It’s long been the favoured sport of the Daily Mail and other newspapers which are no fans of the BBC.
“Count the repeats” can be a guaranteed way to fill column inches on a quiet day.
But would Channel 4 be a better target for their attention now?
This week and last, there has been scarcely any first-run material on Channel 4 before 7pm.
Listings indicate that Countdown and Sunday Brunch were the only new programmes.
The late afternoon lifestyle shows were all repeats. Steph’s Packed Lunch has packed up. Hollyoaks is no longer on main channel.
Add on to that a few peak time repeats and you’ll see a channel with a relatively low proportion of first-run output.
To be fair, BBC One and ITV 1 often mix in repeats of daytime staples such as Bargain Hunt, Pointless and The Chase with new episodes.
However in Channel 4’s case, this appears to be the way of the future.
The channel’s recent financial difficulties are no secret. Advertising is down.
Meanwhile Channel 4’s new licence from Ofcom is set to reduce its requirement for first-run, original programming.
Channel 4 is increasingly trying to prioritise programmes which make an impact.
Some of those may clearly reflect its original mission and remit.
But others are decidedly safe – mainstream football internationals and The Great Celebrity Bake Off.
If Channel 4 is to make less, its commissions need to reflect its unique selling points more clearly.
There is no point in the channel enjoying a special status as a public corporation if the viewer is unclear about whether this widens their choice.
Even its traditional relationship with independent production companies has become strained because of lower commissioning budgets.
Companies in Scotland are concerned that Channel 4’s new operating licence proposes a floor of just 9pc for commissions outside of England.
In future Channel 4, for the first time, may produce significant parts of its output in-house. Again this squeezes the work available to Indies.
Channel 4 produced Right to Reply in-house from its inception until 2001. Preview 4 in the station’s early days was also in-house. But both were quite different to the kind of commercially important programmes which Channel 4 could make in the future.
Channel 4 seems to be on a fast track to an online, on-demand future – it is speeding down the fast lane while the other major PSBs work out just what the actual balance between linear and on-demand should be in practice.
Nobody can accuse the BBC, ITV or Channel 5 of abandoning linear viewers even though some significant content appears online first.
But Channel 4 needs to be very careful.
It narrowly avoided privatisation – mostly because of the resignation of Liz Truss and the chaos at the top of the Tory party. The viewing public seemed indifferent to its fate though indies defended the broadcaster with passion.
If Labour wins the General Election I cannot imagine it privatising Channel 4 but that does not mean the idea will not raise its head again one day.
Channel 4 needs to be seen as different to the other commercial broadcasters if it is to have a public sector future in the long term.
How does more mainstream repeats fit with that?
I cannot imagine many being outraged by the privatisation of a streaming service unless that service is very special indeed.
Acknowledgements
PICTURED: Channel 4 ident. COPYRIGHT: Channel 4 Television Corporation.