MGEITF 2011: The Brian Cox Effect

After Eric Schmidt, the 36th Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival certainly gave the boffins a share of voice.

On Saturday, Professor Brain Cox was interviewed by the luvvie and broadcaster Mariella Frostrup in what was billed ‘The Alternative MacTaggart’ lecture.

It was not very alternative at all. It built on some of Schmidt’s views, the main one being that there should be more investment in the sciences – whether from business and enterprise or from the government (in terms of investment or incentives).

In the Friday night MacTaggart, Schmidt focused on computer science and engineering, while Cox spoke about traditional sciences – physics, chemistry and biology. But they were on the same page… though for theatre effect I think the Professor once said: “That’s where I disagree with Eric Schmidt”.

Cox has been a phenomenon in getting 10% of the population (six million viewers) to watch his science show Wonders of the Solar System on BBC2. He has been lauded and well-documented as encouraging children to be more interested in science and there has been an increase in students opting for university courses in these subjects as a result.

Frostrup mentioned the “Brian Cox Effect” many times during the session. But Cox is quick to be self-deprecating and like any boffin is hesitant to misattribute to one conclusion.

However, the rock star of academia still likes the spotlight and the plaudits. He will need more of this if he is to become controller of BBC2… was he joking when he used this to talk about his future ambitions? Who knows where Cox’s tardis will take him in some parallel universe.

He said he’d like to see lots more of the television schedule devoted to science. But Cox understands that the BBC has to have something for everyone – if it didn’t have soaps and reality shows and compete in ratings wars, the BBC would end up as a ghetto for high-brow programming for only a fraction of the UK population, he said. Having this content means the BBC provides an opportunity for viewers to be attracted to content they may not have considered before.

On that note, it will be interesting to see how the BBC deploys the cuts enforced upon it…