TV Home Forum

…and finally

News about TV Forum (March 2021)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
AS
Asa Admin
tl;dr The site will close at the end of March.

A big decision but after twenty years I've decided to close TV Forum.

There hasn’t been one single reason for doing this, but a growing feeling that something I've always treated as a fun hobby simply no longer has the enjoyment that it once did. The reality is the site could probably tick over for years to come but it's become somewhat tiring, and tiresome dealing with a minority - both on and off the board. Working on the refresh last year masked my feelings a little as I was determined, having spent a long time on it, that it should be released and used. But once that settled down it did make me think again about whether I wanted to continue...and also whether I could still commit to it like it deserves.

I don't often subscribe to the 'things were better in the old days' mantra but I do think there's been an increase in the sense of entitlement some people have in feeling they can post whatever they like. And throwing some serious temper tantrums for merely being warned. Some of the PMs and emails I've received...! Whether it's someone insisting they have divine right to talk about rotas, complaining about how "woke" users on this site are, or arguing with me over whether they're a previously banned member or not, it's just got a point where I just don't want to spend my time on getting into these conversations anymore. The RTPs and occasionally diving into the 800+ page thread on Metropol didn't do much for my enthusiasm either! Shocked

Then there’s those who enjoy soapbox style rants, or politicising threads, not even trying to relate it to presentation. There's some real news junkies on here and for someone who doesn't have that much interest (beyond generally keeping up with what's going on in the world and obviously the OSP of news channels), it's been quite a slog to moderate sometimes.

It is a shame as there's many on here who write interesting posts, stay on topic and will have never seen a warning PM in their life! I'm confident that won't disappear, it just needs a new home.

Obviously for continuity reasons (pun intended) the most seamless outcome would be to just hand it all over to someone else. But there are a couple of reasons for not doing that...

The site runs bespoke software. I wouldn't want to stay on as a technical contact or convert it over. Plus it's much easier to create a forum of your own these days. Within hours you could own a domain name and have a one-click hosting solution to set up a forum from scratch. And for better or worse, I'd like "TV Forum" to be judged on this era. A new site won't have any prejudice because of the members who post here, or what they post. A fresh start will allow someone to have their rules and their members.

So short of any major presentation developments, the site will close at the end of this month.

It will then become a read-only archive. Thousands of members have spent many years posting here so I wouldn’t want all that to be lost. It will also allow any new sites to refer back and possibly continue some conversations as seamlessly as possible. 

Anyone is free to promote alternative sites here.

In hindsight there's things I could have done better. Getting a handle on rota talk much earlier for one. I do think the change last September was a positive move, although appreciate not everyone will have felt the same. I could no doubt have been more transparent with reasons why threads and posts were removed over the years too.

I certainly don't want this to be all downbeat though. I've genuinely been really proud to run TV Forum. But a forum is nothing without posters so thank you to all of you who have contributed posts, topics, amazing mocks and answered requests over the years. Particularly those who have been around since the early days as your support and continued presence here helped shape much of the community. There have been well over a million posts, 130,000 kudos given to 1300 members, around 4000 mock designs and 16,000 Gallery votes. Not bad going.

I've taken some time recently to go back and read some of the topics over the years, and it's been great reminding myself how many people have come to TVF to talk about the big rebrands, media stories or news events. Literally a channel's rebrand, after rebrand after err rebrand. A lot has happened! Reading Larry the Loafer's "what you like about this telly stuff" thread last week has unintentionally been quite poignant. In the next few days I'm going to add a link to order by the highest number of replies in the first 24 hours of a topic. This will highlight some of the biggest events we've talked about. Anyone guess the highest?

Other things off the top of my head... brilliant to have James Mobbs do a Q&A last year. Remember EventChat when we tried real time discussion? Worked ok until it broke the site on the launch day of NBH.  The 'newsreaders all seem to be wearing black' thread will go down as a bizarre all time classic. Pip2's incredible 'TVF as a channel' mock for its birthday a few years ago was amazing. I'm sure there's many more and you'll have your own favourites.

A huge thank you to all the moderators - itsrobert and Isonstine in the early days and MrTomServo (remember the 4th mod vote?). To Bail since 2008 and incredibly for almost 16 years, Charlie Wells. I simply couldn't have run the place without all your help.

To all those in the industry who have lurked over the years, I hope we haven’t been too much of a frustrating read but have entertained and maybe occasionally encouraged the odd on-screen change or two. And to those who posted, the site was never designed specifically for insiders but your insight and contributions have been a privilege to read.

