The BBC Four Thread

brian_t

54 Hours: The Gladbeck Hostage Crisis which was shown on BBC4 two years ago is been repeated on BBC2 on Monday week.

Harry Palmr

https://twitter.com/doctorjamesfox/status/1260515880498233345


https://twitter.com/JANUSZCZAK/status/1260844846270558212

Arthur Daley

Save BBC4.

It'd almost be like a death in the family

Capt'n Midnight

Harry Palmr wrote: »

No one will be shocked if this is the case. You can't run a station on less then 50m a year they've seen the budget halve in less than a decade with new programming reduced to a trickle.

£50m a year ? TG4 can only dream of that.

Before the Tory Cuts it was BBC 1 (£1,106 million) and BBC 2 (£381 million) BBC 4 is not expensive.


If it was about money then Radio 3 gets £55m a year and should have been axed ahead of the local radio stations that were cut "to save money" back in the day - it costs FOUR times as much per listener as Radio 4

Radio 4 should be safe. Unless someone forgets to tell the accountants just how important the Today program really is.



Since it shares the airwaves with Cbeebies and since BBC 3 is a yoof channel with some good ratings might they swap with 4 going digital and 3 going back to broadcast ?
That could kill off 4 as most of the viewers are over fifty so would not expect to be as computer literate. On that note how many pensioners will watch 4 online on top of having to pay a TV licence for the privilege.


An non-ideal compromise would be for BBC 2 to show six hours of BBC 4 content after midnight.

An Ciarraioch

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

£50m a year ? TG4 can only dream of that.

Before the Tory Cuts it was BBC 1 (£1,106 million) and BBC 2 (£381 million) BBC 4 is not expensive.


If it was about money then Radio 3 gets £55m a year and should have been axed ahead of the local radio stations that were cut "to save money" back in the day - it costs FOUR times as much per listener as Radio 4

Radio 4 should be safe. Unless someone forgets to tell the accountants just how important the Today program really is.



Since it shares the airwaves with Cbeebies and since BBC 3 is a yoof channel with some good ratings might they swap with 4 going digital and 3 going back to broadcast ?
That could kill off 4 as most of the viewers are over fifty so would not expect to be as computer literate. On that note how many pensioners will watch 4 online on top of having to pay a TV licence for the privilege.


An non-ideal compromise would be for BBC 2 to show six hours of BBC 4 content after midnight.

I never understood why it timeshared with CBeebies - surely in the digital era, they should both have been able to have their own bandwidths?

Harry Palmr

BBC radio 3 is sacrosanct. It'll be the last station standing. BBC Four on Two after midnight wouldn't be a runner.

Tigerandahalf

The iplayer is the real jewel of the bbc.
I watch most of my tv on it now.
So many fantastic programmes. Some available for upto a year and others relaunched.
It is laid out well with various categories for different content - Films, Drama, Travel, Culture, etc.

I have been watching Rick Stein's Far Eastern Oddysey around Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Bali and Malaysia. It is a few years old but lovely to watch.

Watch whenever you want, come back to the same spot you finished at. Streaming is the business especially with no ads.

fryup

^^^^^^^

i take it you're living in the UK??

extra gravy

https://www.change.org/p/british-broadcasting-corporation-save-bbc-four-from-closure

Petition here

brian_t

I rarely start watching TV before 9 but this seems interesting at 8.30pm this evening.

Kermode and Mayo's Home Entertainment Service

With cinemas closed and the nation on lockdown, Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo turn their attention to the small screen, presenting a guide to the best - and worst - of streaming culture, across movies and premium TV. In the first edition, they review Netflix's The Eddy, BBC's Normal People (including a chat with director Lenny Abrahamson), Eliza Hittman-directed Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Mubi docu-feature Romantic Comedy and Terry Gilliam's classic Twelve Monkeys.

Next week they take a critical look at The First Team and I Know This Much Is True.

An Ciarraioch

Has the shutdown already begun - still hasn't come on air yet tonight!

Tigerandahalf

There was a very good documentary on Dana the other night. With it being Eurovision time there was other similar stuff on too but the documentary stood out in its own. Didn't realise how much time she spent in the Bible belt in America.

SPDUB

An Ciarraioch wrote: »

Has the shutdown already begun - still hasn't come on air yet tonight!

