Wow, surprisingly we are getting a Channel Islands opt-out, and very well it's going so far. From an opt-out who usually have problems on a simple Spotlight opt-out, they are doing very well opting from Jersey to Guernsey live. They even switched back to London on time, no problems at all. The local Pudsey bear touching up the presenter was a laugh too!
I think the presenters do get paid, however Terry donates his fee to Children in Need. If I recall in the past he had made a fuss about Gabby not giving her fee to Children in Need.
I'm interested to know who gets paid on CIN night? I assume that not everyone is working for free? However, is everyone getting paid?
Interesting point.
What I've seen of Cotton and Kerplunk has been enough, and it's once again far too much music. They've cut the number of OB concerts to two though this year - they had about seven or eight last year, and with all the publicity here surrounding the Wrexham one I was assuming it would be a nationwide thing again - so quite surprised Wrexham is hosting again.
It have been good to put the concerts live on the Interactive feeds as an alternative to CiN though.
Some staff volunteer to do stuff they wouldn't normally do - like answering phones etc. However staff who are required to do their normal jobs to make CiN happen - like camera crews, engineers etc. are usually paid - to EXPECT people to work for free would be deemed to be unacceptable.
I'm sure many staff do make a donation - but if it is part of their regular schedule, and not overtime, you have to remember that they still have mortgages and bills to pay...
Regional staff may be working overtime, but many staff at Television Centre may be just doing this as part of their regular duties.