The Shadows At Sixty

[GoldenStreet]

It appears we may have got our programme just in the nick of time if the threat to close down BBC4 is realised!

Bill

[Fenderman]

What? BBC4 is being closed? I like that channel!

[GoldenStreet]

What? BBC4 is being closed? I like that channel!

Economics as always!

According to the figures, Covid-19, in particular, has left a £125million hole in the Corporation's finances. BBC4 has an average viewer age of 62 and, supposedly, it's content budget of £44million accounts for under 2 percent of the nation's viewing! Too highbrow, too expensive for a minority audience is the feeling amongst the executives whose main preoccupation, as always, is with the 'youth demographic.'

Bill

[Iain Purdon]

I wouldn’t worry too much. Nothing’s been decided yet but, even if it closes, BBC4 is only a platform, it’s not the programmes, which continue to exist. They can be shown on BBC2 or streamed online on demand via the BBC iPlayer. That’s what the BBC did with BBC3. The advantage of doing that is that there’s no longer a full-time transmission schedule to fill. So the programmes can be made as and when. All the archive stuff already exists, it’s just a matter of making it available.

[Fenderman]

If the BBC want to make savings what about the Board taking a pay cut plus they could close some of their radio channels, especially the online ones.
I've also noticed my license fee has increased, that'll probably also help.

[drakula63]

I suspect that The Shadows at Sixty will be shown on BBC FOUR again at least once during the next 12 months. If BBC Four did 'buy the farm', then I'm sure it would end up on BBC 2. The BBC seems to like to a) waste money and b) overstretch itself. And yet when they get it right... they get it right! By all accounts, the Shads doco has been a success in getting high viewing figures (for BBC Four) and helping to increase interest in the band and Marvin, Welch and Farrar.

[GoldenStreet]

Of course, as we know, such proposals always make for good press headlines, particularly in the light of the eventual reintroduction of the licence fee to the over-75s, i.e. the older audience.

As you suggest, Iain, in the context of existing content, this shouldn't really constitute a major crisis, but perhaps raises understandable concerns as to the prospects for future commissions, without a natural home, having to compete for broadcasting time elsewhere.

Possibly, one can a draw a parallel with the 2010 proposal to close Radio 6 Music which, happily, is still with us and now reaching its biggest ever audience, according to latest figures. Of course, it does cater for the younger listener!

Bill

[Iain Purdon]

Just a few points about this, although my fellow moderators may tweak my tail for going off topic!
The BBC doesn’t set the Licence Fee, the Government does. The BBC then has to manage within that.
I don’t know what you think the Board salaries are but they’re a drop in the ocean compared with the cost of running a TV channel.
Radio is much cheaper than TV. Closing an online radio station is only going to deprive its audience, not bail out a more expensive operation.
I can’t see this thing about the yoof audience being somehow more important. BBC3 was aimed at that but it didn’t stop them taking the channel down in 2016.
The Shadows at Sixty has been made so the future commission that doesn’t happen will be a disappointment to another group of fans. Phew!

[artyman]

I wonder how much of the 'younger demographic' watch any BBC channels. I probably watch more BBC than any of the other channels. If they need to save some cash then I wonder how much Fiona Bruce, George Aligia, Laura Keunseberg, and the numerous 'subject' correspondents earn.