Public Information Films

I have noticed that STV and Grampian usually show 2 or 3 Public Information films after the news at 3.15pm. Today they showed a bullying one, a stay safe in the garden one and the 'Never Play With Matches' one with Francis Firefly that's been around for at least 13 years since I remember the lady at my playgroup showed us a video and book of this PIF.

Are they still shown at night time on ITV? One night recently on STV/Grampian night-time I saw that they just filled the breaks with trailers, but do all regions follow this practice now?

Yes - at nighttime it's just trailers in the breaks now, you don't often see PIFs. Between programmes, you go straight from the end credits to the ident, and into the next programme.

BBC1 always show a PIF in the junction before the handover to News 24 as well. There was a new DEFRA "If in doubt, leave it out" ad on last night... not that I notice these things or anything...

Anyone know why the BBC no longer have to announce, "That was a public information film..." afterwards?

Always seemed like stating the obvious, but presumably there was a reason for it, and a reason why they no longer have to do it.

It was just decided not to use it any more, I think it was just one of the editors not likeing it and ending the practise IIRC

Presumably in less sophisticated times (!) viewers may otherwise have assumed that the films had been made by the BBC... And I expect the BBC didn't want to be associated with the quality of the scripting and production of some of them...

Not always. Sometimes they don't bother, and once it was the junction before the handover.