from BBC-news:

An OU spokesman said: "Just as there are different ways to dress, there are different ways to deliver education." He added: "As technology has changed, we have slowly phased out broadcasts of this course-related material. It's a whole lot easier to send students DVDs or CDs than it is to get them to video programmes and watch them later. Now we have virtual learning environments and podcasts as well." Since its birth in January 1971, tens of thousands of course-related programmes have been shown, mainly at night. Initially 300 programmes were made with the BBC to cover four foundation courses for the new UK university. Now, at the OU archives in Milton Keynes, some 92 metres worth of scripts are being kept for posterity.