BBC cutbacks - Was axing BBC Three the right move?

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

There was shock and complete surprise earlier this week (starting 3^rd March) when rumours spread of one of BBC’s channels was about to face the chop. In order to meet agreed spending figures by the end of 2016, the Beeb have decided to axe BBC Three – one of the most popular channels for a young target audience.

BBC Three has been the home to plenty of new talents, with successes such as Being Human, Little Britain and Gavin & Stacey being eventually picked up by mainstream channels after its first success on the platform. Other shows including The Fades, Torchwood, Don’t Tell the Bride, Lip Service and Free Speech have won rave reviews for its content shown. Alongside its quality programming, BBC Three has opened new doors to upcoming comedians, musicians and actors who want to make the big time but need to make their name first.

So despite the announcement that its content will move online in future, why is this cutback move by British Broadcasting Corporation a wrong move, especially where other expensive avenues could have saved itself from the backlash it has received.

Cutbacks are required

First of all, the BBC has had to make savings in a number of areas to meet agreed cutbacks put in by the BBC Trust. This has already involved movement of programmes to cheaper locations such as MediaCity in Salford and Cardiff, job losses and the decision not to renew some of its popular dramas and sport rights to meet the required targets.

Outlined three years ago, 2000 jobs were set to go by 2017 with a further 1000 people set to be relocated to newer parts of the UK. Television Centre was closed down last year as Broadcasting House became the new home for the corporation in London which is where the majority of the BBC’s news content, both national and local is now outputted from.

£47m a year was planned to be saved from 2011 until 2016 with the BBC Asian Network and BBC HD facing the biggest reduction in content programming. BBC HD has since become BBC Two HD last year.

Shows and events that have been the victim of such vicious but crucial cuts have included crime drama Ripper Street, sci-fi series Survivors, store drama The Paradise, comedy My Family, Alan Sugar’s The Young Apprentice and live rights to horse racing and MotoGP.

Officially becoming BBC Three in 2003 after being initially launched as recently as 1998 as BBC Choice, BBC Three attracts 13m viewers per week of its content. However despite its fairly short lifespan, the percentage of 16-34 age range who watches the programmes and the total viewers per week, the Director General of the BBC Tony Hall has made a difficult but wrong call in giving BBC Three the boot.  

What will happen to BBC Three?

The news to axe BBC Three has been met with much disapproval, not just from fans of the channel and casual viewers like me but comedians like Russell Kane and even BBC Radio One DJ Greg James. However, unless the BBC Trust decides to block the plans announced last week, this is what will happen to the channel. That doesn’t mean to say they won’t do that. Three years ago, the Trust blocked plans to shut BBC Radio 6 Music and the Asian Network.

The plan is for BBC Three to close as a TV channel in autumn 2015 and Freeview viewers will see it replaced by BBC One+1. While a +1 is needed for its mainstream channel to rival ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, a home for this would have been more appropriate rather than to replace a popular channel like BBC Three.

The BBC's decision to move BBC Three onto an online platform has received criticism

It will be re-innovated as an online channel only on the iPlayer catch-up service, although it is more likely that only programming will be found on here rather than the remains of the channel. It is reported that the BBC (building pictured above) will make £50m in savings with this controversial move, although to chuck £30m into more drama programming on BBC One makes the decision more of a mockery. If cutbacks had to be made, make them and keep them rather than spend more on what is likely to be more episodes of dreary Walford soap opera EastEnders.

Director General Hall said on Thursday when the plans were made public that it was “strategically right” and “financially necessary.” You can’t really argue with his latter statement but the first comment doesn’t feel right.

86.9% on the media website Digital Spy last week believed axing BBC Three is the wrong decision and a #SaveBBC3 petition hit 85,000 in less than 48 hours after being launched last week on Change.org by fan of the channel Jono Read. It has been signed by many including this writer, but also by the likes of Rick Edwards, David Walliams and Matt Lucas. 

What could have gone instead?

£100m of savings are required by 2016, so for anyone to suggest that the BBC should do nothing doesn’t quite understand the world of finances. There are other areas though which might have brought the corporation closer to its target without annoying a huge core section of its young target audience.

BBC Three’s channel budget in 2013/14 is reported to be £85m but the £49m to give BBC Four the boot would have been a more logical solution if a channel had to close.

BBC Four’s impact on the UK TV audience has been mundane. In fact, I can’t ever remember watching a programme on it to be honest. It might provide a good home for historical programmes looking back at the past, as well as a mixture of arts shows but this content could easily slot onto BBC Two without a huge fuss.

Hall believes the BBC Three audience are ready for the move to watching TV online and while it is true that television can be watched in a number of different areas and devices, it will be interesting to see if the target audience follow the move. I somehow highly doubt it.

With the new competition of BT Sport now firmly in the sporting spectrum, the BBC’s sporting deals should come up for review. Whilst areas like the Six Nations, Premier League football highlights and Wimbledon deserve to be saved from any cutbacks, other sports could go.

