Letters: BBC's news victory

Sir: Reading David Liddiment's letter about who is watching which ITN news bulletin prompts me to wonder why viewers are so fickle.

They will apparently watch and enjoy a programme if it is broadcast on a particular channel at a particular time but will often disregard the same programme totally if these change, or not seek good programmes out in the first place if they are on the "wrong" channel.

The Royle Family, a wonderfully funny programme, is a case in point. It is being switched to BBC1 to give it a larger potential audience than it will ever get on BBC2.

Do the majority of viewers really turn to a particular channel and watch it all evening regardless of what it is showing and what they are missing elsewhere?

Why do they not "channel hop"? Even the time of broadcast is of little consequence in these days of mass video ownership.

CHRISTOPHER M WILSON

London EC2