British fans of the Eurovision Song Contest are not happy about the BBC's decision not to show the 50th anniversary show on 22nd October. Complaints are flooding into the Corporation as fans attempt to change their national broadcaster's plans.
The BBC seems to be set on a course distancing itself from the contest. At first, it was to host the extravaganza at the Royal Albert Hall in London, however the plans could not be agreed for the format or timing of the show and the responsibilities were passed to Denmark where the show will now be held in October. Now the BBC has announced that it will not even broadcast the event.
The BBC has four primary channels, BBC1 and BBC2 on terrestrial television, complemented by BBC3 and BBC4 which are broadcast digitally along with several other content-specific channels. They became the first Eurovision Song Contest broadcaster to include internet voting in their selection process this year, inviting fans from around the world to vote for the United Kingdom's entry.
Websites such as sechuk.com are directing members to the BBC complaints site in order to influence them into changing their decision to broadcast the event, but it seems many have not waited for directions. Comments left on esctoday.com as well as many Eurovision Song Contest forums show that fans, both in the UK and abroad, are outraged at this decision and are determined to persuade the BBC to change its scheduling plans.
Comments on esctoday.com left by our members include:
“THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE OUTRAGE! The United Kingdom is part of the big 4, and yet the BBC won't broadcast the 50th anniversary show! Pass this job on to ITV I say!”
“I have just sent a complaint to the BBC. They say a reply will be sent within 10 days”
“The BBC have let down the British fans. Why oh why can they not at least show the 50th show on BBC3. I know not everybody has the channel, but for the few of us who have, it would be a delight to watch”
When we asked the BBC for a statement, a spokesperson said: “”The BBC has a considerable commitment to the Eurovision Song Contest and it was decided that audiences would be best served by the Corporation concentrating its efforts on the UK selection show, Making Your Mind Up, the semifinal on 19th May on BBC3 and the final itself on 21st May, with additional coverage of the event on BBC3.”
