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To: Tim Davie BBC Director General
'Stop the BBC Mothballing BBC Four'
To reverse the BBC’s decision to stop BBC4 commissioning new content.
Why is this important?
As a public service broadcaster, the BBC has a long tradition of providing programmes that educate, inform and entertain. The BBC’s Annual Plan for 2021/22 announced that they are intending to stop commissioning original content for BBC4. While BBC4 will continue to broadcast live performances, the rest of the output will just be repeats of existing content from the BBC archives, while BBC3 will return as a broadcast channel.
Over the years I've learnt so much from many fine BBC4 programmes on art, music, history, geography, science, technology and much more. I've been transported around the globe by wonderful accounts of spectacular sights and sounds, given privileged access to museums and galleries, learnt about diverse cultures and discovered just what a wonderful world we live in. To my mind, no other broadcaster comes close to the BBC in being able to offer this kind of content to its viewers, and BBC4 has been central to this. Audience figures for these fantastic programmes may be lower than in other areas, but those that watch them love them, and they are an integral part of the BBC's mission.
BBC4 still has a unique and important role to play in helping to fulfil Lord Reith's original vision of the role of public service television in the UK. It should not be mothballed; it should be cherished.
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