Why TV Schedules Still Matter

A number of recent flagship TV dramas have been shown on odd days or late in the evening. Does it matter – or has technology freed us from the tyranny of the schedules? asks Maggie Brown. Television drama is the most expensive sort of programming, she notes, so you'd expect to see dramatic shows treated with respect and scheduled carefully – especially when commissioned by modestly funded channels such as BBC2 or Channel 4, where the genre is a treat, on ration. But increasingly we find ourselves flummoxed by what, to her, feel like erratic scheduling decisions.

Irritation began to soar seriously in August, when BBC2 launched Parade's End, an adaptation of Ford Madox Ford's first world war saga, which had Sunday night drama stamped all over it, on a Friday night at the end of August. This was followed by what was viewed as a more serious mistake, when Channel 4 launched Secret State, its long-awaited political thriller, on a weekday at 10 pm. It had a superb cast, headed by Gabriel Byrne, supported by Gina McKee, Charles Dance, and Stephen Dillane – and seemed clearly targeted at older, upmarket ABC1 viewers. People who – boring though this might sound – don't want to be still watching their favourite new drama at 11pm on a weeknight. There is some overlap, of course, but you could argue this is largely a different audience from fans of say, student comedy drama Fresh Meat – that in any case has a very different tone – which has been a triumph in that timeslot, or raucous entertainment on Friday nights.


We don't expect flagship dramas to be on at 10pm. And when it comes to Secret State, the audience for political drama tends to be watching news at 10pm, followed, perhaps, by Newsnight. Why didn't Channel 4 put it in the 9pm slot? Or show it on Sunday night, before the second series of Homeland? Whatever … Secret State never became a must-see drama: with consolidated viewing figures of around 1.7 million, it fell short of a respectable 2 million – struggling to find its audience from launch. Then came The Fear, in which gang violence meets mental illness, with a terrific performance by Peter Mullan. Again Channel 4 scheduled it at 10pm. This time the late start was justified by some scenes of extreme violence and its aftermath, as the 9pm watershed is supposed to mark the graduated start of adult viewing, rather than an abrupt waterfall. But the decision to schedule the four episodes Monday to Thursday in the first week of December killed off that audience too: the best live viewing figures were 873,000.

This form of scheduling, in which a drama is stripped across a week, should be used very sparingly. It can, at best, create a "drama event" out of a tense thriller, but more usually – as happened here – it proves very challenging for viewers who have a life beyond sitting on the sofa every evening. Not least in the runup to Christmas. This way, once you fall behind with a drama by missing one episode, there's no time to catch up before the next one and it's tempting to duck out. This was a shame: The Fear had an interesting plot about the effect of dementia on memory and behaviour. It tried, literally, to give some perspective on the issue by using a camera mounted on Mullan's head. It was a far cry from the over-65s' favourite drama of the year, Last Tango in Halifax – broadcast at 9pm with strong ratings – but The Fear was a brave drama.

Many people will question how much scheduling really matters. Now 10% or more of viewing is via catchup services, time-shifted viewing and +1 channels – Channel 4 also runs 4Seven – there is no need to be tied to a schedule. You could also accept that Parade's End did relatively well in its experimental slot. Yet positioning and due prominence within a linear schedule still matter. Despite being strong dramas, The Fear and Secret State were unnoticed – or at least unwatched – by too many.

Yesterday, E4 launched its much admired Mad Fat Diary at 10pm, last night we came to the latest drama that Channel 4 is showing in that slot: Utopia, made by the Spooks experts Kudos. Given Utopia's high bodycount, strong torture scene and appeal to young adults, 10pm could be seen as entirely appropriate. But it doesn't finish until 11.25pm, which is late for those viewers who need to get up in the morning. Channel 4's head of drama, Piers Wenger, has described Utopia as exactly the kind of quality original drama he wants the channel to support. But he is also ambitious to occupy the main 9pm slot, which is where the BBC and ITV tend to schedule their big dramas. For viewers in search of choice and an interesting mix, this will surely be welcome – clashes are largely catered for by +1 channels.