30-03-2022, 03:17 PM
A total merger of the two BBC news channels would be a bad idea as several people above have illustrated. The current set-up might not be ideal, but it is a fairly happy equilibrium - most UK news breaks between 0900 and 1800. A full merger during those hours (excluding big international news as current) would severely weaken both services and not really save much money.
As for BBC Four going, I can't say that I'm particularly bothered if it does. That's not to say that I don't like the content of the channel, but a de facto merger of BBC Two and BBC Four is fairly sensible. It's not like there isn't plenty of room in BBC Two's schedule and iPlayer is probably a better place for a lot of archive stuff anyway. Both channels have felt a bit rudderless at times in recent years, a merger could be an opportunity to give them a better focus.
Also love CantGetIn's suggestion that BBC World News is just 'a bit silly' and they should get rid. Not like it is the BBC's most-watched television channel by quite some margin and also quite cost effective. Although I guess outright absurdity is better than the slew of posts that amount to 'the BBC should just get rid of the services I don't use'.
As for BBC Four going, I can't say that I'm particularly bothered if it does. That's not to say that I don't like the content of the channel, but a de facto merger of BBC Two and BBC Four is fairly sensible. It's not like there isn't plenty of room in BBC Two's schedule and iPlayer is probably a better place for a lot of archive stuff anyway. Both channels have felt a bit rudderless at times in recent years, a merger could be an opportunity to give them a better focus.
Also love CantGetIn's suggestion that BBC World News is just 'a bit silly' and they should get rid. Not like it is the BBC's most-watched television channel by quite some margin and also quite cost effective. Although I guess outright absurdity is better than the slew of posts that amount to 'the BBC should just get rid of the services I don't use'.