TV Forum Review of the TV Year 2007

I suppose we should rename the title "TV Forum's Screenwipe" (or Screenburn) but I personally don't think I'm satirical enough for any of that nonsense...and no I'm not trying to get a job as a media journalist at The Guardian.

Basically I thought it would be a nice idea to get opinions on the TV year. What are your highlights? lowlights and so on. Yes, sod it, I'm gonna put my 'Tumble Tower hat' on now and start reviewing TV bits of the year (I'll try and keep it brief ):

Well, it has been a year full of scandals, obsessions and twists which have probably helped in the demolishment (finally!) of phone-in quiz telly - alas there are a few still hanging on but I reckon by this time next year it could be one of two things...they all get revived in another annoying format or they die altogether, I personally hope for the latter! Quizmania started in August 2006 and so it finished along with the sad death of Mastermind legend Magnus Magnusson back in January (of course this sounds ridiculous as relating Magnus Magnusson to Quizmania is like relating the Sultan of Brunei to Vicky Pollard but you see how I was trying to conveniently link there! ).

Celebrity Big Brother began yet another series where the word "celebrity" defined itself as "nonentity". Personally I thank this series - not because Dirk Benedict turned out to be a completely miserable sod; but for single-handidly killing the television career of one Jade Goody. Anybody who is that rude and obnoxious does not deserve to be given a second chance in my opinion. As for the other reality shows.. Hell's Kitchen then returned in the Summer with er..Jim Davidson and fresh from "The Mint" fame ex-BB contestant.. Brian Dowling. The 'Human zoo' comments couldn't be more appropriate really with the all the predictable bitching that goes on - yet I suppose with Hells Kitchen and I'm a Celebrity.. at least they are made to work or complete tricky trials which is more that can be said for Big Bro. I don't think the end is ever nigh for Reality TV - its event telly and all the more important to broadcasters in this multichannel age (well so I'm led to believe). What will the future bring? Live hangings?

Talking of event telly, once again we've had Just the Two Of Us, Strictly, Dance Fever, Dancing on Ice, Soapstar Superstar.. the list goes on (some of those mentioned are not returning next year) but of course Cowell hits back at the end of the year with the big one.. The X Factor or should it be renamed The Christmas No1 Factor..? I shouldn't think we'll see much of Leon now until he releases his new album next November but time will tell.

I've probably rabbited on far too much to be bothered to talk about the soaps which have been overdramatic this year - certainly in the case of Emmerdale. Corrie has had its moments too basing its year around the continuing turmoil of David Platt and some pretty poor plots but overall its kept consistent and the comedy moments especially when Blanche and Norris are involved are brilliant.

Neighbours sadly lost its 21-year contract with the BBC to Five. With its current state here in the UK I can't say I'd miss it much to be honest and I'd say its as good a time as any to switchover.

So, having written all that utter waffle and not once slagged off Michael Grade's selfish handling of the Comedy Awards .. I shall say an early Happy New Year to you all and here's to great television in 2008!

the biggest scandal this year was the television phone scandal with the networks, after this i have stopped voting in any competitions.

and also how will it survive on FIVE?

2007 in a nutshell...

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I wouldn't even dignify 2007 with an Apple Mac trashcan!

I'll try and be brief - but it'll probably turn out as three pages of waffle...


Firstly, looking at Teletext comments in the last week or so I thought it summed up Britain perfectly - beginning the year complaining about racism in Big Brother - and ending it complaining about a black actress in Oliver Twist. Unfortunately there are more Jade Goody's out there than we'd like to admit, but talking of which it disgusts me how she and Jo O'Meara has been blacklisted while Danielle Lloyd still flaunts herself in the tabloids and at D-list celebrity events.




No doubt about it even disregarding the racism issue both Celebrity Big Brother and Big Brother were ****. As a fan I hope they can turn it around again and that with BB9 we'll see the same scale of revamp as we had with BB5 - but only time will tell.

Celebrity Hijack though on E4 should open up new possibilities not just for Big Brother, but also for numerous other shows - who perhaps no longer fit on the main channel, but could find themselves a future home on one of it's digital off-springs.


I think though ultimately it's been a good thing that C4 has had to look at itself - but now it needs to get those viewers complaining about too much Big Brother watching non-Big Brother programming. The Mark of Cain and Boy A have both been outstanding one-off dramas on C4 this year - but both barely broke the 1m mark.

