X Factor is over, Wogan is gone from our coffee and cornflakes, David Tennant has left Doctor Who and Stephen Fry has switched off his Twitter stream. Even Big Brother and Jonathan Ross have begun their goodbyes. You might be forgiven for concluding that books are all that is left.
TV is not going to give up that easily. 2009 was a bumper year for high ratings, particularly for ITV who had 19 million people watching the X Factor final. It is no surprise to see that ITV rode on the crest of this wave by advertising the 15th UK National Television Award Ceremony (held on January 20), which they sponsor.
What is best?
This awards show celebrates the types of programmes and presenters that many would regard as populist fodder. They are pure entertainment and really do reflect the tastes of the majority of viewers, since it is the public who vote for the winners subsequently named ‘most popular’ rather than ‘best’. They act as an interesting thermometer of the times, reflecting a purely consumer view rather than articulating the industry’s own opinions as to what reflects good TV.
