MMOO, I agree with GFL that this is already a process well in train. So many have tuned out or switched off UKTVFood already, you just have to look at what this website has become to realise a MAJOR shift in opinion has occured about this channel.

The error I guess was building a channel around one single show. Even with GFL it was vulnerable, as everything else being aired are tired repeats of programmes shown mutiple times before.

So by removing the "locomotive" program - and replacing it with essentially nothing - the whole channel is now adrift.

Sad, really.

I think for a great deal of UKTV food viewers are just not watching this show. And the main reason is that the format/concept is flawed.

The inserts shot in Borough Market, really are very poor from a production stand point. Some one will be talking about a technique and the camera will be crash zooming onto the chefs face. To quote Floyd "on the food please Clive"!!But then again these segments are shot on the cheap, no lighting or dedicated sound with a production assistant as a camera op.

The cafe set is very poor, the space is to open and lacks focus and the colours don't allow the presenters to stand out in shot. Then again having people crossing the back of shots during a interview is very poor too. And also the hustle and bustle noise in the background from the FAUX cafe makes interviews hard to follow on a normal TV. The London centric mindset also alienates the audience.

I don't wish to be drawn on presenters, all I will say is they are not strong enough, and as a rule are outshone by the guest chefs.

Many viewers have felt alienated by the "food as status symbol" packaging to the show. There was obviously a focus to try and get a specific demographic to appeal to advertisers, GFL had too broad a church in demographic to pitch to advertisers and yet that was its strength.

I do try and give this show a go, and there are improvements, in some of the pre-recorded items(not from Borough Market), which have obviously been produced and directed outside of the main production team, but all they tend to do is then make the rest of the show look even flatter.

The time slot issue is a biggie as for the percieved audience it was right, the problem being it is not leading the audience into other shows like GFL did.

In all honesty UKTV Food really need to bring in the producers directors and editors from the F word and "fix the show" top to bottom. They should of done this in the first place, but as a show it just reeks of cheap TV doing too many things with a small amount of money, and getting none of it right.

One of the problems was also in audience expectation. GFL was a cornerstone to a great deal of peoples TV viewing. The same expectation was placed on MK, and it has not delievered.

MK was messed up before it came to air. Before even the first show was recorded, and to blame the presenters is unfair, they are just the visable part of the whole production.

Come on UKTV food you need to fix the faults. MK is being watched in SOHO and Galleries up and down the country, as the "worst show on TV".

Prodigal2, quite the missive!! I need to digest it fully but you have clearly taken the time to think this through, haven't you?

Unfortunately I am forced to agree with most of what you have said, obviously from a simple marketing angle.

Market Kitchen is essentially a "product" and the audience are "the customers". And what a terrible mismatch we have.

Customers buy because they have a need. From the comments on this board for those that need a food show at any cost, any quality it DOES seem to satisy.

Also obvious, though, is the sad fact that MK doesn't fulfil the needs of many others in the loyal UKTVFood viewing audience. This *should* be alarming to those in UKTV management.

As mentioned earlier, boiled down into a single word, the broader audience needs [wants]: ENTERTAINMENT.

This empty and dry production simply does not deliver.

Essentially that is why so many viewers are asking for GFL to be returned, for the simple enjoyment of a fun foodie program.

this post was deleted:
I think for a great deal of UKTV food viewers are just not watching this show. And the main reason is that the format/concept is flawed.

The inserts shot in Borough Market, really are very poor from a production stand point. Some one will be talking about a technique and the camera will be crash zooming onto the chefs face. To quote Floyd "on the food please Clive"!!But then again these segments are shot on the cheap, no lighting or dedicated sound with a production assistant as a camera op.

The cafe set is very poor, the space is to open and lacks focus and the colours don't allow the presenters to stand out in shot. Then again having people crossing the back of shots during a interview is very poor too. And also the hustle and bustle noise in the background from the FAUX cafe makes interviews hard to follow on a normal TV. The London centric mindset also alienates the audience.

I don't wish to be drawn on presenters, all I will say is they are not strong enough, and as a rule are outshone by the guest chefs.

Many viewers have felt alienated by the "food as status symbol" packaging to the show. There was obviously a focus to try and get a specific demographic to appeal to advertisers, GFL had too broad a church in demographic to pitch to advertisers and yet that was its strength.

I do try and give this show a go, and there are improvements, in some of the pre-recorded items(not from Borough Market), which have obviously been produced and directed outside of the main production team, but all they tend to do is then make the rest of the show look even flatter.

