It used to be the thing, when I were young, that the two major TV Channels used to pursue a strategy of deliberately going head-to-head in their TV schedules. Most memorable was the decision on Bank Holiday Mondays for both BBC and ITV included circuses at the same time. Not that I ever wanted to watch one circus, let alone two. It was even more ludicrous when both channels used to show, not only the FA Cup Final, but also four hours of talk and build-up.
BBC2/Channel 4 seemed to have abandoned their Friday night comedy head-to-head. Even then, although it was in an inyerface attempt to outdo each other, it could hardly be argued that Friends and Have I Got News For You were appealing to the same precise demographic.
In an era of multiple channels, it is impossible to avoid clashes. Tomorrow night, I could watch Sleeping Beauty on Artsworld or Manchester United v West Brom on Sky Sports. I would be mocked, and rightly, if I complained.
Artsworld covers - unsurprisingly - the Arts. Monday night is opera, Tuesday is obscure foreign language films etc. Performance features footage of live performances - a mixture of classical and pop, but focusing more on Frank Sinatra/Tom Jones than 50 Cent and Westlife?
Last night Artsworld showed The Magic Flute. Performance showed Don Giovanni. Both of these are by Mozart.
If you consider the number of people with digital Tv in this country. And consider how many of them are opera fans, which I suspect is a fairly small intersect. Further consider what proportion have the time to sit down on a Monday night (Or this specific Monday night) to watch an opera on the TV (2 and a half to 3 hours). You're not talking about a particularly large number of people. I can't help thinking that there was deliberate planning to put these two against each other in a petty little power struggle for ratings, pouring scorn on the little people who, conceivably, might want to watch both, and self-destructively, pretty much guaranteeing to halve their potential audience. Unless it's an even more cynical ploy, and the result of arm-twisting by the evil Murdoch empire to ensure that the target demographic, probably one with a fairly high disposable income, feels compelled to shell out even more money to Sky-plus.
Unbridled capitalism is pernicious.
