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The Destruction Of British Television

(May 2007)

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NW
nwtv2003
tvarksouthwest posted:
Quote:
BBC2 started to fill the afternoons regularly from October 1986 - with schools programmes filling the morning and early afternoon. However during the school holidays, BBC2 was still regularly showing Ceefax until lunchtime until Easter 1989. The Learning Zone took over most of the overnight gap in 1995.

Sadly yes, in what could be seen as a double whammy for Ceefax fans. All that was left on BBC1 now was Ceefax AM, and I could no longer unwind with BBC2 on arriving home from school. But yes, BBC2 were the last channel to embrace morning broadcasting and in 2007 still haven't gone fully 24 hours. There is a God.


What's even stranger is now rather than expanding their Broadcasting Hours they've cut back since the Learning Zone has been dropped at Weekends, but saying that it was more about the Open University ceasing the use of Television rather than the BBC making a decision over what is shown.

Although BBC Two doesn't broadcast a full schedule every night now I notice they're often broadcasting up until 4.00am usually. I prefer the option they usually have over Christmas where they rerun an old sitcom or a Nostalga programme and a Film which takes them quite nicely up until 3.00am.
NJ
Neil Jones Founding member
tvarksouthwest posted:
But yes, BBC2 were the last channel to embrace morning broadcasting and in 2007 still haven't gone fully 24 hours. There is a God.


BBC Two is technically 24hrs but it seems to often display symptoms of running out of things to show. Back when they were showing Open University programming overnight under the guise of BBC Learning Zone, you had an entire six and a half hour block of programming that admittedly wasn't always all that interesting but there were a few gems hidden in the schedule.

Since the Learning Zone was dropped, you can see BBC Two really struggling some nights to find enough programming to make it to 2am and hand over to what's left of The Learning Zone.
NW
nwtv2003
Neil Jones posted:
Since the Learning Zone was dropped, you can see BBC Two really struggling some nights to find enough programming to make it to 2am and hand over to what's left of The Learning Zone.


If there's no Snooker or Darts then they often go to BBC News 24 at 12.20am, and alot of the time the 11.20pm is often taken from BBC Four anyway.
JS
Janner south west
Neil Jones posted:
Janner south west posted:
It's hard to believe that no longer than twenty years ago was 1987. The BBC only broadcast BBC 1 and BBC 2 for about eight hours a day. It was interspersed with pages from Ceefax and the Test Card,


I don't know which 1987 you're living in but here's a scan from September 1987 of BBC One and BBC Two programming:
http://www.knightmare.com/series/citv/87/070987bbc1.jpg
http://www.knightmare.com/series/citv/87/070987bbc2.jpg

Both show BBC programming running for 18hrs straight.

Quote:
Channel 4 had been dropped into hot water by Ofcom because of its type of programming. It also got the same bollocking several more times, but regardless they carried on.


Aside from the fact Ofcom didn't exist until 2003 (its then equivalent was the IBA), Channel 4's remit has always been to provide an alternate to ITV, be creative and with its own character and go where ITV rarely went before.

Quote:
On ITV [Was then called IBA, previously ITA] we had the best thing IBA have done yet, had Regional identity for the different regions.


With all due respect, one has to question how much research you've actually done.

ITV was conceived originally as a regional broadcaster, 16 different regions, 16 different broadcasters. Indeed it was only on in the London area from September 1955 until February 1956 when ATV launched in The Midlands. As more services came on air, became consolidated and eventually became part of the same umbrella, only three remain independent.

Quote:
IBA had gone to pot in the eighties and that’s when ITV stepped in. In 2003 ITV developed the best set of idents they had ever made. The Hearts. Still carrying Regional Identity!


ITV did not step in anything, it had been there since 1955.
The Hearts were introduced in 1999, not 2003. Regional identity was starting to disappear - when Carlton introduced their heart idents, only Wales had its own identity - Central and London used generic ones. The Granada owned stations were regional.

Quote:
Then we had the famous BBC Balloons. The most loved BBC 1 Idents of all time


The balloons were introduced in 1997 before the ITV hearts. They were dropped in 2002 to be replaced by the dancers (and *that* incident of not having a suitable ident to link into a news report of the death of the Queen Mother).

Quote:
Shock Horror - No More Test Card Closedown!! - 24 Hr programmes were introduced by 1997 on BBC one and ITV went 24 hr broadcasting in the late eighties. [?]


ITV went fully 24hrs a couple of years after TV-AM went on the air. Prior to 1972 nobody was allowed to broadcast more than 60hrs a week or 8hrs a day, period and prior to 1983 there was no programming between 6am and 9:15am on ITV anyway.

Quote:
News 24 took over the schedule and on BBC 2 showed OU programmes all night and did until the beginning of this year. Now all you get are a few pages from Ceefax and Music. Sad


It might be me but News 24 filling up the overnights on BBC One is relatively new, perhaps no more than five years. The Open University on BBC Two had been running for a fair while.

I have to say your post hasn't been very well researched and kind of goes against the points you are trying to make.


I wasn't alive in the 80's and so i have not got alot of information about the kind of programming etc..

I do remember the 90's and that’s when i felt things were going wrong - i aplogise for any inaccuracies in my post. Ill get clued up next time.

27 days later

FT
free thinker
I can hardly bear to watch or listen to BBC programmes any more.
Everything seems tailor made to be sold in America and with American culture treated with unquestioning adoration.
We pay three billion per annum for this tripe....it`s a scandal!
:-(
A former member
A: it FAR CHEAPER than what other country pay:

B: BBC do make Great No us programmes
AN
all new Phil
tvarksouthwest posted:
in what could be seen as a double whammy for Ceefax fans...

fan .

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