HD : BBC to announce possible Red Button closure

[denphone]

The BBC is expected to announce that it is to close its Red Button services as part of £150m of cuts.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-34851369

[vincerooney]

Where will the Olympic coverage etc go to den? Or online only?

I suspect this is meant to be another piece of headline-grabbing sabre rattling, to try to ensure the charter renewal goes the way they want it. These sorts of things don't slip out by accident. They are letting us know they're thinking about it so we will understand how hard they had to work to avoid it.

I could of course be entirely wrong, but my prediction as of right now is that later on today, or later this week, we will be being told how the red button has been "saved from the axe".

[denphone]

Originally Posted by vincerooney

Where will the Olympic coverage etc go to den? Or online only?

l think we will just have to wait and see Vince.

[BenMcr]

Originally Posted by vincerooney

Where will the Olympic coverage etc go to den? Or online only?

Originally Posted by denphone

l think we will just have to wait and see Vince.

British Eurosport probably

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-33311902

The European television rights for the Olympic Games have been awarded to Eurosport and its parent channel in a 1.3bn euros (£922m) deal.

It means the BBC could lose coverage of the Games in the UK from 2022, although Eurosport's parent company Discovery may lease back some of the rights.

[denphone]

Discovery would be very foolish in not leasing back some of their rights to a terrestrial broadcaster in my book as the Olympics really needs to be seen by the widest audience.

Originally Posted by denphone

Discovery would be very foolish in not leasing back some of their rights to a terrestrial broadcaster in my book as the Olympics really needs to be seen by the widest audience.

The Olympics are on Ofcom's Category A list of designated sports events. They must be shown live and free-to-air. Discovery is obliged to either go FTA for the duration of the games, or set up a dedicated channel, or lease the rights back to a FTA broadcaster (although that would not necessarily be the BBC).

[Taf]

It's a ploy to get catch-up users to pay the same as live users. And for that a change in the law is required. Red button subscription service perhaps?

[Mad Max]

No great loss imo.

[andy_m]

Originally Posted by Chris

I suspect this is meant to be another piece of headline-grabbing sabre rattling, to try to ensure the charter renewal goes the way they want it. These sorts of things don't slip out by accident. They are letting us know they're thinking about it so we will understand how hard they had to work to avoid it.

I could of course be entirely wrong, but my prediction as of right now is that later on today, or later this week, we will be being told how the red button has been "saved from the axe".

I completely agree. They've suggested that the Olympics, Wimbledon, snooker and f1 could all go to save money - emotive events that will upset people and turn public opinion against supposed cuts in the licence fee. No apologies for wasting it on foreign import formats like the Voice when they should have been creating their own prime time entertainment, merely a warning that they're being so hard done by they might have to sell the Crown Jewels. I've no doubt that your prediction of a spun "save" will prove to be right.

[BenMcr]

So potentially they may only be talking about the older Red Button

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/1359...ason-you-think

UPDATE: The BBC has been in contact to clarify saying it is "exploring a phased exit from the broadcast Red Button service and focusing our interactive TV offer on connected televisions and iPlayer"

They may not be including the newer Red Button+ / Connected Red Button

[passingbat]

Originally Posted by andy_m

No apologies for wasting it on foreign import formats like the Voice when they should have been creating their own prime time entertainment, .

Your anti BBC stance does make me smile.

Re that above statement, this article makes the point way better than I ever could.

http://www.tvwise.co.uk/2015/11/itvs...no-hold-water/

[Mr K]

What do people expect ? The licence fee has been frozen for years. the Govt. now expect the BBC to pay for pensioners licence fees (who are exempt from all cuts as they vote Tory). BBC3 is also going and the website is going to be drastically reduced. I'd rather they got rid of the downmarket stuff e.g. talent shows - leave that tripe to Sky /ITV, and concentrate on what they are good at i.e. high quality drama (and I don't mean soaps).

The red button is a small loss -more of a hindrance when you accidentally push it and can do nothing else on your tv for 5 mins....

[toady]

Originally Posted by Mr K

I'd rather they got rid of the downmarket stuff e.g. talent shows - leave that tripe to Sky /ITV, and concentrate on what they are good at i.e. high quality drama (and I don't mean soaps).

Trouble is talent shows etc are cheap, fills the schedule and is popular whereas high quality drama is expensive to produce and unfortunately isn't that popular with the unwashed masses

Although BBC shouldn't be going for popular it should be producing programmes that other broadcasters bypass and justify the license fee

[andy_m]

Originally Posted by passingbat

Your anti BBC stance does make me smile.

Re that above statement, this article makes the point way better than I ever could.

http://www.tvwise.co.uk/2015/11/itvs...no-hold-water/

I don't believe the BBC should be going toe to toe with commercial broadcasters for prime time ratings. Buying in a foreign format is all money spent and none gained. They should be producing their own programming and selling the format to help fund it. Look at what they achieved with Top Gear. Phenomenonly successful world wide and the generator of millions of pounds of revenue for our otherwise publicly funded public service broadcaster. Given its funding model best value should be at the heart of everything it does with our money. Buying in foreign formats to try and take on the x factor doesn't really fit that in my view. Wanting the BBC to be an awful lot better than it currently is doesn't make me anti-BBC, either!