The BBC could have decided to axe its deal to show Formula One. Sadly the sport has entered a generation of insipid racing, complicated technological changes and the same driver keeps winning, just like the ITV Schumacher days of the last decade.  

In 2011, they saved £16.5m a year by deciding to share the live race rights with Sky Sports, who have since launched their own dedicated channel to great success and critical acclaim. The BBC has been left behind and by moving more of its coverage onto BBC Two since the new agreement; it suggests a lack of motivation in making the deal a success. While a new season begins next week in Australia – the significant drop in audience figures and the estimated £40m cost for a typical championship would have brought the BBC even closer to its target.

With £11m to find, cuts in regional programming, highlight packages for Rugby League and the Football League and ending the National Lottery programmes might have taken them to within that £100m savings mark.

Is there hope for the BBC Three audience?

I think it is fair to say that the decision to drop BBC Three as a TV channel has been met with a lot of disapproval from fans and even celebrities.

By turning it into an online channel – the BBC has giving its rivals in the television market a huge advantage as a growing number might feel the corporation takes their feedback and dedication to their services for granted.

Cutbacks need to be made, no-one should argue about that but this feels like a move that didn’t need to be made. Give Tony Hall a thought; he is in a difficult position to meet the final spending cut targets and this is a gamble but it is fair to say that thousands disagree with his thinking.

There is hope for the BBC Three audience in that the BBC Trust could block the move and it seems like there is greater support than there was to save 6 Music and the Asian Network in 2011 when they were in a similar position. To save those radio stations was cheaper though, so while it is important to keep hope, don’t expect the Trust to prohibit the move. As long as they hear both sides of the argument next month, then you have to accept whatever is their final decision.

If it does disappear as a TV channel, it is a great shame but it did provide some great British talent to come through onto our screens over the past decade.  

Categories: Audience, BBC, BBC iPlayer, BBC Three, Being Human, Matt Lucas, Money, Online, Tony Hall, TV

Skins - All good things have to end

By Simon Wright

I can speak for the majority of people who follow a television programme closely, so much so that they want to know everything about it – from transmission dates to filming behind the scenes and cast interviews.

It doesn’t matter if that might be TOWIE, Big Brother, Shameless, even Coronation Street or Deal or No Deal – we all have prime favourites.

One of mine of recent years has been the E4 teen drama series Skins.  On July 1, the seventh series of this gripping phenomenon will begin.  However, it is the last series to be aired – which is a sad feeling, but also the right decision.

But why has Skins had a core audience, and is a final flourish the right way to go out on?

Core audience

When Skins burst onto the television screens back in February 2007, the show was completely different from your normal brand of drama.  This wasn’t a predictable series of classic actors playing stereotypical characters in a plotline that can often get quite repetitive. 

Admittedly, I never really liked the first generation and only saw the odd clip of the first two series, but that all changed with series three in 2009.

Skins started off with an audience which has now grown up.  For example, those who first watched it six years ago probably weren’t following it so much when the final full series ended around Easter last year, but that is a good thing.  It has a specific core audience range of around 16-22, and I would be concerned if a 50-year-old individual listed it among their favourite programmes.  After all, it is about teenagers and life at college, and that’s as far as it goes.

The second generation of Skins characters were my favourites

Audience figures have generally been impressive, always just under the one million mark.  In fact, the series four opener which began with the death of a mysterious stranger in a nightclub attracted 1.5m combined on E4 & E4+1.  Even the final major generation still were receiving decent figures, despite the decline in writing ability and storylines.

I was a religious watcher of series three, four and five, and watched occasional episodes from series six, mainly if a character’s episode had been impressive in the fifth series (Mini and Franky) as examples.  

Although my interest in the show waned towards the end of series five and into series six, I will be tuning into series seven and see how things have progressed for the cast of the past.

Giving youngsters a chance

I should know this more than anyone, but in David Cameron’s Britain of today, the chances for youngsters are predominately thin.  Things could be better in terms of job prospects, or choices of what we can do.

One thing that has impressed me with Skins is the determination to give young actors and actresses a real chance.  The talent that has come through with Skins has been impressive, and often, the acting really does shine through, especially if a storyline is weak (series four was a prime example of this).

Dev Patel and Nicholas Hoult had the best success out of the first generation.  Patel went on to star in the award-winning sensation Slumdog Millionaire, whilst Hoult has gone into major roles in film, especially in the X-Men trilogy.  

In generation two, Jack O’Connell has come on leaps and bounds.  He has had roles in film and two powerful TV dramas, Dive and United.  Fellow lead cast member of this generation Kaya Scodelario has appeared in a host of music videos for the artist Plan B, whilst Ollie Barbieri, Lily Loveless and Kathryn Prescott have also had a host of different roles since Skins ended.  

