What would you change about TV (Rant Away Please)

[Klippie]

I want to get rid of these…

Add breaks, 10mins into a show channel 4 is very bad for this e.g. ER, NYPD Blue, Friends, Fraiser etc etc.

Logo's, these stupid annoying unnecessary intrusions on my viewing area bug me no end, I know which channel or program I am watching so I don’t need to be reminded the whole time I am watching.

ITV is such a waste of time it should be taken off the air. Apart from the F1 racing and the WRC there is nothing that interests me on ITV at all how can so much money be spent on so much poor quality TV surly this must be the biggest scam on the go at the moment.

Reality TV should be made illegal as it has produced so called celebes who now seem to think they are somebody worth while…. please!

I want this…

Major money spent on new comedy programming as the whole country could do with a laugh.

Saturday night TV should be about entertainment so how giving us some.

A big shake up of the TV system with pay per view taking over from the license fee so we only pay for what we watch… then be prepared for quality TV.

Some bloody cheering news stories instead of all the doom and gloom.

Channel 5 to be turned into a dedicated sports channel to free up the others so the prime time zones are given back to proper programming instead of darts and snooker at meal times.


I know its wishful thinking but our TV is so messed up now something has to be done before it’s too late.

Klippie.

 

[rhoamish]

I've had Sky+ for a week now, and it solves most of the problems you list above. However, it doesn't cheer the news up.

People have tried 'good news' papers and programmes, but on the whole, they fail. Happy stories aren't really news.

 

[Miyazaki]

I'm with you there.

I wouldn't mind paying an annual fee for freeview, voulentarily, that automatically skips adverts, removes logos, itv etc

You should thank your lucky stars you don't have sky mate, its approaching 1/2 hour of tv and 1/2 hour of adverts on there

 

[Azrikam]

Got to agree with the ads rant. The only shows I watch live now are on BBC with no ads. Everything else is time-shifted on the TiVo. You get used to no ads so fast, when I'm watching TV at a friends, I'm constantly complaining about having to sit through the ads.

I'm a big fan of clean TV screens, and by that I mean just the programme and nothing else. No ads for what's on next, no channel idents, no clocks, no streams of inane "txt bantr", no pimping out premium rate phone lines or polls, and definitely NO RED DOTS!

Reality TV wouldn't bother me so much because there must be people who like it, and I'm all for diversity of programming... BUT, when 70% of all programming falls into this category, it becomes more than a little annoying. I'm looking forward to the day when reality programming is no longer a viable TV commodity. Here's hoping that Babestation-style TV is the next big fad.

 

[PoochJD]

HI,

My wish-list would have to include:

- Getting rid of the licence fee completely, and making EVERY UK TV channel, subscribable, so you can choose only what you want, and not crap you don't. (Failing that, a drastic reduction in the Licence Fee!)

- A total ban on continuity announcers, on-screen promotions of "Comig Up in 2 seconds...", and other such guff. If I want to know what's on, I'll use the SKy EPG, a newspaper, or a-hundred-and-one other methods instead. But let it be my choice, and not someone else thinking that I'm too dumb to know what's up next.

- A total ban on all red-dot, interactive guff, as well as all DOG's and channel idents. Again, if I want to interact or use such functions, let me be the person to decide to "opt-in", rather than having to "opt-out". (I see Sky has upgraded the software now, so that you can no longer press the Backup button on your handset, to remove such blights from our screens! Nor do I need to be permanently reminded I'm watching BBC News 24, or whatever station, either! )

- Dedicated, separate channels for all of the following: sports; lifestyle (DIY, makeover, coookery) shows; reality TV or experimental shows (ala "The Carrot And The Stick"); soap operas; and daytime TV shows, as well. They should all be consigned to their own channels, freeing-up the 5 main terrestrial channels for something decent for a change.

- A complete ban on repeating a show, within six months of its original airing. Channel 4 have just shown "Shameless", and as soon as it finished, have just started to repeat all eight episodes again, in a primetime slot! The gits!

- A promise that all adverts and promotional trails will always sound quieter than the programmes they are placed between!

- A ban on Channel 4 and ITV from ever buying any US imported shows, because they either treat them like crap, or just edit the hell out of them to make them suitable for kiddies!

- Swapping Channel 4 and Five around on the terrestrial frequency bands: C4 is truly awful now, and Five has so much better material on it. Such a shame that everyone can receive C4 but not Five!