What began as a throwaway message board on TV Home in March 2001 became so much more than I could ever have imagined. Thank you.

And as a light entertainment star once said..."I hope your memory will be very kind to us".

Cheers, Asa
Last edited by Asa on 3 March 2021 7:09pm
ST
Ste Founding member
Very sad to hear this, I don't post often despite being here for many years but have enjoyed reading the forum on a daily basis.

Thanks for all your hard work over the years Asa.
RO
rob Founding member
Asa, your hard work has been appreciated by me. It's been a massive part of my life for almost 20 years. Thank you for everything you have done for the TV presentation community.

As a way of keeping television presentaiton discussion going, I will be launching a new forum on TV Live very soon.
DB
dbl
Asa, you may not have realised it but you creating this site 20 years ago helped create a butterfly effect with people getting started with their careers in the media/TV industry. I don't know what I would have done as a career without reading this site, it influenced me what I wanted to study at uni.

All the knowledgeable technical discussions from yesteryear has come in handy in understanding how broadcasting and continuity/branding works.

I appreciate your (and team's) hard work over the years. Sad to hear but completely understandable. Sad
Last edited by dbl on 3 March 2021 7:23pm - 4 times in total
DW
DavidWhitfield
Asa, I may have only been a member of TV Forum since 2013 (which I'm aware is only a third of the time the site has existed and you and our founding members have been here) but nevertheless, I’ve enjoyed my time here very much and would like to thank you and the rest of the top table for keeping it going for so long, a task which – as you alluded to - must have been thankless at times. I visit this site daily, it's become part of my routine, and I shall miss it very much, however, you must do what’s right for you, and if that’s closing the site, then that’s what you must do. Thanks a lot for all you’ve done, and I hope you’ll feel a weight has been lifted following this decision. Thanks again.
PA
Parker
Its been a quite remarkable time for me on here first as Troggles then Parker (when my email collapsed and I couldn't get it back) The closure has co-incised with my forthcoming retirement (or semi retirement) in broadcasting for ** years Very Happy It will be sad to the forum go but I agree everything has its time, and its conclusion. Good luck to Asa & thank you for all your efforts over these year (has it been that many) Thumbs up
Last edited by Parker on 3 March 2021 7:26pm
oflahertya, DE88 and Asa gave kudos
PF
PFML84
To say I'm gutted is an understatement. I fully understand your reasons Asa and wish you all the best for the future.

I do not possess the technical expertise to do it myself, but if someone does decide to create a new site or forum to continue on the type of topics and discussion that goes on here then I hope we get a link so we can continue to stay together as our own little group on another page and welcome all newcomers to keep the conversation going, even if that conversation is just to complain about Oneness.

Thanks for everything.
AD
adamiow
Very sad news - having just checked, it makes be feel rather old to realise that I joined nearly 15 years ago - where did the time go?

As I do feel there is still very much a place for a forum such as this, I hope that a phoenix will rise from the ashes and a new forum will take over the TV (and perhaps radio?) mantle.
WH
what
I spent so many of my teenage years on this site. I've loved getting to know you all and having an outlet to talk about things no one in my life knew or really cared much about. It's partly because of this site that I'm heading to do media studies at uni in September (COVID allowing).

It's been great.

Thanks, Asa. And thanks to the mods also.
Last edited by what on 3 March 2021 7:35pm - 2 times in total
oflahertya, DE88 and Asa gave kudos
NJ
Neil Jones Founding member
Sorry to hear this, TV Forum is possibly the only site I've been a continuous member and regular contributor to. Most sites I join and only post off and on. This one was the opposite. It has been a joy.

Thank you Asa. Thank you everybody else, I have learnt a lot. Shame it has to end, but nothing lasts forever. Sad
:-(
A former member
Oh bugger.
MW
Mike W
Asa; thanks for your hard work in keeping the site up and running. I joined only 15 years ago as an overweight child (to quote tvmercia 'the said chubby boy') and have effectively grown up posting on here and generally keeping myself dosed up on TV presentation changes, and while I wasn't on here nearly as long as many others I thank you for running this site as a hobby over the years. Maybe one day we can do the meet up that was once planned; I'd happily sort you out a drink for your effort.

I love reading how people joined with their interest and turned that into a career.

Don't look on any of this as any room for improvement on yours, Bail's, Charlie Wells' or MrTomServo's part; you all did brilliantly and this light blue corner of the interwebs will be missed.

Also a thank you to the other contributors for your wealth of knowledge - even though I work in an industry polar opposites to broadcasting I love learning about the technology behind it.

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