It has been reported that the BBC has decided to axe texting to its flagship politics show, Question Time.

Question Time has been around for many decades now with viewers being able to interact with the show by leaving comments. With the advent of SMS texting, comments became popular when the service was launched in May 2002.

The BBC may, however, be in for a bit of a shock. It seems that there are many angry viewers who feel they will be denied a voice and there have been calls to boycott the programme; however, the BBC says that this is one service they may have to close as the organisation faces cuts. A spokesperson for the BBC said: “[Texting is] an element that is under review.”

The spokesperson added: “We review the interactive elements of the programme on an on-going basis but no decisions have been taken.”

This is unlikely to satisfy many of the 200,000 viewers of Question Time. Many, if not most, of the viewers are thought to be older than the average viewer. This particular group is generally referred to as the silver surfers. They are also considered to be the backbone of programmes like Question Time.

Furthermore, while Twitter has become an increasingly popular way of contacting the programme and others of its ilk, older people are less likely to use this. It appears to be a younger person’s preferred method.

No decision either way has been made yet. The spokesperson also declined to say when that decision would be made.