Anyone else disappointed by the BBC cancelling Winterwatch and Autumnwatch?

[Yourmywifenow]

Anyone else annoyed the BBC have cancelled Winterwatch. It was bad enough when they cancelled Autumnwatch.
I have emailed both BBC and Feedback.

It is a shame although do find CP patronising. DM used to look forward to these shows and felt the loss when the live daytime SW streams and ad hoc programming were cut back and taken online, It used to be great having a dawn chorus to wake up to but now only available from 10-10.

Autumnwatch used to be brilliant. I loved it when they followed the red deer on Rhum years ago with Simon King. I preferred it to Springwatch actually, although I would really hate to see that go.

Yes, it’s yet another bad decision by the BBC , the company is really beyond a joke now. The remit of the BBC was to ‘ inform, entertain and educate “ its failing on all three in so many ways.

I loved them all spring autumn and winter watch. Winter was my favourite. How annoying.

This is an awful decision by the BBC.

People need programs like these more than ever nowadays.

The BBC has about 30-38% less to spend than it did 10 years ago. Huge swathes of staff have been losing their jobs. They can’t run the same service anymore - not when tv production is more expensive than ever.

It is all very well making niche public service programmes, each one intensely loved by a relatively small audience - but to do that you need a country that truly values what public service broadcasting really is. Otherwise you just get people pointing at the viewing figures and saying “”why are you spending your money on that, Mr Beast is way more popular, take a leaf out of his book..”

This is what the Daily Mail has been salivating over for decades - because at heart it hates the things that made this country great, and would rather all our money go to foreign streamers and media tycoons instead (and we can have news channels that no longer need to even try to present news, they will all be able to behave like Fox or GBTV instead).

Hurrah for progress.

The presenters irritate both me and DH, especially Packham so we don't watch it.

Surely there are programmes far less popular than Winterwatch that they could get rid of to save money? People actually want and need this programme - it's not just entertainment, it's educational and good for people's mental health. Not everybody lives near the countryside or has good enough health to get out in person to see these things, so it's important that they still get a connection through programmes like this. Personally I much prefer it to programmes about lions, hippos etc as it feels more relevant to us as it's on our doorstep. This decision makes me think the bbc don't know their own audience.

Its an odd programme. I like Chris but its a bit like blue peter or a kid's show. Yolo or whatever is a bore.

I'm absolutely gutted, I didn't know that they were cancelling them. What an appalling decision. I believe it does help to protect wildlife showing these sort of programmes. The BBC should be ashamed of themselves.

The BBC charter still states its mission is to produce high-quality and distinctive output and services which inform, educate and entertain.

I'm not convinced they focus enough on 'high-quality' anyway and they're clearly decreasing the 'educate' side of things but notice the words 'output' and 'services'. Not programmes. So they could put out lots more of these podcast things but still say they are complying with the charter.

Oh no! I love them!

Very very disappointed as they are mine and my husbands favourite programmes

It’s a shame. I don’t watch any of the ‘watch’ programmes but only because I have a visceral dislike of the presenters. My husband loves them.

Consider that the tide is turning against the falsification of country and animal matters, encouraged by the realities presented in Clarkson’s Farm. Those involved with the daily stewardship of our countryside have long despised Packham and co for the extremely warped view trotted out on these programmes.
This post doesn’t intend to encourage a diatribe anti-Clarkson - been there, done that.

The. WAtches were my favourite programmes of all on the BBC. After nearly 60 years of paying the licence fee we cancelled it 18 months ago because there is hardly anything decent to watch now, it's all game shows and Strictly and Mrs Browns boys. And don't get me started about the news content.
Very cross when they cancelled Autumnwatch, and now Winterwatch. I know a lot of people don't like CP, but he's very informative.
The BBC has lost its way, it's supposed to educate, inform and entertain. There used to be many interesting documentaries, investigative journalism, and nature programmes, but they have been eroded away. Everything has been dumbed down under the guise of 'being updated and improved'. BBC4 now is all repeats of Top of the Pops etc.
I don't regret cancelling the licence, unless the BBC pulls it's socks up it deserves to lose its funding.
feel better for that rant now 🙂

The Watches have nothing to do with the falsification of country and animal matters. They literally WATCH animals, and if the cameras record baby birds being eaten by stoats they show it. Packham always explains it's the circle of life. They explain how and why the animals do what they do in different seasons.

Very disappointed

Admittedly, the programmes haven't been as good as they used to be - I liked the Unsprung stuff too!

Chris Packham has been a naturalist and a presenter since his mid 20s. Iirc his first tv role was on BBC1 for a wildlife programme aimed at children
Imo, his aim has always been to inform, educate and entertain a wide variety of people - from children to adults

Many working in the country would have great difficulty with “inform, educate, entertain” as much of what Packham trots out is far removed from the actuality of managing the countryside.
Generally, the blood has been a whopping pain in the arse and many will be glad to have his diatribe restricted.

What Packham says on his own social media and in print is his business. There is nothing on the Watches about countryside management. I know because I watch them and, until two years ago, lived in rural Gloucestershire surrounded by farmers (indeed, my best friend is farmer as was his dad before him).

really disappointed ☹️

@Nesbi , maybe there would be more money for the BBC if the government had not wasted 2.1 BILLION on hotels for asylum seekers in 2025. But judging from the tone of your post, I guess you are one of the pink haired brigade who supports all that.

Cannot stand bloody CP! He talks utter rubbish and has done so much damage to the rural community and their reputation with his misinformation. He’s an utter liability! Not remotely sorry autumn and winter watch are going, spring watch should follow too.

I disagree. The BBC is supposed to be neutral. And their presenters are also supposed to be publicly neutral. Many other presenters have been let go or dropped from shows when they have overstepped politically - even when they have been said whilst not directly working for the BBC. Yet somehow Packham has been allowed to repeatedly spread his views both as fact and on his BBC shows for years. It’s not ok and I’m glad it is being stopped

I saw a comment (maybe on here!) that said how can the BBC cancel Winterwatch and Springwatch but continue with Mrs Brown's Boys? A view I would endorse.