This seems a ridiculous question to ask but the behaviour of the BBC suggests otherwise.

 

They frequently switch Andy Murray's Wimbledon matches on to BBC1 even if that channel's coverage is due to have ended for the day. That would suggest that the matches get a bigger audience on BBC1. In other words, there appear to be people who would watch it on BBC1 but would not watch exactly the same coverage of the same match on BBC2. Why?

 

Back in the dark ages (the 1970s when I was growing up) there were still parts of the country where BBC2 was unavailable so it would have made sense then but not now.

 

Last night the BBC said that the France v Germany World Cup semi-final was "on the BBC" without specifying which channel. That suggests that, if Murray reaches the semi-final at Wimbledon, his match will be on BBC1 with the football on BBC2. Surely people would decide which one to watch (if they watch either) by how much they are interested in it, not the channel it is on?

 

Any comments?

I do think the channel matters but less so for BBC1/2. That looks more like moving a high ticket item onto what it perceives to be the flagship channel. Where is say it matters more is between the original terrestrial channels and the newer digital channels like with ITV1 and the other three.

I think the BBC are under obligation as part of them having the Wimbledon rights to switch higher profile matches in order for maximum exposure. If they don't Wimbledon could easily be sold to Sky for a lot more money.

 

Either way, it doesn't matter. It's not exactly hard to press the 'channel up' or 'channel down' button and everyone makes a big drama out of nothing.

I think it's more for casual viewers who switch on the TV and it's more likely to show BBC One first and so if it's showing an important match, people are more likely to stay with it rather than switching over.

 

EDIT: It's like when programmes are upgraded from digital channels to the main 5 channels. It should make no difference as everyone has at least Freeview now due to the digital switch but there's still a substantial difference in viewers.

Edited July 2, 201410 yr by Rabbit Heart

I think the BBC are under obligation as part of them having the Wimbledon rights to switch higher profile matches in order for maximum exposure. If they don't Wimbledon could easily be sold to Sky for a lot more money.

 

Either way, it doesn't matter. It's not exactly hard to press the 'channel up' or 'channel down' button and everyone makes a big drama out of nothing.

 

Wimbledon is a protected event. It can only be sold to free-to-air channels.

 

It's not making a big drama out of it if people miss the programmes they want to watch - possibly because they were recording it and their device cannot cope with a change in channel.

 

I think it's more for casual viewers who switch on the TV and it's more likely to show BBC One first and so if it's showing an important match, people are more likely to stay with it rather than switching over.

 

EDIT: It's like when programmes are upgraded from digital channels to the main 5 channels. It should make no difference as everyone has at least Freeview now due to the digital switch but there's still a substantial difference in viewers.

 

Most televisions (and set-top boxes) just show the channel that was last on. The days of defaulting to BBC1 are over. And are there really people who just sit and watch whatever is on the same channel all the time?

 

At least when a programme is moved from the "newer" channels to the established channels it is done in advance and is reflected in the schedules. It still makes no sense to me that there are so many people who don't even look at the schedule for channels like BBC3/4, More4 etc but there you go. The only exception is when there is a breaking news story and BBC1 (or 2) switches to the BBC News channel. That too seems unnecessary now that everybody has access to the BBC News channel.

Wimbledon is a protected event. It can only be sold to free-to-air channels.

 

It's not making a big drama out of it if people miss the programmes they want to watch - possibly because they were recording it and their device cannot cope with a change in channel.

Most televisions (and set-top boxes) just show the channel that was last on. The days of defaulting to BBC1 are over. And are there really people who just sit and watch whatever is on the same channel all the time?

 

At least when a programme is moved from the "newer" channels to the established channels it is done in advance and is reflected in the schedules. It still makes no sense to me that there are so many people who don't even look at the schedule for channels like BBC3/4, More4 etc but there you go. The only exception is when there is a breaking news story and BBC1 (or 2) switches to the BBC News channel. That too seems unnecessary now that everybody has access to the BBC News channel.

 

I heard only the final was protected?

I heard only the final was protected?

Oh yes, I've just checked. Even so, the All England Club will want decent ratings and it makes no sense to me that the BBC1 audience would be higher than BBC2. That's my point. If people want to watch Andy Murray (or any other player for that matter) why would fewer of them do so if it was on BBC2?

