MI
I don't know how much the freeview carriage is for BBC radio stations, but I don't have a problem with it per se. So long as it's not a big bandwidth hog and the audience is there.
£0.
Multiplex PSB1/BBC-A is gifted capacity, so any cost surrounds getting the services to the multiplex. I believe changes made to the iPlayer Radio streams coincided with the local stations going live on Freeview.
I don't know how much the freeview carriage is for BBC radio stations, but I don't have a problem with it per se. So long as it's not a big bandwidth hog and the audience is there.
£0.
Multiplex PSB1/BBC-A is gifted capacity, so any cost surrounds getting the services to the multiplex. I believe changes made to the iPlayer Radio streams coincided with the local stations going live on Freeview.
LH
To whom is the BBC supposed to be promoting British culture - its primary audience is the British!
The BBC's job is surely to inform, educate and entertain. Not to promote anything.
Or - shock horror - you could decide to fund it properly its the only thing sizeable enough to promote British culture.
To whom is the BBC supposed to be promoting British culture - its primary audience is the British!
The BBC's job is surely to inform, educate and entertain. Not to promote anything.
MI
Also do we ever get stats on the proportion listening to radio through TV.
Yes, it's measured in the quarterly RAJAR listening figures. It's below 5%.
Thanks. Axing it wouldn't cause huge issues then (or delivering them through Connected TV instead). That said considering the recent local rollout the costs can't be that significant.
It's such a small chunk of bandwidth though, and I suspect ongoing running costs are low following the initial investment.
Also do we ever get stats on the proportion listening to radio through TV.
Yes, it's measured in the quarterly RAJAR listening figures. It's below 5%.
Thanks. Axing it wouldn't cause huge issues then (or delivering them through Connected TV instead). That said considering the recent local rollout the costs can't be that significant.
It's such a small chunk of bandwidth though, and I suspect ongoing running costs are low following the initial investment.
MI
Linear Red Button, probably. But only because the connected Red Button (Red Button+) is now supported by so many devices.
Red Button is the perennial BBC audience migration carrot. 10-15 years ago they used the extra Red Button streams as a selling point of digital TV. Now everyone's digital, the extra (connected) Red Button streams are used as a selling point to encourage take up of connected TV.
I expect the red button service could be at risk, and maybe even the text service.
The BBC first announced the red button service was at risk 3 years ago, so I think its days are numbered unfortunately.
The BBC first announced the red button service was at risk 3 years ago, so I think its days are numbered unfortunately.
Linear Red Button, probably. But only because the connected Red Button (Red Button+) is now supported by so many devices.
Red Button is the perennial BBC audience migration carrot. 10-15 years ago they used the extra Red Button streams as a selling point of digital TV. Now everyone's digital, the extra (connected) Red Button streams are used as a selling point to encourage take up of connected TV.
AN
I think you may have misunderstood the point of a discussion forum.
Anyone on here now cam up up with a point by point plan on how to achieve the cuts the BBC needs, or how it should be funded, please do so now, in a simple way, instead of picking to pieces each other's comments or recommendations. Thanks.
I think you may have misunderstood the point of a discussion forum.
CI
Good god, so many of the ideas being proposed in this thread are complete and utter nonsense. Merge 5 Live & Local Radio? Yuck, no. Merge Radio 4 & the World Service??? Oh hell no!
The problem is you're looking for savings by cutting services that are truly core elements of the BBC, and yes, I include local radio in that, but not 5 Live. That's not to say though that you can't make some cuts in BBC local radio, you could probably ask some neighbouring stations to share non-news output. Take BBC Radio Devon and BBC Radio Cornwall as an example. They used to have a shared sports programme many moons ago, no reason they couldn't do that again. In fact, you could probably share most of the weekend output, except breakfast.
Some daytime programming could be shared on a regional basis. Keep breakfast, lunchtime and drivetime as local but look at sharing mid-morning and afternoon programmes. The evening slots that have been returned to the local stations could be easily regionalised. Evening programming was always shared in the past.
Honestly, 5 Live now feels like a vanity project, so they can say they have a live news and sports radio station, which in daytime is nothing but phone-ins. I gave up on it years ago, when it stopped being primarily about live news and sports. Sports coverage on radio has been seriously cut back as a result, and given its current form, I don't really feel its justifying its existence anymore. I feel you could merge it into Radio 4, and not lose anything of note. Take the sports coverage and 5 Live Sports Extra, and create a new BBC Radio Sport channel, run it part time.
