Changes on the airwaves

 Broadcasting is going through a period of rapid change and restructuring presently, we've talked about it elsewhere as it applies to children's television and radio with programming being offered over the internet that the user selects. new enterants whocan produce and distribute programming without the associated costs of legacy linear channels broadcast from antennas and satellite.

On the top of of the periodic review of the BBC right to raise funds and for what with the licence fee they collect money for, the new BBC Director General is looking with some might say a more harder nose than most at what it does.

The programs and the (legacy) linear channels most of which started in various forms from around 1998/9 as a early ONdigital subscriber I remember well from the days of BBC Knowledge and Choice starting on channels 7 and 9.

They became BBC 3 and BBC 4.

ITV and Channel Four started sidebar channels back then such as ITV2, E4 and FilmFour so the BBC were not unique in it but what may of made sense at the turn of the century may not some twenty-five years on.

BBC started in 2008 and was really targetted at those in their late teens to early thirties with a good number of freshly commisioned programs, some that were successfuly like Gavin and Stacy and others not.

Even back in 2016 it was found most of these viewers were watching via the iPlayer so given the expense of putting it out over antenna and satellite decided to make it online only.

The BBC Board of Governors reviewed it and decide it was to go back to being broadcast in 2021 arguing this audience had a right to a specific broadcast channel.

Leaked suggestions and internal redundencies are set up now suggesting this could go yet again with an announcement in a week or with talk of BBC Scotland a seperate Scottish channel for non Gaelic scots  going to attracting miniscule viewing figures but very much backed by Scottish politicians.

In an age when much can be found online can channels with poor viewing figures and a struugle to generate new content can you continue to pay for things few watch and in the instance of BBC 3, could not the programs go on BBC2 when we have seen a high proportion of repeats never mind repeats of repeats?

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