Oh yes, I've just checked. Even so, the All England Club will want decent ratings and it makes no sense to me that the BBC1 audience would be higher than BBC2. That's my point. If people want to watch Andy Murray (or any other player for that matter) why would fewer of them do so if it was on BBC2?

 

BBC One always catches a greater casual audience, as Rabbit Heart said. If you look previous years, Murray's matches have shot up in the ratings when transferred to BBC One.

BBC One always catches a greater casual audience, as Rabbit Heart said. If you look previous years, Murray's matches have shot up in the ratings when transferred to BBC One.

But that's my point. It makes no sense at all. It suggests that the casual viewer will look at BBC1 and ITV and decide which one to watch. They seem to have decided that anything on BBC2 is "not for them".

This seems a ridiculous question to ask but the behaviour of the BBC suggests otherwise.

 

They frequently switch Andy Murray's Wimbledon matches on to BBC1 even if that channel's coverage is due to have ended for the day. That would suggest that the matches get a bigger audience on BBC1. In other words, there appear to be people who would watch it on BBC1 but would not watch exactly the same coverage of the same match on BBC2. Why?

 

Back in the dark ages (the 1970s when I was growing up) there were still parts of the country where BBC2 was unavailable so it would have made sense then but not now.

 

Last night the BBC said that the France v Germany World Cup semi-final was "on the BBC" without specifying which channel. That suggests that, if Murray reaches the semi-final at Wimbledon, his match will be on BBC1 with the football on BBC2. Surely people would decide which one to watch (if they watch either) by how much they are interested in it, not the channel it is on?

 

Any comments?

 

Murray is out, no longer an issue :P ;)

 

For some reason British people cannot grasp other channels, we have this discussion on Digital Spy and it appears to come down to these factors:

 

People who are so obsessed with the tv licence they will only watch BBC-1 as that's the premier channel and they say they want there money's worth

 

People who genuinely do not explore other channels some people admit they have never gone above 3 on the remote

 

Care homes, business who just switch on the tv and leave it on BBC-1.

In slightly related news, Only Connect, hosted by the wonderful Victoria Coren, makes its debut on BBC2 after being BBC4's highest rated show for many a year. It will be interesting to see how it does now that it's no longer on a "specialist" channel.

I generally don't watch anything that is on ITV or Channel 5.

 

It stems from when I was younger, my parents would watch Inspector Morse on ITV and that would be the only thing that was acceptable.

In slightly related news, Only Connect, hosted by the wonderful Victoria Coren, makes its debut on BBC2 after being BBC4's highest rated show for many a year. It will be interesting to see how it does now that it's no longer on a "specialist" channel.

Just as long as they haven't tampered with it in any way. It's my favourite serious television quiz programme.

Just as long as they haven't tampered with it in any way. It's my favourite serious television quiz programme.

Thankfully it seems to have escaped unscathed. Welcome to Only Connect, the most self-referential quiz on television :D

Thankfully it seems to have escaped unscathed. Welcome to Only Connect, the most self-referential quiz on television :D

 

 

Never seen it but may give it a try next Monday, although I see it clashes with Corrie. Not a good move by BBC2 that.

Never seen it but may give it a try next Monday, although I see it clashes with Corrie. Not a good move by BBC2 that.

It's in the same time slot that it had on BBC4.

Only Connect's debut BBC2 episode gained 2 million viewers, more than double what it had averaged on BBC4 (which in itself was no mean feat). Looks like a lot of people who ignored it on BBC4 tuned in to catch it on BBC2, although we'll have to see if the numbers hold up over the next few weeks.

Channel 5 usually turns out no for me, here in Ireland i cant sky plus channel 5 and most tv i watch nowadays is recorded therefore i miss out on channel 5 and sadly i miss out on big brother.

i'd say for me that yes, it does.

 

some channels have better sports coverage than others, and if it's a programme i really like, i like it on bbc 1 because their won't be any adverts.

 

never liked 2, not sure why though... oly show i ever watched on it was the kevin eldon show, (which was hilarious!), but still embarrassed to watch the channel.

 

i guess i always thought it was for the much older geniration.

 

lol