Is The BBC Going Down The Pan Under Thompson?? - 25th Apr 2007 6:12pm
Well... what do you think??
When Greg Dyke was in charge, the channel was constantly winning ratings, providing quality programming, investing in British talent, developing fresh new documentaries and drama's, and basically getting it right. But since Mark Thompson became Director General last year, it has gone extremely shoddy indeed, to the point where it is actually starting to lose appeal to me over channels like UK TV Drama etc...
Here are just some of the points I will use to back this argument up:
- Moira Stuart was removed from BBC News with no real reason for the removal other then ageism - every bit as much a British news icon as Trevor Macdonald imho.
- Castaway has been totally crap compared to original series. It should not have been produced under the Castaway brand as it is far too much like "just another Big Brother wannabe". They spent millions doing it and I, and the majority of viewers have been sorely dissappointed by it.
- TV Schedules?? The BBC don't seem to know what they are anymore. The just plonk anything anywhere, they are reguarly moving programs between timeslots and expect everyone to know. Ive lost count the amount of times in the last 6 months that my Sky+ has failed due to the BBC re-scheduling service and changing set timeslots.
- They have insisted they want top keep Neighbours at any cost, even though they are likely to become embroiled in a bidding war with Channel 4 and Channel 5. How about invest and develop the millions of pounds into British productions and actors instead??
- The quality of BBC documentaries has fallen drastically - the last real stunning documentary was the great "Rome" series last summer (although they even managed to cock that up by showing it out of sequence). And flagship documentaries and current affairs programs such as Horizon and Panorama have taken a serious beating, in fact Horizon has become unwatchable to a great extent. The only plus point on this front has been the continued success of the one off "Whistleblower" fly on the wall docu's. But even this was an idea commissioned by Greg Dyke.
- Eastenders seems to have gone crap, it was already losing viewing figures in their millions, but lately its gone FAR too feminine, its turning the male audience away for sure. And as for unrealistic storylines, it seems they are trying to push it to a whole new level, they are even challenging for Brookside and Emmerdales titles given the mixture of boredom and stupidness.
Im sorry, but I believe that BBC television programming has gone completely down hill in the last 6 months or so, and it seems its being happening since Mark Thompson became director general last summer.
What are your thoughts? Have you noticed a degredation in the quality of programming? Are we getting very poor value for money with regards to television at the moment??
When Greg Dyke was in charge, the channel was constantly winning ratings, providing quality programming, investing in British talent, developing fresh new documentaries and drama's, and basically getting it right. But since Mark Thompson became Director General last year, it has gone extremely shoddy indeed, to the point where it is actually starting to lose appeal to me over channels like UK TV Drama etc...
Here are just some of the points I will use to back this argument up:
- Moira Stuart was removed from BBC News with no real reason for the removal other then ageism - every bit as much a British news icon as Trevor Macdonald imho.
- Castaway has been totally crap compared to original series. It should not have been produced under the Castaway brand as it is far too much like "just another Big Brother wannabe". They spent millions doing it and I, and the majority of viewers have been sorely dissappointed by it.
- TV Schedules?? The BBC don't seem to know what they are anymore. The just plonk anything anywhere, they are reguarly moving programs between timeslots and expect everyone to know. Ive lost count the amount of times in the last 6 months that my Sky+ has failed due to the BBC re-scheduling service and changing set timeslots.
- They have insisted they want top keep Neighbours at any cost, even though they are likely to become embroiled in a bidding war with Channel 4 and Channel 5. How about invest and develop the millions of pounds into British productions and actors instead??
- The quality of BBC documentaries has fallen drastically - the last real stunning documentary was the great "Rome" series last summer (although they even managed to cock that up by showing it out of sequence). And flagship documentaries and current affairs programs such as Horizon and Panorama have taken a serious beating, in fact Horizon has become unwatchable to a great extent. The only plus point on this front has been the continued success of the one off "Whistleblower" fly on the wall docu's. But even this was an idea commissioned by Greg Dyke.
- Eastenders seems to have gone crap, it was already losing viewing figures in their millions, but lately its gone FAR too feminine, its turning the male audience away for sure. And as for unrealistic storylines, it seems they are trying to push it to a whole new level, they are even challenging for Brookside and Emmerdales titles given the mixture of boredom and stupidness.
Im sorry, but I believe that BBC television programming has gone completely down hill in the last 6 months or so, and it seems its being happening since Mark Thompson became director general last summer.
What are your thoughts? Have you noticed a degredation in the quality of programming? Are we getting very poor value for money with regards to television at the moment??
Normally, I never bother to look at the TV guide as my fave programs are, or were on at the same time every week. I've given up trying to follow them anymore.