C4 will undoubtedly take a ratings hits next year with the loss of Celebrity Big Brother - not just in the 9pm slot, but also in the shows that followed it. Shameless got it's highest ever ratings this year off the back of Celebrity Big Brother - but I imagine the loss of inheritance will hit it's extended fifth series.



The premium rate issue obviously has dominated the news agenda this year - but my anger is more at the regulators than the TV companies to be honest. What exactly have they been doing?

Fake winners and early selection of winners is of course totally unacceptable - but surely the regulators should have been randomly inspecting these competitions long before the bubble burst - especially in the case of quiz TV channels which have been slammed from day one.

Staggered selection is also a victim of poor regulation IMO - it seems to have been fairly widespread, yet the regulators again didn't intervene until the bubble burst.

And as for the Deal or No Deal competition - it was 18 months before the regulators thought a competition offering a prize which might not be available due to the show being recorded might be conning the viewers - despite having no objections when the competition launched.

The fines aspect also agitates me - firstly the government quietly take 17.5% VAT on all premium rate phone lines - and then when they turn out to be less than honest they take a few million more in fines too! OFCOM should follow the channels examples and give all fine money to charity - or at least use it to reimburse viewers. After all - they are the victims here!


One final note on OFCOM - and they've not learnt their lessons either. The ridiculous number of complaints for Celebrity Big Brother was almost certainly boosted by OFCOM regularly informing the press of the number of complaints received. And then OFCOM cite the number of complaints as giving them no choice but to act. IMO it could be argued that the more complaints received, the less valid the complaint actually becomes.


And then with The X Factor final eleven months later OFCOM repeat the same mistake with this ridiculous "fix" scandal. Everyone here knew that despite Rhydian being the obvious winner, it was actually a very wide open final and anyone of the three could have won.


On to the fakery row and my main anger here is that TV didn't stick up for itself enough. Like the phone-in scandals, there were somethings that were inexcusable - but most of it was pure TV trickery designed to enhance the viewers experience, not con them!


More OFCOM ranting now and the proposed HD solution for Freeview does the platform as a whole no favours. They need to ensure it is stable and reliable after DSO before making major changes - and the changes proposed inhibit ITV, C4 and Five even further by cramming them into one mux.


The proposals though do show that with six muxes HD could be possible - but they need to rearrange things a bit so 3 PSB SD muxes remain, rather than cramming everything into 2 - and that could be done rather easily.

The only satisfactory solution though is for one or two extra muxes to be made available after DSO - but OFCOM are only concerned about the "digital dividend", despite admitting the public expect more from Freeview. Is it actually OFCOM's space to sell?


Similarly, I have little faith OFCOM will block Sky's "picnic" plans despite large scale opposition and little demand for the makeshift service.



OFCOM's main failings though seem to be with ITV. The loss of CITV in the afternoon mhas not just damaged ITV's brand, but children's TV as a whole - and being permitted to play out childrens programming overnight instead is absolute nonsense.

I have little faith OFCOM will block ITV's plans for reducing the number of regions either - but now is the time OFCOM need to be stepping up, not taking a back seat.

The view that after DSO nobody will care about public service broadcasting is nothing but a myth - with absolutely zero evidence to suggest that. In fact, IMO it will be more important than ever.


And finally - News at Ten. Nothing but a headline commitment to news. If ITV really want to show commitment they need to firstly sort out it's weekend bulletins, especially Saturdays which in recent months have aired at 4.30pm and 11.45pm - but more importantly bring back the ITV News Channel.



Anyhow - told you I'd keep it brief!


BTW, did I mention I'm not a big fan of OFCOM?

You've confused competitions with pointless voting.

Excuse my ignorance, but am I right in thinking that the bulk of the Virgin Vs. Sky row happened in February?

Can't believe I nearly forgot about that row..

Also, was it just the one 'Maddy' special which ITV ran?

Well this year saw two special anniversaries for two of the five analogue terrestrial channels.

Five celebrated its tenth anniversary at the end of March. Yet to this day, there are still some people who can't get it on analogue terrestrial, the way it was originally intended to be received. It featured special "five is ten" idents. There was also a programme on there featuring children who were born at the time of Five's launch - Easter Sunday 1997.

Channel 4 celebrated its 25th anniversary on Friday 2 November. For that day only, it used the original 1982 idents, slides and other pres. Also it showed the first ever edition of Countdown in the afternoon. I watched that, and it brought back fond memories of launch day.

Also, STV (Scottish Television, not Grampian) celebrated its 50th birthday.

I see your Mac cack and raise you one...

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