Did anyone else notice how the amount of US programmes dramatically reduced after Jan 1993 and when the new companies started.
Nearly around peak time was dropped, expect for MSW which manged to stay until 1994, while other stuff were shown at weekend afternoons. There was alot more homegrown programmes for the 8 or 9pm slots.
sure, but the 25% production outside of the M25 quota was introduced under the 1990 Broadcasting Act, which opened up the floodgates for indies to get programmes onto ITV without having to go through a broadcaster, so rather than getting Granada, Central and Yorkshire to make everything, somebody else could do it C4 style.
Did anyone else notice how the amount of US programmes dramatically reduced after Jan 1993 and when the new companies started.
Nearly around peak time was dropped, expect for MSW which manged to stay until 1994, while other stuff were shown at weekend afternoons. There was alot more homegrown programmes for the 8 or 9pm slots.
I think this is regrettable to be honest. The US shows were, and are of much better quality than the cheap filler that infests the schedules now. Broadcasters had to keep up with the best of the US shows, whereas after 1993 the standards dropped as everything dropped to the level of the filler rubbish that replaced the well-made US dramas. This was a contributing factor to the overall decline in standards in the UK.
Most UK network drama is of a higher quality than many US network shows - although quantity wise it's thin on the ground. Indeed across most genres other than factual the trend has been towards fewer quality productions rather than just churning out content to fill the hours, although I do agree a US drama might be preferable to another hour of cheap filler. ITV's accountants would disagree though.
US drama on mainstream channels has a recent history of performing really badly. So not a good return on investment.
See The Americans & Pushing Daisies which flopped big time for ITV. Can't think of BBC One's last primetime US drama, probably Damages but that was later in the schedule.
US drama on mainstream channels has a recent history of performing really badly. So not a good return on investment.
See The Americans & Pushing Daisies which flopped big time for ITV. Can't think of BBC One's last primetime US drama, probably Damages but that was later in the schedule.
It's really the domain of multi-channel nowadays.
Yep - look back to the days of Dallas, Dynasty, Cagney & Lacey etc. and you can see how the UK TV landscape has changed. US drama used to be huge in peak time on the BBC - now it's non-existent.
:-(
A former member
To be fair Baywatch was a big part of ITV early evening line up on a Saturday for years during the 90s. BH 90210 would have been the same if Sky one never nicked it.
I think LA law was the very last series to be place in peak time ITV on Thursday at 9pm before sky one nick the last series and ch4 repeated. I think Alf was the last US sitcom to get a Peak time airing. Night time or in the case of STV/Carlton Daytime a few US sitcoms were giving some airing.
Co-productions though are becoming more and more common - Humans and The Last Kingdom being obvious examples from this year, while Downton Abbey is as much an NBC show as it is an ITV show.
Co-productions though are becoming more and more common - Humans and The Last Kingdom being obvious examples from this year, while Downton Abbey is as much an NBC show as it is an ITV show.
How PBS was the only channel to show it in the usa?
To be fair Baywatch was a big part of ITV early evening line up on a Saturday for years during the 90s. me airing.
Yep - but Baywatch was effectively bankrolled by ITV eventually - so it was close to being a UK show made in the US...
Yet it was also shown around the world?
Yep - but acquisitions cost far less than original productions or co-productions usually. Baywatch's original production costs were effectively underwritten by ITV (LWT I think?) rather than them buying it after it had been made.
Co-productions though are becoming more and more common - Humans and The Last Kingdom being obvious examples from this year, while Downton Abbey is as much an NBC show as it is an ITV show.
How PBS was the only channel to show it in the usa?
Don't confuse production arms and channels.
In the UK Bake Off is made for the BBC by a company largely owned by Sky, and Graham Norton's BBC Show is made by a production company owned by ITV, but both shows are commissioned by the BBC.
NBC Universal may own the company that makes Downton for ITV (Carnival?), but that doesn't stop PBS co-funding the production (i.e. paying NBC Universal to make it alongside ITV) and thus having UK broadcast rights. It's not about who makes shows, it's about who commissions and pays for them.
To be fair Baywatch was a big part of ITV early evening line up on a Saturday for years during the 90s. me airing.
Yep - but Baywatch was effectively bankrolled by ITV eventually - so it was close to being a UK show made in the US...
Yet it was also shown around the world?
Yes! Home and Away is similarly effectively funded by Channel 5. Certainly at one point Ofcom actually regarded it as a "UK production" when it came to a certain quota on C5.
It's also why Seven Network decided to go with Channel 5 over ITV; only the former was offering a lifetime deal. I've heard from a few sources that had the Channel 5 deal not gone through, the show may well have been axed by Seven.
Last edited by Rob_Schneider on 19 December 2015 3:10am
In the UK Bake Off is made for the BBC by a company largely owned by Sky, and Graham Norton's BBC Show is made by a production company owned by ITV, but both shows are commissioned by the BBC.
It's also why you get the slightly odd situation of programmes like The Royle Family being released by ITV DVD under its ITV Legends banner - it was a Granada production even though it's very much associated with the BBC.
ITV DVD releases also include Poldark and This is England '90.
