[Garrett]

Channel 4 crowned top TV network

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5290014.stm

Is the stuff there on legal.

[Rasczak]

Channel 4 crowned top TV network

I absolutely loath Channel 4s output which seems to be largely based around naff like Big Brother. It used to be a decent channel 10 years ago.

[JohnG]

I can't believe this Was this voted for by 12 year old girls or something ?

[Starburst]

So subjective you wonder why anyone in or out of the industry takes any real notice, who am I kidding the media industry is a self centered and egotistical as anything else

[PoochJD]

HI,

Only two words need be said about this "decision": Complete !

No way in hell, can C4 be considered the best terrestrial channel! With all the derivative junk they pump out, even ITV1 could be classed as being a better channel, simply because it's going to be airing a new "Prime Suspect" mini-series, and a new epsiode of "Cracker"!

TV executives really do know absolutely naff all! No wonder British TV is in such a chronic state of disrepair!


Pooch

Originally Posted by PoochJD

HI,

Only two words need be said about this "decision": Complete !

No way in hell, can C4 be considered the best terrestrial channel! With all the derivative junk they pump out, even ITV1 could be classed as being a better channel, simply because it's going to be airing a new "Prime Suspect" mini-series, and a new epsiode of "Cracker"!

TV executives really do know absolutely naff all! No wonder British TV is in such a chronic state of disrepair!


Pooch

I say Ch5's the best channel at the mo but ch4 trumps ITV1 by a mile with a little gem called Green Wing & decent news programmes

[Greg]

C5, with it's excellent showing of Top US dramas etc is the best channel for me. With BBC1/2 coming in close second.

But C4 as the best, what a load of old . Was this perhaps voted for by the same people that watch Big brother?

[robyoung]

Yep, i'll go with channel 5 too, what a turn around they have made since its first broadcast!

Channel 4 was my favourite a long while back, but BB has certainly taken it down hill along with their various bad handling of programmes (times, cuts etc)

Rob

[krish]

the best thing about Channel 4 is Channel 4 News, imho
- with Jon Snow the must trustworthy anchor on UK television; and correspondents the BBC would be proud to have

Originally Posted by krish

the best thing about Channel 4 is Channel 4 News, imho
- with Jon Snow the must trustworthy anchor on UK television; and correspondents the BBC would be proud to have

seconded

[PoochJD]

Hi,

AGree with all of the above comments - C4 used to be great, but has treated viewers so badly with scheduling of US shows, too much reality tv and general crap that they air, whilst Five is the absolute best terrestrial channel, without a shadow of a doubt! Never has a single UK channel, that I can recall, turned-around itself from being considered such a lousy, cheap-and-nasty station, into a channel that I hol din the highest regard because of its consistently high quality in US imports, films, and general treatment to shows and movies!


Pooch

[krish]

Originally Posted by PoochJD

....Five is the absolute best terrestrial channel, without a shadow of a doubt!

Apart from quality imports, exactly what is so great about five?

Its news is ****, it also has its own celeb reality TV crap (e.g. The Farm) that about three people watch; and its full of dire imports too

I'm not going to give them the credit for stuff like CSI, Law & Order, and Prison Break.

Ch4/E4/More4 still have their quality imports.... Without A Trace, Lost, Desperate Housewives, West Wing, Curb Your Enthusiasm, My Name Is Earl, The Sopranos etc etc

[PoochJD]

Krish,

Originally Posted by krish

Apart from quality imports, exactly what is so great about five? Its news is ****, it also has its own celeb reality TV crap (e.g. The Farm) that about three people watch; and its full of dire imports too. I'm not going to give them the credit for stuff like CSI, Law & Order, and Prison Break. Ch4/E4/More4 still have their quality imports.... Without A Trace, Lost, Desperate Housewives, West Wing, Curb Your Enthusiasm, My Name Is Earl, The Sopranos etc etc

1) Five listen to their viewers, and when viewers told them that they didn't want a DOG in the corner of the screen, Five dropped it!

