(Rant alert)
I don't get BBC America. Yes, I watch it - mainly because out of 200-odd tv channels, it's a haven to recognise the acronym. But seriously, I don't get who it thinks its market is. I'm assuming, it being the BBC, it's used some poor UK license-payers' money to commission some flashy market research over here -- god knows how Sham Wow! and repetitive Intercontinental ads alone could fund that kind of research -- and yet it seems to wobble unsuccessfully between trying to please a guaranteed expat audience and attempting to conquer American viewers.
Watching the news at 7pm or 10pm, I quite often find it excruciatingly embarrassing and squirm-inducing - a bit like watching an original UK episode of The Office. They invite along all these U.S. guests anxious to prove what brilliantly intelligent anglophiles they are, while the presenters dither over questions and prove that they couldn't prod a potato let alone a politician. I'm not a big fan of American news programs either, but I just can't get behind this method of marketing the Beeb in America.
I may finally have had enough. Today, for example, one of the news pieces was a story that "is all people are talking about in the UK", we were told. In a Murdoch-by-the-book example of cross-selling, the BBC America newscaster explained with customary patronage that former BBC political jouno John Sergeant has been winning the UK version of Dancing With The Stars (shown on the BBC) by the popular vote, although the judges have declared him a dancing failure -- and so he has bowed out to let other celebrities have a chance to win. I am sure people are talking about this in the UK -- but does anyone care over here, who isn't an expat and hasn't already seen the story on the web or heard it over email from relatives or friends?
Then I saw an advert for the tv programme Gladiators - which I vaguely remember was on ITV in the UK, not the BBC. And while this takes me back to happy days of my childhood, again it's confusing. Presumably, BBC in America thinks this is the kind of show its audience wants, and can't get on the other 200 or so channels. Not that I'd know, because I spend very little time watching those other channels, but American Football certainly seems to have some parallels with Gladiators...
Anyway - I wanted to know what you guys think, assuming you're expats or Americans with an interest in UK culture. Am I just whingeing? Would you rather turn to BBC America for Eastenders and Corrie, the odd costume drama and re-run of Only Fools and Horses? Or do you like the fact it seems to present its vision of American television, run through a British wringer?
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
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8 comments:
I agree! I don't have BBC America but we do get to see the BBC World News at 10.00pm every night. I still watch it for a dose of good news and British accents but not every night, mainly because the presenting is so terrible!
The news reports (which presumably are used on news shows at home too) are good but the presenters fluff their way through, messing up lines and forcing us to sit through awkward pauses as they mess up the timing. Hardly a great example of our supposedly superior news reporting.
I TOTALLY AGREE!! It drives me nuts and the only things I watch on it are Top Gear and Dragons Den. Why can't we get quality BBC shows for goodness sake, that's what I miss. Not a soaps fan though, I have to say, but would love some old Brit' comedy too.
BBC Canada is much better!
Actually it's not, but it got you all worked up. Moving to North America meant compromises and good TV was one of them. Now for entertainment I read blogs.
What! John Sergeant bowed out of Strictly Come Dancing!!! Bloody hell!
(I get the REAL BBC, but I'm obviously not keeping up with it the way I should be.)
I agree also! It's good for the odd show but it's like buying the store brand tissue at the market. It is still tissue but it falls apart upon use.
Well we just watch Top Gear all the time in this house. I'm just glad we can't get the Dave channel or I'd have to shoot myself!
If I want a good bit of English drama, I usually tune into Masterpiece on PBS. Mind you, I love watching Kim and Aggie.
I agree with everyone else, every time I switch it on they seem to have non-stop marathons of shows I really couldn't care less about. I end up watching more quality British shows on PBS than I do on BBC America. Although, Keeping Up Appearances, dear God, that's a reason to emigrate right there.
Now, I'm no fan of American TV, but I'm going to go out on a limb here. The world's best television drama no longer comes from the Beeb. HBO and Showtime leave Auntie for dead. The sheer creative firepower that a Sopranos, Mad Men or Six Feet Under can muster is no match for the occasional flash of brilliance from across the Atlantic. I sometimes wonder which is the greater comic achievement: the twelve episodes of Fawlty Towers, or the ten years of Seinfeld?
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