I remember Anne Diamond saying in another documentary that on their last day the head of Daytime sent flowers to her home which she refused to accept.
Like VD the ratings were not that healthy despite what she say, they were often getting half of This Morning.
Daytime ratings on BBC ONE surged after their departure. Which eventually lead ITV to start tinkering with This Morning and pissing off Richard and Judy.
I think VD actually is in a position many BBC2 shows find themselves in - once they've been on the channel so long if they want to survive a bit longer to get the budget they need they need to be promoted to BBC1. At 200k it isn't getting the sort of ratings to justify it, although undoubtedly it would have more PSB value than Homes Under the Hammer, and would rate better on BBC1.
The argument about linear TV is nonsense IMO - there is no justification in the BBC doing the sort of thing VD has been doing in just a non-linear environment. The argument about whether it needs a live show 5 times a week to do it on the other hand is a different matter - a more focused weekly, probably pre-recorded, show would do the job - though whether that's a one-hour studio effort or just another in a long line of 30 minute prime time current affairs strands which aren't Panorama remains to be seen. There doesn't seem space in daytime, or indeed on the News Channel, nowadays for shows which aren't stripped across the week - so there aren't many options. It's either Corrie fodder in primetime or it could work in a post-Marr slot on Sundays, probably replacing the Nicky Campbell show which alternates with Sunday Morning Live.
I think VD actually is in a position many BBC2 shows find themselves in - once they've been on the channel so long if they want to survive a bit longer to get the budget they need they need to be promoted to BBC1. At 200k it isn't getting the sort of ratings to justify it, although undoubtedly it would have more PSB value than Homes Under the Hammer, and would rate better on BBC1.
The argument about linear TV is nonsense IMO - there is no justification in the BBC doing the sort of thing VD has been doing in just a non-linear environment. The argument about whether it needs a live show 5 times a week to do it on the other hand is a different matter - a more focused weekly, probably pre-recorded, show would do the job - though whether that's a one-hour studio effort or just another in a long line of 30 minute prime time current affairs strands which aren't Panorama remains to be seen. There doesn't seem space in daytime, or indeed on the News Channel, nowadays for shows which aren't stripped across the week - so there aren't many options. It's either Corrie fodder in primetime or it could work in a post-Marr slot on Sundays, probably replacing the Nicky Campbell show which alternates with Sunday Morning Live.
Derbyshire on BBC One would probably get 0.5-0.6m at best and it would drag the entire daytime schedule down, That's why they wouldn't want it and I suspect Homes Under the Hammer costs a lot less to produce and repeats well.
The Sunday Morning post Marr slot is religious programming so it's unlikely they'd want a current affairs show there as it mean they'd be down in terms of religious quota hours.