Have you been annoying Monty Don?
Are you over the age of 30?
Monty Don has hit the headlines.
“Monty Don says BBC must stop pandering to ‘gardening mafia’” (Telegraph)
“My show won’t pander to ‘know-it-all garden mafia” (The Times)
“Monty Don is turned off by ‘mafia’ audiences watching Gardener’s World’ (Daily Mail).
“Monty Don inundated with support as Gardener’s World host welcomes new family arrival”(Daily Express)
O, whoops - the last one is off the point. It’s much more like the Monty Don headlines we are used to. On social media you may find hundreds of enthusiastic Gardener’s World fans mourning his dogs when they die, cheering on his family events, sympathising over his garden disasters and triumphs. Most of these reach the Daily Express:
Some of the fans may now be feeling rather insulted, after all their obsequiousness, to be accused of being “a small but vociferous part of the audience who see Gardeners' World as a chance to both tick the boxes of their own horticultural knowledge and to loudly disapprove if anything is shown or done in a way that differs from their own.”
Though the idea of being a ‘mafia’ ("Mafia" is sometimes used as an informal term to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Italian Mafia” according to Wikipedia) might seem rather audacious to those whose criminality has so far been confined to nicking a pot noodle from Tescos.
These Gardener’s World devotees are no longer the people he wishes to please - “In a column in Gardeners’ World magazine the celebrity gardener said the show now needed to attract a younger audience of renters.”
However, I doubt those are the people who have nothing better to do on a Friday evening than watch telly, however much Monty Don tries to persuade them?
I confess I don’t watch Gardener’s World. Do you? Are you one of the garden mafia or perhaps a suitably young ‘renter’? Will you be rushing to iPlayer to catch up on all the brand new ways of gardening unknown and undreamt of by the garden mafia?
Will Gardener’s World “help shape, inspire and inform your future” as Monty wishes?
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Gardeners World is going to find it tricky to get that new, younger audience if they insist on excluding the platforms the new, younger audience are currently on. The BBC coverage of the RHS shows excludes any other 'permanent video' created by others - ie YouTube (the UK's largest social media platform), TikTok (the world's fastest growing platform) and, theoretically, Instagram Reels (though the Directors Prize at this year's RHS Chelsea was given to Dahlia Beach, which specialises in Instagram Reels). The rules seem patchily applied but they are there. The days when you could attract an audience by being 'exclusive' and putting on things they might like so they can only get them from you are long gone. Now you get further faster by being inclusive and working 'with' your 'competitors.'
I stopped watching "Monty's World" years ago. The list of reasons why I refuse to acknowledge the epithet of "Nation's Head Gardener" is loooonnnng". Oh for the days of St. Geoff who "persuaded" and informed/entertained, speaking to all abilities and really showing how to to something from the get go, rather than preaching about results and foibles. Beechgrove makes no secret of the little army of gardeners who do most of the work whilst the presenters get the glory. And you won't find me anywhere near the Express so if Monty ends up there, fine by me.