Sorry to blast the BEEB but.. (Score 4)

1) The BBC is having trouble appealing to its audiences. IT its currently being trounced by ITV ( and even Channel 5 ) in the weekly ratings tracker.

2) The BBC is nervous about the digital market and wants its pound of flesh from those that subscribe to digital on top of the pound of flesh they get from you if you just happen to own a TV. So they are spending less on programmes and production.

3) The quality of the BBC programs has gone down HARD over the last year - Im sorry but its a fact and Im a consumer so I have a right to this opinion. I spend my TV time watching South Park and others on Channel 4 these days because the mainstream channels are dross.

4) BBC outsourced most of its programme making a few years back in a Dilbert-esque move. This has made the production companies absolute fortunes and not visibly benefitted BBC at all.

5) The terrestrial programmes are being criticised for not being relevant, interesting or up to date in content. Mind you so are much of the cable or
sattelite channels.

This all adds up to the fact that the Beeb wants
to screen a popularist programme on the internet
probably with the Luddite Tabloid bias. They also
dont want to have to pay for the research. I can
imagine a bunch of researchers sitting in a room saying ... ok what can we make a 6 part documentary about? The internet thats always a good one for provoking controversy. We can do one on "kiddie porn rings", one on IRC and the psychos that you get on there... oh hang on theres such good fodder here lets do one on internet communities!

Manager sits nervously at the end of the table and sayes - how much is this all going to cost? Person who made the suggestion laughs manically and sayes but thats the good bit! It costs less than a cheap gameshow because the internets free and we can get the online people to do the research for us!

Manager breaths sigh of relief...

Ill give good odds that this is true.