Surely the idea of "prime time" is already out of date and shows just how out of touch the current government is when it comes to TV viewing habits.

Does anyone actually choose to stay in to watch TV at the weekend? I certainly have many far more entertaining alternatives to sitting on the couch in front of the television on Friday or Saturday night, and if for some reason I find myself with nothing better to do, I have plenty of shows from earlier in the week recorded.

When a TV programme is broadcast is irrelevant. If I happen to be in with nothing else I need to be doing when it is being shown, then I might watch it "live", but otherwise it will be saved to view at a time that is convenient to me. Therefore taking any programme that I like off "prime time" makes absolutely no difference to whether or not I'll be viewing it.

the thing i fail to understand is we have a Govt in power who believe in privatisation yet will not consider privatising the BBC. why ...

They're trying but they've got bigger fish (like the NHS) to deal with first.

the thing i fail to understand is we have a Govt in power who believe in privatisation yet will not consider privatising the BBC. why ...

A leaked BBC document has criticised a government report into the corporation’s market impact by pointing out that making shows that are less successful and popular than Strictly Come Dancing would not be good for licence fee payers.

The BBC document suggests that the report commissioned by the government uses “flawed” analysis and “questionable” assumptions that put commercial impact above the need of the audience.

It goes so far as to suggest that the government report is simply a rehash of its rivals’ views. “Much of the report’s analysis seems to restate evidence included in ITV’s and commercial radio’s submissions to the charter review consultation.”

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) report, written by management consultants Oliver and Ohlbaum and published in March, was particularly critical of BBC1, which it said had become “less innovative and less risk-taking”.