4 Learning

A mention of schools programmes in another thread reminded me to ask this

What presentation do Channel 4 use around schools programmes thesedays? Their standard idents?

And, are all traditional 4 Learning programmes now in the early hours, with the morning section being a mix of normal programmes with a slightly educational edge?

4 Learning is dead really. They use normal idents, ads, promos etc.. And most of the programming is about as educational as a stick.

They still send programme guides to school headed with '4 Learning' so the brand is still kindof alive, but it became very low key in 2004 when the traditional countdown was abandoned and the name's only appearance in presentation was a URL on the idents (although they were still special idents), then when C4 had it's big rebrand last year they gave up on all special presentation and started introducing programmes in the standard way with their standard idents.

The nature of the programmes themselves varies. Some traditional stalwarts like Stop, Look, Listen survive but much of the programming is in declince. There is a general shift, not just on 4 Learning but on BBC Schools aswell, away from secondary school provision in the mornings, the vast majority of schools programmes are now for primary schools (at least thats the way it seems anyway). Although curtailing the older age range is nothing you - it used to be schools *and* colleges remember. Programmes for older children now tend to be run overnight.

I actually find it quite surprising that daytime schools provision continues to survive in any form - virtually all schools have had a VCR and so the ability to record programming overnight since the late 80's.

It is surprising how many Schools still use the old material, when I went to my High School they had nothing new on tape, the newest they showed us was some of the BBC GCSE Bitesize programme (which were very useful), but even then they had a tendancy to show old clips. But the oldest we saw, mainly in Science lessons were from the =2= era and Granada's Your Living Body , plus we managed to see all of Grampian's Living and Growing which had scary music.

You can tell Channel 4 are running '4Learning' at the bare minimum now, they tend to repeat some Prime Time programmes with some form of Educational value without the adverts, plus there are quite a few fly on the wall documentaries now rather than specific programmes. Though I don't know about their Overnight programmes, whether they show specific ones here is something that could be discussed.

The BBC is different though, they're winding down the BBC2 service, but there is the odd thing on Learning Zone, and specific programmes on CBBC's Class TV which I could see being a permanent home for Schools programmes.

Some School's can vary, some tape programmes, others buy directly from the BBC, or they may use other forms of Multimedia which weren't available when the majority of this Forum were at School. But the OU has had this problem of late, with more of their Students turning to Interactive Learning rather than the BBC2 programmes.

So during those morning programmes on Channel 4 which feature a tiny element of educational value, do they still advertise programme backup material at the end over a slide?

The BBC2 schools section has been the bare minimum for years now, only about an hour a day max? Considering the rest of the schedule its either this or an episode of Flog It. And Class TV on CBBC is surely only there to stop the Daily Mail accusing the BBC of encouraging truancy. It serves a very minimal purpose

Last time I watched 4Learning and there was only a small graphic for the Channel 4 website on the top right on the screen, with the announcer saying about the information that is available.

how many hours do ofcom say BBC/C4 should show of schools TV? I can't imagine any schools would still watch programs live

Oh I don't know, whenever I'm in school the epic Words & Pictures still seems to get a live showing, even if the programmes themselves are a few years old.

top to bottom, around and around and flick!

Commercially, I believe that it is smart making the statement that a programme is school TV as vague as possible. If they were to say "You're watching BBC/C4 Schools" some viewers would automatically say "Oh no, not school TV!" and then switch channel.

In Sweden all educational programming i handled by a certain company called UR (which get 5% of the licence fee) broadcasting in certain slots on the main SVT channels. Since they are a separate company, they also have separate identity, with a UR logo in their graphics and in the top-right corner during programmes. However, the UR name may scare people away. I remember that a TV critic wrote somthing like "the UR brand automatically slashes ratings".

Though the 4 Learning strand isn't as school orientated as it once was, it is better than the situation with the BBC which has a really random schedule for school programmes.

The C4 line-up can be quite appealling to the non-school brigade - I've caught a couple of things on there which are quite interesting, including some documentaries going behind the scenes of C4 and various TV events. The Deadly Knowledge Show was also quite a good alternative to Jeremy Kyle.

I'm not sure though of the reasoning for these changes - I'd imagine it makes programmes appeal to a wider audience, but as C4 don't screen adverts during the strand that's not really too important.

Probably the same reason why Open University branding on the BBC has been heavily curtailed over the past 5/6 years.

Of course, S4C still runs that dragon carousel between progs, although now with an anno over the end of it. I'm wondering if they'll still be using it when 4 learning comes back this month?