Time for a change

As we note 20 years of The One Show, it's time to look for more changes in the basic BBC1 weekday line-up, to get Mr Brittin's BBC in the front foot. 

Peter Fincham's idea for The One Show, a nightly magazine format with elements of the old "Tonight" in the Cliff Michelmore era and bits of Wogan, dispatched with a rag-bag of 7pm offers - "What Not To Wear", "The Real Story", "Watchdog", "Should I Worry ?", "Didn't They Do Well ?", "Airport" and the dreaded "Regional Variations". Cutely, the Fincham commission also saved money, which was re-directed to drama, comedy and light entertainment. 

It's now pretty clear that now, during The One Show, most of those remaining in the family living room have a chat about what to watch next. Around 2.5m stay for EastEnders. It's not enough; the soap has become a bed blocker. People are scanning Netflix, Prime, Disney and Apple for a new film or a blockbuster series. The BBC's 'big offer' should start at 7.30pm.  Two one-hour 'bangers', followed by a half-hour comedy/panel show, to get to the 10pm news, still holding up well. 

Meanwhile, Matt, tell them schedulers to drop at least one episode of the Pointless comfort-blanket, and give the nation back a live-ish 5pm pop show...