BBC and their brainless repeats policy

Zedicus

The BBC frequently repeat programmes immediately after they have shown them. Sometimes two or three times.

And yet they almost invariably show all the repeats in the week immediately following the original showing which means if you miss the first episode of a series by the time you notice the second all the repeats will already have been shown. Same applies if you are away for a week.

Why can't they have the sense to space the repeats out so that someone who becomes aware of a series from the second episode has a chance to catch up on the first?

System

I think with iplayer this is less of an issue these days.

I don't think the BBC can be blamed if people miss programs. They tend to advertise them extensively, plus the listings are carried in papers and tv guides. Seems to me they cover most of the bases.

bap98189

I'm confused - what is your complaint - that the BBC show too may repeats or that they don't show enough?

biscit

bap98189 wrote: »

I'm confused - what is your complaint - that the BBC show too may repeats or that they don't show enough?

Neither. It's which shows are repeated when. I think the OP would like the same number of repeats, but where a programme is repeated more than once per week they would like at least one of those repeats to be of an earlier episode, not the most recent one.

Zedicus

biscit wrote: »

Neither. It's which shows are repeated when.

Exactly, thank you.

Although how anyone could fail to understand that from the OP is a bit of a mystery.

I think the OP would like the same number of repeats, but where a programme is repeated more than once per week they would like at least one of those repeats to be of an earlier episode, not the most recent one.

That's right.

Another situation were it's annoying is when you mention to someone that a particular programme was very good but it's already too late for them to catch it.

I can't really see the advantage of repeating something one or two days after its first transmission. Nor any disadvantage to leaving it a week or so.

Derivative

Is it just me that finds it astounding that people still watch TV at the time of broadcast nowadays?

I can't get my head around having to schedule my day around what time programmes run.

System

Derivative wrote: »

Is it just me that finds it astounding that people still watch TV at the time of broadcast nowadays?

I can't get my head around having to schedule my day around what time programmes run.

I agree, everything i want to watch is sky plused these days or watched via the medium of on demand tv! I don't have the time to be in the house at a certain time to watch a certain program

Azari

Derivative wrote: »

Is it just me that finds it astounding that people still watch TV at the time of broadcast nowadays?

I can't get my head around having to schedule my day around what time programmes run.

Agreed.

And it's amazing how quickly that mindset occurs once you get a PVR.

Apart from not wanting to be tied to someone else's schedule watching commercial TV without some way of bypassing all the dross is intolerable.

Zedicus

Azari wrote: »

Apart from not wanting to be tied to someone else's schedule watching commercial TV without some way of bypassing all the dross is intolerable.

If everyone did that, how would ITV finance themselves?

Azari

Zedicus wrote: »

If everyone did that, how would ITV finance themselves?

I can see your point but the TV companies brought it on themselves.

Back in the day there were just two 3 minute commercial breaks during a one hour programme - and they would be evenly spaced.

Then they added 'programme sponsor's' messages.

Then they increased the lengths of the breaks to four minutes.

Then they started showing programme trailers in the breaks.

So now you can easily have three five minute breaks in a supposedly hour long programme. Even before I got a PVR I had taken to only watching longer ITV programmes if I had taped them. If it were not possible to escape all the dross I doubt I'd watch any non-BBC programmes.

My guess is that within the next decade we will shift to watching TV 'on demand', paying for the actual episodes we watch (or, possibly, agreeing to non-skippable adverts instead of a fee). The current paradigm is well past its sell by date.

rwgray

Zedicus wrote: »

I can't really see the advantage of repeating something one or two days after its first transmission. Nor any disadvantage to leaving it a week or so.

That may be down to the way viewer ratings are calculated. If you repeat in the first week, ratings can be combined. Subsequent showings are effectively ignored. (But that's my assumption based on BBC behaviour since the 1980s!)

Rich.x