Channel 4

I think most of here realise staying put is the best option for C4. Relocating just to satisfy regional quotas is basically an administration exercise.

True - and also not many people trust the government at the mo.

Not that it'll stop any of the bidding cities, though...

I believe that is a new Break bumper for the summer of sport.

and Sheffield

http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2017-07-14/sheffield-launches-new-channel-4-bid/

Here is that new BB

It's not easy to promote cross-channel coverage and be 'on brand', having to spell out the channels, something the BBC, ITV and Sky have a little easier.

http://tig.gy/?m=c4m4-1.jpg

http://tig.gy/?m=c4m4-2.jpg

In fact mentioning that, a couple of days ago it hit me that Hollyoaks has now been running for longer than Brookside did.

Episode count wise, it overtook Brookside a while back (Brookie never had more than three episodes a week whereas Hollyoaks went three and four weekly around the time EastEnders did), otherwise it's been on the air 22 years now, beating Brookie's 21.

In fairness though, Brookie had been limping along for years, by the turn of the century it was on its last legs and they were effectively flogging a dead horse.

Brookside would occasionally have five episodes a week, when there was a major storyline such as the body under the patio.

And were the first soap to do so. It went probably a year or two too late but all soaps, including Corrie, have had lenghty periods of dross where they probably deserved the axe.

Brookie was essentially crowded out of primetime by extra eps of the other soaps, plus The Bill. I do think C4 could have tried retooling it as a once a week hour long show at 9pm but even if they had it would still be long gone.

The Bill did that during its last year... and where is that now? The 2009 Bill revamp is something I'll never understand, although they messed around with Brookside's format similarly towards the end too.

It was a move to kill The Bill off - had they cut it to one episode but not retooled it so drastically it may have lasted, but the revamp wasn't intended to give longevity.

C4 airing Brookside as 90 minute episodes was after they axed it - initially it was three episodes tied together but then they began writing them as basically a weekly movie, which sometimes worked really well (and sometime didn't) - although the axe gave the writers freedom that they didn't have in the years leading up to it.