It’s been a decade since I first got BBC America. In that time, I've been introduced to some great shows like Coupling, seen the triumphant return of a favorite show in the form of Doctor Who and realized that last month's broadcast of the royal wedding actually may be the most actual BBC programming the channel has ever aired on a single day.
BBC America has come a long way from 2001’s seemingly endless loop of gardening shows and Brit-coms that had already worn out their welcome on PBS stations, with just a few fresh drama and comedy programs to frustrate the faithful while giving them just enough reason not to ditch the channel. However, distance is only a useful measurement is you’re going in the right direction. Even as they get their highest ratings ever for the most recent season premiere of Doctor Who, it's hard to argue that this is the case for BBC America.
My problem isn’t necessarily commercials. They're as much a fact of life in British TV as they are in America and they didn't stop Britain's ITV network from producing the masterful Brideshead Revisited. The issue seems to be the underlying impact on BBC America's programming choices. A friend of mine commented recently that the channel seems to have more America on display lately than it does BBC, and there's a lot of truth to that. Aside from some quality nature documentaries, the Graham Norton Show and their “supernatural Saturday” block, there aren’t a lot of British accents to be heard. Even the “supernatural Saturday” block is scheduled to be annexed by reruns of the Sci-Fi Channel’s Battlestar Galactica series next month.
Working in this area of the entertainment business, I certainly understand the practical side that the channel needs viewers to get advertisers, with science-fiction audiences being among the most devoted, but showing things like The X-Files just feels wrong. It gives the impression that there’s no real identity animating the channel. What’s disappointing about this is that the millions of viewers who tuned into PBS to see programs like Downtown Abbey on the 40th season of Masterpiece Theatre empirically proves that there’s a substantial audience for traditional British drama programs, but presumably it’s not the right (i.e. young enough) audience for BBC America.
Hopefully someone there will realize eventually that, not only do the older viewers have more money, they’re also looking for programming that won’t patronize them. Until then, BBC America will stand as the British Broadcasting Corporation’s greatest missed opportunity since they trashed hundreds of programs from their archives in the 1970s.
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