It's on air on mt FTA system

Harry Palmr

Fine for me on freesat box.

fryup

Has the shutdown already begun - still hasn't come on air yet tonight!

with some STB's bbc 4 disappears ..don't know why...solution - switch off & back on

Tork

fryup wrote: »

^^^^^^^

i take it you're living in the UK??

A good VPN with multiple servers = access to the iplayer

Capt'n Midnight

BBC Three could return as an on-air channel

The turnaround will be formally announced as part of the BBC's annual plan on Wednesday, but there was no news about the fate of BBC Four, which has been rumoured for the axe.

The corporation warned that putting BBC Three back on TV will mean reductions in other areas, especially as the BBC's income has been reduced by £125 million during the coronavirus outbreak.

But it says those decisions won't be made until the autumn when there is a clearer picture of the BBC's finances.

However, the BBC did say it had no plans to close BBC Four at the moment.

:mad:

brian_t

Marje wrote: »

Saw an ad for Cardinal last night, looks like it will be shown on BBC2 instead of BBC4.

Wednesdays on BBC2 seems to be the new home for Canadian drama.

The natural home of Euro drama (sub-titled) continues with The Young Montalbano on Saturday 30th May.

fryup

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

BBC Three could return as an on-air channel

:mad:

well they could revamp bbc3 and replace it with bbc4 content ??

tylercheribini

I love BBC Four but a state broadcaster having four channels in such competitive and challenging times does seem a luxury. if they shift their content over to BBC Three it wouldnt be the end of the world.

Tom Mann Centuria

fryup wrote: »

well they could revamp bbc3 and replace it with bbc4 content ??

But they won't because Three is their "youth" flagship channel, the don't like mixing, see Radio 1 in recent years for reference.

Hotblack Desiato

They've a lot more than four channels. Parliament, News, Alba, Scotland... and putting all the regional variations of BBC1/2 on satellite must cost a fair bit.

An Ciarraioch

Appears the latest BBC action plan envisages BBC Four as an archive channel, with BBC Two effectively becoming the "new" BBC Four.

Capt'n Midnight

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

They've a lot more than four channels. Parliament, News, Alba, Scotland... and putting all the regional variations of BBC1/2 on satellite must cost a fair bit.

There's about twenty different BBC 1's between regions and HD regions.
And most of the time they show the exact thing.

brian_t

brian_t wrote: »

The natural home of Euro drama (sub-titled) continues with The Young Montalbano on Saturday 30th May.

It's The First Case - series one episode one - first shown Sept 2013.

tylercheribini

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

They've a lot more than four channels. Parliament, News, Alba, Scotland... and putting all the regional variations of BBC1/2 on satellite must cost a fair bit.

Four flagship/mainstream channels should I say, in the on demand/streaming era I dont think its warranted anymore.

Harry Palmr

Is it a legal obligation to provide regional variations on satellite? Not that the cost is very big I think, mass rental long term deal is probably quite a competitive rate.

RebelButtMunch

brian_t wrote: »

Wednesdays on BBC2 seems to be the new home for Canadian drama.

The natural home of Euro drama (sub-titled) continues with The Young Montalbano on Saturday 30th May.

Cheers for that. I watched the Young Montalbano before, and I'll watch it again. He made for a complex character with his relationships to his father and girlfriend. Also it was enjoyable seeing the other characters in their younger roles.

odyssey06

An Ciarraioch wrote: »

Appears the latest BBC action plan envisages BBC Four as an archive channel, with BBC Two effectively becoming the "new" BBC Four.

I know there's a lot of overlap between BBC2 and BBC4 already for documentaries, and now also shows like Cardinal.
So I can see that working to a certain extent.

I wonder if the saturday night subtitled drama will make the cut across ... might be reluctance on main BBC2 channel to air subtitled shows in primetime.

I would miss those programmes

brian_t

odyssey06 wrote: »

I know there's a lot of overlap between BBC2 and BBC4 already for documentaries, and now also shows like Cardinal.
So I can see that working to a certain extent.

I wonder if the saturday night subtitled drama will make the cut across ... might be reluctance on main BBC2 channel to air subtitled shows in primetime.

I would miss those programmes

If I remember correctly BBC2 used to be the home of subtitled euro drama - 10pm to 12pm timewise (not every day)