In what I consider a bad move, Britain's Channel 4 has caved in to pressure from opponents of the popular reality show "Celebrity Big Brother." They dropped the show because of accusations they were "dumbing down" its content.
That's a first for me. I've never seen a TV channel drop a popular show because of those that say it's being "dumbed down." If it was being that dumbed down, viewers wouldn't be watching it, or people that liked dumbed down stuff enjoyed watching it. Either way it was being watched.
Director of Television Kevin Lygo said "It is time to be brutal with some much-loved shows in order, once again, to make way for the new. Our ratings will almost certainly continue to fall, but the alternative is more of the same and that is not what the channel is about."
So the channel isn't about providing entertainment for those that want to watch it. Now that's a new business model.
The channel has been under fire for rigged phone-in competitions and for the alleged verbal abuse of Indian actress Shilpa Shetty by other contestants on the show.
I don't like this because instead of dealing with the issues and bringing back what people wanted to watch, they're simply dropping the show that viewers still want to see. This doesn't seem like a good way of doing business to me.
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