BBC Television should look at what they used to do in the past, and produce programmes that can air both on radio and TV, though not necessarily in a simulcast. Produce cheaper programmes, and build relationships with other public service channels worldwide, ABC, RTE, PBS and others, and share output between them all.
1Xtra, Asian Network, & Radio 4 Extra do feel right now like they are trying to do too much with too little. 1 of those at least might have to go.
Whilst CBeebies is popular, maybe consider returning CBBC to BBC1 and BBC2 as programme blocks rather than as a full time channel, rather than cutting something like BBC Four.
Maybe some of the foreign language services have to go. Right now, BBC is struggling to justify the costs of those services, including the TV ones.
There's a few possible ideas for ya to be going on with.
The problem is you're looking for savings by cutting services that are truly core elements of the BBC, and yes, I include local radio in that, but not 5 Live. That's not to say though that you can't make some cuts in BBC local radio, you could probably ask some neighbouring stations to share non-news output. Take BBC Radio Devon and BBC Radio Cornwall as an example. They used to have a shared sports programme many moons ago, no reason they couldn't do that again. In fact, you could probably share most of the weekend output, except breakfast.
Some daytime programming could be shared on a regional basis. Keep breakfast, lunchtime and drivetime as local but look at sharing mid-morning and afternoon programmes. The evening slots that have been returned to the local stations could be easily regionalised. Evening programming was always shared in the past.
Honestly, 5 Live now feels like a vanity project, so they can say they have a live news and sports radio station, which in daytime is nothing but phone-ins. I gave up on it years ago, when it stopped being primarily about live news and sports. Sports coverage on radio has been seriously cut back as a result, and given its current form, I don't really feel its justifying its existence anymore. I feel you could merge it into Radio 4, and not lose anything of note. Take the sports coverage and 5 Live Sports Extra, and create a new BBC Radio Sport channel, run it part time.
BBC Television should look at what they used to do in the past, and produce programmes that can air both on radio and TV, though not necessarily in a simulcast. Produce cheaper programmes, and build relationships with other public service channels worldwide, ABC, RTE, PBS and others, and share output between them all.
1Xtra, Asian Network, & Radio 4 Extra do feel right now like they are trying to do too much with too little. 1 of those at least might have to go.
Whilst CBeebies is popular, maybe consider returning CBBC to BBC1 and BBC2 as programme blocks rather than as a full time channel, rather than cutting something like BBC Four.
Maybe some of the foreign language services have to go. Right now, BBC is struggling to justify the costs of those services, including the TV ones.
There's a few possible ideas for ya to be going on with.
LH
For the record, what I am suggesting is promoting BBC Local Radio, at the expense of R5L.
BBC LR Becoming the flagship rolling news network, on FM, with a focus on local. The remains of R5L being essentially a BBC equivalent of IRN, albeit with the occasional 30 minute programme and some off-peak syndicated output.
Good god, so many of the ideas being proposed in this thread are complete and utter nonsense. Merge 5 Live & Local Radio? Yuck, no. ....
The problem is you're looking for savings by cutting services that are truly core elements of the BBC, and yes, I include local radio in that, but not 5 Live.
The problem is you're looking for savings by cutting services that are truly core elements of the BBC, and yes, I include local radio in that, but not 5 Live.
For the record, what I am suggesting is promoting BBC Local Radio, at the expense of R5L.
BBC LR Becoming the flagship rolling news network, on FM, with a focus on local. The remains of R5L being essentially a BBC equivalent of IRN, albeit with the occasional 30 minute programme and some off-peak syndicated output.
Last edited by lhx1985 on 17 October 2018 10:47pm
WH
I think it's a little unfair to suggest that such ideas are complete and utter nonsense. It actually makes quite a lot of sense to use 5Live as a spine to support a local radio network. You say yourself that 5Live carries a lot of filler - you could cut that right back and turn the station into a handful of network slots to be run on a local station.
Whataday
Founding member
Good god, so many of the ideas being proposed in this thread are complete and utter nonsense. Merge 5 Live & Local Radio? Yuck, no.
I think it's a little unfair to suggest that such ideas are complete and utter nonsense. It actually makes quite a lot of sense to use 5Live as a spine to support a local radio network. You say yourself that 5Live carries a lot of filler - you could cut that right back and turn the station into a handful of network slots to be run on a local station.