No Demand TV

There are several aspects to the announcement that the BBC is proposing to effectively axe BBC3, making it an iPlayer only channel, that I find profoundly depressing.  Most depressing is the inherent ageism in the explanations given for switching it being an 'online' channel, namely that 'young people', the channel's main target demographic, are more likely to watch content online, the implication being that we 'old' people are all technologically incompetent.  'Don't worry dear, we'll still leave you your BBC4 on TV, so you won't have to be worried about that new-fangled internet', they seem to be saying.  That's right, if we're over thirty we're all decrepit and incapable of utilising any technology more complex than a teas made.  Equally depressing is that it is clearly all part of the campaign to force us all into abandoning established TV viewing in favour of the 'multi-platform' viewing model that techno evangelists have been pushing for years.  I've lost count of the number of times the demise of traditional TV channels has been predicted.  The trouble is that it just isn't happening.  Even amongst younger, supposedly more tech-savvy, viewers, TV is still predominantly watched the traditional way: via linear channels and schedules on a television set. 

Sure 'on demand' exists, both on digital platforms and online, but most of us prefer the convenience of tuning into a schedule and getting our entertainment in daily or weekly doses.  If nothing else, it tends to ensure a greater variety in viewing than simply watching an entire series in one go, 'on demand'.  Besides, channel surfing also means that I'm more likely to stumble across something unexpected, yet entertaining, that I'd otherwise miss.  This whole BBC3 business gives the impression that those at the top in TV, seeing that their oft-predicted 'on demand' utopia just isn't happening, have now decided to force the issue.  The fact is, though, that many of us just don't want to watch TV on their laptops.  I know I don't.  I've got a TV for that, for God's sake - the picture and sound quality are far superior, besides, I use my laptop for other stuff.  (Yes, I know that so called Smart TVs allow access to online channels and on demand content, but the fact is that the majority of TVs in the UK aren't Smart TVs).  Not that I don't ever watch TV on my laptop - I use iPlayer to catch up with stuff I've missed, but find it a bloody inconvenient way to view TV. 

But getting back to the issue at hand - the threatened closure of BBC3 - I know that I'm way outside of its target demographic, but the fact is that it has provided a home for a lot of programming that simply wouldn't get shown anywhere else these days.  I'm not just talking about the comedies either, it has been a good friend to science fiction and fantasy with stuff like Torchwood, Being Human, In The Flesh and The Fades.  I really don't see an online channel with a greatly reduced budget commissioning that sort of stuff.  Most of all, dropping BBC3 as a terrestrial channel would mean one less free-to-air channel carrying original material on the Freeview platform.  Which would leave those of us not prepared to give money to Murcoch or Branson (the Scylla and Charybdis of UK media) with an even poorer viewing experience.