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TV Channels that have seen better times

What TV Channels have not stood the test of time (June 2018)

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SP
Spencer
The TV-Fan posted:
ITV - I think it went downhill after Thames lost its franchise and Granada and Carlton took over many ITV franchises, although I think the downhill spiral stopped around 1997, the downhill spiral returned with Central having its Central cakes removed and News at Ten getting the axe the first time round, I think the downhill spiral stopped once again around 2001 when News at Ten returned, but it went downhill once again with the arrival of the Celebrities idents in 2002, the abandoning of regional identites, the ITV Plc merger and the axing of News at Ten again in 2004, though it got better with Downton Abbey.


Congratulations - you've inadvertently just designed Alton Towers' new ITV themed ride.
BH
BillyH Founding member
Challenge is now pointless.
JF
JetixFann450
BillyH posted:
Challenge is now pointless.

Literally.
JA
JAS84
ethanh05 posted:
CITV - It's a shame what's happened to Children's ITV. They were first before CBBC, and had great shows and presenters. The 80's and 90's were great times for them. However, since the 2000's, it's gone wrong for them. Their budget was slashed for many reasons (I particularly attribute it to ITV Play and all that nonsense) and their ITV status was reduced to Saturday and Sunday early mornings. With their budget right now, they could not beat CBBC because very little actually homegrown programmes could be made - almost all of their programming consists of imports. Whilst their links between programming are visually interesting, CITV might be gone soon as it is not attracting many advertisers like it used to and ITV don't really care about it anymore.
True, what home grown content do they have apart from Thunderbirds Are Go?
DE
DE88
The TV-Fan posted:
ITV - I think it went downhill after Thames lost its franchise and Granada and Carlton took over many ITV franchises, although I think the downhill spiral stopped around 1997, the downhill spiral returned with Central having its Central cakes removed and News at Ten getting the axe the first time round, I think the downhill spiral stopped once again around 2001 when News at Ten returned, but it went downhill once again with the arrival of the Celebrities idents in 2002, the abandoning of regional identites, the ITV Plc merger and the axing of News at Ten again in 2004, though it got better with Downton Abbey.

CBeebies - I think it went downhill starting in 2009, when it started to remove reruns of many good shows (like Brum, Pingu and Fireman Sam).

BBC One - I think it went downhill after Doctor Who got canceled in 1989, but got better, until the downhill spiral returned when the globe was axed, it got better again around late-2006, but the downhill spiral returned again in 2017 with the Oneness idents.


I strongly disagree with you regarding ITV and BBC1. Sorry. Embarassed Embarassed Wink

DW was already in decline come '89 - as, indeed, was TOTP. On the other hand, EastEnders was doing very well indeed, while Noel Edmonds still had loads to offer on Saturday evenings.

And changes in ident don't necessarily mean instant or near-instant changes in quality, do they? BBC1 already had problems when Oneness arrived.

As for ITV, well, some will say that it's been *all* downhill since Thames lost their franchise - and I'd strongly disagree with that too. After all, there *was* that big-money quiz show hosted by the guy from Tiswas... Wink Wink

And even in the five-and-a-bit years between Thames coming off air and that show arriving, there was Inspector Morse and A Touch of Frost, as well as Heartbeat before it got stuck in 1969. The Bill was still a proper police drama, too, and of course Corrie and the 'Dale weren't on *quite* as frequently as they are now. And World in Action was still going.

Axing News at Ten the first time was undoubtedly a bad move; ditching the regional identities in England and Wales and introducing the celeb idents weren't particularly good things either. But, again, things like these don't necessarily mean instant or near-instant changes in the overall quality of the channel, do they?
RO
Rory
JetixFann450 posted:
BillyH posted:
Challenge is now pointless.

Literally.


Plus The Chase, to the point they take the mick out of themselves over it!
DB
dbl
ethanh05 posted:
dbl posted:
ethanh05 posted:
Home - One of the least watched channels from UKTV at probably the most likely to be replace in case of a rebrand.


Wrong. That'll be the sister channel with the nature docs....

One of the least watched. Not THE least watched.

But Home still isn't one of the least watched though.
AN
Andrew Founding member
ethanh05 posted:
Home - One of the least watched channels from UKTV at probably the most likely to be replace in case of a rebrand.

MTV - Obviously, MTV was better when it was a music channel. For a bit, it used to have high rating shows here such as Geordie Shore and The Valleys, but even they've dropped off, leaving MTV with very poor new shows as it stands.

ITV Be - A poor (wo)mans old ITV2, TOWIE is not the big thing it used to be and everything else is your typical, scripted reality show. It's really bad, but there is an audience.

CITV - It's a shame what's happened to Children's ITV. They were first before CBBC, and had great shows and presenters. The 80's and 90's were great times for them. However, since the 2000's, it's gone wrong for them. Their budget was slashed for many reasons (I particularly attribute it to ITV Play and all that nonsense) and their ITV status was reduced to Saturday and Sunday early mornings. With their budget right now, they could not beat CBBC because very little actually homegrown programmes could be made - almost all of their programming consists of imports. Whilst their links between programming are visually interesting, CITV might be gone soon as it is not attracting many advertisers like it used to and ITV don't really care about it anymore.


I disagree that ITV Be and the CITV channel have gone downhill and have seen better times
KU
Kunst
Well, CITV maybe yes, ITV Be not
:-(
A former member
The member requested removal of this post
JA
james-2001
Rich Tea posted:
ITV3 is starting to become a bit of a joke surely? There is an insanity of repetition going on within that channel that is quite extreme by any reasonable person's thinking. The early evening comedies of On The Buses, Rising Damp and George & Mildred on an eternal loop in perpetuity I've noticed. On The Buses in particular. I also particularly detest the nature of its advertising around these shows at that time of day, ambulance chasing lawyers, funeral plans and emotional blackmail money appeals, plus silly royal coins and other pointless overpriced detritus to rip off the perceived watching demographic.


To be fair, at least with their Coronation Street repeats, you're getting 10 episodes of entirely new (to the channel) content each week, rather than the same episodes on a constant loop like with most of their other shows. If they can show old Emmerdale (Farm), and the episodes of The Bill that Drama went back on showing in addition to that...
JA
james-2001
BillyH posted:
Challenge is now pointless.


Challenge went badly downhill during the late Virgin years, then after Sky took over it improved massively with a decent invenstment in content, both original and buying various old shows, then since around 2015 they seem to have got bored of it again and as you say, it's mostly Pointless (and The Chase) now with the very occassional gem if you look hard. Even some of the older shows they show seem to be the same few series on loop (like Family Fortunes which just seem to be the 1987-90 Les Dennis ones) when there's many more series out there.

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