Is TV making a comeback?

[Philip A]

30 years ago, when most households could only get 4 channels (BBC One, BBC Two, ITV and Channel 4), between 15 million and 20 million people on the UK would gather round to watch feel-good Saturday night telly: from Blind Date to Gladiators, Noel’s House Party to Generation Game.

Nowadays, anything over 3 million is considered a hit, as many of us (particularly younger than 35 years old) are distracted by thumb twiddling – from texting to TikTok, Facebook to YouTube – even when people aren’t at work.

So is TV a dying medium?

January 2024 may suggest otherwise. The writers of Mr. Bates VS The Post Office were told by the producer that “people probably won’t watch it.” The claim was wrong: 4 million people tuned in each show in time slot alone; days later, the combined figure (that is, catch-up added on) surpassed 10 million. The Post Office scandal has resurfaced the news several times since.

And it’s not just dramas. The first episode of the rebooted Gladiators – now on BBC instead of ITV – has now been watched by 10 million people. Reality game show The Traitors has also grown in popularity and proven popular among the 16-34-year-old demographic in the streaming age, with overnight figures skyrocketing to 7 million by the final of Series 2 and over 300,000 people applying for Series 3. Clearly some of these formats on linear TV also have appeal on BBC iPlyaer and ITV X.

I must say, I do find there is more feel-good telly over the past 6 months, after years of the same old formats over and over and a poor run of shows that just go to pot after one series. I’ve personally enjoyed the return of Big Brother, Gladiators and The Traitors, and still a massive fan of The 1% Club, which is a neat format.

Has your interest in TV increased/decreased or remained the same over the past few years, or have you given up and are completely distracted by streaming? Or, to quote one half of Ant and Dec, “Going out!”

[Marc Meakin]

The major changes for me is that apart from sports, I rarely watch TV in the moment I record everything and cut out ads or watch when it's convenient.
It can present problems as I recorded the 1% Club to watch this morning but forgot about spoilers on social media which I luckily scrolled past.

I have noticed that a lot of content allows for those people who watch shows whilst being on their phones and you get recaps each episode to cater for this

I have been watching TV for well over 50 years and see various shifts in trends.
Decent sit coms are like hens teeth and Sketch shows are not existant.
We used to watch house make over shows a lot now it's cookery shows and repair shop and craft work shows.
Also cheap to make shows like bargain hunt and homes under the hammer are continuing as its easy watching and topical shows are made less often as watching repeats of mock rmthe week have a short shelf life so they are dying our.
Quiz shows still exist but lots don't have long shelf lives.

Shows like The Edge and Headhunters were great but not recommissioned also The Question Jury was gpod.

The Traitors, thankfully has killed off the likes of Big Brother but I fear it had a limited shelf life as contestants know how to play the game so it will lose it's edge in 3 more years as did big brother.
How The Apprentice still gets Prime time is beyond me and apart from the last pitch Dragons Dead is boring.

Even Gladiators is boring to me until the last game.

TV will never die but the BBC will eventually show ads in between programs unless you pay a premium
Probably on the I player at first

[Ian Volante]

Streaming is certainly useful if I've missed a regular quiz or sporting fixture. I'll watch more slow telly then I ever did, and otherwise I'll likely watch old films versus most of the other crap that's available.

More generally, I don't enjoy watching or listening to stuff that isn't live. Not sure why I'm telling you this.

[Adam Dexter]

(particularly younger than 35 years old)

Ouch just scraping into the "and the rest" section there