Has the BBC lost the plot?

[dangie]

In the 'Other Sport' thread I posted about the BBC ceasing production of 'A Question of Sport'. I'm now posting this here as I think it goes beyond sport.

For 50 years A Question of Sport was very popular viewing. Even if you weren't particularly interested in sport it was an entertaining half hour. So what happened? Someone at the BBC decided to change the format. As they say, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Well now it is broke and production has ceased.

Just who at the BBC makes these decisions? Why on earth change something that works? What was so wrong with the existing format?

'Have I Got News for You' is another. Not a patch on what it used to be.

 

[deltic]

No - its just running out of money. If a show has falling audiences what do you do with it?

 

[dangie]

No - its just running out of money. If a show has falling audiences what do you do with it?

What I'm saying is, the viewing figures have plummeted because they changed a successful format. A Question of Sport in the big scope of things can't be expensive to produce.

 

[Revilo]

The simple lesson to all large corporations is not to pander to a tiny minority of vocal activists at the expense of your core market. Go woke, go broke.

 

[Ostrich]

Unfortunately, things change. 50 years is a good innings, but the old format presumably doesn't appeal to today's viewers and the new format doesn't appeal to yesterday's viewers.
(I can't pontificate any further on A Question of Sport 'cos, to be honest, I've never ever watched it!).
"Strictly" is another show which has evolved into something I now won't watch, and may also be on borrowed time. If only they could bring back Len and Brucie!

 

[JD2168]

The BBC responded to the woke are of society & changed the lineup. The Sue Barker era worked as you got quite a bit of banter & humour during the episode. Also with Sue she had played sport successfully & with Paddy it felt like he was brung in to inject humour that it had naturally.

The viewership sunk as well going from around 5 million an episode under Sue Barker to less than 1 million under Paddy despite good time slots.

 

[Enthusiast]

If only they could bring back Len and Brucie!

What? Are they no longer in it? You may have broken that to me a bit more gently!

 

[Gloster]

The trouble is that after a while established formats lose viewing numbers as people die or drift away, but gain new viewers more slowly. There comes a point where the TV company can no longer justify the costs because of the falling numbers and can either pull the plug or try a revamp to gain new viewers, which doesn’t always work. With the costs of production, you just can’t keep on producing the same programme for a dwindling number of faithfuls.

I also have a suspicion, although this is connected with other shows, that it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the right combination of guests at a price that can be afforded. Sportsman‘s knowledge is, in my opinion, increasingly centred on their own sport and, because they have been nurtured to it since a young age, have only a limited ability to talk and joke about anything else.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

HIGNFY and Newsnight are 2 more going the way of the dido.

 

[DerekC]

HIGNFY and Newsnight are 2 more going the way of the dido.

Is that a dildo or a dodo?

 

[E27007]

The timeslot allocated for the broadcasting of Question of Sport, do we know the programme which will take over the timeslot?

 

[JamesT]

The BBC responded to the woke are of society & changed the lineup. The Sue Barker era worked as you got quite a bit of banter & humour during the episode. Also with Sue she had played sport successfully & with Paddy it felt like he was brung in to inject humour that it had naturally.

The viewership sunk as well going from around 5 million an episode under Sue Barker to less than 1 million under Paddy despite good time slots.

The viewership had been sinking under Sue Barker too. The peak was the episode with Princess Anne that got 19 million.

The timeslot allocated for the broadcasting of Question of Sport, do we know the programme which will take over the timeslot?

I’m not sure it had a time slot any more, which was part of the problem. It seemed to get wedged into the schedules wherever there was free time.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

The viewership had been sinking under Sue Barker too. The peak was the episode with Princess Anne that got 19 million.

That was 1987 so over 35 years ago now. Not many other regular UK television programmes ever get audience figures quite that high any more.

 

[brad465]

That was 1987 so over 35 years ago now. Not many other regular UK television programmes ever get audience figures quite that high any more.

Basically only massive royal ceremonies/events and England going to at least the semi-finals of a major tournament.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Is that a dildo or a dodo?

Lol corrected thanks

 

[GatwickDepress]

HIGNFY and Newsnight are 2 more going the way of the dido.

HIGNFY has been stale for years now. There's the odd glimmer of hope when a host or guest just clicks and there's some genuine chemistry going on, but most of the time it's more by rote than learning multiplication tables under a Dickensian schoolmistress.

The viewership had been sinking under Sue Barker too. The peak was the episode with Princess Anne that got 19 million.


I’m not sure it had a time slot any more, which was part of the problem. It seemed to get wedged into the schedules wherever there was free time.

I feel like the niche AQoS filled for previous generations is increasingly taken up by online personalities for the newer generations - YouTubers, TikTokkers, etc all do similar things - and it's difficult to compete with that. Everything has its time.

 

[alex397]

I’m not sure the BBC’s problem is that’s it’s gone ‘woke’, seeing as every channel is the same with more inclusivity and diversity. And replacing Sue Barker with Paddy McGuinness is hardly a ‘woke’ decision.

A matter of opinion of course but I still find HIGNFY funny. I like how it’s still pretty much the same exact format as 30 years ago, without any major changes (apart from changing from regular host to guest host many moons ago). It still makes me laugh, and very few things do that for me nowadays.

 

[brad465]

Given Hislop and Merton are both in their 60s, I wouldn't be surprised if they announce retirement soon and the show ends as a result of that, or vice-versa.

 

[DelW]

What I'm saying is, the viewing figures have plummeted because they changed a successful format. A Question of Sport in the big scope of things can't be expensive to produce.

