Alf Lawrie, who spent the best part of six years looking after programmes like The Great British Bake Off and Gogglebox, hit back at accusations that TV viewing figures were declining because broadcasters were failing to be bold.
Last year, ITV was overtaken by YouTube, seeing the video platform become the second most-watched media service behind the BBC.
Ex-Channel 4 boss blames ‘cowardly’ and ‘unimaginative’ viewers for bad ratings
Writing in the TV industry magazine Broadcast, ex-Channel 4 boss Lawrie said that the “unpalatable truth” is that viewers, not broadcasters, are the “true villains”.
He said: “It’s viewers who are scared of trying new talent, not commissioners. It’s viewers who nine times out of ten will choose a mediocre true crime or celebrity doc over a brilliantly made doc about almost anything else.
“It’s viewers who — overwhelmed with choice — are terrified to take risks on unfamiliar-looking new propositions.”
He took aim at the “cheap, user-generated online digital content” that is widespread on the likes of TikTok and YouTube.
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“Instead of settling down to give a TV programme sustained attention as it artfully unfolds, viewers increasingly prefer to doomscroll through a blizzard of electrifying but minuscule clips on TikTok, or flick noncommittally around the timelines of vastly less demanding YouTube content,” he claimed.
Slamming internet personality MrBeast and his reality show take on Netflix’s Squid Game, Lawrie said the series “doesn’t hold a candle to” the streaming giant’s official spin-off.
He said: “Mr Beast’s version flies past at breakneck speed. It doesn’t aspire to depth, to pushing creative and artistic boundaries, nor to a deep understanding of its characters. It’s sole aim is intense, disposable watchability.”
