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The BBC efforts are all very well but frankly rather lame and too dumbed-down.
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Maybe, maybe not. It's a fact that after each airing in the UK of Stargazing Live the interest of newcomers has spiked tremendously.
After the first airing retailers were unprepared for the coming assault on their stock levels and many were sold out for months on entry level equipment. Astro societies saw a boom in interest as well.
Even after the latest airing a month or so ago the largest UK forum was breaking records for number of people online at one time.
The BBC throw out plenty of well made science/astro related shows via Horizon(people still moan about them too but it's the best we've got) but they don't capture the publics attention in the same way as the Stargazing shows or even the Sky at Night does. The new Cosmos may be good but it's not accessible and will go largely missed by the general public until it's aired on a main network. I know I'm going to miss out on it so yeah, hype away.
Sure it may seem like the BBC shows are dumbed down to those already in the pastime or with an interest but for newcomers it is clearly a starting point that should only ever be encouraged and applauded.
Personally I think it's a fine example of what sort of impact can be made if given the right type of exposure.