The future of the BBC's linear broadcasting must surely be a return to mixed channels, where viewers are led through a 1960s style schedule of news, information, entertainment, and, well, things that are good for you. There has also to be consequent reduction in the cheaper, stripped, filler material. A bit of cookery, yes, but not every day of the week. Some quizzes, yes, but wouldn't it be nice to start an evening's entertainment with someone other that smug Alexander Armstrong ? Bring back the odd children's drama, or even children's light entertainment; bring back a popular science show; bring back Top of The Pops, and maybe someone under 20 will once again approach the living room tv.
Sometimes 'things that are good for you' work better than expected. Countryfile was regarded as a boring obligation to the farming lobby, best left as a Sunday morning half-hour. The move into peak in 2009 has brought audience figures way beyond anyone's expectations.
In the US, at least in summer months, CBS's venerable "60 minutes" package of hard and soft news features tops the Sunday linear ratings. Here, the Panorama 'brand' is scattered to the wind, liked dented tins of Waitrose Essential Baked Beans falling off a lorry. A better place to spend money, I'd say, than vanity projects like 'Verify'.
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