BBC NEWS CUTS

I’d agree that 1x27 long form documentary would be better than Inside Out (though one series of Inside Out and one series of long form per year would be good too).

It’s the cutting of the regions for this new series that bothers me. BBC South is already a massive patch (equivalent to the population of Scotland). I assume we are being lumped in with London, and presumably the South East too. That’s a ridiculously unwieldy region. Yet Norwich continues to produce output for its unchanged region? How is that equitable?

The loss of a current affairs team in Southampton means it will no longer be able to produce one-off documentaries and its occasional series, or produce Panorama as it has in the past. Dark days for regional broadcasting.

Exactly, I could just about understand Southampton and Tunbridge Wells producing a joint Inside Out but lumping us with London makes little sense, I hope this decision will be reversed.

Whether a fan of the services provided by the regional services or not, these cuts are sad to see.

18:30 is the most watched news programme in the country, it provides key news story’s as well as a bit of fun mixed in between. It’s service during bad weather and local events is a key part in the countries broadcasting. Seeing the last remaining aspect of double headed presentation on network television is effective in cost-cutting, but we will now not see a proper goodbye of well found TV “couples”.

Inside Out was a programme that stretched from a local version of country file to a local version of watchdog. It’s variety of content that largely, comforted a variety audiences. One that sticks to my mind is when Inside Out West did one on cheese rolling and it taught me a lot about my area that I didn’t know myself.

I write this with Points West in the background, a clear sadness in David Garmston’s voice as he announces the job cuts and the scrapping of double headed presentation.

For a public service broadcaster, I often wonder how longer it will be viable with these cuts.

I am glad to hear one of the regions has mentioned this sad news. The demise of double headed presentation is extremely sad and the wrong decision in my opinion. These familiar faces are extremely important in the communities they serve.

I think, apart from the obvious loss of life, Covid-19 has shown us a lot of different ways of working with less people needed in places like offices - and TV studios. Sadly the BBC should not be immune from that and I suspect its commercial rivals will follow suit. Presentation-wise I'm really not convinced 'the viewer' expects to see two presenters every time - the nationals have worked fine with singles for years. What I would question though, is the bigger number of local web journalists and weather presenters the regional BBC appear to employ compared with their ITV regional rivals.

ITV's regional news production workflow and staffing levels will be what the BBC are aiming for

I wasn’t suggesting that cuts cannot be made, I am just saying that it is a huge loss and that I continue to worry about even more cuts to services, particularly in regions.

Nah. Not buying that argument. Pre extreme circumstances around COVID-19 the Breakfast bulletins would never have been in contention for the chop. Especially as ITV provide. Local politics keeps MPs sweet, so would also continue in some form to keep the paymasters sweet.

I think it’s totally unacceptable for the BBC to be cutting back on local services when the commercial market is no longer able & failing to fulfil this role. What is the point of the licence fee if they cut services where the free market is failing and has been cutting. Local TV & local radio is the perfect argument for having a licence fee in this country. ITV regions, local radio & local press are all being/have been decimated over the years. Commercial local TV licenses; a complete failure. This is an area the BBC can stand out. Their priorities are all wrong.

Do we really want pre-recorded weather forecasts that are 12 hours old when broadcast? We shouldn't be aiming for a rush to the bottom otherwise say farewell to BBC Local radio in the same way as Global et al.

Susie read a brief story on the changes today but no specific mention of double headed presentation going. Felt slightly subdued at that point and when Stewart joined for his daily appearance.

I agree that stuff that nobody else is doing, or doing properly should be ring fenced. Cuts should be focussed on over served areas where commercial providers provide just as a good a service.

This works in the opposite direction as well though, they know that a crap paired back service will still be better than the opposition, either on TV or radio, Nobody switches off because there is nowhere else to go, so they basically get away with it unscathed.

This is a point that is often made. I strong commercial sector can make the BBC stand up and improve its game - a weak commercial sector can lead to it restoring on its laurels. Unfortunately they need to make further cuts to balance the books.

I am absolutely gutted for them. They are the longest serving regional partnership by miles. You can tell by their chemistry they are true friends off screen too. Perhaps the BBC will give in and do a U-turn.