Is there ever anything good on TV?

I learnt only yesterday that Black Mirror had returned for a seventh season, and my initial reaction was to sigh in disappointment. My personal opinion is that Black Mirror hasn't reached the heights of its initial Channel 4 days since it moved to Netflix, with some occasional highlights here and there - my favourite episode, Be Right Back, feels apt in an era of AI chatbots, for instance (not that they haven't always existed - but they have been getting smarter). The last season, meanwhile, had four underwhelming episodes, and a downright awful one, the drugged up half hour thriller which I wanted to end sooner than later.

However, it's worth noting that Black Mirror is on Netflix, not on mainstream TV, and what's good to watch over there is a very different matter. Admittedly I don't watch much TV, and I've grown up in an increasingly isolated online world, where for many the last light in their room before sleep is the faint glow of a phone screen, so maybe I'm not one who can give an accurate opinion. However, I do believe that TV isn't what it once was. I took a cursory glance at Monday's scheduling to see what the BBC were wanting to show to the world.

BBC One throughout the morning is mainly news and discussion, and it doesn't intrigue me much. When I glanced at Morning Live today, they were talking about financial advice, specifically how to get it. The rest of the day's programming consists of auctions, antique selling, house buying, and various game shows that always seem to revolve around the same concept - ask relatively easy questions to win thousands. That's not to mention that at tea time, Eastenders airs yet again in its ongoing forty year lifespan - having seen snippets of soap operas before, I can't say I would choose to watch Eastenders. 

BBC Two in the morning isn't much better - a football highlights show and three hours of news takes you to midday. The game shows do arrive earlier than on One, however I will admit that BBC Two continues to be the more interesting main BBC channel, what with various documentaries on history, nature and culture. That's without mentioning the superior Mastermind and University Challenge, the latter of which I find more intriguing now as I'm about to become the target demographic for the questions. 

I don't want to discuss ITV because I reckon it would depress me even more than the other channels already have. However, ITV 1 effectively has morning TV up to 2pm! A gardening show follows, before loads of game shows and then the soap operas, with the occasional news interspersed. I could watch the programmes, but I doubt I'd find them appealing.

And this is ultimately due to my preferences being quite different to many people - I'm all for documentaries and learning programmes since they don't make the experience feel like a waste. Yet I also understand that several more people like Love Island and other reality TV, for some reason. If I was older, I'd likely understand the appeal of all this programming, maybe even take a liking to soap operas and not be willing to dismiss them - but I'm not willing to, all soap operas seem very extreme considering their settings are often tranquil farms or unremarkable streets.

I reckon that's partially why I prefer radio. Admittedly, I restrict myself to BBC Radio 4, 5 and 6, though I don't mind some outliers. I used to listen to BBC Radio 2 for a while, before realising my music taste was better suited elsewhere. Even The Archers wasn't too bad when I heard an episode once on Radio 4 Extra. The shows are more intriguing and don't feel all too dramatic, or mundane in the case of the antiques shows. 

I mainly restrict my TV habits to when there's a major sporting event, say Wimbledon or the World Cup - even then, I find myself frustrated at the commentators at times. I could mute, but if that's the solution then the experience was never going to work. If I want to watch a series, I'll look at the streaming platforms, and they do occasionally have great shows - the BBC archive is worth it, I discovered the Thick of It and laughed loads for instance. 

Perhaps this is just a symptom of everything moving online, with an additional focus on social media when it comes to reality TV. You end up with lots of clutter on TV, whilst the streaming giants like Netflix become ever more powerful and create better shows because the audience is there. Maybe I'm being needlessly pessimistic, though - out of the 65 million large audience for broadcasting (whether by streaming, on demand or live TV), 78% watch the BBC and 70% watch ITV. There will always be some demand, somewhere, and TV continues leaving me evermore disappointed as my interests aren't as reflected. And that's okay - I was never the target demographic.