tv was so much better when there were just four channels

I so agree Pandorica

Quantity not quality these days

But is it not society itself? People seem to prefer watching endless trivia. Reality shows, endless quizzes,
endless cookery problems, house programs, very shallow soap operas, nothing must challenge anybody

I think the BeeB  can still do a good documentary. ITV can still do a good drama, Channel 4 seem to have lost it altogether.
Channel 5, well seem to try everything to turn a profit, most poor, but they surprise me sometimes

I agree about World at War, been rewatching it, I did not realize it was so good.

The Radio Times now has archive copies online so you can go back and see what was on at any given date:

http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/

If you choose a random programme then I agree with the OP.

However, do you really want to live under the old system where the State decided 7/8th of your viewing for you? ( that number comes from BBC1/2 and C4 being State broadcasters, and about half of ITV as an estimate as it has to operate under a public service remit and other rules on decency etc which the State defines ).

Or do you want to take responsibility for yourself and your own viewing?

Two causes:
1) Maggie smashing up ITV
2) Burt's changes to the BBC so programmes are now made by independent production companies.

(2) means that when there is a hit show, all these companies try to make their own version of that show by making minor changes, and often on a low budget. How can we turn it into a quiz or a panel show or a foreign tour? Or if ITV is involved -- throw money at a format and do a celebrity version, probably hosted by Ant and Dec.

It was also a lot easier to make programmes when you only had to worry about 2 colours.

One of the many things that pisses me off is that a good documentary is ruined by camera work and sound more suitable for a music video and celebrity presenters or presenters who want to be celebrities.

@Thin and Crispy +1 re celebrity presenters.

Also dramas ruined by casting celebrity actors who can't act. It has much the same cause as the above imo -- the big name is used by the production company to get the programme commissioned in the first place.

Two recent documentaries featuring Brian Cox and David Attenborough were every bit as good as the one referred to by the o/p imo.

Yes I think David Attenborough's Africa is very good, you would think he has said everything you can about animals
but he can still surprise.

The documentary market has held up rather well, considering everything is a free for all now.
Their are real gems on BBC4 at times

I think television is more women orientated now, and women like trivia,
in fact for a while I thought BBC1 was just for women

oops my misogyny showing again

Are you kidding me ?   mind numbing Programmes about news and current affairs,politics,religion,farming and very bad comedy most of the time , at least now you have a great choice and the benefit of being able to watch the best of yesteryear .

TV was bloody awful back in the day  - not to mention that you had adverts on TV back  to sit through unless you recorded everything on unreliable VHS .
And what a %$**%$ pain that was.

Damn ,i couldn't live through those years again

Yeah, I'm not convinced either, Coach.

I'm sure that if the number of TV channels were gradually decreasing, people would be complaining too. It's a bit like the amount of football on TV these days - personally I think it's great.

The explanation seems likely to reside in people's natural resistance to change, if you ask me.

Patra, i know i watch a lot more TV these days - whether that's a good thing i don't know  - most is in the winter .

There are some great programmes , plenty of blokey programmmes  ,wildlife docs -  something for everyone ,from selling homes to fossil collections if you're into all that ....and even farming .

The good thing is  you don't have to watch any of it - as you say plenty of footie ,some from other leagues ,and the choice of subs - what's not to like?

still don't agree with the licence fee

Brian Cox is good as mentioned -Loving the Solar system  -   why does he always have that  grin on his face btw ?

amazing

they have censored my post on archiving TV programs

we live in a strange world

All TV should archived

TV is far better now. I'm amazed at the amount of good stuff on freeview never mind Sky or whatever.
There is always something on to watch, back with just the old channels there was regularly nothing on.
Which meant you probably went and did something more constructive but that's a completely different thing.
Freeview is the best thing to happen to British tv in since its invention.

I think people in Britain complaining about TV don't know how lucky we are, we've our own home grown great stuff + the best that the US has to offer in our own language, without an advert every 60 seconds, sh*tty dubbing, or 20 channels of evangelist mental cases.

TV today is far far far superior to yesterday - the only exception being the British sitcom which has all but died.

Sports coverage in particular is incomparable.  Remember The Big Match once a month on ITV .  I do miss Sportsnight though.

TV today is far far far superior to yesterday - the only exception being the British sitcom which has all but died.
yes I miss that
Comedy in general not so popular

We get all the football now...not free though

showing all the old TV classics on Gold and other channels , probably more so than in say 1976 at any given time in that year .


currently available to watch ,2015 and in HD ,without adverts

Porridge
Rising Damp
Fawlty towers
LOTSW
Open all hours
Happy Days

still more TV football on terrestial  imo ,FA cup  esp

there used to be just one or maybe two live games a week in the early 90s  ?   Tobermory will know

True Coachbuster...not much new comedy is there?

Not as much as there used to be

There is still an awful lot of programs I used to like we don't see now

Public Eye, Callan, Special Branch, Naked City...a lot in b/w
All those wonderful Western series we used to see
Science Fiction series, etc
in fact too many to mention

I wish there was somewhere I could see all these again

I am not sure many on here will remember those programs I just put up

Play for Today I used to love

Tales of the Unexpected

Armchair Theatre

Yes

Tales of the Unexpected theme music sticks in the memory (for those of a certain age)

Plenty of great TV about, just a lot harder to find.

The big drama series have recently been American or European rather than home-grown.

A lot of old series, while good for their time, had shockingly low production standards, either for reasons of budget or technology.

Much, much better than it used to be.

Just need to have the nous to find it.  Don't be a drongo and just put the main TV channels and watch what it live.

The point is that there is so much dross on TV, its finding the wood from the trees.

Tales of the Unexpected is on Sky Arts.

Repeats of old shows do not really advance the proposition we are in a golden age of television.

Aside from the sport, my preferred programmes are films. Many of the recent ones aren't on TV but a vpn can help in this matter ...

Aside from the sport, my preferred programmes are films. Many of the recent ones aren't on TV but a vpn can help in this matter ...

ebul - no ,a little thin on the ground

90s was my favourite era for comedy -  often repeated thankfully  , not much from the last 5 years though .

Hands up all those that spend half the night channel hopping and not actually watching anything! At least when there was 4 channels you actually settled down!

Agree with the comment about freeview above. I have no trouble finding stuff to watch, you just have to be willing to go looking for it.

I like to stock pile on my recording device, only problem is finding time to watch it all.

I often start watching a programme on Freeview but give up because there's an ad break every 5 minutes.