Barometer | 26 March 2011

Night shift

The BBC director general, Mark Thompson, says the corporation may cut the £150 million a year it spends on night-time programming, with the ‘theoretical possibility’ that insomniac viewers might be left with a black screen.

— Although it is now taken for granted, 24-hour television is a relatively recent phenomenon. It wasn’t until 1972 that daytime ITV viewers could be sure of anything to watch, while BBC2 used to go off-air in the daytime until 1986.

In the same year Yorkshire television became the first terrestrial station to offer night-time viewing, which consisted of music videos.

— BBC1 continued to send viewers to bed with a ‘closedown’ ceremony involving the national anthem until 8 November 1997.

Money pit

George Osborne said he was ‘starting to pay off the nation’s credit card’ although he will be adding to it until 2017. Here is how much countries are adding, per person, to their national debts each year.