2) Send Five an e-mail request, and you'll usually get a response within 5 days. Channel 4's Duty Office can take upto 6 weeks, and that's if they can even be arsed to even respond.

3) Five may show crap reality TV, but at least they don't let it dominate their schedules for 4.5 months of the year, for 24 hours a day, and on their other channels too! Oh, and nor would they ever stoop so low as to air late-night reality TV, showing the contestants asleep!

4) If it weren't for Five, terrestrial TV fans would never have got to see "CSI", "The Shield", "Lexx", and all the spin-off's, uncut and in widescreen. Ditto with "Prison Break", and all the "Law And Order" shows too.

5) Five show their regular US imports at proper decent times of the day and evening, when people can actually get to watch them! Unlike C4, who air them at 3:30am, on a Wednesday morning, and still cut episodes to hell!

6) If it weren't for "NYPD Blue" on More4, I wouldn't be watching any of the C4, E4 or More4 stations at all!

I think that answers your query as to why Five is better than C4, in my opinion. If Channel 4 hadn't messed viewers about so much, and go down the route of dumbing the channel down, so that it's only worthwhile for chavs and brain-dead morons, then I might agree with the consensus that "C4 is best". Sadly, it isn't! C4 have shot themselves in the foot, and will never recover from it! Five have gone from strength, to strength, listening to what viewers want, and their satellite/cable and freeview channel spin-offs will only help improve their status as the best terrestrial station.


Pooch

[krish]

Pooch - I said 'Apart from quality imports...' which you didn't address.

As much as Blair has tried, we're still not the 51st State, so I'm not quite with you on awarding a channel the accolade of 'absolute best' because its great at scheduling predominantly US imports, and its biggest UK talents are Trisha Goddard and Cheggars. It does ocassionally commission and broadcast decent documentaries. And then it has the carbon copies of property and makeover shows. If there was an award for Absolute Best American TV Channel in the UK, then five would win hands down.

Ch4 still have a reputation for commissioning, nurturing and broadcasting quality British talent
e.g. Shameless, Spaced, Peep Show, Bremner, Peter Kay, Ricky Gervais, Sacha Baren Cohen. I don't deny it also has an increasing reputation for crap like Balls of Steel etc.

Then there's BBC2, an excellent broadcaster of factual and fiction based BRITISH programmes.... just last week I was blown away by the challenging play Shoot the Messenger

Now, how many of us can actually recall a single five commissioned fiction-based TV Show, apart from that cutting edge drama Family Affairs?

[Pezerinno]

Five's PQ is the best for me. Do they broadcast at a higher bitrate than the other channels?

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by Nick25

Five's PQ is the best for me. Do they broadcast at a higher bitrate than the other channels?

On Dsat they do and that becomes obvious when comparing Five to their main commercial competition from the likes of ITV and CH4 who not only offer low bitrates but lower resolution.
Five on Freeview at least according to the HDD useage reported on my Humax is nothing special so it's the only channel of the main 5 I would choose to watch on Dsat over Freeview.

The most obvious reason for this is there lack of multipule channels, I fear that Fives PQ will drop thanks to the new sister channels being launched soon.

[Dave]

I'm gonna be all controvertial (spelling?) here.

IMHO channel 4 and it's spin offs are absolutely superb and should be applauded for pushing the boundaries of terrestial TV.

The reason I think channel 4 is getting a bashing here is because each channel is targeted mostly at a specific demographic. Now, I'm 26 and consider myself to be just young enough to be in that "young person" category. This to me is the sweet spot for channel 4 and the demographic they seek to entice.

There are a hell of a lot of things I love on channel 4. Big brother, it's like car crash tv and i love it. These people put theirselves up for national judgment and by god i love to judge. Lost is a superbly original series and has got me hooked from the start. Film 4 shows loads of incredible unknown British films, dead mans shoes for instance, a brilliant home grown flick.

