Over the last few weeks, 4 seem to have been dropping the simpsons without notice.
They also repeat about 3 series, untill the device that they are stored on gets a hole in it, from overuse.
The simpsons was not shown on many occasions last week, due to the cricket overrunning, even though it was in the schedules. There was no announcement or caption to say the progoramme would not be broadcast.
I hoped that C4 would treat the Simpsons better than the BBC did, where it was bumped off for tennis regularly, but I am disgusted with this from C4, at least the BBC said that the progoramme would not air.
Then today, I hope to see it's return, due to the end of the cricket, and find bloody Hollyoaks on instead.
Have to agree here. Was pleased to see Simpsons on C4, as I hoped it would be an end to not only it being dropped for every bloody sporting occasion, as wtih BBC2, but more than that, the possibility of a few newer episodes being shown, as with Sky One.
Am totally sick of seeing the same old episodes, particularly the halloween ones, again and again.
Yet another reason for me to consider a Sky subscription...
I agree it is inconvenient, but if you look at the overnight ratings from last night, Channel 4 picked up somewhere between 3 and 4 times its usual audience by replacing the Simpsons with the tense cricket finale (7.7 million viewers, apparently).
Bear in mind, too, that after the next two test matches, Channel 4 will no longer be covering the cricket.
The Simpsons is on every night anyway, almost all of which repeats. Cricket is not. Much as I hate cricket and like the Simpsons, I don't particularly mind it being dropped when there are 4 (probably more) other chances to watch it every week.
If you try and watch every single showing of the Simpsons on Channel 4 & Sky Onc, you will soon get bored of it... I live to tell the tale. Well I still like the Simpsons, but not as much as I used to.
I agree it is inconvenient, but if you look at the overnight ratings from last night, Channel 4 picked up somewhere between 3 and 4 times its usual audience by replacing the Simpsons with the tense cricket finale (7.7 million viewers, apparently).
Bear in mind, too, that after the next two test matches, Channel 4 will no longer be covering the cricket.
Excellent news.
And, why can't they think about the customers for once, not just the ratings. And at least show a caption or something?
I appreciate that they're not going to just drop the cricket, but I am surprised at the way The Simpsons is just being treated as an expendable filler considering how much C4 had to pay to get it.
I would have expected the episodes to have been rescheduled elsewhere (a good idea would have been to temporarily move the programme to another slot rather than continue to schedule it for 6PM and take the considerable risk of it being cancelled.
As it is, they've followed identical scheduling to BBC2 (why does it only get 1 episode on weekdays at 6PM? Why doesn't it run on E4? Why doesn't it get shown on T4 instead of wall to wall friends? Why is it never on in primetime?), rarely run new episodes, just like BBC2 did, and consider it an entirely expendable programme if sports overrun, just like BBC2 did. How did the controllers manage to justify the expensive aquisition of the programme when it's clearly not being considered an important part of the schedule?
Although it hasn't and isn't likely to happen, this is the perfect time for BBC2 to mount a snub - at present they still have the rights to show older episodes of The Simpsons, they could have put it back on during the cricket to draw viewers away from C4.
Never mind The Simpsons - there are far more important things in life than The Simpsons. I got bored with it as soon as I first saw it - I've never seen it since that first broadcast on BBC1 on Saturday nights many years ago. Others did too as the ratings bombed for a Saturday night show for BBC1. Therefore it was moved to BBC2.
Now its on Channel 4, why shouldn't Channel 4 drop it? They're only repeats anyway and Channel 4 Cricket is soon coming to an end aftr 2 more Test Matches. Channel 4 have done a wonderful job with Cricket and breathed new life into it over the past number of years and it will be such a shame to lose it to Sky.
7.7 million viewers tuning into the Cricket surely must be more important to 4 than the casual odd viewer watching endless repats of The Simpsons!
Channel 4 are playing safe with the Simpsons. They haven't enough episodes to show in T4 whereas they have digital/terrestrial rights to every single episode of Friends.
The Simpsons won't ever be on E4 because they don't own the digital rights to the show, Sky do. C4 only holds terrestrial rights. Just like Will and Grace - on C4 but not E4, it's on LivingTV instead, etc.
C4 were well within their rights to drop The Simpsons to show the cricket!
As a viewer you should also be aware that programmes scheduled after live cricket are likely to be interupted! If they hadn't scheduled it you'd be moaning you missed an episode as it wasn't scheduled!
To be honest, your lucky C4 didn't drop The Simpsons for the last three months for BBLB, considering the episodes were getting their third repeat screening on C4.
The contract with C4 does seem to be quite strange - C4 is still years behind Sky with new episodes but can only screen one "new" series a year - and they seem to be repeating the same few series over and over again, which I doubt they are doing out of choice!
