The Newsroom

BBC Trust approves enhancements to Regions and Nations

Revised executive proposal accepted. (July 2009)

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SP
Spencer
Robert Williams posted:
I wonder what happened to the £68 million that was going to be spent on the cancelled BBC Local Video project?


The money's going into the enhancements to the nations and regions being discussed.
MA
Markymark
Brekkie posted:
Markymark posted:
Brekkie posted:
and a local opt out on a national station may reach a much wider audience than just offering more on the local stations.


.....Like reintroducing the regional opt outs on Radio 4 ? They were abolsihed about 30 years ago in favour of local radio.


Well I'm not sure they'd get a younger demographic with Radio 4! Apparently local radio is squarely targetted at 55 year olds called Dave and Sue.


R4's audience is far more upmarket, and possibly younger too. I cringe when I listen to most BBC LR stations, yet I could (and often do) listen all day to R4.
Of course the BBC's method for 'widening appeal' to to take everything down to the common lowest denominator, so a 10 minute regional opt in the middle of Jeremy Vine's R2 show ? Wink
IS
Inspector Sands
Markymark posted:
Brekkie posted:
and a local opt out on a national station may reach a much wider audience than just offering more on the local stations.


.....Like reintroducing the regional opt outs on Radio 4 ? They were abolsihed about 30 years ago in favour of local radio.


I can't see that happening, the BBC DAB network as it stands cannot be regionalised as it's a single frequency network. The current Radio 1 national splits are FM only. As DAB is planned to be the dominant platform in future I can't see it happening
MA
Markymark
Inspector Sands posted:
Markymark posted:
Brekkie posted:
and a local opt out on a national station may reach a much wider audience than just offering more on the local stations.


.....Like reintroducing the regional opt outs on Radio 4 ? They were abolsihed about 30 years ago in favour of local radio.


I can't see that happening, the BBC DAB network as it stands cannot be regionalised as it's a single frequency network. The current Radio 1 national splits are FM only. As DAB is planned to be the dominant platform in future I can't see it happening


Aren't Ofcom looking at a plan to rationalise services across national and local/regional muxes on DAB as a long term plan ? There are plenty of quasi-national services on the local muxes, that could be swapped to national muxes, for national services to be provided with local opt outs ?
BR
Brekkie
What does that mean then for digital local radio? Will they be able to offer regional channels (just not opt-outs), or will it be a situation like Sky where all regions will be broadcast nationwide (if at all!)?
MA
Markymark
Brekkie posted:
What does that mean then for digital local radio? Will they be able to offer regional channels (just not opt-outs), or will it be a situation like Sky where all regions will be broadcast nationwide (if at all!)?


Well, can you think of one regional commercial radio service, that takes any advantage (other than with its advertising) of being regional ? I can't, all of them just offer the same old homogenised identikit programming.
Kiss, Galaxy, Real Radio, Smooth, Heart, XFM, Kerrang, Original,

I'd like to see Ofcom enforce some sort of 'use it, or lose it' policy with these stations, otherwise swap them onto national muxes, and let the Beeb offer opt outs via DAB on their national networks. Might be the push needed to move people away from FM !

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