Hahaha. I had to laugh.
You know the Duke of Edinburgh died last week, right?
Well, a lot of the broadcasters in the UK, including the BBC, totally uprooted their programming schedules to cover the death.
But did they miss the British public’s pulse? I just heard that the BBC’s programme covering his death has very quickly become the most-complained-about programme in UK TV history.
Mister Bump 
Sad for his family, but most ordinary people probably feel little connection…
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Ordinary people do feel a connection, Paula and very much so.
It is sad that some of the younger minority and ill informed generation do not.
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Interesting comment…
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I’m sorry, Sue, I don’t think you can claim that “ordinary people” think one thing, and the rest are just ill-informed. For one thing, there is no concept of what an “ordinary person” is. For another, where does that leave you with tolerance? Because somebody doesn’t think a certain way, you dismiss them as ill-informed?
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The term ordinary people was actually Paula’s description, I was merely repeating her words to make the point, that not all of share the same view; but isn’t that what we are? Aren’t we all simply ordinary people from different walks of life, holding different values? Some are very well informed and others are not. Fact of life!
It’s the lack of respect that I find offensive.
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I think there is a basic level of respect you show when somebody dies. A sensitivity, if you like, to the family left behind.. But if it is a total stranger, it would not stretch any further. That’s what I think, I suspect that was also the driver for many of the complaints. But I wouldn’t, personally, label any of this as “disrespect” and I certainly wouldn’t get offended by it.
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You could be right.
And you have actually given me fodder for a blog post!
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Paula – absolutely agree. When a 99yo dies it is hardly unexpected. I can imagine it touches the family, but not really anyone else.
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Anyone would think there was only one channel to choose from! Everyone has a choice, watch or don’t watch.
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That’s exactly why I highlighted the BBC. That is the one channel that everybody has to pay for, by law. No choice.
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And thank goodness we do – I’d far rather pay my fee than be bombarded with endless adverts and my programs interrupted every fifteen minutes.
I’m also delighted that the BBC showed such respect and appreciation for the Duke of Edinburgh and highlighted his long service to our queen and country.
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Though clearly lots of people were not, hence my original post.
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I wonder why people these days feel the need to constantly complain.
I cannot stand football and resent so many of my evening viewing plans being spoilt by this game, but I wouldn’t dream of bombarding the BBC with my personal complaints.
Now there’s thought, I should write a blog article instead!
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I think we should all complain about football!
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Haha, absolutely!
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Pete, I meant to ask – at the start of your post you laughed, so may I ask why you laughed? Was it because of the volume of complaints, was it because you thought it was funny that the BBC and others dedicated the day to reporting about the Duke of Edinburgh’s death and his life, or was it for some other reason?
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I laughed because that was what I thought, and I found out that many people also thought the same. Although I had no idea what aired on the BBC, particularly.
The story dominated C4 News, where I tuned in expecting to be informed about things that had happened in the world.
It is amusing that broadcasters, C4 included, have a view of what the public want which seems to be totally out-of-step.
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Some of the public Pete, not all. As with everything else, it’s divided. And most probably by age.
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Take your word for it. Out of pocket. WAY out of pocket.
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[…] this week, blogging colleague Pete at Mr Bump UK wrote about the high volume of viewers who had complained to the BBC about its day-long coverage […]
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I enjoyed reading the exchange above. Sue is right, in that these days people have a choice. Much of the programming I saw on BBC1 was repetitive. I was an admirer of Phil, and sad that he’s gone, but once we’d seen enough we simply watched or did something else. What is really interesting is that so many people a) felt they had to complain about it and b) had nothing better to do with their sad lives. And I’m with Sue on football too; I enjoy watching the odd game, but it’s far too powerful and all too often assumed that everyone wants to watch it.
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Incorrect. People do not have a choice whether or not to fund the BBC, so it can put out programmes such as these. The BBC in particular is a publicly-funded body and therefore has a responsibility to serve the public. From the number of complaints received, it is questionable whether it did this.
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Incorrect. They have a choice not to watch a programme they don’t like. The BBC puts out a whole bunch of stuff that I, personally, find complete drivel – endless food/cookery programmes, East Enders and, God help us, Mrs Brown’s Boys. It is unrealistic to expect to like, or approve of, every piece of content. They also do some things extremely well. By the ‘we do not have a choice’ argument, you could say that tax payers doesn’t get a choice in how HMG spends our money – whatever next?! 🙂
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The difference being that HMG is there to provide vital services, the BBC is there to provide Netflix.
And, politicians are vaguely accountable to the public for their decisions (regarding which services to provide/withhold), the BBC is not. It should be floated off and allowed to sink or swim in the commercial marketplace, accountable to its subscribers/advertisers.
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