BBC2 is the main issue - BBC3 stripped the low brow stuff from it, BBC4 stripped the high brow stuff while BBC1 nicks anything that gets any viewers. If kids programmes went exclusively to the kids channels that would be another huge hole in the schedules (and BBC1 would nick their afternoon line up).
Will this sort of thing carry on happening for much longer though? The big thing digital was sold on was a great increase in channels, thus all the major broadcasters started aquiring considerable ranges of extended channels with little new content to actually put on them - hence the example you've given where BBC3 and 4 have essentially just stripped material which would have fitted perfectly well onto BBC2.
Perhaps this 'channel bubble' will burst as the broadcasters realise that they don't need them (or the expense of running them) and concentrate once more on a smaller number of channels with better content?
I doubt it - even now BBC3 are desperate to extend their hours to start earlier in the day even though they rarely have anything but repeats on before 9pm.
The rules definately need to be loosened though for the BBC. BBC3 has this ridiculous quota which basically allows them to show repeat after repeat after repeat of original BBC3 programmes to meet it, but they can't replace one airing with a repeat of a recent BBC1/2 sitcom as it's not considered original.
What they really need after the switchover is a BBC Sport channel. Then we won't have to put up with the snooker, Wimbledon and darts interupting the schedules all the time. Same with the hours and hours of football and horse racing they show every Saturday.
It interrupts the schedule no more than EastEnders or Casualty does. Why can't people understand that sport is part of the schedule, even if the event is only scheduled once every four years.
Well you wouldn't interupt a series of Top Gear to show an episode of EastEnders or Casualty, but they do it every year to show the snooker.
Well actually regional news is one area I could perhaps see being shifted over to the news channel in the long term - I'm probably over simplifying things here but all that would be required is effectively switching the BBC1 and BBC News streams.
Not so long as the BBC Scotland schedulers want to wreak havoc, it wouldn't...
martinDTanderson posted:
The news bulletins will remain, as there is no room on a 24 hour channel for in depth roundups of the day's news.
Not that I think News will disappear from BBC1 post-DSO (the audience figures in multichannel homes for BBC1 news vs News 24* make it a non-starter, even before you consider that news is a considerable ratings draw in its' own right when you compare to similarly-scheduled programs), but that's a weak argument since Breakfast and the One, Six and Ten O'Clock News
are simulcast on N24* as it is
. Ergo, they've made room for it.
Apologies if some of this has been said before but basically....
NEWS. The main news bulletins at 1, 6 and 9 plus Breakfast will definitely stay on BBC1 after DSO. Apart from the fact that it would be politically indefensible for a public service broadcaster to remove them, they also do the business. What could you replace them with which would also get a consistent 25-30% share?
If news and current affairs was not one of the cornerstones of BBC1, it would be impossible to justify it's unique status - no matter how good some of the other output was.
CHILDREN'S. If only the same could be said about children's programmes.
Now, of course, this is a politically sensitive issue - the public service broadcaster cannot look as if it is sidelining an important service. However the ratings CBBC on 1 now gets, means that BBC1 is often the fifth placed terrestrial channel between 1600 and 1700. Indeed the CBBC Channel sometimes has just as many, or more, youngsters watching at that time of day.
The questions are.
*How much does Children's benefit from its slots on 1 and 2.
*Will children be disadvantaged if CBBC concentrates on the dedicated channels? Or will some adults simply become sentimental for what used to be?
Personally my guess is that we will lose the afternoon block on 1 but that individual programmes produced by CBBC will still pop up on 1 during family viewing time - like the one off drama a couple of Sundays ago.
The morning block on 2 may be safer, at least until somebody has a good idea about how to use the time.
But I can't stress enough. Any significant changes to the volume or scheduling of CBBC on 1 will need approval from the BBC Trust.
*How much does Children's benefit from its slots on 1 and 2.
Well at present it does benefit (I don't know how much) because not everyone can get CBBC and CBeebies at present.
aberdeenboy posted:
*Will children be disadvantaged if CBBC concentrates on the dedicated channels? Or will some adults simply become sentimental for what used to be?
No, because once DSO is complete, everyone will be able to get CBBC and CBeebies. If you've been foolish enough not to add a Freeview box or replace your TV with a Freeview one, you'll get nothing at all (not even BBC One or BBC Two). So those kids that only watch the CBBC/CBeebies strands on BBC One / BBC Two at present will be watching the dedicated children's channels CBBC and CBeebies.
aberdeenboy posted:
Personally my guess is that we will lose the afternoon block on 1
The morning block on 2 may be safer, at least until somebody has a good idea about how to use the time.
I think children's programmes will disappear altogether from BBC One and BBC Two, and children will be required to switch to CBBC or CBeebies for such programmes.