Dakota Blue Richards was one of the stars of the third generation, and recently had a lead role in the ITV five-part drama Lightfields and Freya Mavor is currently starring in the gripping BBC thriller The White Queen. 

For the majority of these actors, these opportunities would never have come about had it not been for the successful breakthrough of Skins and the producers must take great credit for this.

Of course, that doesn’t mean to say that famous faces never appeared in Skins – far from it.  

There were plenty of guest characters playing minor roles, from comedians and impressionists, to presenters and normal actors.  Among fans favourites were Harry Enfield, Sally Phillips, John Bishop, Ronni Ancona, Pauline Quirke, the late Geoffrey Hughes, and Scott Mills.

And its success has been recognised.  Skins won the Audience Award at the 2009 BAFTAs, and Best TV Show at the 2011 NME Awards, as well as various other high-profile nominations and critical acclaim.

What happened to the movie?

In 2010, the green light was given to Skins: The Movie, as indicated on my first blogging website.  However, this never happened.  Ultimately, it was probably a good thing.

Unlike shows like The Inbetweeners, it would have been mighty difficult for Skins to have had major success at the box office, just because of the way things get portrayed in the TV series.

Consequently, work shifted more onto series five and six, and the doomed American remake, which turned into a complete failure and was axed after one highly controversial series.

Whilst there was disappointment that the movie dream didn’t quite happen for Skins, a final TV series is a better way to go out.

There has been some powerful storylines, and that is ignoring the drugs, drink and sex that is part of the teenagers’ lives in every series.  Having watched three full series, my favourite storylines were Katie Fitch (played by Megan Prescott) having to deal with the bombshell news that she wasn’t able to have kids in series four, and at the same time, attempt to keep the very popular Fitch family together as the recession starts to destroy their happy lives.  

Other favourites were the storylines that came through in Mini McGuinness' (Freya Mavor) episodes when she had to deal with an unexpected pregnancy and attempting to revive a relationship with her father, who simply didn’t care about her, and the successful pairing of Naomi (Lily Loveless) and Emily (Kathryn Prescott) as a lesbian couple in series three and four.  'Naomily,' as avid fans titled them, broke down new barriers and also proved that despite a lot of heartache, happy endings do exist in television drama.

The final fling

Last year, it was decided that there would be no more full series’ of Skins.  That might have disappointed budding actors and actresses who would have seen the open auditions as a great opportunity to get their name out there.  However, it is the right decision.

One of Effy Stonem’s lines in series four sticks with me: “Nothing’s ever perfect.”  That’s very true, and all good things at some point need to come to an end.  Last year’s series started to see some slow decline with the show, and another two years would have been a mistake, and left a mark on the legacy of Skins.

Some shows drag on and on, don’t reach a natural conclusion and then become so unbelievable, you just stop watching them.  American shows are particularly guilty of this, whilst the saucy Footballers Wives and fictional Sky football drama Dream Team both attracted huge followings, but probably went on at least one more year past their natural sell-by-date.

Kaya Scodelario returns as Effy in Skins Fire, the first of the final mini-series

The producers of Skins and Channel 4 have done the right thing, and by coming back with a mini-series over the summer is the perfect farewell.  Three classic characters in Effy (Kaya Scodelario), Cassie (Hannah Murray) and Cook (Jack O’Connell) will reprise their roles for two separate episodes each which shows how their characters have developed as they’ve left the crazy teenage world and entered the new adult planet, and how much they have changed.

Effy’s story is first, titled Skins Fire.  Effy gets a job in the city, and when she learns too much about a dodgy financial deal and has an affair with the boss of the company she works for, it puts friendships and people in grave danger.  Fans of ‘Naomily’ will be delighted to know that Naomi and Emily will return to their roles in a cameo backdrop, with Emily known to be studying a photography internship in New York, and Naomi living with Effy in London.  A trailer has been released by E4 for a sneak peak at what’s to come in Skins Fire, and that can be seen below.

Cassie’s story is next and is also set in London.  She is aged 23, two years older than the other returning main characters as she was part of generation one.  ‘Skins Pure’ will be edgy watching involving following people and the forming of a strange friendship.

In ‘Skins Rise,’ Cook is doing what he does best.  Now in Manchester, he hasn’t grown up from his teenage days of drugs, sex and violence on a regular basis, despite a brief stint in jail.  Cook is a drugs dealer and when his employer asks him to find a house for his attractive girlfriend, you can guess the rest.  Expect revenge to be served and a reminder of his previous dodgy past.

And after these six weeks, it will be all over.  Skins has left plenty of good and dramatic memories, given new actors and actresses a real breakthrough and is going out at just the right time.  Let’s hope that it ends on a high with this final mini-series.

Categories: 2009, Audience, Britain, Dakota Blue Richards, Dev Patel, E4, February, Jack O'Connell, Kathryn Prescott, Lily Loveless, NME, Plan B, Skins, Slumdog Millionaire, TV