What the shit? BBC America drops its morning world news??

[Blue_Tires]

I was wondering what had happened...I always had it on while getting ready in the morning...So now I'm left with GMA, ESPN and all the other fluff shit??? (granted, I never watched newsnight, though)



Jeremy Paxman's US Newsnight axed in shakeup at BBC America

Jeremy Paxman's big chance to break the US has ended after BBC America axed its US version of Newsnight as part of a series of changes that includes dropping its daily three-hour block of international news.

The BBC's commercial US channel, which is available in more than 63m American homes via digital, cable and satellite, today dropped its daily simulcast from the BBC World News channel, which aired between 6am and 9am, because of disappointing ratings.

The morning news block will be replaced with shows such as The F Word, Kitchen Nightmares and The Hotel Inspector.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/apr/06/bbc-america-paxman-newsnight

[Blue_Tires]

1. evidently i was the only one who watched it...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. You weren't--check out the BBCA website

Viewers are furious, and have been

That station has gone down the crapper as much as any on cable, and at this point, the schedule is almost all reality and scandal shows. They seem not to want to put on more than one dramatic series at a time, and they seem averse to putting on any current comedies. Yes, these shows exist in the UK, but all day marathons of Cash in the Attic? Come on!

When I first got digital cable in around 2001, they were great, with lots of current dramas and comedies, but their descent into idiocy was the last straw that made me decide to cancel digital cable.

[Blue_Tires]

5. yeah, i've noticed a lack of programming variety

but how do you kill world news?!?! I really enjoyed it and it was one of the things they really did well, in comparison to American networks... The other morning 'news' shows (GMA) are as bad as ever...It won't be the same simply listening to the BBC radio online at work...

[Blue_Tires]

7. I'm reading a couple of the threads now

not only that, BBC news won't even be shown on PBS stations anymore?? i just don't understand their thinking...

[Deep13]

2. Well, they ended shortwave broadcasts to America...

...a few years ago.

[mwooldri]

4. The people on the BBC America boards aren't happy either.

Surprising neither are the reality show fans.

Discontinuing news on BBC America would make sense if BBC World suddenly got carriage on lots of cable and satellite systems. Then there'd be no excuse; effective 24/7 rolling international news.

However the last I heard is that BBC World still hasn't got decent coverage here. Not coming to Time (expletive) Warner (expletive) Cable any time soon. Or Dish or DirecTV.

Mark.

[Blue_Tires]

6. I have DirecTV and don't have it..

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. Or Comcast

:-(

[friendly_iconoclast]

12. Verizon Fios carries BBC World News- I love it

However, BBC America seems like the Beeb's cutout bin.

Anything worth watching from them is on PBS or one of Discovery Network's channels

[hellbound-liberal]

9. Since I have been having a problem getting the BBC lately, I have been listening to the Guardian's

World News briefing. It's kind of short so today I watched Al-Jazeera online instead. I think they do a decent job of covering the news (Way better than the American corporate gibberish). Here's a link: http://english.aljazeera.net/watch_now/

If you want to try something different, go to www.commondreams.org and scroll to the bottom of the page where they have several alternatives listed.

[GCP]

10. BBC America sucks donkey balls

I am so fucking disappointed in them. I'm British and was expecting great things, I thought we'd be getting really good programming and news coverage, but it seems their business plan is just to put on crap like constant Gordon Ramsey, women cleaning up dirty houses and antiques shows.
They stopped showing MI5 - one of the very best shows out there - because of 'disappointing ratings'.

Honestly, they're behaving like the moronic American networks the way they're canning good shows without letting them grow a following, and putting on cheap rubbish..

[Blue_Tires]

11. i had forgotten about MI5

I really came to enjoy the characters and plots...But I probably haven't seen it in at least a couple years...

I could sort of understand if they wanted to have 1 or 2 hours of news in the morning instead of 3...but did they honestly need to replace it with a 6-hour block of bargain hunt and cash in the attic? is there THAT much demand for those shows first thing in the morning???

[Lydia Leftcoast]

13. MI-5 is available on DVD through Season 6

Having seen Seasons 4 and 5, I can understand (although not agree with) why BBCA stopped showing it.

It gets REALLY edgy in those years, as in "Imagine if every conspiracy theory you ever heard of were true." They were already getting complaints from freepers saying that the show was "anti-American."

But it's still one of the best programs around.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

14. Until about two or three years ago, BBC America was fine

They showed recent mysteries like Messiah, Rebus, McCallum, Murder in Mind, Murder in Suburbia, Jonathan Creek, and Hamish Macbeth, as well as miniseries like State of Play and other dramas, such as Red Cap or edgy one-off dramas such as The Second Coming. They were weak on comedies, but they had a few nostalgic series, such as The Avengers, and regular airings of East Enders.

Then they got a new program director named Garth Ancier, who seems to be programming for the Jerry Springer crowd. East Enders was the first series to disappear, and now they seem to think they can't show more than one drama at a time.

[GCP]

15. That explains a lot

I'd forgotten those other shows, but these constant reality shows like the house-cleaning-women just drive me bat-shit crazy. I think I've seen every single Cash in the Attic - and still they put on the re-runs. My mother lives in the UK and tells me the Beeb over there is just all stupid reality shows.

They've really lost their way.