONLY!!

From the creator of ‘Deal or No Deal’ comes a brand new gameshow which is part chance and part general knowledge and to win the prize, the contestants have to overcome not only the odds but their nerves!

The show will be taped at 7pm on Tuesday 8th August in The ITV London Studios, SE1 on the South Bank, approx 5-10 mins walk from Waterloo.

If you’d like to join us for this pilot show, booking is now open, so do apply quickly!

You may apply for tickets by calling 020 8684 3333