Why do the BBC not release TV schedules in advance like US networks?

ixoy

Any particular reason that the BBC don't announce their upcoming tv schedules far in advance like the US networks do? Any of their big shows are "Coming soon". This includes notably one of their very biggest - Doctor Who - which is rumoured to be starting in the next couple of weeks and yet still no date confirmed.

Why would they not have this schedule set in stone and let people know about it? Surely by not flagging it with a date they're risking people missing out?

It contrasts sharply with US schedules which are known months in advance.

aidan_walsh

One guess would be the US audiences need to get the word out well in advance so that both the public and advertisers know when to be putting things aside for. If people in the US miss out, ad buys aren't going to go as well next time around. If people in the UK miss out, they watch it on iPlayer some time in the next 7 days.

iseegirls

Yeah I guess the US networks release their schedule mainly so advertisers can look ahead and pencil in what shows they would be targetting.

Plus their schedules probably rely on a lot of other network/channel schedules around the world. Sky would like to know when Modern Family, Glee etc are going to be airing in the US so they can put them into their schedule ahead of time.

The BBC don't really have to do this.

aidan_walsh

Plus their schedules probably rely on a lot of other network/channel schedules around the world. Sky would like to know when Modern Family, Glee etc are going to be airing in the US so they can put them into their schedule ahead of time.

The BBC don't really have to do this.

The international distributors (not necessarily always the same company as the networks) would be taking care of a lot of this and they would have the information in advance from the networks anyway.

expectationlost

whats it say in the radio times, that still exist even if not owned by bbc right?

icdg

You have to remember that the US and UK markets are two majorly different things. In the US, the network's slate will more or less remain static for the entire season. Yes shows will be pulled early and replaced with midseason replacements, and there will be pre-empting for special events - but by and large scripted programming on the terrestrial networks will get 22-26 episode orders and will air from September to May or thereabouts.

By contrast, with the UK channels, scripted series other than the year round soaps (which are rarely moved and, aside, from rare cases like Eldorado or Brookside, basically run forever) are rarely ordered for more than 13 episode runs, and even that's an extreme - most sitcoms don't get more than a six episode run. So the BBC and ITV have a lot more freedom over what time of year to air shows. And that brings up another issue. By not announcing the date of return of its flagship programme it gives a lot less time for ITV to counterprogramme against it and allows the BBC to see ITV's hand (which they have to necessarily reveal earlier, because they do have advertisers to worry about) as far as scheduling is concerned.

Capt'n Midnight

icdg wrote: »

You have to remember that the US and UK markets are two majorly different things. In the US, the network's slate will more or less remain static for the entire season. Yes shows will be pulled early and replaced with midseason replacements, and there will be pre-empting for special events - but by and large scripted programming on the terrestrial networks will get 22-26 episode orders and will air from September to May or thereabouts.

Not to mention the timeslots.

In the US stuff starts and ends on the hour / half hour. Films are two hours long.

As anyone who watched Babylon 5 on Channel 4 knows it's not the same over here.