This sounds bizzare although not surprising coming from Whittingdale seeing that he is a tory. Even though I don't pay the BBC LF there is currently no problem with the BBC showing their News at Ten bulletin and having it up against ITV News at Ten at the same time.
I will keep the same opinion intact for their other programming like Strictly and the X Factor. If anyone and everyone has British TV Channels to watch these shows on a regular basis they have a free choice in watching them at their appropriate time of when they are shown on TV. The British government should not have a role to dictate in what British people should watch on their television sets at home.
The BBC should not be interfered with as it has a royal charter to keep itself independent and away from all types of interference from the British government. I should also say that both the BBC and ITV have distinctive programmes in it's scheduling as they already have a separate form of identity to one another.
They both do well in their distinctiveness by a long mile with News at Ten being one which began at ITV.
This is logic on the same scale that is applied to BBC Radio, where it was decreed that Radio 1 needed to focus on younger audiences because the commercial sector was complaining they couldn't compete.
That's like me opening a gym and complaining about the competition from the council funded leisure centre down the road.
You can't come in as a competitor to something that is well established and moan about the competition having an unfair advantage.
If it was 1983 and he was complaining that the BBC's launch of Breakfast Time as a spoiler to TV-am was a bit underhand, he might well have a point, but this is just blatant anti BBC nonsense from a Minister whose prejudices make him unsuitable for the job.
The most important thing is that they reverse the ridiculous decision to call the bulletins "BBC News at 1/6/10" and return to their proper BBC names of "1/6/10 o'clock News"
I guess the idea behind that renaming was to reinforce the BBC News brand.
Maybe so but it doesn't stop people tweeting or posting about something they've just seen on "News at Ten"... on BBC One. Yuck.
People are being rather naive when they state that the 10 O'Clock News beats News at Ten because more people prefer it, conveniently forgetting that when ITV reintroduced the programme in 2001, it beat the BBC in the ratings for weeks afterwards. The tables turned only when people wised up and got tired of the tedious '3 nights at 10pm, 2 nights whenever we feel like it' from ITV. The BBC's more consistent 10 has since become so ingrained that it makes zero sense in viewers' minds to switch over to ITV to watch something they can already see on BBC One.
On Whittingdale: he is deluded and spouting comments 15 years too late.
BBC News at Ten may be given longer slot
The BBC is considering the extension of its flagship 10pm news programme as part of a shakeup of BBC1’s evening schedule.
Senior management are understood to be looking to extend the programme, presented by Huw Edwards, by at least 10 minutes to 10.45pm. The proposals, first mooted months ago by BBC news executives, comes after the regional news element of the flagship news programme was extended during May’s general election.
A more radical move, to run a full “news hour” until 11pm, is also said to have been considered, according to BBC sources.
I was thinking that last night. Not only is there a news overlap within the BBC, the ITV News at When doesn't finish until 10.40 either... That's the main three channels all showing news.
