We all know the feeling ... you settle down in front of the telly to watch Have I Got News For You? only to find BBC NI is instead showing a show they’ve made themselves. Our television critic Chris Thornton argues why local TV can — sometimes — be a big turn-off

Nothing's sacred. Or really, some things are more sacred than others. My video recorder has immortalised the moment: Apprentice winner Lee McQueen opened his mouth to say something profound — probably along the lines of “That’s wot I’m talkin’ abowwwt!” — and nothing comes out.

The screen freezes with Lee’s three-day growth contorted around some word of wisdom, and that’s it. The moment comes courtesy of some fine re-scheduling work by BBC Northern Ireland: on the night the Apprentice reached its climax, they slipped in a show about the Royal schools in Northern Ireland that played havoc with my video timer.

For whatever reason, while I slept the electronic scheduler gave minutes (I didn’t ask for) of a man with a black bathrobe on his shoulders warbling about tradition, and lost the end of the Apprentice interviews.

As crimes against humanity go, it ranks pretty low on the scale. But I can still feel the burn.

Nor was it an isolated example of being cavalier with the viewers by playing cut and paste with the schedule. BBC Northern Ireland’s been doing it twice a week some weeks. In an era of umpteen digital channels, a time when SkyPlus has become a verb, The Apprentice is an example of the survival of appointment TV — the kind of show that becomes a weekly habit, that made you realise it was Wednesday with pleasure, and then got digested on Thursday over coffee with your mates.

It became the UK’s closest thing to universal must-see TV, but it's not the only example of appointment TV. Every show — well, ok, every show but The One Show — has its devoted viewers.

I, for one, had a certain fondness for Have I Got News For You? Lovely way to spend a Friday night — imbibing the beverage of my choice, beating in a takeaway and chuckling at what passes for sophisticated humour in my parts.

But that was many moons ago. BBC Northern Ireland saw fit to bump it, first (I seem to recall) for the vastly overrated Give My Head Peace and then for some game show with Stephen Nolan. That not only throws the effects of takeaways into my face, it also seems to make contestants feel just like public officials appearing on Nolan's radio show — ie, there are no right answers.

Yes, I know Have I Got News For You? was on later and then repeated, and I know I can video it at the touch of a button, but that's not the same thing at all.

In the spring and early summer, BBC Northern Ireland went further with the idea, bumping Waking the Dead further back in Monday night's schedule in favour of more locally-produced programmes. Locally-produced programmes. There's a phrase that fills viewers with as much anticipation as "the dentist will see you now".

They even boasted about it. To be fair, they have come up with some decent shows in that slot — a fascinating look at the late Fr Michael Cleary, who fathered a child with his housekeeper, and a documentary about the discovery of the lost Spanish ship, the Girona, and its gold off the North Coast.

Decent enough programmes, but they don't really smell like prime time TV. More BBC Two material. And they're never going to be as popular as drama in the same slot. Which may be why they made an exception in May and stuck with the national programme at 9pm on Monday, Kiss of Death. The fact that it was made by BBC Northern Ireland is surely just a coincidence. Ailsa Orr, BBC Northern Ireland's head of programmes says they're not ignoring the audiences for the national shows. She says one of the chief reasons for the scheduling change is to make room for longer, more considered programmes. "We're making fewer, bigger, better programmes," she said. "And because we're investing more we wanted to move them into peak time slots.

"We chose these slots very carefully in line with what network are doing at these times.

“Monday was the night when we felt we were doing the minimum amount of damage to the network schedule and our research told us people are in the mood for quite serious-minded television on a Monday night. We're not putting any old content there — this is a way of seeing our very strong content."

There is a point that, as a public service broadcaster, the BBC is meant to be about more than pleasing the masses. But BBC Two's still there, and moving shows there will alienate fewer viewers. Ms Orr says that's not right.

She says BBC Two's not right because the stuff BBC NI's showing on BBC One — priestly peccadillos and a 40-year-old treasure hunt — is meant to be mainstream.

It just goes to prove you can't please all the viewers all the time. Ms Orr says there's been a "little bit of feedback about this but not much, to be honest. We're not taking the network programmes away — they're still there, at a different time".

Fair enough. Maybe we could try the same with our license fees this year. They'll still be there, just at a later time.

So, local or national — what would you rather watch? Let us know at writeback@belfasttelegraph.co.uk