Channel 4 to invest in Kids TV
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(Mostly lifted from another site...)
Channel 4 has ring-fenced £10m to spend on programmes for 10-to 15 year-olds over the next two years - with a flagship drama series set to take centre stage.
C4's move into children's TV follows ITV scaling back its kids output. "This is not a particularly commercially viable thing to do and commercial broadcasters have cut back [in this area]," said Lygo. "You're unlikely to attract a vast audience. It's a departure for us, born out of a belief in what Ofcom and others have identified as a group that's not particularly well served by television."
Article (registration required): http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/2008/03/c4_to_pump_10m_into_kids_output.html
Nice to see a UK channel investing in children's TV, maybe if it's successful rival channels might follow the idea.
You're supposed to draw some connection with Knightmare (even if it's simply to mention, 'This isn't Knightmare-related as such, but you might find it interesting'). Luckily Snowcat has now done this.
I like Channel 4, but I've never really thought of children's TV on it.
That's a shame in my opinion, considering that 4 is the channel that brought British children Sesame Street, Pob's Programme, the Back To The Future cartoons, Ulysses 31 and Earthworm Jim, not to mention The Crystal Maze and GamesMaster.
So here we have Channel 4 throwing money at Knightmares traditional demographic in one part of the forum...
And a certain "BVA" (who most have figured out the identity of by now ) saying that "Something is stirring" in another part nearby.
Coincidence? Possibly. I'm up for some fan speculation though.
Since BVA's post is only three lines long, I won't attempt to read between them. But let's just say that if by any chance Raven resurfaces on Channel 4 with a certain Mr. H. Myatt recast in the title role, you heard it here first.
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That's a shame in my opinion, considering that 4 is the channel that brought British children Sesame Street, Pob's Programme, the Back To The Future cartoons, Ulysses 31 and Earthworm Jim, not to mention The Crystal Maze and GamesMaster.
Girrrrrrrrrroovy!
Must find EJ cartoons. Somewhere. Must be... cough16cough again.
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not to mention The Crystal Maze and GamesMaster.
Neither of which technically count as children's, I feel. the former simply had a very large children's cross demographic (I think), and the latter was more upper teens than children in target demographic - 16-20, probably (And the first two seasons [church and oil rig] were far better than S3+, S2 [oil rig] probably the overall best)
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The fact that I listed them separately from the others was acknowledgement of that. My point was simply that British children watched them (on Channel 4), and as grown-ups remember them fondly alongside the children's TV they watched. The fact that The Crystal Maze had children's specials is relevant here; and I know of quite young kids today who enjoy Crystal Maze as much as they do Raven.
One interesting thing that Crystal Maze and GamesMaster have in common is that both programmes brought in a second presenter who was significantly less popular than the first, it seemed.
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as more upper teens than children in target demographic - 16-20, probably (And the first two seasons [church and oil rig] were far better than S3+, S2 [oil rig] probably the overall best)
No way, Gamesmaster didn't get good until late on when it became the Dominic Diamond comedy half hour!
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Any developments on this yet?? channel 4 seem to be doing stuff or rather talking about the gaps in Tv this includig the possibility of taking about taking the use f "regional News" which would be intersting as ITV is heavily cutting back and wil probably in 5 years time give up on Regional news and hand t to chanel 4 anyway which wouldn't be a baD THING IMAO
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Any developments on this yet?? channel 4 seem to be doing stuff or rather talking about the gaps in Tv this includig the possibility of taking about taking the use f "regional News" which would be intersting as ITV is heavily cutting back and wil probably in 5 years time give up on Regional news and hand t to chanel 4 anyway which wouldn't be a baD THING IMAO
The quality of ITV news has been lacking for some time now, yeah. (Even North West Tonight has declined in quality in recent years)
But starting an entire new line of programming will naturally take time, and I'd have thought said amount of time would be in the order of two years or so. For both the BBC and Channel 4's teen programming line. They'll both want to open with enough programming to last at least a couple of hours a day with not having to air repeats for a couple of months (so, about 278 = 112 hours of programming, I'd have thought, although that programming can be filmed in parallel rather than in serial due to different production teams for each of the hypothetical 14-28 shows), and it should be remembered that the UK tends towards, excluding live programs and soaps, filming every episode of a program before transmitting any. (Well, and other programs that are on for most days of the year, but to quickly use Deal or No Deal as an example, that gets filmed 3 shows a day, 5 days a week, 2 weeks on, one week off. So... 30 shows get filmed in the time taken to air 18 [They do still have Saturday shows, right?], which comes out as 'the show you watch today was probably filmed a couple of months ago'
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I've heard that the kids stuff starts in 2009!! As Richard and Judy have gone and Countdown will probably go next year, a afternoon slot looks likely!
What, and move the afternoon behemoth which is Deal or No Deal?
More seriously, the 3:30 Countdown slot is inappropriate for a teen slot, since teens are still at (or coming home from) school then. The post-Deal 5:00 slot which Richard and Judy is currently in would work, except that it's only available half the year due to Paul O'Grady, iirc, still pulling in good ratings. Additionally, it looks like Countdown will be continuing into 2009, albeit without Des or Carol, hence why they're advertising for a new arithmetician at the moment.
Incidentally, where did you hear that the C4 Teen thing starts in 2009?
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I read it on the internet somewhere! I can't remember where but it might have been Digital Spy. CBBC starts at a 3.30(ish) start and CITV used to start at 3.15 so why shouldn't Channel 4 do the same. Especailly as the 'slot' will also be on E4 and they wouldn't scrap Simpsons or Hollyoaks.
Personally I think that they'll have the slot as follows:
Channel 4 3.30-6.00 (E4 showing stuff for older teens)
E4 6.00-7.00 (Channel 4 showing Simpsons & Hollyoaks for teens)
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That's true.
Maybe if Countdown gets scraped (which it probably will after a series with the new presenters), Deal or No Deal will be moved to the Countdown slot and then the kids slot will start. As Paul O'Grady is only for a few months after Christmas, I think that the kids stuff will start about Easter time when Paul O'Grady is finished!
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Maybe if Countdown gets scraped (which it probably will after a series with the new presenters)
I doubt that, actually. It's remarkably hard to fail in the 2:30 slot it's being moved to, since the expectations for that slot are so low.
Deal or No Deal will be moved to the Countdown slot and then the kids slot will start.
Why would C4 move what I believe is their highest ratings show outside of Big Brother, again? checks BARB
Oh, no. Just shy of 2m at the moment, below all the BB episodes. Still about typical with the stuff they show in Prime Time, though, so I would doubt they'd want to risk mucking about with its scheduling.
I'm not saying they won't move Deal or No Deal, of course, simply asking why they would.
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I doubt that, actually. It's remarkably hard to fail in the 2:30 slot it's being moved to, since the expectations for that slot are so low.
There was a considerable dip in viewers when Richard died (apart from the tribute special & anniversary). Now, that Carol is going more viewers will turn off.
I'm not saying they won't move Deal or No Deal, of course, simply asking why they would.
In an ideal world, Noel would quit and would bring back Noel's House Party!!!!!!
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