From Grange Hill to downhill

THE television producer Phil Redmond – whose iconic Grange Hill series, about life in a London comprehensive, was axed this week – has accused the BBC of "abandoning" making programmes for kids over the age of 12. He has a point. But it is not just teenagers who are getting short-changed in the way licence-fee money is being spent.

Given the number of endless "reality" shows, cooking programmes and home-improvement documentaries, the BBC and other networks seem to think we are all five-year-olds. Of course, there is
always the high brow BBC4, but no-one
seems to be able to find that on their dial.

One common explanation for the lack of programmes made for 12 to 16-year-olds is that the modern generation of teenagers has given up TV for YouTube and Facebook on the internet. In 2001, research showed that teenagers watched one hour, 38 minutes of television a day. Certainly this figure has declined, but not to the extent that many claim. Yet a major survey of viewing habits in the UK published last year showed that teens were still watching one hour, 29 minutes per day – just nine minutes less than before. Besides, TV still reaches 97.5 per cent of all British young teens every week – possibly because it remains a good way of avoiding homework.

The truth is that British television as a whole is in danger of being dumbed down – not just programming for teenagers.