The time slot issue is a biggie as for the percieved audience it was right, the problem being it is not leading the audience into other shows like GFL did.

In all honesty UKTV Food really need to bring in the producers directors and editors from the F word and "fix the show" top to bottom. They should of done this in the first place, but as a show it just reeks of cheap TV doing too many things with a small amount of money, and getting none of it right.

One of the problems was also in audience expectation. GFL was a cornerstone to a great deal of peoples TV viewing. The same expectation was placed on MK, and it has not delievered.

MK was messed up before it came to air. Before even the first show was recorded, and to blame the presenters is unfair, they are just the visable part of the whole production.

Come on UKTV food you need to fix the faults. MK is being watched in SOHO and Galleries up and down the country, as the "worst show on TV".

I agree entirely, there's no need for a boycott. That's tantamount to what has already occurred with the dwindling viewership.

What we need to do is encourage UKTVFood to take the necessary steps to restore a flagship program that can ATTRACT viewers, not REPEL them.

I think MktGuru has got it on this one. The product isn't filling the needs of the customer. In other words, viewers aren't "buying" Market Kitchen. So essentially there is no need for a boycott, it happening without any assistance.

MktGuru
Yes I had given a bit of thought to this, but only as to make a intelligent post.

Though I did not approach my post from a marketing point, more from a production point, the two do overlap. As the two are interdependant within commercial TV.

The real core of the issue is that UKTV Food is a "narrowcaster", its appeal is to a niche audience. And while you should never pander to a audience, you do have to respect them, as at the end of the day their viewership through subsciption and rates that advertisers are willing to pay, enables the channel to continue.
When you a have flagship show it bolsters the viewership for other shows both pre and post transmission and lifts overall channel veiwership, as the audience will look through the EPG for the channels offerings.
As I have said in another post when you view a channel it is like inviting a guest into your home, and for many of us we realy want to like UKTV foods offerings, but as a guest it has let us down, and yet we as a audience still want to perciveer with the channel, even after the very nasty behavoir that has gone on.
We the audience want a well put together daily food "magazine" program, that educates, illuminates and engages us. GFL has gone sadly, and that is the way it will be, so we all wish that MK could be a fine replacement. As yet it is not. Take the show off for a month(equivalant to one weeks filming at a guess) and rework it, relaunch it and remember your audience. As a channel you either do that or you need to rebrand and relaunch the channel as you will have lost your core audience.

On a side note I would also like to say that to those who have been flaming Jeni about how she gets on with chefs. You are obviously a "insider" of some sort, and yet the behaviour is beyond contempt, what has or has not happened should NEVER be aired on a public forum. It is unprofessional and beyond contempt, what happens off camera stays off camera!!! All this has done is put a even greater bad taste in the mouth from the total experience.

UKTV food management you really need to take a hard look at EVERYTHING, you have a loyal base, and yet they are starting to loose faith with the channel.
You need to find your balls and address the whole UKTV Food forum, and somehow put this chapter behind you. And get back to the food and FOOD related issues.
MK needs fixing, you were sold a "pup", the question is fix MK or launch something else, yes this presents sponsership and contract issues, but without addressing this your channels future is looking bleak.

Plan B rebrand the channel MK stays as the flagship show and build the channel up from nothing again. 5 years it took to build the channel up.........

On a side note I would also like to say that to those who have been flaming Jeni about how she gets on with chefs. You are obviously a "insider" of some sort, and yet the behaviour is beyond contempt, what has or has not happened should NEVER be aired on a public forum. It is unprofessional and beyond contempt, what happens off camera stays off camera!!! All this has done is put a even greater bad taste in the mouth from the total experience.

Oh dear prodigal2 what a load of coswallop! I'm not an insider. I have watched ukfood since about 2004, posted on this site for a few years as well.

Nothing I said in my recent posts is anything that hasnt been said and discussed before, no connection with behind the scenes, no insider information, nothing that hasnt been on the tv and nothing that hasnt been said on this site in the past. Nothing that anyone who read off the menu didnt know. In essence a lot less than was said in the past.

LarissaB
In which case I am in error.

I will say there has been a great deal of flaming that has come away from some of the core issues, that ought to be addressed. And yes perhaps I picked up on the wrong end of it.

I think we can all say we love UKTV Food, but it has lost its way. There has been alot said that is now clouding the main issues. There have been a great amount of politicking going on, some of which "seems" to of been brought onto the forums.

would I like to see GFL back.. err yes, but it will never happen. What I and a great deal of people want is a daily food program, that remembers the audience, and is engaging. Then GFL can be laid to bed, and we can get back to the food!!!!!!!

