Thread by @nicktolhurst

+MEDIA UPDATE+

One of Britain’s most critically acclaimed news-comedy shows - The Mash Report - is to be axed as part of the new post-Brexit emphasis on more “patriotic & Conservative television”.

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The new BBC director Tim Davie - a prominent Conservative supporter of Boris Johnson - has been tasked with a radical overhaul of BBC comedy programming which has been perceived as too left wing & not pro Brexit.

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The Mash Report was publicly identified as one of the early targets for cancellation by Boris Johnson’s “anti-woke unit” as it was highly popular with a younger demographic who tend not to get their news via either official news channels nor Govt friendly press.

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Comedy was identified by the govt as crucial to institutionalising a more conservative “Brexit-patriotic” British culture as it was seen as landing more consistent criticism of govt actions than the more “tightly managed” news shows on UK TV.

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Ironically what may have confirmed The Mash Report’s cancellation was it’s very success.

Clips going viral is basically the Holy Grail of modern TV & media and TMR was one of the most successful BBC programs for this - ensuring that its jokes & sketches has a long afterlife.

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The attack on comedy that the head of the BBC is tasked with is particularly aimed at under 40s who - are not only high consumers of this - are also unlike other genres such as news, quite prominent performers & managers.

It’s to reshape, not just BBC, but a whole Industry.

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UK govt anti-woke unit tasked with encouraging a more Brexit-patriotic culture also seen as vital to protect the Union.

The perceived leftwing culture at BBC was seen as anti-Union & anti British Empire.

Davie is to introduce more “British themed” programmes to combat this.

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As I’ve remarked upon before the anti-woke strategy is aimed principally at the you g who are seen as untrustworthy for a number of reasons:

1. High graduate count
2. More internationalist
3. Less reliant on traditional media

UK govt worried young less accepting of Brexit.

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For those saying I’ve made this up..even the Telegraph reporting on this now:

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This is what I was talking about earlier on the viral nature of The Mash Report’s clips:

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Uniquely & unprecedentedly for a BBC political comedy show, the Mash Report produced clips that went not just a “million times” viral - but a 100million+ times level viral.

So it was cancelled.

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Last post on this thread I’ll leave with Nish.

Dedicated to those who said I made this up...6 hours before the story hit all the major press, then said TMR, one of the most viral shows in British TV history, cancelled as it was unpopular.