What they really need after the switchover is a BBC Sport channel. Then we won't have to put up with the snooker, Wimbledon and darts interupting the schedules all the time. Same with the hours and hours of football and horse racing they show every Saturday.
It interrupts the schedule no more than EastEnders or Casualty does. Why can't people understand that sport is part of the schedule, even if the event is only scheduled once every four years.
Well you wouldn't interupt a series of Top Gear to show an episode of EastEnders or Casualty, but they do it every year to show the snooker.
A series isn't interrupted - everyone knows way in advance when the sport will slot into the schedule, and hence programmes such as Top Gear can be slotted around it. Yes, it may occassionally take a week or two off air, but there is no law that says a series has to be shown over consecutive weeks.
And such a good chunk of licence fee money is (well) spent on sport it deserves it's slot on the main channels more than most.
What I meant by advantage was exposure. A programme on BBC1 or 2 gets a certain exposure which would be denied to a show on channel six hundred and whatever.
The question is whether that exposure translates into better audience figures - children, who don't have an in-built loyalty to the big terrestrials, are often happy to look for the content they like wherever it may be. The current ratings for CBBC amongst 6-12 year olds suggest that the presence on 1 or 2 does not boost audiences hugely.
Almost 90% of homes now have digital on their main set - in homes with children, the proportion is even greater. My gut feeling is that many of the children who don't have access to digital have the kind of parents who probably don't want the little darlings to watch tv in the first place! (ie at least one of my relatives!)
Generally speaking, people from the poorer socio-economic groups were always more likely to get multi-channel television so I strongly suspect that the argument that confining CBBC to digital would disadvantage kids from poorer backgrounds may not be as strong as people, understandably, might imagine.
After DSO, BBC One and Two will have a dity big dog at the top of the screen - FACT!
(so will ITV1 and Channel 4)
The age old escuse - "In this multi-channel environment, viewers need to be able to identify they are watching BBC One"
BBC1 and BBC2 did indeed have DOGs in the early days of digital TV, but abandoned fairly quickly IIRC. As I recall the BBC ONE Northern Ireland DOG took up half the top of the screen!
Then again the UK terrestrials are I think the only major channels in Western Europe not to have DOGs at this stage. In Ireland we had no DOGs on either of our (then two) terrestrial channels in September 1996. By September 2003 all four channels had DOGs and RTÉ shows no sign of relenting.
As for the BBC post-switchover - I can see CBBC dying a death or reduced to a skeleton service as CITV has. However I would imagine that at the very least the BBC News at Six and Ten will be safe as will Newsnight. The Six provides a lead-in for the regional bulittens and the Ten a good roundup of the day's news, while Newsnight is really current affairs and doesn't sit well on the BBC News Channel. The One is not safe and i imagine it will eventually be axed.
What I meant by advantage was exposure. A programme on BBC1 or 2 gets a certain exposure which would be denied to a show on channel six hundred and whatever.
The same can even be said of BBC1 and BBC2 - with Saturday morning kids TV being the obvious example. TMi would be a much bigger show if it was at the heart of BBC1' Saturday morning schedule rather than tucked away on BBC2.
I think the first change might be shifting CBBC to BBC2 in the afternoons rather than removing it completely initially, though as someone said I could see them ultimately removing content but showing flagship programmes (i.e. The Sarah Jane Adventures) in an afternoon slot on Sundays.
:-(
A former member
I wish there would OVERhaul daytime it needs it baldy!
Kids may have to stay, because on bbc2 scotland form 8.30 - 9am ( school days , early on holidays) There have
07:30–07:45 : Clifford the Big Red Dog
Seann Charaid Chlifford (Clifford's Doggy Reunion)
Scots Gaelic animated series following the exploits of a big red dog and his friends. (R)
#
07:45–07:50 Botannan Araid Uilleim Uilleam Nan Cno
William is a little boy who has discovered a pair of wellingtons which can grant wishes. (R)
#
07:50–08:00Leum is Danns
Leum is Danns, 30/12/2008
Gaelic children's programme. Dancing fun for pre-school children. (R)
I wish there would OVERhaul daytime it needs it baldy!
Kids may have to stay, because on bbc2 scotland form 8.30 - 9am ( school days , early on holidays) There have
07:30–07:45 : Clifford the Big Red Dog
Seann Charaid Chlifford (Clifford's Doggy Reunion)
Scots Gaelic animated series following the exploits of a big red dog and his friends. (R)
#
07:45–07:50 Botannan Araid Uilleim Uilleam Nan Cno
William is a little boy who has discovered a pair of wellingtons which can grant wishes. (R)
#
07:50–08:00Leum is Danns
Leum is Danns, 30/12/2008
Gaelic children's programme. Dancing fun for pre-school children. (R)