Fury as Songs Of Praise loses its primetime slot
THE BBC has come under fire from viewers over its decision to move Songs Of Praise from its prime-time slot.
The Church of England complained about the “marginalisation” of the longrunning show which will now be broadcast at 1.15pm instead of 6pm on Sundays.
Fans took to social media to complain that the earlier slot means they will not be back from church services in time.
Others pointed out that elderly fans in care homes will miss the programme, because it will clash with lunchtime and they would not be able to access iPlayer.
One viewer tweeted that the BBC “would be glad to see the programme totally scrapped”. A petition on website Change.org accused the BBC of interfering so the show would have less of an audience in order to justify funding cuts.
The broadcaster told the Daily Express the reason for the new time was to “make it easier to find for viewers and to avoid the programme being displaced by sporting events which can often overrun”.
The corporation also claimed the show – presented by famous faces including Aled Jones, Pam Rhodes and Diane-Louise Jordan – would be available to watch on iPlayer for a longer period of time.
John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, said Church House had been in touch with the BBC. He wrote: “The BBC informed them that the new scheduling time has been introduced in order to ensure the programme holds a consistent place in the schedule after the lunch time news”.
The Songs Of Praise Twitter account posted: “1.15pm is a much more regular time now, and it won’t move around as much as it has done. We do know it’s hard to adapt to change.”
Fatima Salaria, BBC commissioning editor for religion, said: “Songs Of Praise remains our flagship religious programme.
“This decision secures its future for the next three years and reflects both a commitment to this much-loved series and to religious coverage more broadly.”