Committee slams BBC 'taking a torch' over local news expansion, advertising and radio cuts

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The Culture, Media and Sport committee grill the BBC over its expansion plans into local news plus a series of radio cuts.

Transcript

00:00 Thank you very much. I do have a problem with this. It feels to me like

00:03 You've taken a torch to what is a very delicate ecosystem of local news and current affairs

00:08 Bear with me as I kind of set out my thinking on this

00:12 Okay, see what you've done is taken away very valuable local radio coverage from some of our most vulnerable constituents people

00:18 People who treasure it people for whom it's a lifeline. It's a friend. It's a

00:27 Huge asset to their lives and you know and in doing so, you know, according to the radar figures your

00:33 Local radio listening is down 14% year-on-year at the same time

00:38 You very proudly talk about your

00:41 expansion into local online news

00:44 By rolling out your 34 websites and 130 more jobs to deliver more regional news

00:51 You're you're you're delivering in areas that are already covered by a lot of local commercial independent publishers

00:58 like, you know in my area the Portsmouth News which have a

01:01 website

01:03 Who are already struggling because of the decline of local print because of the line of local print media or print media across the board

01:10 So

01:13 After stroke you're effectively blowing up the services the local radio services that some

01:20 People absolutely treasure you're undermining the financial

01:23 financial

01:26 viability of some of our local independent

01:28 publishers and now

01:31 In the press yesterday. It talks about the BBC's proposing to carry advertising on some of its radio

01:37 Services so effectively now coming out in competition with some local radio provision

01:43 Tim talk to me about this because it just seems to me like you know

01:47 What you've done is you've started picking away a very delicate ecosystem and your role as a public service

01:52 Broadcaster is at one stroke seemingly trying to undermine every other aspect of the local

01:58 News and public affairs which current affairs which we all value so dearly

02:03 Indeed, and I think they're all very fair considerations. I

02:08 think

02:10 Any changes are very sensitive. This is very precious and

02:14 We don't estimate that I would margin push back on blowing up

02:17 You know

02:18 We're keeping all of our 39 services if you look at the I think the numbers are a bit before the change

02:22 But we'll see how this goes. I

02:24 Think you know, it has been a big decision to keep all 39 stations keep

02:29 You know output local from six to two where by far the majority of the listening is and then you know

02:36 We're not the afternoons are still good radio shows and we're doing 20 of them across the land in a way now

02:41 I know I don't I'm not underestimating the enormity of this but the idea we're blowing up the ecosystem

02:47 Or my vision has been to collapse local radio

02:49 It's just not true the vast majority of our money

02:51 You know in these goes and you know in us in our local offices goes to and will remain it stays in

02:57 linear services

03:00 Broadcast television book and but the idea that we and then we get to the second point

03:04 So look, I think we've got to watch how we go

03:06 It's incredibly sensitive and if people read it and understandably concerned, well, this is just a thin end of the wedge. I understand that

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