Hi All
Hope you're well. Not posted here for a while, I don't watch the selly telly channels at all these days.
It's never good to see people lose their employment, however for all the reasons discussed on here over the years, my sympathies sit more with those behind the camera and in non senior management positions. As for the presenters, not for one sec would I defend some (most) of their selling techniques. Having said that, others off screen (the senior managers I refer to) must surely have been complicit in them utilising such techniques. Perhaps the presenters were even encouraged, who knows.
It's grubby television. Jokes aside they were the barrow boys/girls of selly telly and the likes of TJC and Gemporia are no better. Heck, even the more professional/polished QVC isn't without sin. I popped into my mates a couple of weeks back and his other half had QVC on. The presenter said 'these are selling fast so please remember to check out your baskets!' Yes they're selly telly, it's what they exist for, however some of the techniques just don't sit easy with me regardless of the channel.
Also, as we've discussed before, I just don't see how selly telly can be sustainable in years to come. Perhaps the juggernauts like QVC can survive, however with viewer habits changing and younger generations not 'watching telly' in the traditional sense, who's going to watch and buy? In addition, surely younger folk who've grown up with tech will be more inclined to buy from Amazon and other online stores. In short, I'm not convinced a younger viewing/buying audience will replace the older audience. That has to be a significant challenge for those who own/run these channels in years to come.
As others have said, I can't see QVC taking many of the presenters from IW and I'm not convinced many of them are suited to C&C. Maybe they'll crop up on TJC etc.
If IW is brought back to life in a different guise, I reckon it'll still just be a matter of time until IW v2 closes again ... for good.
In closing, for those viewers who really enjoyed watching and perhaps buying (with open eyes) it's a sad day. I wouldn't poke fun at them, we all like different things in life. However, for those who fell for the guff, this is surely a blessing in disguise.