by Martin Davie, Christian Today
I am old enough to remember the days when there was a choice between three television channels, BBC 1, BBC 2 and the local ITV company (which in my case was the late lamented Southern Television) and when if you wanted to watch a new film you needed to go to the cinema.
During my lifetime the options available for those who want to watch television programmes or other broadcast content, or to see a film have proliferated exponentially. There are literally hundreds of television channels and streaming platforms available, and broadcast content is available on other platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Tik Tok and Instagram. In addition, if a new film is not immediately available at your local cinema you can be sure that it will shortly be available on a subscription channel such as Sky, Disney, Netflix or Paramount.
The result of this proliferation of choice has been that the market share of the traditional free to air broadcasters such as BBC, ITV and Channels 4 and 5 has shrunk hugely in recent years. That is why the BBC is somewhat desperately running Louis Theroux’s ‘What has the BBC ever done for me?’ insert on a seemingly endless loop in the hope that people will respond by being willing to support the renewal of the TV licensing system on which the BBC depends for a large part of its income, and why ITV has recently agreed to sell off its broadcasting arm to Sky. It has also meant that the proportion of people watching films at the cinema has likewise shrunk, which is why cinemas have been closing.
A similar situation has developed in relation to marriage. When I was growing up there were two options for those who wished to get married. The norm was to have a religious marriage in church (normally your local Church of England church) or some other place of worship registered for weddings, and the alternative was to have a civil marriage at your local registry office. This situation was changed as a result of the Marriage Act 1994 which permitted civil marriages to take place in a wide range of ‘approved premises’, a list which has been recently extended to include outdoor venues.
As in the case of broadcasting, this proliferation of choice has meant that the market share of traditional providers, and specifically Christian churches, has dropped dramatically.