The End of Neighbours on BBC!
Posted by Norm on May 18th, 2007 filed in General, NewsI have just seen the controller of BBC1 officially announce the end of Neighbours on the BBC! This is a sad day. Not only am I fan of the Aussie soap, but the mechanism of the loss is a problem that is spreading throughout television and the media in general. Greedy TV executives. Basically, the company that sells Neighbours to the BBC have asked for a 300% increase in the amount that BBC1 pays for each episode, a sum that is grossly out of proportion with the market rates. This has led to the BBC deciding not to renew its contract to show the soap. The current contract ends in April 2008. What annoys me is how often we are hearing this story these days. The recent Virgin Media versus BSkyB battle over Sky One is another example of ridiculous demands by broadcasters for their programmes to be shown on other systems. This is not good for viewers.
I realise we live in a competitive world where the common theme is globalisation and capitalism but we must draw the line. We are losing out to fat cats.
May 18th, 2007 at 5:54 pm
Good riddance is what I say. I never liked soaps and because I watch solely BBC TV because it has no ads there will now be more programming that I might like - horray!
May 19th, 2007 at 12:06 am
Well that or they will simply replace it will another cheaper, lower quality soap lol.
May 19th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
Or reality TV! What could be cheaper than reality TV, you don’t have to pay anyone to be on it!
May 19th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
If the BBC sell out to reality TV then you’ll find me with a placard outside television centre, London, with a very loud megaphone and voice of thunder.
May 19th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
Apparently Channel 5 have bought the rights to Neighbours for £300million, nearly 4x what the BBC are paying for it!
May 19th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
Well I’m sure they’ll put it to good use and that the viewers will love the ad break(s) they intersplice with each episode as all such TV stations do, lol
I’m certainly glad the beeb didn’t fork that out though, I mean think of how much of their own production could be done with that (documentaries and such) doesn’t bear thinking about that they could spend so much on one program.
May 20th, 2007 at 10:56 am
Well the BBC are known for not paying over the odds for television rights, hence why they didn’t even make a revised bid for live football next season - ITV and Sky priced them out of the market for England home games and the FA Cup.