BBC Four to become archive channel (p15)

My taste in programmes on BBC Four is quite large. I've watched the music documentaries which are excellent. I've more recently taken the time to watch BBC Four for movie & art related programming as well. I have repeated blocks of Peaky Blinders & Line of Duty during the late night. If they get reduced to a strand on BBC Two; I am not sure how that could be successful by gaining new viewers.

Your suggestions would end up killing BBC Two in the process.

I honestly think the BBC need another "experimental" network. The early days of BBC Three were probably the best example of a channel attempting things not done before on television, even creating new original programming and animation. It honestly seemed like after the early-2000s era of BBC Three, they found more younger audiences were watching BBC Three and they pushed marketing about how "BBC Three" is online... a slight foreshadowing and dagger to the channel's future death?

BBC Four is honestly a better evolution of BBC Knowledge and I've found this channel even experiments with themes of programming, what BBC Knowledge WERE doing in it's final days and what could've been. I think both BBC Four and BBC Three have their places, however I feel that having one online simply doesn't work when those services like Netflix and YouTube have already dominated that market. It doesn't make sense for the BBC to try and compete. Sure, BBC Four may actually work online but if they ARE closing it they'd be better placing it's programmes on late night BBC2 slots.

Who would actually be able to sit down during the day and watch a culture show? Its always been my opinion that art and culture programmes are a niche area of programming and would be suited to a late night slot where viewers would be more receptive.

I will concede that BBC2's metamorphosis into a "BBC News-Lite" is an unnecessary duplication seeing as virtually the entire country has access to the full-fat version.

Here's another controversial stance. I've never understood the point of BBC 3 even when it was its in its previous incarnation of BBC Choice. I believe the renaming was just to give the network some kind of uniformity. Had BBC 4 kept its previous identity of BBC Knowledge then it might have had a better reception. You many say "what's in a name?" Well in this case quite a lot

Warning
Seeing as we are delving once again into the controversy of fantasy scheduling here is my suggestion (dons armour)

BBC1 stays as it is BBC 2 closes down until 5 PM and regenerates into a mixture of arts, and documentaries (Newsnight stays at 10.30)

BBC News and Parliament are merged with the vast majority of coverage on the red button with the likes of PMQ's and important statements going live on the main channel.

BBC 3 stays online/ goes on the red button and changes its name to reflects its 16 to 34 years age market as well as a breeding ground for new ideas (my idea is BBC Plus)

CBBC and CBeebies stay as they are

That way we have a streamlined BBC Network with a "core" service of:
BBC 1 as a Mass Market channel
BBC 2 as a select channel
BBC News, CBBC and Cbeebies as a PSB requirement

And a supplementary red button service of:
RB1 BBC Plus as a Youth channel/Testing ground
RB2 Regular politics

This is just my opinion

I don't agree with this idea that BBC Two should high brow with solely documentaries and arts programmes. You do need some populist shows as a shop window to viewers so they might watch the less accessible shows.

Masterchef the Professionals, Your Home Made Perfect, Gardeners' World on the factual entertainment side and University Challenge, Only Connect and Dragons Den on the entertainment side are great examples of what BBC Two excels at in additions to documentaries like Hospital and Horizon.

Well University Challenge and Only Connect are what I consider highbrow but more at the more populist end. Highbrow in my opinion is a broad church I would actually have Your Home Made Perfect and Gardeners World on BBC1 because home and garden designs are mass market surely?

Isn't BBC Four mostly repeats now anyway? It shouldn't be that difficult to integrate what is left of BBC Four's original programming into BBC Two without the channel becoming unrecognisable.

Difficult questions does not necessarily make a gameshow "highbrow".
University Challenge is not necessarily highbrow in itself, its just that all the students happen to attend university. By the same logic Blockbusters contestant pool was made up of sixth formers, but didn't have any of the War & Peace style questions you see on UC. At the end of the day they're just both quiz shows when it boils down to it, and conclusive proof in the case of UC that having six degrees and a PhD in arsing about doesn't mean you can answer any of the starter questions.

Same applies to Only Connect. It was perfect for BBC Four, considering it involved far more thinking than a lot of other game shows which are primarily "what you know" shootouts complete with some flashy lights. For OC it wasn't just what you know, it was how it linked to everything else you know, which fitted in with the remit of the channel at the time, I think I'm right in saying it had a slogan "Everybody needs a place to think" or similar. Now they seem to have invented "Be BBC Four" as one instead. Whether that's as strong I don't know.

Mind you presentation wise BBC Four still has a semi decent set of idents (which I think must be the best part of 15 years old by now!), and of course its original voice-driven idents were totally unique.

OC was very fitting for BBC 4's remit. It wasn't simply answering questions it was showing the intelligence and deductive reasoning which impressed the hell out of me.

As regards UC I said the show was "populist highbrow" but at its very edge and based on the kind of questions that are asked. Yes a person can have BA's and Doctorates coming out of their ears but if they can't answer a simple question about who played Baldrick then the qualifications are about as much used as a chocolate fireguard.

There is no perfect solution for which BBC channel shouldl show which programmes and I can't see there ever being.

P

Possibly Only Connect. I knew QI was on BBC Four for a fair chuck of its run, but i didn't know it started on BBC Two.

The first episode was on BBC Two and the second was on BBC Four immediately afterwards, then the following week episode 2 was on BBC Two followed by episode 3 on BBC Four. So the very first episode was on BBC Two first, but the other episodes went out on BBC Four first and I think it followed that format for several series. Not sure whether that made it a BBC Two or BBC Four programme.

It's a BBC Two programme, in the same way Hollyoaks is a Channel 4 programme and not an E4 when they had First Look.