This isn't confirmed, Its just suggested to try and keep the licence fee from being cut. But if it does happen this will mean the Snooker will have to go on BBC Two fully with no cutting off. As the boss of snooker Barry Hearn said they still have the rights for now.
Presumably the BBC have done the market research on the Red Button services, and see it as an easy cut. I'm hoping they put some of the additional sports/festival coverage on the linear channels to compensate for the loss. I think the reduction in the sports rights budget might be more easily spotted, F1 the obvious target methinks!
I think it would a shame for the BBC to get involved in any bidding war for normal (by which I mean events which occur annually or more frequently) sports coverage of any kind. To have sport featured on the BBC should be valued by sporting bodies as a privilege.
This could have a big effect on things like Wimbledon, where in recent years they have created up to 6 red button services to show all the different matches (unless they were to create temporary services to show matches during that period).
I read this earlier and interpreted it as closing the TV based red button and moving to the connected red button, which was always inevitable, but just reading it again to post the link here I'm not so sure now. Would be foolish and a huge waste of nearly two decades worth of investment to axe the Connected Red Button just as it is finding it's feet, though in reality I suspect it would be bought under the iPlayer brand.
Either way disgusts me that viewers are suffering as the government use BBC funds to finance their unfunded election promises. They really are sending the BBC back 20 years.
I read this earlier and interpreted as closing the TV based red button and moving to the connected red button, which was always inevitable, but just reading it again to post the link here I'm not so sure now. Would be foolish and a huge waste of nearly two decades worth of investment to axe the Connected Red Button just as it is finding it's feet, though in reality I suspect it would be bought under the iPlayer brand.
Either way disgusts me that viewers are suffering as the government use BBC funds to finance their unfunded election promises. They really are sending the BBC back 20 years.
The BBC press release confirms that it is the broadcast Red Button that is being wound down, and the connected services will continue:
That's a relief, especially as it's technical standards have improved recently, and a direct repudiation of those former staff including David Bond who earlier today suggested ALL RB services were to go. (One of the sources for my short comment before leaving home this morning).
And as they've been mentioned I do wish they would make cuts to Casualty and EastEnders - nothing dramatic but just realising that by not commissioning episodes of shows for slots you know they won't air in you can save a couple of million every year. That probably saves them a weeks worth of EastEnders every year (two in World Cup/Euro years - for now!) and a couple of episodes of Casualty. It would just be nice to see them spreading the cuts about as it feels like at the moment they don't care about upsetting sports fans, news viewers or fans of BBC3, but are scared **** of upsetting the EastEnders fanbase.
I really do think the BBC need to begin being vocal about closing their SD channels too, at least on Freeview. There is the view it'll need to be done by the end of the decade so they should get a date in the diary for the day they can return to having all their channels on one mux rather than across three.
Satellite is a bit more complicated due to the need for all the regions, although there is the question about whether some sub-regions should have their dedicated news content delivered as an extra via the iPlayer/Connected Red Button to save on the stream. The SkyQ announced today might pave the way for the BBC's connected services to be on Sky but it sounds like that is very much a product aimed at the premium market rather than it being roled out across their customer base.