CULTURAS IN VITRO
Back in the frame
What, really, was the point of making arts programmes when the only people who called for them were art snobs who were probably out at the theatre?
But in the past year, two remarkable things have happened to shake up this purported decline. The first was the establishment of BBC4, billed as "a place to think" and expressly designed as a haven for intellectual, cultured programming. [...]
The second thing was even more radical. In the past year, Channel 5 has unexpectedly moved upmarket, making arts programmes designed to draw in a more upmarket audience. Much of the work in this respect was done by director of programmes, Kevin Lygo: "I wanted to put the arts on prime-time, particularly at a moment when the BBC seemed in a state of confusion. This helped Channel 5 to establish itself as a serious competitor with the other terrestrial channels." And his work paid dividends: Channel 5 is the only terrestrial broadcaster to have increased its audience share in the past year: up from 5.7% to 6.5%.