I’d love to see the old format BS Xtra return, so I definitely share the sentiments of the above members. But sadly I fear there’s more chance of Bruce Forsyth turning up on Babestation than onscreen text chat coming back.
BS Xtra was an experimental show when it began, conceptualised, it appears, at least in part by Donna Duke, as a way of keeping marketing off the other three BS channels (award that girl a medal!). In fact, BS Xtra bucked a trend in which all other BS shows had been winding down their text facilities, so the phasing out of onscreen SMS chat was already well underway before BSX began. Reviving text chat for the launch of BS Xtra was, however, a very good way to divert viewers’ attentions away from what had actually happened on Channel 96. Namely, BS had taken Party Girls out of its roomy, multi-set studio, rebranded it, and put it on a couch in a ‘closet’. It worked. But after some early experimentation with the show format, there was a steady transition in which, over a period of five months, texting was completely phased out. This slow death of text chat looked indicative not of an easily reversible decision, but of economics in action, and you can’t fight economics.
Live text chat helps attract attention when a show is new, quiet or only moderately busy on the phonelines, and it can also be a good way of doing market research. But in terms of revenue per minute, I don’t think texting would stand a chance against a well-patronised phoneline. As I envisage things, the busier the phonelines get, the less commercial sense it makes to retain live text chat. Another big drawback with a text show (for BS) is that it has to tread a line between keeping individual texters happy, and ensuring the wider audience remains ‘call ready’. That can’t be easy – particularly when it comes to texts from small groups of minority fetishists, with the potential to kill the passions of the mass audience.
Going back to all that would, I’m sure, be an unnecessary headache for BS today. And now that they only have three unencrypted channels as opposed to four, it’s even less likely than ever. The services BS has today are more streamlined than TV text chat, and unless the phonelines start getting much quieter, I can’t envisage anyone contemplating a text revival. I’d love them to prove me wrong, but I don’t think they will.
My biggest disappointment is that the end of text chat on BS Xtra also saw the end of Jodie Cox as the show’s presenter. I thought she did a great job, and I think her conscientious approach gained BS a lot of trust.
I suppose in the end though, some things you just have to enjoy while they last.