HIGNFY has been stale for years now. There's the odd glimmer of hope when a host or guest just clicks and there's some genuine chemistry going on, but most of the time it's more by rote than learning multiplication tables under a Dickensian schoolmistress.

So the theory is that AQoS failed because the format *was* changed, while HIGNFY is failing because the format *hasn't* been changed. There seems to be a contradiction here.

The BBC responded to the woke are of society & changed the lineup. The Sue Barker era worked as you got quite a bit of banter & humour during the episode. Also with Sue she had played sport successfully & with Paddy it felt like he was brung in to inject humour that it had naturally.

Paddy McGuinness an exemplar of "woke" society? Really?

 

[Trackman]

A matter of opinion of course but I still find HIGNFY funny. I like how it’s still pretty much the same exact format as 30 years ago, without any major changes (apart from changing from regular host to guest host many moons ago). It still makes me laugh, and very few things do that for me nowadays.

So do I. One of the few shows I do record.
The most recent change was a couple of years ago, when they decided not to censor swear words. To me, it doesn't work, it just makes it look tacky.
As for QoS, I watched one episode and that was it.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

So the theory is that AQoS failed because the format *was* changed, while HIGNFY is failing because the format *hasn't* been changed. There seems to be a contradiction here.


Paddy McGuinness an exemplar of "woke" society? Really?

Describing the BBC as woke is generally the practice of those who not only lean to the right but also believe, because government facilitates the current funding of the BBC through the TV license, that somehow the BBC is therefore duty bound to act as a propaganda outlet for the government as a quid pro quo.

Of course outside of times of war the BBC has always tried to deliberately avoid doing that. And more generally a healthy democracy absolutely needs the wider media to hold government to account. Since the most popular newspapers generally fail to do that any more it makes it both more necessary for the BBC to fill that role and also more obvious when it does so.

As for AQoS I once was sufficiently keen on the show that I attended a recording at the old Oxford Road studios. Indeed I can remember back to the days when Cliff Morgan and Henry Cooper were captains. But it lost me when the joking around started to become as important as the quizzery. I would also agree with the comment upthread that modern athletes are so focussed on their own sport that their knowledge of anything else is often somewhat limited. Add in that tv audiences generally have regular access to a much wider variety of sports than ever before so that a general quiz covering all sports no longer has its previous appeal.

 

[AM9]

Describing the BBC as woke is generally the practice of those who not only lean to the right but also believe, because government facilitates the current funding of the BBC through the TV license, that somehow the BBC is therefore duty bound to act as a propaganda outlet for the government as a quid pro quo.

Of course outside of times of war the BBC has always tried to deliberately avoid doing that. And more generally a healthy democracy absolutely needs the wider media to hold government to account. Since the most popular newspapers generally fail to do that any more it makes it both more necessary for the BBC to fill that role and also more obvious when it does so.

As for AQoS I once was sufficiently keen on the show that I attended a recording at the old Oxford Road studios. Indeed I can remember back to the days when Cliff Morgan and Henry Cooper were captains. But it lost me when the joking around started to become as important as the quizzery. I would also agree with the comment upthread that modern athletes are so focussed on their own sport that their knowledge of anything else is often somewhat limited. Add in that tv audiences generally have regular access to a much wider variety of sports than ever before so that a general quiz covering all sports no longer has its previous appeal.

This, is my view, although I'very never been a QoS fan. Probably the next bsst thing to HIGNFY is the Last Leg. In my mid '70s some of the juvenile humour is a bit unfunny, but the political commentary is what viewers actually want. That's a good thing as it engages younger voters. I wish the BBC could do something like that, maybe on bbc3. It would help some of those who see Instagram and Tic-Toc as a genuine source of unbiased news realise where that 'unbiased' news is selectively decanted from.
Off topic but for info, I was at the recording of Mo Gilligans' Christmas Lateish Show (which was recorded in June), and that was way outside my comfort zone for comedy, but very interesting. It will be screened on this Wednesday evening, well worth a watch.

 

[STINT47]

What? Are they no longer in it? You may have broken that to me a bit more gently!

Sadly they have both now passed away

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Paddy McGuinness an exemplar of "woke" society? Really?

Presumably he fills the quota for talentless unfunny idiots who only got famous through having a more talented and funny friend...

 

[Bevan Price]

In my opinion, TV - including BBC - are too obsessed with so-called celebrities, and are willing to pay far too much to get them on TV.
For example, do they really need 3 or 4 "pundits" to discuss every sports event transmitted "live" or as highlights.
And whilst Mr Lineker is pretty good at his football analysis, I am sure there are people who might be "almost as good", but for a lot less money.

As for A Question Of Sport" - I think that most programmes get a bit stale when they have been around for a long time, and would benefit from a long break. (Just as happened with Dr Who - it had been getting stale and came back much refreshed after its "holiday", )
Pity they don't give "soaps" some long holidays.

 

[Enthusiast]

Sadly they have both now passed away

Lawks-a-mercy! Is there no sensitivity on this site?

 

[westv]

One also wonders if Top Gear will ever come back.

 

[75A]

The MOTD pundits - Lineker, Wright & Shearer et all all played in a different era, the game's moved on.

 

[SteveM70]

The specific issue with AQoS is, I think, that for many years it hasn't had any current elite level athletes as guests. In the "good old days" it absolutely did, and indeed top sportsmen/women actively tried to get invited. Now, its has beens and never quite weres, so its hardly a surprise that its become less popular.

Goodness knows why they appointed Paddy McGuinness, although latter day Sue Barker and her nauseating flirting with Matt Dawson (sorry, Daws, as she insisted on calling him) was a tough watch

 

[dangie]

…… the game's moved on.

Unfortunately you are correct, but not for the better.