MediaGuardian: TV nation: first mass survey finds homely bias in what we watch
A survey for Ofcom, part of its first public service broadcasting annual report, shows that more than two thirds of viewers think the main five channels don't show enough UK made programmes, don't innovate enough and don't reflect the region the viewer lives in well enough.
Indeed, the same survey, according to the Media Guardian, shows that less than half of regular BBC One and BBC Two viewers think that those channels show enough new programmes made in the UK, which seems rather curious given that neither of those two channels show particularly large numbers of non-homemade programmes.
A glance at the BBC One schedule for Friday 23 March for example, shows Neighbours (twice), Diagnosis Murder, a CBBC cartoon and a late night film. The next day, only the late night film is an import. For Sunday, Diagnosis Murder again and another late night film coupled with a signed repeat of Aussie import of Bill's Food.
BBC Two on the other hand fares slightly less better with extra kids imports and a few more films however it's still very much UK production based.
Okay, that's just three days in one week, but it does raise the question of perception over reality - perhaps helped along by the shed loads of US programming on most digital channels.
Other interesting results perhaps bare more like reality. 6 in 10 people apparently believe that innovative programming is needed, but only half of those people think it's happening on our screen.
With a plethora of soaps, copy-cat reality shows on our screens, and ITV raiding the BBC for ideas (Dancing on Ice, Primevil, Meet the Ancestors and Saturday Cooks all being prime examples), it's one that's much harder to argue with.
