Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2012 May 5

= May 5 =

Blackouts in other countries
Is the practice of blacking out sports games on TV or on the radio common worldwide, or is it a North America-exclusive practice? The article does not mention anything about its use outside of the Americas, but since it has a tag that says "this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject", that isn't surprising. Does Formula One blackout races? Does the Premier League or Bundesliga blackout games? Is the practice even used outside of the US and Canada? Narutolovehinata5 tccsdnew 04:38, 5 May 2012 (UTC)


 * It was common in the past in Australian football, particularly with the Australian Football League and its predecessor the Victorian Football League. The Grand Final, the championship game, would not be televised in Melbourne, always the host city, unless all tickets were sold. Telecasts of other games were delayed to reduce competition with attendance at the ground. But in recent times the ability to get big payments from the TV networks seems to have swung policy the other way and now all games are televised live. A similar situation existed for Test Cricket in Australia. HiLo48 (talk) 06:37, 5 May 2012 (UTC)


 * In South Africa for a number of years the SABC would blackout, in the host city, the first two sessions of play every day of a Test cricket match. This was to encourage more people to attend the match at the grounds. They would resume the broadcast in the host city after the tea break (i.e. the last one-third of each day's play). Zunaid 06:43, 5 May 2012 (UTC)
 * I don't think that this happens in the UK. Alansplodge (talk) 18:32, 5 May 2012 (UTC)
 * The only UK example I can think of is that Saturday 3pm league football games are not televised. --TammyMoet (talk) 19:27, 5 May 2012 (UTC)
 * It sort of happens in France - at least, all the best football games are on Canal+, which is otherwise free when there is nothing good on. It's not exactly the same as a blackout in North America though. Adam Bishop (talk) 17:07, 11 May 2012 (UTC)

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
2 questions here:
 * 1) What breed was Edison in the movie?
 * 2) What was the worth of 30 shillings back then (dont even know the date) for a rundown former Grand Prix car?Lihaas (talk) 22:20, 5 May 2012 (UTC)


 * Edison is an Old English Sheepdog.
 * According to our article, the setting is the 1910s. If it is the early-mid 1910s, then 30 shillings is about £135-140 (approx. USD$215–225) in today's money. If the second half of the decade, then it is somewhere between £70 and £120 (~USD$110–190). See the calulator at thisismoney.co.uk.
 *  AJ Cham  22:46, 5 May 2012 (UTC)


 * The middle of the 1910s would be a year into the First World War, hence the rapid inflation. I'm certain the story wasn't set in wartime. BTW the face value of 30 shillings in modern decimal money is £1.50 for those not old enough to do the maths. For some reason, items often used to be priced in shillings up to about 50 shillings (ie £2.50) and thereafter in pounds and shillings. See Fifty Shilling Tailors. Those were the days. Alansplodge (talk) 00:33, 7 May 2012 (UTC)


 * The Motor Car Industry in Coventry Since the 1890's By David Thoms, Tom Donnelly suggests that in 1912, you could buy a new "light car" for £250 or (using AJCham's figures above) maybe £23,500 in today's money. The average annual wage of a teacher in 1911 was £176.15 (sorry, they don't show how much an absent minded inventor was likely to earn). Alansplodge (talk) 00:46, 7 May 2012 (UTC)


 * Do we know why our article thinks the movie is set in the 1910s? In the original book by Ian Fleming, the car was based on a car that was produced in the 1920s.  However, there are many differences between the book and the movie, so a slight change in time periods wouldn't be too surprising.  John M Baker (talk) 15:47, 7 May 2012 (UTC)
 * I must admit that I haven't read the book, but the style of clothing in the film is clearly pre-WWI. A difficulty with setting it any earlier is that there wouldn't be any old motor cars, only new ones! Alansplodge (talk) 20:19, 7 May 2012 (UTC)