I can't help but feel that it ought to return to basics. Doing the show from a trailer made it look pretty cheap and actually detracted from the core of the show which was to talk to coppers about how the public might help them solve crimes. I don't think it actually has to be in a studio that said. Maybe a portable set along the lines of Question Time could have helped the show settle in to a roving location?
It's hard to justify axing what was basically just one hour per month,
Quite the opposite, the fewer episodes you make, the less cost efficient it is. One episode of Crimewatch a month won’t cost much less than a weekly series, hence why they tried the weekly format to get more for their money.
I couldn't help noticing in the report on BBC Breakfast they mentioned/cited falling ratings. Surely Crimewatch is a programme which counts strongly towards it's public service remit, and therefore ratings shouldn't really be a major factor. I fear axing it may not go down with many politicians and anti-BBC press, who will use it's axing as an opportunity to criticise the BBC.
In my opinion Crimewatch is a programme which is best shown in it's old monthly format. Trying to move it to a series condensed into x consecutive weeks doesn't really work for the main show. Maybe someone decided to do that hoping/knowing that ratings would fall, and they could then use it as an excuse to axe the series. The daytime Crimewatch roadshow may well work in it's current format, however I assume being pre-watershed it limits the cases and what they can show.
Trying to move it to a series condensed into x consecutive weeks doesn't really work for the main show. Maybe someone decided to do that hoping/knowing that ratings would fall, and they could then use it as an excuse to axe the series. The daytime Crimewatch roadshow may well work in it's current format, however I assume being pre-watershed it limits the cases and what they can show.
Moving to a short run of weekly series must have made it significantly cheaper to make though. Rather than having a production team working all year on a monthly show, they could crew up for a weekly show for just a short period, with crew working just for Crimewatch.
I suspect the reality was that in the monthly format there was a lot of production team down-time, if they didn't have other shows to work on in the same department, and that made the show too expensive to be justified, or too difficult to make for the budget...
Crimewatch seemed to lose its appeal for me when they began the "portakabin presentation" from an old crime scene, complete with needlessly flashing blue lights on police cars.
It came across as rather sensationalist, something the original format had tried hard to avoid.
I can't see ITV picking up the format, or creating something similar, unless they could get away with charging people to call a premium rate phone line with information, and that wouldn't be in the spirit of providing a public service.
A weekly appointment-to-watch television programme, that only airs one fifth of the year, is not the best way for police to appeal for information. Same applies to Watchdog. These brands should be reimagined for the web with a constantly-updated format.
With Facebook and Twitter, it has lost its magic. Police can make appeals instantly on those platforms. I'm sure we've all come across re-postings or re-tweets about a crime in our area.
Also, why do TV companies put out statements saying popular programmes have been AXED. Why not just silently drop it? Would anybody even have noticed if it didn't return?
I can't see ITV picking up the format, or creating something similar, unless they could get away with charging people to call a premium rate phone line with information, and that wouldn't be in the spirit of providing a public service.
They did try a similar thing back in the 90s, a one off show, with a very bored looking Penny Smith as the presenter. LWT I think, and it was 9pm on a Friday ?
ITV did try a very similar format back in 2006/2007 - Manhunt: Solving Britain's Crimes. Mark Austin and Saran Heaney fronted the show, which only broadcast two episodes...