One of the Church of England’s most senior bishops has lamented that families is not going to be watching TV together this Christmas.
But there is a greater risk that hundreds of thousands of TV viewers might lose out on a few of their hottest programmes altogether, if current trends proceed.
Dame Sarah Mullally, the Bishop of London, told readers of the listing magazine Radio Times that “the best way by which we as a nation devour TV and media all year long has modified beyond recognition”.
“Since my childhood, our lives have change into increasingly more dominated by the easy gratification available through our mobile phones and social media. Streaming sites have sought to displace traditional channels, allowing us to observe whatever we wish every time we wish to.”
Dame Sarah says that this has caused TV watching to change into “more solitary and insular – a far cry from the years a lot of us remember of three channels and one set per household”.
“I am unable to help pondering,” she adds, “that for all of the technological advances and abundance of selection, something has been lost.”
The bishop’s comments have prompted responses, including Robert Crampton of The Times commenting “What about that sole household TV set the bishop extols? Anyone younger than me will think this can be a joke but members of the family used to must take turns standing on tiptoe, on a chair, waving an aerial to get a signal. Plus every little thing shut down at midnight – they played the national anthem and that was that. Grim.”
Yet, while tens of hundreds of thousands of UK households subscribe to streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime or Disney Plus, there remain many homes that access TV only through broadcast channels.
The recent annual conference of influential media group the Voice of the Listener and Viewer (VLV) heard that around 3.3 million UK homes rely solely on broadcast channels, often watched via the Freeview service.
Statistics from the media regulator Ofcom show that individuals aged 75 or older, poorer people and folks with a disability are significantly more more likely to rely only on broadcast TV. They are estimated to make up around 2.6 million of the ‘broadcast only’ homes.
Although, overall, persons are watching much fewer hours of broadcast TV each week – with numbers falling significantly within the last five years – there are still many homes that depend on the ‘traditional’ broadcasters, akin to the BBC, ITV and Channels Four and Five.
These homes could find their TV services under threat from technology – it’s dearer for broadcasters to offer these households with their programming – and from uncertainties around the long run of ‘public service broadcasting.’ Delegates attending the VLV conference heard in regards to the pressures on the BBC licence fee and on increasing costs for all broadcasters.
Both Ofcom and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport are ways of meeting these challenges – especially because the Covid pandemic highlighted the importance of having the ability to communicate effectively to your complete nation.
Dame Sarah assured her readers “Though viewing figures aren’t what they was, I sense that the enduring cultural impact of British TV, and the role it plays in bringing us together, will remain steadfast despite the ever-changing technological landscape.”
Many aren’t so sure. Despite the bishop’s optimistic words, there are numerous people concerned in regards to the way forward for British TV. They wish to be certain that it continues to be available as widely as possible – whether there are many screens in the house or simply one, sitting within the corner…
Rev Peter Crumpler is a Church of England minister in St Albans, Herts, UK, and a former communications director with the CofE.
