We received word that former BBC Director of Communications Ed Williams is wreaking havoc on fans of Britain’s public broadcaster after claiming that corporate bigwigs are seriously thinking about terminating some of its most prominent television shows including Top Gear, Strictly Come Dancing, The Apprentice, Dragons’ Den and The One.
That’s the bad news. However, don’t fret about it just yet, because there’s good news as well, since the BBC executive said nothing will happen overnight, but “within the next five to ten years…”.
Williams made these revelations in a new book titled “Is the BBC in Crisis?” which comes out this Saturday, March 1.
The former BBC exec writes, “I think there’s a series of very popular formats which over the next five to ten years will reach the end of their natural lives, such as Strictly Come Dancing, The Apprentice, Dragons’ Den, Top Gear, The One Show,” reports Metro UK.
Williams says that this is happening because BBC bosses couldn’t come up with a “Saturday night ratings winner for years”, while also placing blame on the broadcaster’s bad reputation of “paying poorly”.
“What I think is particularly challenging for the BBC is how can they make the case to get the best creative people at the BBC coming up with these ideas when, actually, if you’ve got a great idea, why take it to the BBC?,” he wrote, according to the Grimsby Telegraph.
Leaving the other shows aside, what makes the current Top Gear show so special, besides the format, is the chemistry between the trio of presenters – Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May. And “five to ten years” is an awful lot of time – I’m not entirely sure what I’ll be doing in a couple of years, let alone in the next decade; do you?
Moreover, let’s not forget that people come and go in the television industry – not only those in front of the camera, but those behind as well, and what Williams claims, applies for the time he was working for BBC, and does not take into account any changes that will happen in the future.
Before I let you go and hit the comments, I thought I’d share this email message sent to us by Carscoops reader Alistair Young, who was the one that tipped us off about the story:
By John Halas
“I know that Top Gear has not been at its best lately, but it is still a great, entertaining motoring programme to watch (especially on a Sunday).
Importantly however, as flawed as Top Gear is, it is unlikely that there will be another Car Programme on mainstream British/American/Australian TV, especially of the same magnitude.
Rationally, I can understand the choice for axing an aging show (and by aging, I mean, just like its presenters). However what upsets and irritates me is that there will not be another TV show that will unite car fans to such an extent.
What’s more, other great car shows with plenty of potential (I want that car on ITV4, Wheeler Dealers on Discovery, or any CarBuyer review with Matt Watson and Rebecca Jackson on youtube) will never be produced with the same budget as Top Gear, and ultimately these potentially successful shows will never gain the popularity they fully deserve.
The popularity and success that Top Gear has worked hard to achieve.
Alistair Young”
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