C4 Programme Commissioning Woes - Printable Version

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+--- Thread: C4 Programme Commissioning Woes (/showthread.php?tid=457)

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RE: C4 Programme Commissioning Woes - JMT1985 - 11-01-2024

Very sad to read of the problems at Channel 4, I really love the channel, which has brought up shows which BBC or ITV wouldn't have dared to commission - Father Ted, Derry Girls, It's A Sin, Queer As Folk etc.

Seems Channel 4 wants to axe their weekend news output, and their midday news summary during the week - I am still surprised they bothered to keep the 5 minute weekday update, but quota on news content must be kept

Also, it is worrying they want to abandon daytime TV and concentrate everything into 7pm onwards.

So anyone wanting a proper reboot of The Big Breakfast, and a replacement for Steph's Packed Lunch will be in for a shock, when we will be given back to back repeats of Come Dine With Me and ancient repeats of The Simpsons.

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RE: C4 Programme Commissioning Woes - XIII - 12-01-2024

I think Channel 4 needs new leadership, Alex Mahon and Ian Katz need to move on and let new people take over.

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RE: C4 Programme Commissioning Woes - tellyblues - 12-01-2024

(12-01-2024, 12:58 AM)XIII Wrote:  I think Channel 4 needs new leadership, Alex Mahon and Ian Katz need to move on and let new people take over.

Do you have anyone in mind? 🤓

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RE: C4 Programme Commissioning Woes - nwtv2003 - 12-01-2024

I noticed that they’ve started running a Daytimes on Channel 4 promotion recently, but they’re only highlighting the programmes that aren’t repeats, so Countdown, Sunday Brunch and the stuff that tends go out between 3pm and 6pm also.

A slight sense of irony given the axing of Steph’s Packed Lunch and their recent Ofcom request to cut a number of daytime commitments.

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RE: C4 Programme Commissioning Woes - Brekkie - 12-01-2024

Obviously Steph's Packed Lunch never picked up ratings wise but do wonder if it's removal might hurt Countdown a bit, even if the lead in was significantly less than the figure Countdown is now achieving.

Also how has The Simpsons been affected with the move to 6.30pm - it feels like even though Hollyoaks wasn't rating that hour has been lost to the fog of daytime with no real plan or purpose. Wouldn't surprise me at all if at some point we see full week reruns of Four in a Bed or Come Dine with Me run in the 4-6.30pm slot.

For me it's quite frustrating to see how C4 has lost it's way - yes, the market is a huge factor but they've not helped themselves and they've gone from a channel I'd tune into most nights (for weekly, rather than just daily content) to something which 90% of the time is just bland factual content being churned out, and then the rest feels poorly scheduled and questionable commissions.

Big Boys series 2 begins on Sunday for example, but that feels like a bit of a throwaway slot. All comedies now go up as boxsets which make sense, but they seem to now show them all as three double bills rather than weekly which feels like they're not making as much use of them as they could - and I'm not sure if the series has even been repeated since it first aired, certainly not to the extent the likes of The Inbetweeners is still shown for example. It would make sense to pair the new series up with a rerun of Everyonoe Else Burns ahead of their next series for example.

Then you've got Truelove - actually looks pretty decent but not sure a drama with an over 70s cast is what C4 should be commissioning. The Couple Next Door was much more on brand (and excellent).

Then next week you've got 8 out of 10 Cats does Countdown and I Literally Just Told You back to back on Friday nights. Catsdown probably needs putting down now to be honest, but even if you're a fan of Jimmy Carr and a fan of both formats that feels like poor scheduling.

E4 is back in it's Gogglebox/Celebrity Gogglebox/First Dates repeat cycle for now, though has more new content at 8pm now. More4 though does feel a bit stronger overall at the moment though, but there is very little that distinguishes it from C4 now.

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RE: C4 Programme Commissioning Woes - XIII - 12-01-2024

Truelove's subject matter does make it a Channel 4 drama. It's not a cosy drama by any means. The Couple Next Door weirdly felt more like a Channel 5 drama.

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RE: C4 Programme Commissioning Woes - tellyblues - 12-01-2024

https://metro.co.uk/2024/01/12/paddy-mcguinness-lands-second-series-ofshow-question-sport-axe-20103551/ 

That'll give Paddy something to do.

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RE: C4 Programme Commissioning Woes - Brekkie - 12-01-2024

I did quite enjoy that - still find it odd for about 4 weeks last Spring money seemed no object to C4 with a few formats launched in quick succession.

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RE: C4 Programme Commissioning Woes - Johnr - 13-01-2024

It certainly has potential for a second series but the final of the first series ended up being rather anti climatic!

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RE: C4 Programme Commissioning Woes - Brekkie - 13-01-2024

Agree, although avoiding the obvious twist for the first series finale means it is there as a potential twist for series 2. They need to be a bit cleverer with the dilemmas too, and make them more costly.

It suffered really from actually having too high a budget as towards the end it was obvious you could take all the temptations and the difference was pretty much going home with just under £20k or just over £20k. When it was announced I assumed the format was designed so the £300k potential prize pot would whittle down to less than £100k but it was still around £250k at the end as the temptations weren't that costly, and seemed to get less costly as the game went on.

I think you can also add an elimination process with people being tempted to leave along the way, so a few options to evolve it for a second series.

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