BBC to move CBBC and BBC Four online

well that's disappointing.
radio 4 extra has been a great help and support to me.
i could get it on here, but it's not the same, and far less convenient than on radio.
also BBC4 has become what BBC2 was initially.
now that's to be shipped off/ downgraded too.
yet they keep the ghastly BBC3.

It’s a great shame about BBC 4, which shows some really interesting programmes. My parents, who are in their nineties watch it a lot. I doubt whether their mastery of the remote control will enable them to watch it via iPlayer.

BBC 4 has been my go to channel for years. I’ve been dreading the day that this would happen. Am I cynical in thinking that a channel that is both informative and educational isn’t in the best interest of this government. I question whether Nadine Dorries has ever even watched BBC4. Didn’t BBC4 evolve from the Open University and was there to educate people? We can’t be having that, can we. At least I can watch Sky Arts but that isn’t as educational and I do wonder how long it will be free to air.

Is this change due to the government then MayBee70?

well it is linked to lack of money, and the row with the govt over the licence fee.

I find BBC 4 programmes are often the best.

They are Aveline I agree. I guess this is a poke in the eye to the demographic who most likely watch and appreciate BBC4.

Namsnanny

Is this change due to the government then MayBee70?

I would assume so. I don’t remember any talk of it before. Wasn’t it Harold Wilson that started the Open University that evolved into BBC4?

We are not yoof , let's face it and, as such, have no need to be enticed into watching.
However, we are all license fee payers now, even the over-75s☹️

I think BBC4 is now a channel of repeats only, whereas at one time it seemed to be the 'serious' chnanel.
With BBC radio, the channels are easy to identify -
1 young peoples music
2 middle of the road music and chat
3 serious music and talks
4 talk and drama
I've no idea what the TV channels are other than BBC3 was aimed at the younger end.

So now us over 75s have to pay the licence fee but won't be able to watch BBC4 (which I would have thought attracts a larger audience) without a lot of faff. Oh well I've got The Duchess of Malfi recorded for when I've got a spare couple of hours.

Not happy!!!! My planner is full of great music programmes recorded on BBC4 - Roy Orbiston, Everley Brothers, etc (very much my era). My grandson comes to me in the morning for breakfast before school and watches CBBC which is quite educational. His school class also watch Newsround so would assume that other schools do the same. It will be a loss to us.

Oh no! BBC3 is absolute rubbish so why keep that?

Jane71

I think BBC4 is now a channel of repeats only, whereas at one time it seemed to be the 'serious' chnanel.
With BBC radio, the channels are easy to identify -
1 young peoples music
2 middle of the road music and chat
3 serious music and talks
4 talk and drama
I've no idea what the TV channels are other than BBC3 was aimed at the younger end.

Radio 6 is a platform for up and coming musicians that are already under threat by the problems touring due to brexit. R6 is constantly under threat.

Lots of wonderful ‘cultural’ stuff on BBC 4, it would be worth paying the license fee for that alone, although I’m happy playing it through iPlayer on the smart TV.

But will new programmes be made?

Aveline

I find BBC 4 programmes are often the best.

Absolutely. But if it isn’t about dancing, dating or naked bodies , reality set ups there is little interest.

We like BBC4 too.

Are younger people, to whom BBC3 is attempting to appeal, at all interested in watching anything on BBC?

When BBC Three relaunched as a live television channel earlier this year, the corporation hoped its counterintuitive punt on a youth-focused broadcast outlet would help it reach new audiences. Instead, the channel’s shows are consistently being beaten in the ratings by repeats of old history programmes featuring the deceased steeplejack Fred Dibnah on BBC Four.
Most of BBC Three’s programmes have so far failed to attract more than 100,000 viewers on live television, according to official viewing figures, while some shows are lucky to get a tenth of that. Even the programmes that do perform relatively well – such as episodes of MasterChef Australia – are rarely the original distinctive in-house shows that the channel exists to provide
Guardian Fri 15 Apr 2022

So Why??
Who makes these arbitrary decisions?

Should we protest and refuse to pay our licence fees?

I have recently begun to enjoy BBC4 and the programmes that it shows.
Maybe if the BBC hadn't split itself off into different directions and trying to be everything to all people it wouldn't be having the financial problems that it is currently experiencing!

My millennials laugh at any suggestion that they, and younger yoof would even contemplate tuning in to BBC3, with the wealth of more attractive viewing platforms available to them.

Do the BBC intend to analyse these sudience numbers and re-evaluate their move?

BBC Four began originally as a late schedule to BBC Two aka BBC Knowledge so that’s where the OU connection comes in.

Though BBC Four shows a lot of old programmes, it is (or was) required by its licence to air at least 100 hours of new arts and music programmes, 110 hours of new factual programmes and to premiere 20 foreign films each year. My understanding is that it’s the original programming which will be lost. The Guardian reported on 29 March 2021:

BBC Four is to cease commissioning new programmes and become an archive-focused channel as part of the ongoing significant cost-cutting drive across the corporation.

It also says:

While the corporation announced plans last week to double its arts and music spending on BBC Two, it annual plan stated that “this approach will necessitate a shift away from commissioning a high volume of lower-cost programmes on BBC Four, which are less effective at reaching audiences on the channel and on iPlayer”.

That’s a matter of opinion. BBC Four gave us the excellent Detectorists and The Thick of It and were in the forefront of showing Scandi noir e.g The Killing and thrillers such as the French Spiral. You can currently watch some of these on iPlayer or the subscription service Britbox.

In terms of commissioning and buying new content, with funding cuts the BBC will increasingly struggle to compete. Well done, Johnson stooge Nadine Dorries. So long as you have Netflix, eh?

ixion

My millennials laugh at any suggestion that they, and younger yoof would even contemplate tuning in to BBC3, with the wealth of more attractive viewing platforms available to them.

Do the BBC intend to analyse these sudience numbers and re-evaluate their move?

It's like shopping in Marks and Spencer.

The BBC are missing the point just like M&S

Couldn't agree more!