The BBC

Can't say I watch it but smdh at all the crowing from CiF bbc4 stans about how the mindless cudchewers are getting what they deserve and it's some sort of victory for the intellegentsia

(My mistake for daring to peek at guardian comments obv)

Didn't jack fucking dee's shitty curbon copy sitcom run for like 6 seasons on BBC4

I'd be ok if they cut both BBC3 and BBC4 and that led for money being used to make better docs (which do require more money than just a roll-out of talking heads, 50 quid at a time) and funding the better comedy scripts.

Both of these could end up on BBC2.

Freeview is mostly crap

i wish BBC4 wd put all the docs i'm too knackered or distracted to watch in the week on at the weekend instead of 48 hours of Whispering Bob Harris

Last night I noticed a slot for a new channel: ITV4+1

ITV4 is okay - show a lot of movies and some of the less desired footie matches

Or itv5 as I will insist on calling it xp

Been doing that for 10yrs not gonna stop now

ITV4 is fine but seriously do we need a +1 channel for it?

yes, as a Tottenham fan who sometimes works late I consider ITV4+1 a key channel.

I want +1s and +2s for every channel coz I forget everything and coz I want to watch prime time after the kids are in bed and coz I've only got 80 hours on my V+ box and it's full of things I won't get round to watching.

i don't mind using what i assume is cheap and plentiful capacity for the +1 channels cos sometimes they have a use - it's a weird niche use, sure, but like i assume many people i still have a download limit with my ISP that prohibits a move to all-streaming all-the-time just yet

and there are also people like me who don't have that thing or a V+ box, just a TV

(I have this computer but I don't watch TV on it, assuming I could)

ilx shows its age.

so the bbc channels will go 1, 2, 4 with a gap? annoying. it's bad enough that there's nothing on freeview channel 8.

lol i have Estuary, Grimsby's Number 1 TV station on Channel 8

I noticed a new channel 'coming soon' on 8.

http://www.estuary.tv/

whether 8 is gonna be assigned to various regional channels like this i don't know

yeah its a slot for some local thing. yay freeview.

as a fan of awfulness even i struggle to watch more than 2 or 3 mins at a time

so the bbc channels will go 1, 2, 4 with a gap?

Argh, nooooo. If there is no other reason to save BBC3, this is good enough. IT WILL DRIVE ME MAD.

Going out on a limb here but I'm guessing that BBC3 isn't really aiming for people like the Pinefox.

The assumption that every young person has a computer/easy access to somewhere to watch online is probably more damaging, it's discriminatory to everyone who can't afford one for one thing.

But PF likes TWO BROKE GIRLS! It may not be aiming, but he is open to it!

BBC3 was less terrible than it sold itself as, in some ways. I ended up catching ten minutes of Reggie Yates' Extreme South Africa, which sounds like the worst thing imaginable, but it seemed like a pretty thoughtful look at poverty, violence and racism. The tabloid documentaries that they did also seem several cuts above Channel 5 and arguably 4 based on my limited exposure. The topics and framing of their factual shows probably put a lot of viewers off giving them a chance and the failure to go full Gypsy Wedding / Extreme Couponing might have cost them from the other side.

Was Pulling on bbc3? It made it look awful when actually it was brilliant.

A lot of the uproar seems less about BBC Three as it is and more about some magical BBC Three that commentators would like to exist.

BBC Three comedy for instance is consistently terrible, the only bright spots in my memory being People Just Do Nothing (comprising one episode) and Ja'ime - Private School Girl (bought from Australia). The "development hell" that turns promising series into shit is legendary there; producers know their vision will be unrecognisable once it comes out the other end. Which is why they approach Sky these days instead. As for "oh noes, there isn't any other BBC channel commissioning comedy", well, they will do once BBC Three goes!

There is a case for a more Newsbeat-y channel but BBC One basically is that already, surely!

Like, the Reggie Yates SA doc really SHOULD be on BBC One. And Family Guy should NOT. Win-win?

But which BBC channel will show a doc where a teenage girl has a visible wee in the middle of a music festival field?

Parliament?

This is the first time in the BBC's history that we are proposing to close a television channel. I can’t rule out it being the last change to our programmes or services. It will save the BBC over £50 million a year. £30 million of that will go into drama on BBC One. And it also means we will extend Children's programmes by an hour a night and provide a BBC One +1 channel. I must stress - all of this is what we are proposing to the BBC Trust. They will have the final say.

Tracer Hand, do you work for the BBC?

Not going to answer on the grounds it may incriminate me

Pinefox, that was a quote, by the way! Not my own writing!

does this mean I can expect to notice a pronounced upswing in bbc one drama

I guess?

As a parent I'm a bit concerned that kids will now start demanding to watch TV until 8pm instead of the much more sensible 7pm. I always thought the cut-off was due to bedtimes rather than a lack of funds.

i wdn't hold my breath

This is the first time in the BBC's history that we are proposing to close a television channel. I can’t rule out it being the last change to our programmes or services.

this reads a little bit like "oh we hadn't noticed any dramatic changes in the production and reception of TV in the last 5 years"

Surely they should've put some of that money into making comedy?

or something funny at least

why start now?

Why Not?

Like, the Reggie Yates SA doc really SHOULD be on BBC One.

This is the point really, if the programmes are good enough they can go on BBC1 or BBC2, perhaps they could find some room by maybe dropping one of their 5000 antiques shows / property shows / cooking shows / progammes about benefits scroungers or whatever. BBC4 meanwhile is a repository for exactly the sort of programmes that used to be shown on BBC2 but have since been replaced by 5000 antiques shows / property shows /cooking shows / progammes about benefits scroungers or whatever.

As a political comedy show that dares to challenge authority, my TV show, The Revolution Will Be Televised, would never have been successful without BBC 3 giving me a platform. Now the BBC are looking to shut the channel down. We can’t let this happen to the only channel that nurtures challenging, cutting edge British comedy.

BBC 3 is the birthplace of comedy careers like Jack Whitehall, Russell Howard, David Walliams and Matt Lucas. It is the platform for voices that aren’t being heard, that go against the grain and don’t fit in with the status quo. That’s why Jono started his petition to save BBC3, because as a fan he knows that platforms like this are sacred. And that’s why me and other comedians like Jack Whitehall, Rick Edwards and Russell Kane have signed.

^ best argument for abolition of BBC3 lol amirite

matt lucas started out on bbc2 right?

pls to abolish bbc2 also

4 channels and they couldn't even find room for Limmy. Fuck 'em imo

I like some the trashy documentary series on BBC3. Whenever I watch "Sun Sex & Suspicious Parents" it just puts me in the mood for a night out.

I am still bewildered by "Snog Marry Avoid" though - why are we all pretending that it's a robot, a talking robot, giving a makeover?

dog borstal