BBC Four & CBBC to close

[Rex]

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bbc4-...-7pn7qwzjq

BBC4 is at risk as the corporation scrambles to plug a £1.5 billion funding gap after the licence fee was frozen for two years.

Several BBC sources have said that the highbrow channel, which shows arts programmes and foreign dramas and was once home to comedy shows including The Thick Of It and Detectorists, cannot survive another round of cuts.

BBC4 has been under threat for years but instead of closing the channel and risking an audience backlash, the BBC has repositioned it as an archive service. Nearly 90 per cent of its schedule comprises repeats. “In a world where you’ve got to make tough choices, it has started to stick out like a sore thumb,” one BBC insider said. Another said: “I’m not sure how it will survive.”

It would be a shame to see BBC Four go but it's been completely neutered with a lower budget, the fact that its original programmes have all gone to BBC Two, and BBC Three taking back overflow programming that Four used to air

[BBCMeridian]

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bbc4-...-7pn7qwzjq

BBC4 is at risk as the corporation scrambles to plug a £1.5 billion funding gap after the licence fee was frozen for two years.

Several BBC sources have said that the highbrow channel, which shows arts programmes and foreign dramas and was once home to comedy shows including The Thick Of It and Detectorists, cannot survive another round of cuts.

BBC4 has been under threat for years but instead of closing the channel and risking an audience backlash, the BBC has repositioned it as an archive service. Nearly 90 per cent of its schedule comprises repeats. “In a world where you’ve got to make tough choices, it has started to stick out like a sore thumb,” one BBC insider said. Another said: “I’m not sure how it will survive.”

It would be a shame to see BBC Four go but it's been completely neutered with a lower budget, the fact that its original programmes have all gone to BBC Two, and BBC Three taking back overflow programming that Four used to air

Nothing's been confirmed at the moment so I wouldn't worry quite yet, although if it turns out to be the case it will anger a lot of viewers around the country, there are loads of other ways that the BBC can make savings, by axing programmes such as The One Show, The Apprentice and Strictly Come Dancing and bring back back the most important flagship programmes such as Watchdog and Crimewatch which were wrongly axed and shouldn't have been instead of channels which viewers are most passionate about.

Or here's another thought, Close the IPlayer, we already have BritBox so there literally is no point of the corporation to carry on running it's Iplayer service.

[thomalex]

Given BBC Four is now mainly archive content how much is it really costing to run?

[JK1985]

To be brutally frank, BBC Four does not have a role anymore. It was originally named "the place to think". Now in 2022, that is long gone, and it is now wall to wall repeats. It simply does not serve a real purpose anymore. Is it worth the money? I doubt it.

I actually like seeing the repeated sitcoms etc on BBC Four, and they have been wheeling a lot out recently. Sitcoms which have been long ignored by the BBC are now repeated more often, Yes Prime Minister, One Foot in the Grave etc, which is nice to see, especially for those who do not want to pay for BritBox or the GOLD channel.

I just can't see any point in keeping the channel on air.

[Rex]

Given BBC Four is now mainly archive content how much is it really costing to run?

According to the Times article, £29m

[XIII]

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bbc4-...-7pn7qwzjq

BBC4 is at risk as the corporation scrambles to plug a £1.5 billion funding gap after the licence fee was frozen for two years.

Several BBC sources have said that the highbrow channel, which shows arts programmes and foreign dramas and was once home to comedy shows including The Thick Of It and Detectorists, cannot survive another round of cuts.

BBC4 has been under threat for years but instead of closing the channel and risking an audience backlash, the BBC has repositioned it as an archive service. Nearly 90 per cent of its schedule comprises repeats. “In a world where you’ve got to make tough choices, it has started to stick out like a sore thumb,” one BBC insider said. Another said: “I’m not sure how it will survive.”

It would be a shame to see BBC Four go but it's been completely neutered with a lower budget, the fact that its original programmes have all gone to BBC Two, and BBC Three taking back overflow programming that Four used to air

Nothing's been confirmed at the moment so I wouldn't worry quite yet, although if it turns out to be the case it will anger a lot of viewers around the country, there are loads of other ways that the BBC can make savings, by axing programmes such as The One Show, The Apprentice and Strictly Come Dancing and bring back back the most important flagship programmes such as Watchdog and Crimewatch which were wrongly axed and shouldn't have been instead of channels which viewers are most passionate about.

