In a market as immense and various as America unquestionably there is more scope within the TV comedy arena for the quintessential British sitcom. It seems nonetheless that the main TV stations favor the homegrown form and that the classic English sitcoms find themselves as just part of to the schedule on the local PBS channel.
How is this so?
Well, as you may anticipate in any western economy such as America or Canada, market considerations have a part to play. More to the point, supply and demand. We will look closer at these elements.
Firstly, on the demand side there are practically 1.4million British people presently living in North America, add to this the indigenous wanting for 'all things British' and it quickly becomes clear that there is meaningful quantity of potential viewers that may be partial to turning on some of that old school English comedy. Also there are many many TV channels on the North American continent with positively tens of thousands of hours of scheduling to be provided each and every day.
The matter then must be on the supply end, correct? Loosely yes, it is not that there is a shortage of English comedy available, rather there is a shortage of English comedy in a way that is suited for North American TV. This is a comparatively unique situation that is created by the non-commercial nature of the British domestic broadcaster, the BBC.
There is not a question that stand alone channels in the UK such as ITV and Channel 4 are now producing some very decent 'britcoms' of the likes of 'Mr Bean' or 'Black Books' for example. The BBC comedy department however is and constantly has been the most prolific manufacturer of classic English comedy, and given its situation as the domestic broadcaster of Great Britain it is paid for through citizens TV license fees, thereby dispensing with the necessity for ad breaks. This means that a conventional English comedy is recorded for a full half hour while the US or Canadian tv stations demand less lengthy 22 minute shows to enable commercial breaks.
Furthermore another 'schedule co-ordination' problem occurs to dissuade US TV stations from screening English comedy. A typical US TV sitcom will run in seasons that generally consist of 20 shows or more, while a regular English comedy is normally filmed for just 6 episodes at a time.
While the US stations are not likely to change their programming plans anytime soon, the English comedy makers are beginning to understand the opportunities of the US and Canadian viewership, all are now producing DVD box sets of most well known British sitcoms in Region 1 format (that's US & Canada).
How is this so?
Well, as you may anticipate in any western economy such as America or Canada, market considerations have a part to play. More to the point, supply and demand. We will look closer at these elements.
Firstly, on the demand side there are practically 1.4million British people presently living in North America, add to this the indigenous wanting for 'all things British' and it quickly becomes clear that there is meaningful quantity of potential viewers that may be partial to turning on some of that old school English comedy. Also there are many many TV channels on the North American continent with positively tens of thousands of hours of scheduling to be provided each and every day.
The matter then must be on the supply end, correct? Loosely yes, it is not that there is a shortage of English comedy available, rather there is a shortage of English comedy in a way that is suited for North American TV. This is a comparatively unique situation that is created by the non-commercial nature of the British domestic broadcaster, the BBC.
There is not a question that stand alone channels in the UK such as ITV and Channel 4 are now producing some very decent 'britcoms' of the likes of 'Mr Bean' or 'Black Books' for example. The BBC comedy department however is and constantly has been the most prolific manufacturer of classic English comedy, and given its situation as the domestic broadcaster of Great Britain it is paid for through citizens TV license fees, thereby dispensing with the necessity for ad breaks. This means that a conventional English comedy is recorded for a full half hour while the US or Canadian tv stations demand less lengthy 22 minute shows to enable commercial breaks.
Furthermore another 'schedule co-ordination' problem occurs to dissuade US TV stations from screening English comedy. A typical US TV sitcom will run in seasons that generally consist of 20 shows or more, while a regular English comedy is normally filmed for just 6 episodes at a time.
While the US stations are not likely to change their programming plans anytime soon, the English comedy makers are beginning to understand the opportunities of the US and Canadian viewership, all are now producing DVD box sets of most well known British sitcoms in Region 1 format (that's US & Canada).
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