BBC Four & CBBC to close

[tellyblues]

If I am to be honest, there is no benefit having a weekday afternoon kids block because it'll be little watched.

Compared to what? Programmes for grown-ups? That's obvious and has always been the case. It would also be little watched because it would be mostly repeats. Looking at the CBBC schedule for this week, 5x15 of Newsround, 4x25 of Hardball and 1x30 of Blue Peter. That's not enough new content or even what could be called varied. Almost as bad as BBC3 before it got taken off linear but the BBC know what they're doing apparently.

[JetixFann450]

I'm sorry but the guardian is wrong on this, it was a downhill for children's programmes on the BBC, Nigel Pickard damaged the children's brand on the BBC and I still stand by it, I still believe that younger and older children's audiences need to come together and I still believe that separating CBBC wouldn't happened if Nigel Pickard hadn't joined the BBC.

The only evidence I've ever seen to support your opinion is your opinion.   

Virtually everyone else and every tangible measure used by the BBC,  not to mention the fact virtually every commercial rival took the same strategy, shows that your opinion is not shared by many.

If anything moving the content online would be justification to split CBBC further into say 6-9 year olds and 10-12.

And then bring back youth-focused sub-brands like BBC Switch? What about that 14-16 demo programming they commissioned for iPlayer? Are we going to see that advertised more under a new brand?

Personally, if they want the move to digital (even though CBBC has always been a "digital" channel confusingly until the term was dropped in 2012) then they have to continually have a recognisable brand and advertise their content CONSTANTLY, keeping viewers aware of their programming. I think many children's broadcasters have noticed that kids, especially of an older generation, are now watching stuff online and the only ones who are still watching linear skew younger, hence why CBeebies is a more popular brand and more commercialised.

You could, in a sense, continue to use that brand power on CBBC, promote it widely across platforms that viewers are likely visiting, promote CBBC in the same way you promote CBeebies, as a lifestyle brand for children. I've seen more promotion of CBeebies than I have with the older skewing children's channel, so would it kill the BBC to promote CBBC in the same regard?

Also, I think some forum posters need to take off their rose-tinted glasses. I agree with putting programming on BBC One and Two during either weekdays or weekend mornings, but a certain poster who believes merging them into one is a good idea clearly doesn't know the definition of the words "brand reception" or "commercial success".

[Brekkie]

In regard to the Internet, keep in mind that with 4G and now 5G, people have access to faster internet than ever before and it's only going to get faster. 

Generally though where broadband is poor 4G/5G will likely be poor or non-existent too.

[Newshound47]

You Gov poll of moving CBBC online only has.
Good idea - 13%
Bad idea - 47%
Neither a good or bad idea - 21%
Don’t know - 19%

I am not surprised at that because generally a lot of people oppose things moving online only even if they use online all the time.

[Torpido]

Largely speaking bbc two doesn’t do much important during the day barring politics and some sport so run the kids channel as a zone there that way it’s not too different to now and you manage to shut the channel remnants of the cbbc channel whilst saving the programmes and basic service

[Steve Williams]

If I am to be honest, there is no benefit having a weekday afternoon kids block because it'll be little watched. What more likely to happen is selected CBBC content airing say on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon every so often with maybe a weekend  morning block on BBC Two just like they on ITV with CITV content.

Which is exactly what happens now.

[XIII]

You Gov poll of moving CBBC online only has.
Good idea - 13%
Bad idea - 47%
Neither a good or bad idea  - 21%
Don’t know - 19%

I am not surprised at that because generally a lot of people oppose things moving online only even if they use online all the time.

YouGov isn't representative of the population as a whole.

[Roger Darthwell]

You Gov poll of moving CBBC online only has.
Good idea - 13%
Bad idea - 47%
Neither a good or bad idea  - 21%
Don’t know - 19%

I am not surprised at that because generally a lot of people oppose things moving online only even if they use online all the time.

YouGov isn't representative of the population as a whole.

To be really honest, is there any polling organisation that is representative of the population as a whole?

[Brekkie]

You Gov poll of moving CBBC online only has.
Good idea - 13%
Bad idea - 47%
Neither a good or bad idea  - 21%
Don’t know - 19%

I am not surprised at that because generally a lot of people oppose things moving online only even if they use online all the time.

YouGov isn't representative of the population as a whole.

YouGov literally exists to be representative of the population as a whole.

[thePineapple]

Overall, my opinion is that these cuts are just... tolerable:
Getting rid of CBBC is fine.
Getting rid of BBC Four is fine.
Merging the NC and World is fine.

But every time you cut something and bodge it onto something else, you're alienating a small part of the population, whether that be older children, elderly people, the audience for journalism internationally, or people who can't afford fast internet. And on each occasion the BBC taps away at one niche that it serves, it looses just a bit of its PSB charm. And then it's just another channel.

[Steve in Pudsey]

I'm going to phrase this carefully bearing in mind what Rob has said, but I do wonder if there is an element of the BBC playing politics here in announcing this so far ahead of time?

By the time it takes effect we'll have had a General Election, so I wonder if there is an element of announcing the worst case scenario in the hope that opposition parties will pick it up as an election issue?

A repeat of the 6 Music closure U Turn in the offing?

[TVNerd]

Apologies if this has been mentioned but I’ve not seen it.

A great example of the BBC’s digital first strategy is Radio 1’s Big Weekend, happening right now. In the past televised live coverage was on BBC Three. However more recently it has been streamed through iPlayer, allowing viewers to choose which performance they want to watch across multiple stages, which is what fans of artists and the target audience more generally want.

[Roger Darthwell]

I'm going to phrase this carefully bearing in mind what Rob has said, but I do wonder if there is an element of the BBC playing politics here in announcing this so far ahead of time?

By the time it takes effect we'll have had a General Election, so I wonder if there is an element of announcing the worst case scenario in the hope that opposition parties will pick it up as an election issue?

A repeat of the 6 Music closure U Turn in the offing?

That is my exact thought as well, and I hope it happens

[all new Phil]

I'm going to phrase this carefully bearing in mind what Rob has said, but I do wonder if there is an element of the BBC playing politics here in announcing this so far ahead of time?

By the time it takes effect we'll have had a General Election, so I wonder if there is an element of announcing the worst case scenario in the hope that opposition parties will pick it up as an election issue?

A repeat of the 6 Music closure U Turn in the offing?

I don’t think this is the case at all. There is a cost of living crisis - no party is going into the next election pledging to increase the license fee, which is what this would need. I seriously think people here are massively overestimating the attachment that viewers have to these things.

[Roger Darthwell]

I'm going to phrase this carefully bearing in mind what Rob has said, but I do wonder if there is an element of the BBC playing politics here in announcing this so far ahead of time?

By the time it takes effect we'll have had a General Election, so I wonder if there is an element of announcing the worst case scenario in the hope that opposition parties will pick it up as an election issue?

A repeat of the 6 Music closure U Turn in the offing?

I don’t think this is the case at all. There is a cost of living crisis - no party is going into the next election pledging to increase the license fee, which is what this would need. I seriously think people here are massively overestimating the attachment that viewers have to these things.

But then again 2025 is still a long way away, so literally anything can happen at this point