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Bafta snobs are blind to genius of daytime television, says Osman

By Patrick Sawer SENIOR NEWS REPORTER is

ONE of TV’S most popular presenters has accused Bafta of snubbing the achievements of daytime shows.

Richard Osman, the presenter of Pointless and House of Games, criticised the academy’s Television 2023 awards Daytime category.

Of the three nominees, Scam Interceptors airs at 10am and The Chase

normally broadcast at 5pm.

The third programme to be nominated, The Repair Shop: A Royal Visit,a

special edition which featured King Charles, was broadcast at 8pm, though its regular editions are broadcast at either 2.30pm or 8pm.

In an angry tweet aimed at Bafta, Osman wrote: “Daytime TV punches far above its weight in terms of ratings, cost and popularity. To have only two daytime shows on this list is a bit of a kick in the teeth for producers.”

He then references a number of other popular daytime TV shows, stating: “If I made Bridge Of Lies,

HUTH [Homes Under the Hammer], Come Dine [With Me], etc I think I’d feel robbed. Why bother having the category?”

Osman, who became a culthit for his part as the allknowing co-presenter on Pointless and has also published a series of best selling crime novels, described the decision to ignore other more daytime shows as “snobbish”.

He said: “It can be such a snobbish industry sometimes. Also, I love all three of those nominated shows (but the brilliant Repair

Shop was on at 8pm).”

Osman’s tweets prompted viewers to post their own comments in support of daytime shows.

Richard Atkins-greig, a BBC producer, wrote: “Well said Richard; there is an incredible snobbery about daytime TV. Thank you ...”

Others said a similar snobbish attitude appeared to extend to regional news programmes. Steve Saul, a presenter and journalist with BBC North West and BBC Radio Manchester, said: “Same with regional TV (news and ad hoc shows), the most watched but most undervalued.

Osman replied: “I’m always telling people (mainly my publishers!) this Steve. People have no idea of the huge ratings for local TV news.”

Helen Warner, former head of daytime television at ITV, said Osman was “absolutely right”, telling Radio 4’s Today Programme: “There’s always been a snobbishness towards daytime. It stems from a feeling that it’s really easy to do. The opposite is really true: It’s so demanding. The people that work on those shows are incredibly talented.”

Bafta, which only introduced the Daytime category two years ago, defended its choice of nominations, saying they “meet the published eligibility criteria and remain in place”, but it said criticism would be looked at ahead of next year’s nominations.

A Bafta spokesman said: “We introduced the Daytime category with the intention of giving more profile to programmes that historically have been under-recognised for their important contribution to the TV landscape and we will take on board all feedback.”

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2023-03-25T07:00:00.0000000Z

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Daily Telegraph