Naff Tv

[nicebloke1]

Why are all these tv celebs all copying each other. They all appear to be following the same format. Road trips in a van, coast walks, train trips, nature walks, wildlife in Britain, the latter their is very little of, but they keep banging on about how amazing our wildlife is, all in all the wildlife in Britain is pretty naff. Theres been one on tonight called pub walks, how ruddy boring tv has become. And tonight we have Sue Perkins who now decided to spread her wings on the .. Big American road. Its been done time and time again by other celebs??? :0)

[Rosetta]

Cheap tv with uninteresting peopple

[nicebloke1]

The Sue perkins thats on now. Someone has just showed her how to dig a hole to poo in, i ask you come on why would anyone need to be showed how to do that. It just gets worse.

[ladybirder]

I watched Chris Packham on BB2 "Inside Our Autistic Minds".  It was interesting, something a bit different.

[Buenchico]

It all comes down to money.

In real terms, ITVs income from advertising has dropped by well over 90% since its peak days because advertisers now prefer to use social media, etc to promote their goods and services.  Similarly there's very little advertising revenue for all of the other commercial channels.  Hence none of them have got much money to spend on actual content.

The BBC has had its income hit too, through
(a) the government requiring them to fund BBC World Service from the licence fee (when it was previously funded by 'grant in aid' from the government) ;
(b) having only been allowed to raise the licence fee by less than the rate of inflation for many years in a row ; and
(c) being required to fund free TV licences for people over 75 years of age who're in receipt of Pension Credit (when free TV licences were previously funded by the government).

The cost of producing a single one-hour episode of a 'quality' BBC costume drama is well over a million pounds.  (It peaked at £1.4m in 2019).  So neither the BBC nor any commercial broadcasters have got enough money to fund a lot of 'quality' content.

As a result of all that, broadcasters (and the production companies that provide them with content) are always looking for ways to make their programming cheaply.  So we end up with countless programmes about cooking, auctions, property improvements, car renovations, canal journeys, train journeys, antiques, tattoo parlours etc, alongside cheap-to-make quiz shows.

In order to try to make some of those programmes appear to be at least a bit interesting to viewers, production companies then engage the services of minor celebrities to present them. 

So its not the celebrities who're actually looking for new things to do but the production companies who're offering them the work (which many of them probably can't afford to turn down).

[barry1010]

24/7 TV doesn't help.  They've got to fill all those hours with something so if they can make programmes that can be repeated ad infinitum the better, programmes that can be on in the background whilst people do others things.  Don't need concentration.

TV didn't really start before the 6pm news at one time.  No breakfast TV, daytime TV was schools programmes and children's TV. Shutdown around 11.  

ITV dreads BBC losing the TV licence, that thin ad revenue would be spread a great deal thinner.

The positives are iPlayer and ITVX.  An opportunity to watch some excellent dramas and documentaries at our convenience.  There is even something worth watching on More4

[douglas9401]

They pay a lot for their 'stars', not going to have them loitering about doing far call are they?

[andy-hughes]

As Buenchico points put, the constraints make cheap and cheerful tv not only attractive, but essential. 

The appeal of the programme lies almost entirely on the level and breadth of the appeal of the presenter.

The problem with that is, the presenters that do draw audiences are, by default, overexposed. 

This was something the BBC was guilty of decades before being forced into it - remember their relentless and ultimately futile attempt they made to get us to like Patrick Kielty? They finally gave up, but it took months of relentless exposure. 

That's the price the viewing audience pays for a broadcaster that is never spending money it ever had to earn, and run by people who wouldn't understand the word 'accountability' if it jumped over the bank counter and smacked them in the face.

As time goes on, and more providers scrabble for dwindling audiences, the plethora of cheap television will only grow, until we weed it out by voting with our remotes.

[tomus42]

I find most 'TV' unwatchable these days.

I watch films and series from the streaming services.

 

[fender62]

perhaps they should show some of the old classics on freeview, oh wait some are considered erm not politically correct, that denies everyone else for the sake of a minority, could put steptoe porridge rising damp monty python etc etc.

 

[jno]

for heaven's sake, they show old movies all the time on TPTV. They have warnings about language and racism where relevant but nobody's stopping you watching them, so no need to claim victimhood.

[davebro3]

I enjoyed "Canal Boat Diaries" & Timothy Spall's sail round Britain. Just saying.

My sister likes Susan Calman - I can't stand the woman.

[Chipchopper]

I sit watching many of these progs from my armchair, and think  how great it must be to have a job like that.

Taking a dream holiday and getting paid for it, I'de be crying all the way to the bank.

[barry1010]

Dave, Robbie Cummings from Canal Boat Diaries has another series due to be aired soon, on a different channel 

[barry1010]

It will be shown on Yesterday, 10 episodes

[newmodarmy]

It's not the celebs fault that they follow the same format as other shows. Someone commisions the show, decides on the format and subject and produces it. The presenter is offered it and takes it if they like the offer in terms of money, availability and their interests 

[andy-hughes]

Chipchopper - It's not a 'dream holiday', it's work in a nice environment. 

The presenter will be fully occupied with rehearsal, learning scripts, briefing, travel, and yes, some time to enjoy the location, but never enough to call it a 'holiday'.

I travel as a Guest Speaker on cruise ships, I am flying to the Caribbean next Friday for the third time in nine months.

I am constantly told the same - a 'free' holiday, but if people saw the months of writing and preparation before, the days taken up with working, and the constantly being aware of being 'seen'  which makes relaxation difficult, they would see it's not as 'free' as they imagine.

I am not complaining, far from it. I am privileged to do something I love, and it's hardly a shift down a coal mine.

But neither is it quite the 'free holiday' everyone is keen to tell me it is.

[Prudie]

I'm not sure why you call our native wildlfe naff? Familiarity breeds contempt maybe.

[barry1010]

Andy, the money you earn and the shore trips must help.  You and your wife can relax away from the ship, surely? 

Do you have to do talks every day of the cruise?

[youngmafbog]

Easy solution, dump the TV tax and watch streaming. Much better and caters for a wide range of tastes.

Did it years ago, havnt seen an advert for a long time now(only if Telly is on at daughters).