MIKE NEVILLE SWITCHES ON AV FESTIVAL 08 IN THE NORTH EAST AS WHITEHAVEN SWITCHES OVER TO DIGITAL WEDNESDAY 17TH OCTOBER
Popular North East broadcaster Mike Neville came out of retirement to launch the UK’s biggest International Audio Visual Festival on the day that the BBC starts switching off analogue television signals in Whitehaven on Wednesday 17th October. Along with AV Festival Director Honor Harger, Mike made the trip to Pontop Pike – the transmitter that provides most of the North East and North Yorkshire – which will be the very last transmitter to be switched off in the transition from analogue to digital broadcasting. The biennial AV Festival is the UK’s largest international festival of electronic arts, and features visual art, music and moving image, with the theme of ‘Broadcast’ being the topic for AV Festival 08.
Who better to launch AV Festival 08 by announcing the theme and dates but the best known face in broadcasting in the North East for over forty years - Mike Neville. The region’s much loved presenter has achieved iconic status in the North East where he has fronted both BBC & ITV regional news, as well as having a spell on the national news magazine programme Nationwide. It was no surprise to Mike’s loyal army of supporters when he received an MBE for services to broadcasting in 1991. Mike’s legendary status continues in his retirement, with a ‘Mike Neville Appreciation Society’ springing up on the social interaction and networking site Facebook.
Mike said:
“It seems appropriate that on the day the analogue switch over begins, AV Festival is announcing the Broadcast theme from the transmitter which will be the last one in Great Britain to complete the digital switchover in 2012. When this transmitter was erected in 1953 I was working as a junior in the Newcastle office of the Daily Mail. In my wildest dreams I didn’t imagine I would have such a long and enjoyable career in broadcasting. I’m delighted to be able to be part of the launch of AV Festival 08 and am amazed at its complexity – with concerts, performances, exhibitions, film screenings, outdoor events, seminars, symposia, workshops and other special events at many venues across the North East.”
AV Festival Director Honor Harger said:
“We are thrilled that Mike Neville, the face of regional broadcasting for over forty years has agreed to officially launch AV Festival 08. The BBC begins to switch off analogue television signals today, paving the way for television to become entirely digital. At the same time the internet and mobile networks have created opportunities for us to ‘broadcast ourselves’ in entirely new ways. As the landscape of broadcasting changes irrevocably, AV Festival 08 will be a catalyst for debate about the future of broadcasting, and an event to celebrate a century of on-air and online transmission.”
AV Festival 08 is organised by Audio Visual Arts North East, an independent charitable company. AV Festival 08 forms part of NewcastleGateshead’s world-class festivals and events programme managed by Culture10, based at NewcastleGateshead Initiative. Stella Hall, Creative Director of Culture10 at NewcastleGateshead Initiative, said: “We are delighted to partner this exciting and diverse biennial festival. It has a growing reputation that attracts both audiences and high profile artists from around the world. It is real proof that here in North East England we have some of the most innovative and high quality festivals in the country, giving us not just unrivalled opportunities to enjoy world class events but also to attract people to visit and experience our vibrant region.”