FEATURE: Cutting Costs and Making Space: What Is the Future of BBC Four?

FEATURE:

Cutting Costs and Making Space

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IMAGE CREDIT: BBC

What Is the Future of BBC Four?

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IT is hard to say how hard hit…

PHOTO CREDIT: @molliesivaram/Unsplash

T.V. stations will be during this current time. I guess more and more people are streaming and using services like Netflix, meaning broadcasters like the BBC might see fewer people tuning in. It would be a shame if we were to see any stations cut back. News is circulating that BBC Four might be scrapped or, at the very least, it will change. I think the demographic for BBC Four is older than most BBC channels – given the nature of the shows, a more mature audience tunes in. Some have this stuffy impression of BBC Four being quite artsy and stuffy, but I think the rang of programmes broadcast is incredible. Given the news there might be cuts that affect BBC Four, many have come out and thrown a weight of support behind BBC Four:

“BBC Four presenters are rallying to save the arts and culture channel which is rumoured to be facing closure as the corporation looks to cut costs and invest in younger audiences.

Presenters including Lucy Worsley, art historian Dr James Fox, Oxford historian Dr Janina Ramirez and Waldemar Januszczak have taken to social media to campaign against widespread rumours that it could be shut as a TV channel by the end of this year.

BBC Four, which has an annual budget of £44m, attracts a small, niche audience of mostly older viewers to its schedule of shows, although it was responsible for creating the hit comedy The Thick Of It.

Rumours that BBC Four could be under threat have been circulating for some time as the corporation has made it clear that its goal is to pursue younger audiences increasingly slipping away to rivals such as Netflix.

Speculation intensified earlier this month when it was announced that Cassian Harrison, BBC Four’s long-serving controller, is to move to BBC Studios, the corporation’s commercial arm, on a nine-month attachment.

However, there are several options available as an alternative to a full closure of the channel. One option, which has been floated a number of times over the years, is to merge BBC Four with BBC Two. Another is for BBC Four to follow sister channel BBC Three and cease to exist as a TV channel, instead becoming online-only”.

I can understand why the BBC would want to compete with streaming services that attract a younger audience, but it seems baffling that they woulf consider merging BBC Four with another station or getting rid altogether. Surely the best compromise would be to keep BBC Four and, instead, blend shows into the broadcast that a bit more youth-orientated. I think BBC Four will not be able to make the impact it has in the past, but I do not think the solution is to merge the station with another like BBC Two. I have enjoyed repeats of Top of the Pops and music documentaries; arts and culture shows on the station are great, and it is a valuable corner of the BBC that I fear might be lost.

In lockdown, we are seeing a new appetite for arts and culture because we have more time free. I feel there will be a surge of programme-makers who will react to that post-lockdown. I worry that, if BBC Four was merged with BBC Two, we would lose a lot of the music show repeats and the great documentaries that are currently on. I think one of the reasons why BBC Three moved online was because of a narrow age demographic and the fact it did not resonate as widely as hoped, and the BBC needed to make cuts. I get that the Beeb does have to think about budget and, if they are struggling, it will be mean sacrificing stations. If BBC Four is lost, I do think a lot of people will lose out. I have discovered so many interesting things from watching BBC Four. I love the music programming that allows us to look back, and shows about art, literature and theatre that provides nourishment and entertainment. Although nothing is set in stone yet, it does seem that there will be some form of cuts that will either see BBC Four heading online or it being scaled back. The Radio Times wrote an article that reacted to rumours of BBC Four’s potential demise:

“At times frightening, at other times frustrating, lockdown is a stressful state to be in, and BBC Four represents everything that’s keeping us sane during this pandemic. We find refuge in the arts: escapism, a creative outlet, or else a place to disappear. Under lockdown, galleries, theatres and film sets are (rightly) closed. Concerts are cancelled, and booksellers struggling. But as we’ve discovered, the arts aren’t luxuries: they are a vital part of our own identities, of our culture and communities.

Through film and art and reading books, we travel to places we may never go, meet people we would never encounter otherwise; it’s a lifeline for those who are currently staring at the same four walls day in, day out, and particularly for those self-isolating alone.

For those stuck at home and looking for creative ways to fill their time, BBC Four has filled that gap. Tomorrow at 8pm, for example, BBC Four viewers are invited to pick up their pencils for a life drawing class – with real nude models – as the nation channels its artistic side.

t’s via BBC Four that we were first introduced to many foreign dramas, from Twin (the Scandi-noir, starring Game of Thrones’ Kristofer Hivju, that’s recently gripped the nation), The Killing and the original Wallander, to American imports like Mad Men and the gentle art series Painting with Bob Ross, which has enjoyed a resurgence of interest and achieved cult status among millennials and Generation Z viewers (it even featured in teen drama Euphoria).

Britain’s future music stars, like the royal wedding cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, are discovered on the contest BBC Young Musician, which has been televised solely for BBC Four since 2014.

Music, literature, drama, comedy, theatre, art: it’s all there. And now more than ever, we need channels like BBC Four, to plug the gap that’s currently missing from our lives.

Through channels like BBC Four, we can all access the arts. It doesn’t matter if we couldn’t attend that famous play at The Globe Theatre, or couldn’t visit the Tate Modern; and it certainly doesn’t matter if we’d normally be too shy to attend a real-life life drawing class.

But taking BBC Four off-air, and limiting its resources, would make it that little bit harder for people to experience world-class culture – whether we’re in lockdown or not”.

I do feel, as I said, there will be an appetite for more culture and arts after lockdown, and BBC Four seems like the natural place to go. If the BBC combined more original arts programmes and combined that with ‘younger’ shows, then they could retool the station. Maybe this would cause some confusion, but I think it would be a bad idea to funnel BBC Four online and get rid of the station. So many people are only now discovering BBC Four and how valuable it is during this time – to lose it would be a real shame. I hope the BBC realises that there is an audience for BBC Four, and how many out there would mourn its loss. Nothing is confirmed yet, though things do look quite bleak. It is clear there is so much love out there for…

SUCH a great station.

Sam Liddicott