- No show must ever be censored or edited, to render it suitable for an earlier time-slot. Either show it uncut, or don't bother showing it at all!

- Forcing any channel that buys a series, to show the entire series, and not just randomly selecting episodes, or showing the first five and then consigning the show to the great TV-scheduing-dustbin in the sky! (Are you listening Sky?!)

- Forcing a channel to stick with a show, and not to give it away to a rival channel, because they pay more, e.g. like the BBC has done with "24"!

- To lower (or ban) the use of incessant background music. Keep it quiet, and relevant, but make sure we can hear what the narrator is saying, or the video clip we are being shown!

- To treat all viewers with intelligence! We're not simpletons, broadcasters, okay?! We do know what we are watching, and don't need to be constantly bashed around the head to understand something.

- To introduce more foreign-language films onto mainstream TV, and not marginalise non-English language or non-British material, as if it's somehow inferior. If the USA can give us "24", "The Sopranos", "ER", "Third Watch", "NYPD Blue", "The West Wing", "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Alias", "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation", "Law And Order" (or any of its numerous spin-offs), "Oz", "Without A Trace", and other gems, don't consign them to post-midnight, just so that we get to watch another showing of "It'll Be Alright On The Night" or "Auntie's Bloomers"!

- Make Saturday night TV worth watching again! Not since the mid-1990's has this night been good for watching TV! Not everyone wants to, or can afford to, go out on this day of the week, so give us a good weekly drama show, a nice film, and a bit of family entertainment (but not brain-dead dross)!

- Ban old Uk comedy shows, from being shown on terrestrial TV! I can't stand seeing "The Good Life" or "Dad's Army" any more! Please leave them on the shelves, to gather dust. Please!!!

- Oh, and lastly, give us presenters who know what they are talking about, and not just people who "look" nice. Half of these people are morons! June Sarpong; Davina McCall; Vernon Kay; the broadly-accented guy off of "Big Brother". None of them have braincells!

Does that cover everything?!

Pooch

 

[Pooon]

Removal of all finace type adverts, eg ocean, the carol vorderman one, the "wait for it, 6.9%" one etc etc etc etc. god they **** me off. oh an all mobile ringtone/wallpaper ads, eg 8 71 40 etc etc etc.

 

[Julie Winston]

If it was made in widescreen then show it in widescreen

 

[Miyazaki]

Pooch mate, if they got rid of the license fee, and with it the BBC there would only be more of what you are complaining about!

 

[MartinImber]

1) Remove all logos
2) Switch off PAL terrestrial
3) BBC1 & 2 C4, C5 in HDTV, DD5.1
4) Others anamorphic
5) All TV subscription free

 

[STOWITBELOW]

Sky+ means most ads I see are at 30x speed. Fan-bloody-tastic. If the licence fee was scrapped people would 'vote with their feet' With digital channels we would shake up & ship out more of the dross. Ads would probably be on all channels, but recorded stuff would mean not watching them. I often start watching things on record 10 mins after they've started so I can do just that. Ads I can deal with, S*** programs I can deal with. Logos & the like I'm stuck with.

 

[Miyazaki]

Do you really think that in the long-term, removing the BBC would lead to less adverts?

Next gen tivo boxes would make adverts. like the production credits at the start of dvds, unskippable.

It is naive in the extreme to think any other than deleterious effects would come from scrapping the license fee.

Broadcasters the world over look to the BBC for flag-bearing standards in journalism (Hutton excepted) and the content of their programming is second-to-none.

Waiving the license fee would lead to the receivership within the BBC turned on its head. Programmes would be made under the scrutiny of advertisers, like on other networks, and it would be almost impossible to create minority interest broadcasting!

Wake up people, the world envys the BBC and too many of you want to throw it all away!

 

[rhoamish]

I think that the BBC represents huge value for money, but I'm not entirely sure the system is fair. I suppose it depends whether or not you should have a right to watch television.

 

[Klippie]

I am a big fan of Aunty Beeb, its true they try to select a range of programs thankfully not always for the majority of viewers for instance where else would you get to see the very interesting Fred Dibnah teaching us all about how Britain used to lead the world in manufacturing and engineering of all kinds, plus what other TV company would allow the Sky At Night to be broadcast for tens of years showing the same thing year in year out. The list goes on and on, the BBC does very well with what its got it can’t please everybody all the time but it gets my vote to stay as it is.