Or here's another thought, Close the IPlayer, we already have BritBox so there literally is no point of the corporation to carry on running it's Iplayer service.

You must be on another planet if you think the BBC will axe Strictly or The Apprentice.

[BBCMeridian]

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bbc4-...-7pn7qwzjq



It would be a shame to see BBC Four go but it's been completely neutered with a lower budget, the fact that its original programmes have all gone to BBC Two, and BBC Three taking back overflow programming that Four used to air

Nothing's been confirmed at the moment so I wouldn't worry quite yet, although if it turns out to be the case it will anger a lot of viewers around the country, there are loads of other ways that the BBC can make savings, by axing programmes such as The One Show, The Apprentice and Strictly Come Dancing and bring back back the most important flagship programmes such as Watchdog and Crimewatch which were wrongly axed and shouldn't have been instead of channels which viewers are most passionate about.

Or here's another thought, Close the IPlayer, we already have BritBox so there literally is no point of the corporation to carry on running it's Iplayer service.

You must be on another planet if you think the BBC will axe Strictly or The Apprentice.

Well the corporation can't just keep axing channels to save money as it doesn't actually save much money, they can find other ways of savings by axing programmes.

[CCFG]

Well then maybe axe programmes that aren't that successful by that logic?

[Joe]

It was originally named "the place to think". Now in 2022, that is long gone, and it is now wall to wall repeats. It simply does not serve a real purpose anymore.

I'd argue that you can think about things even if your stimulus is more than two weeks old.

[HEW2343]

if they close BBC Four than I expect more Prom concerts to be shown on BBC Two as well as more of Storyville and International Dramas.

[NancerOnTheLIVEForum]

Nothing's been confirmed at the moment so I wouldn't worry quite yet, although if it turns out to be the case it will anger a lot of viewers around the country, there are loads of other ways that the BBC can make savings, by axing programmes such as The One Show, The Apprentice and Strictly Come Dancing and bring back back the most important flagship programmes such as Watchdog and Crimewatch which were wrongly axed and shouldn't have been instead of channels which viewers are most passionate about.

Or here's another thought, Close the IPlayer, we already have BritBox so there literally is no point of the corporation to carry on running it's Iplayer service.

You must be on another planet if you think the BBC will axe Strictly or The Apprentice.

Well the corporation can't just keep axing channels to save money as it doesn't actually save much money, they can find other ways of savings by axing programmes.

Why do you keep trying to get the BBC to axe the shows that actually DO make them money?

[JetixFann450]

I don't see any reason to keep the channel, other than MAYBE an overspill for sports and arts coverage. And being that it is currently being reported by The Times, a newspaper which arguably doesn't like the BBC and neither do any of the other newspapers owned by News UK, I'd say don't worry about it until a newspaper like The Guardian starts reporting on it.

I'm being quite optimistic about the whole ordeal, I get the reasons to axe BBC Four, as it has since reshifted into a repeats channel but there's a lot of stuff on the BBC worth repeating that it arguably doesn't matter, they could easily rely on acquired foriegn content and their own archives for at least a few years running, but I do wonder if a "BBC Extra" channel would essentially allow BBC to still run a 4th channel, albeit for extra coverage if say, most other channels aren't able to.

Also, I genuinely feel BBCMeridan is poking holes at things that are successful just because they don't watch them or see value in it, even though the BBC is meant to cater for everyone. Whether it's axing a pre-school channel or shows that are successful, it just seems they lose the plot a lot.

[Brekkie]

So scrapping BBC4 would cut the shortfall from £1.5bn to £1.47bn. Not really worth the sacrifice.

[Keith]

I'm being quite optimistic about the whole ordeal, I get the reasons to axe BBC Four, as it has since reshifted into a repeats channel but there's a lot of stuff on the BBC worth repeating that it arguably doesn't matter, they could easily rely on acquired foriegn content and their own archives for at least a few years running, but I do wonder if a "BBC Extra" channel would essentially allow BBC to still run a 4th channel, albeit for extra coverage if say, most other channels aren't able to.

As BBC Four is now essentially a repeats channel how much would the BBC actually save if it were to close the channel? I suspect any savings would be relatively minimal. Then there's the question of what to do with the 7pm to 7am timeslot. Whilst the HD hours could be utilised in Scotland and Wales for Three HD the SD unused hours would likely go to waste.

[Thames1985]

What the point of bringing back bbc3 then possibly close bbc 4