BBC America Drops EE on Sundays

Analysis: What's Happening, Why and What You Should Do


By Larry Jaffee


Effective the week of Aug. 4, BBC America dropped EastEnders from its weekly Sunday morning slot. Episodes will now only be seen on Fridays at 3-5:30 p.m. (starting Friday, Aug. 9).

BBC America said moving EastEnders is part of its "overall changes to the schedule for the fall. The program has not performed as strongly as we had hoped on Sunday--so we are encouraging all viewers to tune in on Friday. This allows us to extend our highly popular 'Living' strand (Changing Rooms, Ground Force) into Sunday. We want to assure you that we are listening to you, but BBC America has to compete in a commercial environment where ratings and resulting advertising must be a consideration. Without it we could not exist."

Please send your comments online to: http://www.bbcamerica.com/about/contactus_email.jsp

BBC America said the letters will be read and considered by its head of programming and other senior executives.

Analysis

When asked by the Walford Gazette whether the Sunday episodes generated higher ratings than those on Friday, a BBC America spokesman declined to provide the actual figures, other than to say that they were "broadly similar."

He added that EastEnders on Sundays was "losing audience" from the Ground Force lead-in.

"We hope that people use their VCRs to record," he said, if they're not around to watch Friday afternoons. I pointed out to him that most ratings-conscious broadcasters are aware that people who tape programs usually fast forward through the commercials, and generally abhor hate such time-shifting because their advertisers are ignored - which is supposedly the whole point of commercial television.

Audience feedback is among the factors the network uses in making such a programming decision, according to the BBC America spokesman, who said there wasn't necessarily a specific number of complaints from upset fans that would result in a decision reversal.

"We realize EastEnders has a loyal audience - They all have got to perform," he said, in language not dissimilar to public television stations that have dropped or threatened to drop EastEnders from their programming lineups due to decreasing financial contributions from viewers.

I suggested to the BBC America spokesman that perhaps EastEnders would do better ratings-wise if it was promoted on-air during other timeslots. His response was that BBC America promotes programmes that show signs that they have the best chances of doing well.

This move comes just about a year after BBC America stopped airing EastEnders on a weekday daily basis in favor of the Friday and Sunday blocks as a means to gain larger audience, especially on the weekends. At that point, BBC America also cancelled its ?EastEnders: The Early Years' episodes (Walford Gazette, #34).

Last year's explanation: "We are aware that EastEnders is one of our more watched programs, which is why after hearing from a vast number of our viewers that the weekday airing was not convenient for those who work, we decided to re-think our schedule. A weekend airing of all of the episodes allows a larger number of our viewers to tune in or record the entire weeks' events and with an extra episode being added later this year, the weekend slot allows for more flexibility."

Well, obviously the Friday afternoon airings aren?t going to be any more convenient for those people who work during the day.

To be completely cynical, one wonders if the latest development has anything to do with BBC America's announcement last November to offer EastEnders on an on-demand basis. A November 2001 press release announced a new video-on-demand service being launched in early 2002 by BBC America. Obviously, that has not happened as of yet.

Purely speculation on my part, but maybe the latest move is a ruse to get fans to pay for the show.

The BBC America spokesman said the time change and on-demand service are two completely separate matters. The service hadn't launched yet because the cable operators were not ready for such an advanced digital system, but there?s still a plan to introduce such a service. He couldn?t say for certain whether it would be this year. That would depends on how quickly cable companies making the necessary enhancements to their broadband digital infrastructures, as well as the business terms between them and BBC America. Interestingly, EastEnders was the first and only of the BBC's programming library to be selected for testing this new service. BBC America runs EastEnders two weeks after its U.K. run. The on-demand service initially will be available only to subscribers of digital cable service.

"We know that EastEnders has many avid fans in the U.S. who are keen to watch the show as soon as possible," said Paul Lee, BBC America chief operating officer, in the November 2001 announcement.

Potential subscribers to BBC America On Demand were to have the opportunity to sneak peak all four weekly episodes of EastEnders, commercial-free, in advance of regular BBC America viewers. Two pricing models will be tested--single episode and monthly subscription.

EastEnders fans dissatisfied with this decision should let BBC America know. Sign the petition that?s circulating online. I?m not sure a boycott of their advertisers is going to make a difference since so many of the spots BBC America runs are direct-response commercials for household items. This media time will continue to be purchased by these companies because it is cheaper than other broadcast and cable outlets.

Simply put, BBC America's problem is that its commercial salesforce has never signed up the major advertisers that run commercials on the Big Four networks (ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox). But keep in mind that the poor economy, coupled with fallout from the September 11 terrorist attacks, have negatively impacted all media businesses reliant on advertising. And for cable channels that appeal to niche audiences it?s all the more difficult.

A question that I am forever perplexed by is how EastEnders can be the most popular program in Britain (scheduled four nights a week in prime-time, with all four episodes reprised on Sunday afternoons), but get marginalized on this side of the Atlantic.

Despite appreciative audiences in such North American remote outposts as Fargo, North Dakota, as well as major cities like New York, Philadelphia and Miami via public television, EastEnders does not get any kind of priority push stateside from the BBC?s commercial arm.

Maybe I?m naïve but I think that great television drama, particularly from the U.K., will find an audience if viewers know that it?s on. Let?s hope that some enlightened powers-that-be will figure that out.




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