Tonite, in an FM Special ...

Let me explain …
Some years ago, when I first got into the Observer's fiendish Azed crossword, one of the clues was 'Tonite, in an FM special, the newsroom variety show'. I must have had a moment of inspiration, because I realised that the first four words of the clue were an anagram of the solution: INFOTAINMENT.
Anyway, this is a media word for the media itself – the sort of blended news and feature items that make up a typical edition of The One Show. I mention it here, because I spotted a poster on a Transport for Wales train last Monday. It shows their timeline of proposed improvements over the next five years or so. One of these highlights is 'free infotainment'. At which point my blood ran cold. Having spent a lot of time on Cardiff buses in the last fifteen years or so, I have a horrible feeling that the content will probably involve live streaming of the BBC News channel.
You see, I think I must have missed the announcement in the papers when the UK government made it a legal requirement for the British people to watch the BBC's legendary 'impartial' journalism wherever they were. Cardiff Bus already have a few vehicles fitted out with TV screens, and they seem to show the BBC news on an endless loop. It's the same in hospital waiting rooms, where the TVs nearly always seems to be tuned to the same channel. (It came as a refreshing change to find the TV in the University Hospital of Wales tuned to E4. It meant I was able to watch a couple of episodes of The Big Bang Theory while I was waiting for my mother to see her consultant.) I think Tim Martin must have enforced the same rule in his pubs, because every Wetherspoon pub seems to show it from opening time to stop tap. And if you miss the constant stream of talking heads and spokespeople from 'think tanks' on buses, in hospitals or in pubs, you can stand outside Waterstones in Cardiff and watch it on a great big outdoor screen.
This is why my heart sank as I looked at the TfW timeline. Because I suspect the 'free infotainment' won't just be available – it'll be inescapable. I remember the old days of the National Express Rapide coach service from Aberdare to London (oh, happy days), where one of the selling points was the onboard video screens. But how could you concentrate on a book when there's a film being broadcast at loud volume on at least two screens, one behind the driver and one halfway down? I have a feeling that the upcoming 'free infotainment' will be similarly imposed on TfW passengers, whether they want it or not.
Which will, of course, ruin the reputation of the train as a good place to catch up with some work. I had a book to work on during Monday's journey, so I was able to make up some lost time during the hour's journey to Cardiff. I fear that will be a thing of the past as the timeline proceeds.
With this in mind, I'm posting this here because I hope I'm wrong. And if anyone from TfW does come across this, I hope they'll bear my views in mind. Watch this space, as they say on TV …

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