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I agree. Lets begin.
We’re more out of London than ever before. A decade ago, a third of the BBC was based outside the M25. Today it’s half.
In the last few years, We’ve doubled the proportion of programmes produced in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. And our new BBC Scotland Channel has been a major success. In its first full year, it’s reaching 1 in 6 people each week.
This matters not only because it means so much to audiences to see their lives and communities represented on screen. But also because, as the national broadcaster, spread across all our nations and regions, who is better placed to support the levelling-up agenda?
To me there has always a huge sense of inequality between the nations of the UK when it comes to broadcasting and the BBC in particular. There have been over the past 20 years or so some piecemeal attempt by the corporation to redress the balance. BBC Choice for example in late 1999 onwards did split into 4 "national" stations with the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish variations carrying amongst other programmes a 10 O'clock news bulletin for that particular nation. (BBC Choice England didn't have one)
The creation of the devolved Parliaments and Assemblies in 1999 did in my opinion act as a wake up call for the BBC when it came to covering all 4 nations of the UK more fairly hence the above split in BBC Choice (whether they were connected in some way is unclear).
I'll go one stage further and theorise that BBC Scotland was created by the corporation as a way of not necessarily pacifying the Scottish Nationalists following the referendum but more as a realisation that London doesn't necessarily always know best
Now while I do watch some programmes on BBC Scotland (specifically Inside Central Station and David Wilson's Crime Files) I have to say that it may have been a wrong move financially to create a specific channel for Scotland when the BBC already had 2 channels in Scotland. Now I know nothing about budgeting and finances but it just seemed to me a waste of money when the BBC could have reformatted BBC 1 and 2 north of the border to have a "hybrid" service with the best of the national output (Eastenders etc) alongside a strong regional service.
Although an awful lot of programming has moved out of London (defined by the M25), all it seems to be to me in England is a lot of Salford. The BBC's presence in the Midlands is now tiny, and many production companies who work in Wales or Scotland seem to be using the "brass plate" way of having programmes defined as being from there, when the reality is very different - including shows that come from London.
As both commercial radio and TV centralise their operations - in either London or Manchester (again), then the BBC is the last one still with the ability to play the local card.
There may not be a big pot of money, but surely spreading it in England more evenly wouldn't hurt.
When I was growing up BBC Birmingham produced (for example) All Creatures Great and Small, not an obvious one, but the idea came from Midlands staff. Coast is a more recent one, and as a Brummy, I don't recall much in the way of a coast near where I grew up.
With the ability to work remotely now becoming more feasible, the BBC could have staff spread more over the UK.
What rubbish this thread has quickly turned into. Fantasy restructuring nonsense.
Maybe discussing the actual speech might be a good idea
Maybe discussing the actual speech might be a good idea
I agree. Lets begin.
We’re more out of London than ever before. A decade ago, a third of the BBC was based outside the M25. Today it’s half.
In the last few years, We’ve doubled the proportion of programmes produced in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. And our new BBC Scotland Channel has been a major success. In its first full year, it’s reaching 1 in 6 people each week.
This matters not only because it means so much to audiences to see their lives and communities represented on screen. But also because, as the national broadcaster, spread across all our nations and regions, who is better placed to support the levelling-up agenda?
To me there has always a huge sense of inequality between the nations of the UK when it comes to broadcasting and the BBC in particular. There have been over the past 20 years or so some piecemeal attempt by the corporation to redress the balance. BBC Choice for example in late 1999 onwards did split into 4 "national" stations with the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish variations carrying amongst other programmes a 10 O'clock news bulletin for that particular nation. (BBC Choice England didn't have one)
The creation of the devolved Parliaments and Assemblies in 1999 did in my opinion act as a wake up call for the BBC when it came to covering all 4 nations of the UK more fairly hence the above split in BBC Choice (whether they were connected in some way is unclear).
I'll go one stage further and theorise that BBC Scotland was created by the corporation as a way of not necessarily pacifying the Scottish Nationalists following the referendum but more as a realisation that London doesn't necessarily always know best
Now while I do watch some programmes on BBC Scotland (specifically Inside Central Station and David Wilson's Crime Files) I have to say that it may have been a wrong move financially to create a specific channel for Scotland when the BBC already had 2 channels in Scotland. Now I know nothing about budgeting and finances but it just seemed to me a waste of money when the BBC could have reformatted BBC 1 and 2 north of the border to have a "hybrid" service with the best of the national output (Eastenders etc) alongside a strong regional service.
Although an awful lot of programming has moved out of London (defined by the M25), all it seems to be to me in England is a lot of Salford. The BBC's presence in the Midlands is now tiny, and many production companies who work in Wales or Scotland seem to be using the "brass plate" way of having programmes defined as being from there, when the reality is very different - including shows that come from London.
As both commercial radio and TV centralise their operations - in either London or Manchester (again), then the BBC is the last one still with the ability to play the local card.
There may not be a big pot of money, but surely spreading it in England more evenly wouldn't hurt.
When I was growing up BBC Birmingham produced (for example) All Creatures Great and Small, not an obvious one, but the idea came from Midlands staff. Coast is a more recent one, and as a Brummy, I don't recall much in the way of a coast near where I grew up.
With the ability to work remotely now becoming more feasible, the BBC could have staff spread more over the UK.