BBC bosses must be honest about reality of local radio cuts: The Yorkshire Post says

BBC bosses may have attempted a stout defence of their intentions to make substantial cuts to local radio output when appearing in front of MPs yesterday but some of their claims raise eyebrows.
By YP Comment
Published 2nd Dec 2022, 11:45 GMT

The corporation’s ‘director of nations’ Rhodri Talfan Davies claimed that the plans for stations to share more content and broadcast less programming unique to their areas are “fundamentally not about a reduction in services”.

This seems, to put it politely, to be dubious given truly local programming will essentially end from 2pm each weekday on regional radio stations and disappear at weekends.

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The BBC intends to instead produce 18 afternoon programmes across England that will be shared between its 39 stations.

Director of England for the BBC Jason Horton and the BBC's director of nations Rhodri Talfan Davies speaking at the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee in the House of Commons, London. Picture date: Thursday December 1, 2022.Director of England for the BBC Jason Horton and the BBC's director of nations Rhodri Talfan Davies speaking at the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee in the House of Commons, London. Picture date: Thursday December 1, 2022.
Director of England for the BBC Jason Horton and the BBC's director of nations Rhodri Talfan Davies speaking at the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee in the House of Commons, London. Picture date: Thursday December 1, 2022.

Ten local programmes will then be shared between 6pm and 10pm on weekdays, as well as all day on Saturday and on Sunday mornings.

By Mr Talfan Davies’s own admission, £11m is being moved out of the BBC’s local radio offering.

Although £4m is being reinvested in the BBC Sounds service and podcasting, the simple reality is that regular listeners to local radio will notice a considerable difference and what is on offer to them can more than fairly be described as a reduction in services.

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The BBC’s rationale is, in part, that due to the licence fee freeze and inflation cutbacks are needed, while investing in podcasting is about keeping pace with changing audience demands.

That is not necessarily an unreasonable position – but insulting listeners by claiming services aren’t being reduced does not help their case.

Related topics:BBCYorkshire PostMPsEngland