Hear hear prodigal2

B

Absolutely unnecessary in my opinion. Those that don't want to watch it won't...and those that do, will.

But I still don't understand the 8PM decision?

Well isn't that what we're all saying? Look back at this thread and, in fact, all the others on the board.

Look at the well thought out posts where people have obviously taken a SIGNIFICANT amount of their personal time to write in.

There is NO doubt that people are writing in because they CARE and LOVE the entire UKTVFood channel. That is why they are so very, very upset with recent programming decisions.

Worse, they see the channel in self destruct mode with bad commissioning and over-done repeats of repeats.

They had a brilliant daily live TV program which was axed inexplicably and then replaced it with a dreadful commissioning a couple weeks later.

They are on a self-destruct course. And we truly care. We want them to fix it up before everyone just tunes in elsewhere!

That's what is so enfuriating burger. MK leaves so many viewers dead cold.

The mismanagement of this programming decision has left 1000s without any decent food programming. Everything else is just an endless series of repeats we have already seem. This is forcing many viewers to the BBC for their cookery line up. It's a real shame, really.

Has anyone been watching this week? Where did they find these chef? What's happening to this show? It's going from awful to dreadful to ???

Why is this show still on the air?

I do not see any valid reason to watch a programme which does nothing other than give Mrs.Ramsay an excuse to try and portray herself as a presenter.

Johnel47, the only explanation : HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL

John L, you and many, many others! You'll see from many posts here that even some who like Market Kitchen tune out when Tana is the featured presenter. I am one of them although do watch most of the show when MF and TPB are on. That combo works best IMHO

The show does indeed take on a plastic feel when Tana is on but she is currently at Borough Market, so is essentially off the show for now. We can only hope that this format continues this was. Samll doses are acceptable.

But your conclusion is spot-on: she is NOT a television presenter.

JohnL47, you may want to tune in again now as it appears Tana has been finally replaced. None too soon in many people's opinion. And I do think it's better now that she has left the show!

But as prodigal queries about Jeni Barnett, I remember vividly UKTVFood's Amanda's posting from last 26 March where she said:

".....Happily, Jeni will continue to be one of the main faces on UKTV Food, and there are exciting plans in store for this year......"

Well, where is she? UKTVFood let's us down over and over.

Ever since MK came to air everything is different. There's no fun and comraderie. Just boredom, boredom and more repeats....they've stabbed themselves in the heart.

I think essentially there IS a boycott in place, people don't really watch the show as avid viewers like GFL fans in the good ole days, they just "pop in and out when there's nothing else on".

I never knew UKTVFood said Jeni will be back! I wonder why they said this if it wasn't going to come true?

I essentially have "boycotted" MK I suppose in that I don't watch it too much. I flip through the show and watch a couple minutes here and there but never watch the show from beginning to end.

Now that you mention it, Tana is gone isn't she? I hadn't really noticed.

That's the best news I've heard from UKTVFood in a long, long time GFL! But it has been many months now. Maybe they were just saying that to ease the pain of the cancellation of great Food Live???

I think your right OysterMan - the way Jeni describes her departure from UKTV FOOD is not a comfortable one and on both sides I think they were glad to see the back of each other, so I really really don't think Jeni will ever appear back on the screens of UKTV FOOD

I hope that's not the case tickedoff, that would be a loss for both parties - and the viewers!

I would think if that were true a change of management at UKTVFood would a bygones-will-be-bygones scenario. UKTVFood obviously made a very serious programming error with their decision to axe GFL and it looks like they just made the situation worse in the way they did it.

It's obvious to me the changes had a personal component to it rather than an objective business decision. Hopefully those things will pass in time.

To me that is such a shame tickedoff if it's true. Clearly UKTVFood shot themselves in the head by first cancelling Great Food Live and then adding insult to injury by commissioning that hideous Market Kitchen schlamozzle.

It's odd how, even after all this time, I still miss Great Food Live.

Boycott? Unnecessary as MK hasn't taken the ratings by storm has it?

So really a boycott is exactly what has already happened. Unfortunately it has flowed over to the other programmes and to this board. A real shame how they've ruined a whole channel with two simple programming decisions.

How can we encourage UKTVFood to take the necessary steps to restore a flagship program that can ATTRACT viewers, not REPEL them?

It might surprise people if they actually checked the ratings and did a comparison before knocking the programming. Have a look, you might be surprised.

cheers
jan