At UM, we’re always looking to get more airtime for our clients, but hats off to Miss Carole Hersee who has been broadcast for a massive 70,000 hours. The BBC test card, known as Test Card F, which shows Carole Hersee wearing a red shirt and red hairband, and Bubbles, the clown, surrounded by colour scales and test graphics, was transmitted from 1967 to 1998.
Designed by Miss Hersee’s father, George Hersee, a BBC engineer, it is being broadcast again on the BBC’s high definition (HD) channel to help viewers tune their HD sets, and is currently shown for 90 seconds every two hours when programmes are not on air. Technicians have rescanned the card in HD to allow viewers to set the colour, contrast and sharpness on modern televisions.
“I haven’t actually seen the image on television for about 10 years and we don’t have an HD television so I would have to go into one of those electrical shops that sells televisions to see it, but I suspect if I did do that, I would just cringe and walk out,” said Miss Hersee, a film and theatre costume maker, who has worked on films including The Last Emperor and Dangerous Liaisons and the west end production of The Phantom of the Opera.
Test Card F has been broadcast for an estimated 70,000 hours since it was first shown on BBC 2 in 1967, and Miss Hersee, who was paid around £100 by the BBC when the image first appeared, is thought to hold the record for the most TV appearances by a single person. With thanks to the Telegraph.
By simple contrast with Susan Boyle, this really does show the power of digital distribution and the internet.
With 100,000,000 views of her 7 minute clip (not counting all the others) that works out as 11.66million hours compared to Miss Hersee’s 70,000.
All thought it doesn’t compare directly, it’s still food for thought!
Ah yes,
a fair point Peter.
Miss Hersee’s 70,000 hours represent screen time only though. Not measured out by amount of viewers. Would be impossible really to calculate the amount of people who have watched a colour card since 1967!
Also BBC colour card only really shown in Uk and Ireland.
Does definately give food for thought though.
Thanks for your comment!