The BBC was hardly the only broadcaster that reused tapes or jettisoned TV shows.

The junking practice stopped around 77/78. For game shows etc it only stopped in the late 80s.

Some broadcasters were better than others but in the end it depended on the individual archive politics.

One has to remember that there were no secondary commercial markets and people complained constantly about repeats.

Radio and arts programs fared better. The situation isn't quite as bad as a lot has been found over the years.
b/w TV programs of the 60s are usually the worst hit as nobody thought old b/w programms would have any value at all.


G.