…and finally

Likewise, Bilky. A message on my ‘phone when I woke up this morning alerted me to the news of TVF’s closure.

Given my time zone, I missed out on all the discussion. As many of you have said, TVF was a daily staple for most of us, some days with more intensity than others. And as many have also said, the community has led to friendships away from these boards. That alone is testament enough to the camaraderie the forum has brought to many of us.

As for joining, it was 2004 for me and I signed-up in Bangkok Airport of all places! At an old-style Internet cafe, passing time between flights. I was googling something for some reason (probably Moira Stuart) and TV Forum came up in the search results.

The rest - as they say - is history. To be a member of a community forum for almost 20 years is an honour. Especially as an ‘outsider’ who doesn’t work in Television News, but is fascinated by it.

Where else would one have learned the proper addressing and formatting of BIG MOIRA (Hymagumba back in the day), or have been enthralled by the statistical brilliance of Tumble Tower. And - of course - the brilliant contributions of many who have allowed us to share our passion, mostly without fear or favour.

The fact this thread has reached 12 packed pages in a short space of time says it all.

Lastly, thank you Asa, for giving us this platform and allowing us to indulge in our passion. There is nothing else quite like TV Forum. The successor forum has quite big shoes to fill!

(Thanks also to all the Mods over the years).

This is sad but understandable news. I'm not really much of a regular. Just posted when I felt I had something worth saying and mostly went with that.

TVF was kind of my way to stay abreast of UK TV stuff, which I admit I get nostalgic for since moving to Florida almost 2 years ago now. I would always make a note to pop in for the TV Breakdowns thread and the Youtube/Twitter gold threads too. I guess we all have to move on eventually - as Niles Rodgers put it "I don't wanna live in the past, but it's a nice place to visit"

Thanks to Asa and the mod team, hope life treats you all well.

Sad news!

Can't quite believe it's been over 20 years....

Thanks Asa

I am shocked and stunned that this journey is over after 20 years, I will sign up to tvlive's forum and I shall miss this place hugely

I forgot to mention in my post above: As a mark of respect for this very sad announcement, today’s newscasters will all be wearing black.

Itll be missed but remembered

I wandered into TV Forum in April 2006 as a wholly incomprehensible American eleven year old with zero access to U.K. television and an inexplicable Irish alter ego. Within a few months of joining I somehow maneuvered a shoutout on Puffin’s Pla(i)ce and became a religious STORYFix fan.

In the intervening fifteen years this site has become a permanent part of my muscle memory, much like when one absentmindedly types Google into Google. It’s strange to think that TV Forum has been a part of my life longer than it has not.

While I am not a particularly active poster, I’ve grown to appreciate the site’s acerbic personalities and unapologetically parliamentary mode of moderation. For a site about a picture machine, TV Forum has a fundamentally humanizing presence - standing as a reminder than not all corners of the internet are yet to be subsumed by algorithmic precision and commodification of identity.

Thank you Asa for what you have built.

To echo others: a deep, heartfelt thank you to Asa for having built and driven this site for so long. I'm personally saddened to see TV Forum close, but I have full respect for your reasons. 20 years is an incredible innings, perhaps especially for a project of passion.

A special thanks as well to the mods here, who have helped keep this place ticking over. And thanks to everyone that has in some way contributed to the community that has grown here: it is what has kept me visiting (and on occasion even posting to) this site just about every day over many, many years.

Who remembers when I banned everyone, including myself with a rouge * on the ip ban filter when dealing with a troublesome user. That was a fun one. I sent a rather apologetic message to Asa who was the only active member for a few hours!

Isn't it amazing how your perception of other forum members gets stuck in the time when you first joined?

For example, I still sort of imagine Asa, itsrobert, and Isonstine to be in their mid-to-late teens when they're probably in their late 20s/early 30s now. I still always picture Gav Scott as in his late twenties/early thirties when we're probs around about the same age.

They're just four names from the top of my head - I have "impressions" of what I think of so many other posters here are like which are equally set in aspic from either the early days or the first time I noticed and enjoyed their posts.

I am going to miss this place. How time has flown.

Echoing what a few have said in this thread, including Asa, I really hope politics is kept off the replacement forum. I wouldn't go so far as to say it ruined TVF - TVF is and always was great - but there were certain threads I'd avoid for a long time because the righteous had taken them over and I came here to talk about TV and presentation.

Some of those threads became like "very special episodes" of comedy series. What "very special episodes" had in common were that they did teach you or expose you to something important but, at the end, you thought "Can I have the programme I love back, please?"

I was proud that in my 17 years on here from age 15 to 32 I was only warned twice before getting banned late last year and I did respect the terms of the site by not creating a new account until last night. I hope Asa will let me stay for the next few weeks given the end is near, however if this is to be my last contribution to the site I want to thank Asa for creating this place which I have visited most days....ok multiple times most days to see what exciting new posts, discussions, mocks and requests have popped up since my last visit

I have really enjoyed seeing people's mock designs over the years, Some of which could rival the real broadcasters. I tried to give constructive criticism to help new people improve their designs like making sure graphics were aligned rather than all over the place.

The requests parts of the forum which I've used myself a few times over the years and of course we all loved the Christmas presents thread each year.

I mostly posted about news presentation but did dip into other threads quite often usually as a lurker but made the odd contribution from time to time

Its been fascinating hearing from insiders about how all the little bits and bobs work to bring us pictures on our tellybox and I am one of those sad ones who used to get up early to see all your hard work when a new look on a channel launched - sometimes I hated it and others I loved & no matter what my view there were many who disagreed but then this place would be boring if we all liked the same thing

As mentioned above I was also one of those who likes to watch a news channel at the top of the hour for the countdown sequence or Sky News's top of the hour which used to feel like a real event no matter how many times you saw it. I was a big fan of Bid tv, Price-drop tv and speed auction tv otherwise known as the sit up channels. Many years back I posted a mock for an advert for the channel which I made in power point, I was told it was good but I had too much time on my hands to be making adverts for a shopping channel. Peter Simon was my favourite so Bilky Asko I read your Peter Simon quote in his voice even down to the pauses. I was sad when they closed down but I think we can agree their tactics and output in their final few months was shocking

So not only would I like to thank the mods for keeping people on the right side of the rules, not only would I like to thank people for the discussions over the last 17 years, not only would I like to thank all those who took the time to create mocks for us to all enjoy, not only would I like to thank all those who helped me with requests over the years and the kind member who sent me a copy of the BBC Election night many years ago on 8 discs when my recording failed, Not only would I like to thank all those who shared tv music over the years, not only would I like to thank the very talented people that put tv together. I also want to thank each and every one of you for providing me with a place to geek out on something very few people care about but this little community really really does care and that lead to heated discussions, laughs, jokes, frustration, sadness, agreement, disagreement, joy, inspiration and was on the whole a nice part of the internet which is sadly becoming smaller and smaller these days. (if you have never seen Peter Simon selling something you won't get the reference to the "not only" but he says it before every feature an item has)

To all of you goodbye and I hope you have a good, long and happy life geeking out on this niche interest

adios amigo, you shall be missed dearly.

can't wait for the tv live forum in april though!