I suppose the point is, and please no one take offence at this but i'm guessing a lot of you C4 haters are over 30. Not because I think you suck or any other negative connotation but simply because it seems channel 4 are aiming squarely at the younger viewers. It's just that a load of my friends and myself feel that channel 4 is superb and i'm just wondering why so many seem to hate it.

[Starburst]

At the end of the day it's all subjective and down to out personal preferences and the same applies to these media awards.
Anyone taking them seriously as a genuine basis in fact for one channel being better than another is seriously deluded which makes them ideal for working in the TV industry

[krish]

agree!!

the only thing to be taken as fact is that ITV1 is a big ****ing pile of steaming ****!

[PoochJD]

Hi Krish,

You're right, and I apologise for misreading your post. However, I still think that Five is better than C4,beause Five listens to its viewers and always tries to improve itself. C4 just like to on their audiences, from a great height.

Also, I'm 100% with you r.e. ITV1 - a truly shocking channel nowadays, that is digging its own grave, faster than that of C4!


Pooch

[krish]

Originally Posted by PoochJD

C4 just like to on their audiences, from a great height.

true, I hope they get ed by Ofcom or Icstis over their Big Brother premium rate line evictee returning deception

One thing I would admonish both Ch4 and Five over was how they killed off Alias on terrestrial. Ch4 first had it running Sunday teatimes (cut ) didn't really market it or promote it to an uncut evening slot; didn't pick up the second season because their messed up scheduling gave it poor ratings; five then picked up Alias season 2, and after two or 3 episodes banished it to a graveyard slots, and that was the end of that.

Originally Posted by Daerve

I'm gonna be all controvertial (spelling?) here.

IMHO channel 4 and it's spin offs are absolutely superb and should be applauded for pushing the boundaries of terrestial TV.

The reason I think channel 4 is getting a bashing here is because each channel is targeted mostly at a specific demographic. Now, I'm 26 and consider myself to be just young enough to be in that "young person" category. This to me is the sweet spot for channel 4 and the demographic they seek to entice.

There are a hell of a lot of things I love on channel 4. Big brother, it's like car crash tv and i love it. These people put theirselves up for national judgment and by god i love to judge. Lost is a superbly original series and has got me hooked from the start. Film 4 shows loads of incredible unknown British films, dead mans shoes for instance, a brilliant home grown flick.

I suppose the point is, and please no one take offence at this but i'm guessing a lot of you C4 haters are over 30. Not because I think you suck or any other negative connotation but simply because it seems channel 4 are aiming squarely at the younger viewers. It's just that a load of my friends and myself feel that channel 4 is superb and i'm just wondering why so many seem to hate it.

I love E4 & film4 but we aren't judging those channels. having said that I hate how BB takes over E4 why can't they do what they did in yr1 or 2 by making BB interactive thru the red button & leaving the late night schedule as per normal. I record lots of post midnight on E4 and when BB kicks in I struggle to catch what I want due to lack of repeats

[TranceFan]

best channel, well compared to ITV, but compared with BBC1/2 no chance!

C4 has become home of dumbed-down chav-scum z-list tv like HollyOaks and Big Brother - produced by morons, starring morons and watched by morons. Its become the televisual equivalent of the News of the World (bar the Murdock politics) - its insulting to anyone with 2 braincells to rub together. And running imports like Lost is pointless if you can download US versions the day of broadcast 6 months ahead of C4.

also why all the ing property programmes - low-budget zero - entertainment money spinner for Sarah Beaney and her permanently-annoying ilk!

the only saving grace for C4 is C4 news - only channel to provide unbiased news , the coverage of the recent Lebanon conflict being a case in point.

C4 has gone so far downhill in the last 10 years, used to be innovative, good cult films etc, now shadow of former self. C5 has inversely improved to C4's lurch into chav-hell!