BBC Think Tank Fish Tank Looks Into Viewer Habits

IN “Cost-cutting BBC spends thousands - on a fish tank”, the Mail says BBC “bosses are spending thousands of pounds a year on maintaining a fish tank”.

Anorak recalls the man who on being nabbed for non payment of his TV licence offered the excuse: “That’s not a TV, it’s a fish tank.”

Might this BBC’s tank be part of an investigation into viewer habits – can you spot the difference between the daily goings on in a fishtank and, say, two episodes of EastEnders, a month’s worth of Question Time or anything on BBC 3?

Is TV just something viewers put on to stare at, and if the BBC replaced its Breakfast show with a fish would anyone mind, let alone mind that the presenters had been replaced by two fat–lipped pouting cod?

The Mail says the corporation is paying more than £2,000 this year for the upkeep of ‘aquaria’ in just one of its London offices. And: “Insiders said the BBC had up to a dozen fish tanks across all its sites, and that the total annual bill could be nearer to £20,000.”

A dozen tanks is surely enough for one for each TV region, although given the value of output in Scotland, they may require two…

How to Convert an Old TV Into a Fish Tank

Anorak

Posted: 15th, June 2008 | In: TV & Radio, Tabloids Comments (5) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink