Consultation on BBC Local Radio

[Guest]

I realise that there will be mixed feelings about the proposals for BBC Local Radio. However, I hope some people will want to take part in the consultation as I have just done. For what it's worth, it runs for several weeks through November and into December.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/consult/local_radio.shtml

I am keen on BBC Local Radio. I feel that it is the only truly local radio we have. In particular, BBC Radio London has always provided a unique and sometimes special service. Elsewhere, some of the output can be bland but certainly not all. It seems to me important that Yorkshire and the West Country should have their own brass band programmes, that local folk music is represented in areas where it matters most, ditto jazz, classical music events, theatre, literature, history, geography, sport.

Stations are to broadcast local programmes only in the peak hours. Afternoon and evening programmes will be regional. Night time "local" radio will be R5. Such is this axe that you might as well not have any local radio. I have proposed instead a reduction in the number of stations so that each of the county stations covers two counties or is amalgamated with one of the city stations. There was a time when BBC Local Radio had just 20 stations providing a full service. I feel that we should go back to that again.

There is an argument for resisting these cuts because they may simply lead to more on the national stations including R3. It also seems ironic that at the very time many employees are being sent to Salford, the BBC is scaling down other output in the regions.

[Lateralthinking1]

I am pleased with this news. It shows that feedback from the public can at times make a difference.

......http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012...ts-lord-patten

[DracoM]

In my own county which is huge, geographically highly diverse thus making logistics and infrastructure difficult, local BBC radio provides glue and coherence in troubled times and proved their worth pretty spectacularly in recent agricultural crises. BBC local radio kept up contacts, disseminated major info, and listened to the distressed. They became liked and respected figures in the county landscape.

Imagine our amazement when they were among the small tranche scheduled for 20%+ cuts. The anger felt county-wide has been palpable, and the whisper is that the Trust were truly shaken by the sheer amount and strength of the opinion expressed publicly and privately from this county. This reaction showed that while commercial radio might provide wallpaper, when the chips were down, it was the BBC that people turned to.

The lesson for R3 is clear: the more it apes commercial models, the less it will be trusted on important issues, or in important cultural areas. If you erode that base of trust, you erode identity, and once you do that, there is no earthly god-given right for you to exist at all. Bleak? Yes, and the lemming-like rush for reach and ratings among BBC managers particularly in the R3 field is having exactly that effect.

I simply do not understand the BBC's thinking.

[french frank]

The lesson for R3 is clear: the more it apes commercial models, the less it will be trusted on important issues, or in important cultural areas. If you erode that base of trust, you erode identity, and once you do that, there is no earthly god-given right for you to exist at all. Bleak? Yes, and the lemming-like rush for reach and ratings among BBC managers particularly in the R3 field is having exactly that effect.

I simply do not understand the BBC's thinking.

I was just wondering where to post details of a story I've just read:

UK native dog breeds 'at risk of extinction'

' The Chihuahua, popularised by celebrity owners like Paris Hilton, saw a 25% increase in registrations last year.

Caroline Kisko, secretary of the Kennel Club said: "Celebrities, popular culture and fashion play a big part in today's society and unfortunately, dogs are not immune from our fickle tastes.

"The latest victim is the English Setter, a wonderful and loyal breed, while the number of Siberian Huskies has more than trebled in this country in the last 10 years." '

Verb. sap. sat?

And btw the proposed percentage cut to the whole of Local Radio proposed in Delivering Quality First was only fractionally greater than the proposed cut to Radio 3 (4.2% compared with 4%). As a rule of thumb (but probably with exceptions) the bigger the budget the smaller the percentage cut e.g. Radio 4 - far and away the most expensive radio station had a 0% cut, while BBC One - far and away the most expensive TV channel, at over a billion pounds taking a huge slice of the BBC's total income - had the smallest percentage cut of the four main TV channels.

But with BBC cuts, as with government proposed cuts, everyone recognises the importance of the services that benefit them ...

[Lateralthinking1]

Perhaps some compare and contrast here for Radio 3 -

John Myers spoke today on The Media Show (Radio 4) about his independent review of BBC Local Radio. He thinks that up to 50% of middle managers could go fairly easily, enabling more programmes to continue than envisaged.

While his ToR did not include content, he felt that the BBC had the wrong commercial strategy:

- It was saying that BBC Local Radio had a 7m weekly audience. He felt that it should be looking at the monthly figure which is 11 million.

- It was saying that the peaks were in the morning. At other times, the figures were poor. He said that they should be working harder to hold onto existing listeners during the day.

- It was playing down the figures at weekends. By contrast, he was saying that they were a success story and continuity would be supported by commitments to afternoon and evening programmes.

- It was concerned that its natural audience was over 50. He felt that this was a large constituency and it should try to cater for these people even more. At one point - I think here - he also made a comparison with Radios 3, 4 and 5.

Although the background of Myers is in commercial radio, where audience figures are everything, the BBC has commented that it agrees with him on the cuts but not necessarily on his strategy.