Another Movie Guide

Christmas TV in the UK – Is it Getting Worse?

I’ve just finished reading this year’s Christmas Radio Times to see what’s on TV this year and I have to say I’m left disappointed again. It’s almost as if all the main channels have given up on Christmas TV altogether. So is it really getting worse each year, and if so, why is this?

Well first off I think it’s definitely got worse. I’m quite a sad individual and collect each year’s Christmas Radio Times so I can easily go through editions from previous years to see what was on TV during a particular year, and looking through some of them I can definitely see a much better line-up of films and programs than we have been given the last few years.

So what are the reasons for this?

Well firstly I think the main problem is that most of us have now got access to numerous digital channels in addition to the five main ones. I think I read this week that 88% of households now have digital TV which means that the majority of people have access to lots of different channels, even if they only have Freeview or Freesat.

So with this added competition, I guess it’s kind of understandable that the major channels are reluctant to spend big on their Christmas schedules. Plus of course with this current economic crisis, TV companies just do not have the huge budgets to spend on lavish productions, particularly when they are receiving less advertising revenues nowadays.

You used to get major film premieres on over Christmas but these seem to be few and far between these days. Maybe the main channels have decided that they are simply too expensive, particularly as a lot of people may already have seen them at the cinema, on DVD or on one of the satellite film channels.

As a result of this the schedules are filled with a lot of cheap programs from their back catalogues, or repeats in other words. Unlike some, I don’t mind repeats because a lot of the old programs are better than most of the modern ones, but there’s only so many times you can watch the same old Christmas episodes of Porridge, The Good Life, The Two Ronnies, Morecambe And Wise, etc. They seem to show the same ones every single year and it’s starting to get boring now.

There are still a few shows I’m looking forward to this year such as The Royle Family, Gavin And Stacey, QI and Top Gear, but that’s about it really. A handful of programs over the Christmas and New Year period isn’t really good enough and I really hope the major TV channels start putting some effort into their schedules in future years.

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