I had a look through my TiVo program list tonight the only channels listed were from the BBC and Channel 4 so they must be doing something right for me.

Klippie.

 

[VMAX]

Simple- put ALL sport especially football, on Sky Sports. This would not include Moto GP or F1 obviously , but would include so called sports such as darts and snooker. This solution frees up time for more films on BBC1/2 so we would not have to put up with red dots, ads, and logos. VMax

 

[Joe Pineapples]

technical

1. all broadcasts in widescreen (inc terrestrial)
2. all logos removed

programming

1. stop making anything with the words 'reality, brother or celebrity' in the title
2. start making original drama's
3. dont cut into a prgramme with advertising of another programme

Dean

 

[Lex]

No more (ITV) Police/Crime dramas - especially those starring soap star has-beens!

 

[PoochJD]

Hi,

Lex - Oh dear, mate! You won't like ITV next week, when a couple of new police/crime dramas start with ex-soapies and ex-celebs then!

Everyone else - Okay, I admit that maybe I was being harsh on the BBC, with the idea of scrapping the licence fee. However, in my defence, I don't think that the Licence Fee is worth £116 per year, as (like other taxes) you have to pay it, whether you like the service or not. Whilst the BBC can be very good, it can also show and create a lot of mindless and pointless junk. Anyway, most of what I watch on the BBC are US imports anyway, e.g. "The Simpsons", "The Practice", "Buffy" (before it ended recently), etc, etc.

I do genuinely like the BBC, but they seriously need to rethink they scheduleing and programme output, as their are too many repeats of shows, too much junk in general, and too much sport!

Pooch

 

[Azrikam]

I agree with the license fee idea, but I think BBC needs more direction from their investors (ie, the people paying the license fee). Being from Canada, I've seen what happens to a great public broadcasting channel when it's starved of funds (CBC), and it's not pretty.

At least with the license fee, BBC has the funds to take chances on stuff that other broadcasters wouldn't touch, and that's a good thing. I mean, without it, we'd never have had Fightbox! (ok, probably not a good example )

 

[PoochJD]

Azrikam,

You're right, about the BBC needing direction. For a public-service company, they don't ever to seem ask the public what it wants from the Beeb, for fear of hearing the worst, e.g.

"Dear Auntie Beeb, Please DO NOT show ever again, any of the following shows, or derivatives thereof:
- Gardening
- DIY and home improvements
- Makeover shows (be it on: people, properties or their belongings)
- Cookery shows and food programmes
- Reality TV
- chat shows hosted by people who would be better served as in-patients in an asylum
- studio-audience-participation shows
- any show related to, or tied-in with the National Lottery (a simple two minute show, detailing what the numbers drawn were, would be quite sufficient, thank you!)
- anything starring ex- or current soap-actors, trying to break out of their current soap-acting career
- endless repeats of "classic" TV
- repeats of "classic" ITV TV shows
- anything to do with the build-up to an event or sporting occasion, e.g. the BAFTA's, Oscars, Rugby World Cup, Darts, Eurovision. I don't need to see people at these events enjoying themselves, and have commentary by imbeciles, telling me they are enjoying themselves. Just stick to showing the actual event, and not the pre-show or after-event junk!)
- the same news bulletin stories, repeated verbatim, ten times a day, in every major new show, e.g. Breakfast TV, the one o'clock news, the six o'clock news, and the ten o'clock news. Reword it, or rewrite the whole damn thing, but don't just repeat it... please!
- redesigning your BBC logo, at a cost of thousands, just because the previous slanty-logo couldn't be easily reproduced!
- ban clip-shows and hidden-camera stuff as well

Oh, yes. And please get rid of the current BBC1 idents, showing dancers in the rain, the circus people rolling down a length of curtain fabric, wheelchair basketball dancers, rooftop dancers, and the indian dancers too!! I don't hate the idents for portraying different sections of the community, but I do hate the idents, because they are patronising and crap!

The old BBC1 animated globe, or something like the current animated BBC2 logo would be much more enjoyable... to everyone! (What about getting something designed by Aardman Animations, starring "Wallace Ad Gromit"?! That would be cool!

Pooch

 

[Sinzer]

Why don't you guys burn your TVs and go do something more interesting instead then?

There is more to life than getting worked up about little red dots on screens!

 

[Miyazaki]

yeah, like getting wound up by people dissing the gamecube eh Sinzer

 

[Sinzer]

lol I never get wound up by it....

I got far more things to worry about than some other peoples views