And now on this blog, What's wrong with British television?
What's wrong with British television?
In this post I'll be telling you what's wrong with British television. I'll be looking at the dumbing down of modern programming and asking if attention deficit disorder is to blame. Later I'll be bemoaning trailers before programmes, repetition within programmes and trailers over the final credits. And finally I'll be summarising everything all over again. Modern British programming has dumbed down. TV producers assume we all have the attention span of a goldfish. They daren't spoonfeed us too much in one go. Brief drama snippets and tiny factoids, that's all we get these days. Everything is bitesized for easier consumption. It's no wonder that children can't concentrate on anything for any length of time any more. I worry for the next generation, I really do. Come back and read the next paragraph to discover more about how TV channels repeatedly trail their top programmes to try to make us watch them.
In the last paragraph we learned how today's television programmes are broken down into little chunks for easy digestion. Now read on. The days are long gone when the whole nation would watch the same programmes and then discuss them in the office the following day. In this fragmented multichannel world there is no shared national broadcasting experience any more. Most of us have neither the inclination nor the opportunity to keep track of everything that's coming up on every channel, so broadcasters have to go all out for our patronage with repeated adverts for future programmes replayed at every opportunity. Programmes are even getting shorter so that more and more trailers can be played inbetween. If we're not careful trailers may evolve to become even longer than the programmes they promote. Stay tuned for the next paragraph, coming up next.
So far in this post we've seen how television programmes are brutally segmented and heavily pre-trailed. Now read on. One of the scariest recent developments in broadcasting is the assumption that all programmes must now pander to anyone who might have switched on partway through. These days it's essential to have regular resumes and updates throughout every programme just for the benefit of channel hoppers, and never mind the faithful viewer who's been watching since the beginning and doesn't need the whole lot repeated. Equally worryingly there also have to be regular teasing snippets of what's yet to come, just in case you might be tempted to switch to another channel rather than stay until the bitter end (even though you've already seen the bitter end in all the mini-trailers). It's not right. If you've just joined us, we've been talking about repetition within TV programmes for the benefit of those viewers who've missed the start of the show. Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion of this article.
Before you read the final paragraph, you might like to know that tomorrow's post will be about the general election. And it might even be interesting. So, television has most definitely dumbed down. Attention spans are shortening. Pre-advertising has become endemic. Repetition of key points within shows is increasing. Repetition of key points within shows is increasing. It appears that lowest common denominator programming has finally arrived. And don't you just hate it when the continuity announcer interrupts the end credits with yet another (tomorrow please make sure you come back for all the latest from the murky world of politics) trailer?
