Message Boards

*cough cough*... *CHOKES*...

la la la UKGOLD?

Just bumping this topic up in wait of a reply...

Well if figures are going to drop that much, do we reckon that UKGold will pay attention to us by then, or before it gets to that point?

jules - take it as a compliment, if they delete our messages, it means that they must have read it, and seen it as a threat.

I am aware of many people's opinions of message boards, however my personal experience with message boards provides much more respected results, and as for e-mailing the department, you give me the e-mail address and I will do so, knowing UKGold's reputation, this won't get me anywhere either.

My experience tells me that if I want to get through to somebody, I need to make my point in everyway possible, message boards have more power than they let on, and the fact that DavidUKTV posts here regularly says a lot about the impact I could make.

Hmmm - why do posts keep disappearing??

Sorry to dwell on my same points again but I don't believe (sorry I KNOW) message boards are not considered a valid form of communication with a company - very few companies even moderate theirs. You are more likely (though not guaranteed) to get a response by contacting them through e-mail - to the relevent department.

Suggestions will ofcourse be heard but you will find some companies do not even bother with generic responses. The fact of the matter is that hundreds of thousands of people will contact UKTV every day - it is simply unrealistic for them to reply, or even, acknowledge every comment. What's more - they are less likely to reply to the same question over and over again - they have explained most of the reasoning behind their scheduling on these boards before - they will not continue to do so again and again - it simply doesn;t make sense.

Just a quick note on the figures - an educated guess is they will half by about 2010.

Jules makes a very good point, if not the primary point. With all other companies, channels or not, if you have a querie, complaint, question or suggestion, which you put forward via their website, be it through the message boards or not - 90% of the time you will get a response within the next few days.

Take five for example (sorry to repeat this example, but it's something I've had experience with), In the past, whenever I ask a question, or form a complaint or make a suggestion (which I promise you isn't that often) they get back to me within the next week everytime. AND if I'm not satisfied with that response, they will again reply to my feedback, it's a little thing we call communication.

I recently contacted the logitech website as there was a problem with my computer, they very politely and very quickly responded to my problem in less than 24 hours - offering a number of different suggestions - I was very impressed.

This is what is expected of these websites today, this website provides the option for the public to contact them and leave comments, therefore they are obliged to respond one way or another.

If the viewing figures are dropping, it may not be a noticeable amount right now, but who knows how much more it will drop, if the scattered attitude of the scheduling team continue?

Communication is key with any business, why do you think most business have adverts - to waste money, or to communicate with the customers? Well UKGold have been failing to do so, and that is what's frustrating us the most!

There is the old saying - you can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time but you can't please all of the people all of the time. However SamJ, I think that you and UKTV Gold are missing the point we have been trying to put through which is COMMUNICATION. Take for instance Holby City, there was no warning that Holby was being moved to silly o clock. There was no warning that it was being removed from the schedule altogether. When asked the simple question of why it was removed and when/if it will return - NO RESPONSE.

UKTV do not deal with complaints as other companies - other companies respond.

Also "well run" does not walk hand in hand with lack of comminication, chopping series half way through (when the whole series has previously been screened on UKTV), and showing episodes in random order totally disorientating viewers who have not previously seen the series.

Is it really so difficult to say "This is last last we are showing of the current series - it will be returning to our screens ........ or not".

UKTV Gold will always get complaints, just as any company that deals with the public. However, it should always be remembered that people complain when they're not happy a lot more than they compliment when they are. Generally speaking, well strictly speaking, message boards are never used as a method of guaging public opinion; they're notoriously one-sided and, above all, on the internet which generally dis-credits them in the business world.

You'd be right with the viewing figures - currently hovering just below 1% they are going down but generally no more so then any other channel, with the exception of a few (coincidently, five being one of those exceptions) not only are viewer numbers declining slightly, but they are spread ever more thinly as more and more channels are offered.

It's very unliekly that the 'channel team' (not quite sure where they got this term from - I'm assuming they're referring to UKTV Gold as a whole) will justify their scheduling to each and every viewer moreover it is highly likely that the reasoning behind their scheduling changes from time to time (depending on rights, costs, ratings, season lengths etc. etc.) however, the overall factor dictating scheduling on a channel such as UKTV Gold will most probably be licenses - they won't have an unlimited budget and so have to buy what they can and make the most out of what they've got.

Overall UKTV Gold use stacking and stripping techniques, the technicalities of which are not important but they do result in a lot of re-runs and repetitions, but do help keep costs down.

This was my initial thought, I'd had a running with UKgold and their scheduling before, and I did get a generic reply - However, this was at a time where there weren't many complaints against this channel. The current complaints ratio I've seen is huge - much bigger than any other website I've ever seen - EVEN channel 5 is better respected that UKGold at this current time.

I may not know specific viewing figures, but I do know that it is extremely unlikely that UKGold is as successful as it once was, and the more fans that come on here with a complaint the less people will actually have any kind of respect for this channel at all.

Who says I don't know what I'm talking about? If people want to know how much I know about channel scheduling, then why don't they (they, being the UKGold channel team) challenge me - or at least show me the figures which you have fixated your terrible decisions on!

Can I add my two cents - I hate to put down someone with a cause but your comments will fall on deaf ears.

UKTV is still on the air because it is being run well (according to the goals of the channel) and therefore any changes will be a result of UKTV Gold's views and only their views.

The 'channel team' will, if they ever get back to you, probably send you the generic reply they send to every viewer - possibly agreeing with you or promising change however, because you are not a scheduler nor do you (I'm only guessing here) have much experience in running a TV channel - any comments or suggestions will simply be acknowledged - not acted upon.

I'm not trying to start an argument here - just pointing out the obvious. UKTV Gold will not tailor their channel to the wishes of a few (by few I mean few thousand).

Or a phone number maybe? Or even a location - I' ve got time on my hands!

David - Is there a direct email link to the channel team so we can speak to them ourselves??

Still waiting...

(waiting, waiting on the world to change...)

Still waiting for that response from the channel team...

Please can we have a proper run of The Bill, starting around 2002, with all the episodes in order.

I understand that - however for the last month at least, I think I HAVE been every post, it must be quite impossible for every single cry out (and it's not like I haven't been trying extremely hard to grab your attention) to not be seen. Surely you noticed that was outcry?

Yea, thanks for getting back to us that means an awful lot, so can you just let us know when we will get a response from the channel team?

Awesome, thanks!

Not ignoring! Unfortunately I don't have nearly enough time to answer every post.

thankyou, all we wanted was a reply!

Great thanks, how longn will it take to get a response from the channel team? Can you please speed that up for us? We've been waiting like a month for any kind of response!

Can you answer me one more thing? Seeing how this is your topic and everything! why have you been ignoring my posts for so long?

Look forward to hearing from you very very soon

Hi there - I can't personally answer specific scheduling questions, and it's difficult to answer all of these types of questions. Am trying to get a response from the channel team for you though.

David - pleeeeeeeeeeeeease reply.

ATTENTION DAVIDUKTV