Originally Posted by Jonwo:
“I'm surprised they renewed Borderline for another series, I'm guessing they think it can grow”
Shocking call, it has to be said. For all the good that Frow has done for Five, and despite what some on here may say he has done an awful lot of good, I hate this stubbornness he has to accept when something doesn't work just because it ticks a certain box he wants to be ticked. I know they made a lot of noise about this one with quite a big press launch, and a fair amount of marketing, etc. And perhaps it may feel embarrassing to knock something on the head immediately that you've made such a song and dance about. I'm sure also that when Frow scheduled it on a Tuesday night at 10:00 over the summer he did not expect great figures, even with a Celebrity Big Brother lead-in. Especially the episodes that faced the Olympics coverage.
But at the same time, I think the viewers sent a clear message and as controller you have to accept their verdict and move on. Being creative should not mean backing stinkers that bring in only miniscule audiences just to be able to say you've done something. And indeed what have you achieved if the thing in question is so incredibly low-profile that nobody notices that you've done that thing anyway! Plus it seems bafflingly inconsistent to shift an import doing around 500,000 mid-run to a digital channel, only to later recommission an original doing just 300,000.
Far better surely to learn the lessons from Borderline; what viewers liked and didn't like, and channel that information into finding something that bit stronger, that has a fighting chance of being both creative and also relevant to the C5 audience. Rather than bringing back a dud, only for it to sit there in the schedule doing not very many viewers at all, and not achieving anything other than boosting rival channels. It's a waste of time and doesn't change perceptions of the channel either because even the critics won't be all that interested.
I know the point could be argued that some of C4's major returning comedies at the moment didn't start off too cleverly either - but I think they all showed considerable more promise than Borderline has. It's done nothing to suggest it's worth persevering with at all so the fact that they are suggests they are already admitting defeat in the battle to find an original scripted hit, which is pretty sad. If you're not going to have a good go at something, you'll never know, and this hardly constitutes that.
Would it kill them to look at something scripted, and try to get some noteworthy talent attached to it? Or do they only want to contribute in this genre if it involves spending as little money as possible, in which case they're always going to be on the backfoot and unlikely to ever find a breakthrough? Seems to me like the latter is true.
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And it was interesting to hear him so relaxed about scheduling clashes with the BBC than was the case with his predecessor, a bit of a difference from a year ago when Fincham and Cohen had a rather more heated exchange on the matter. 
