BBC Cuts: BBC2 daytime, Local Radio, Wimbledon/F1 "at risk"

LOL - I even checked back too but completely missed the blatantly obvious!

We've had the arguments for years about Radio 1, Radio 2 and even 5 Live being sold off and commercialised - if it did come to the point where local radio did face closure, should the option of privatising them be put on the table to protect them?

And with BBC World hitting the big 2-0 today, rather than cutting the licence fee for us to take on the burden of providing the BBC World Service, I wonder if radio should go the same way as TV and be funded by advertisers around the world.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/mar/11/wimbledon-formula-one-bbc-cuts

Latest headline - BBC to axe Wimbledon, axe F1 - but protect football! Tomorrow I suspect we'll discover how the BBC are to save cash by axing their TV channels.

Would F1 go back to ITV?

If they bought it, but then it would be very disappointing for the majority of BBC F1 viewers, if not Sky would probably be interested, not sure, but that would probably mean a crash barrier (paywall)

Was there any financial interest for the government to freeze the licence fee? It isn't going to contribute to dwarfing the deficit, and has implications for many hundreds of BBC staff, which we have seen already at the World Service.

Does anyone think that perhaps moving to Salford was such a good idea after all, considering that such a large amount has been spent on it?

If the cuts about BBC Local Radio and other plans are to happen, it is extremely damaging for the BBC indeed, really affecting its strong, trusted world-class service. Very sad indeed, but there is an argument for paying talentless people too much, and management does seem to be bloated.

Also, what will the effect be of Lord Patten being part of the BBC Trust and the Conservative Party? An oxymoron there?!

Looking at the initial £25 million budget of BBC Arabic, perhaps scaling back this TV service, along with BBC Persian could be considered, since the bill will be paid by the licence fee payer, who can only access this online. Those abroad can receive it free.

There are lots of things that should be considered before cutting BBC Local Radio and equally important services.

Does anyone else suspect that there's some showboating going on here?

'Look, it worked when we suggested abandoning ^Music, so let's suggest getting rid of other things that no-one in their right minds will let us get away with. Everyone will see how we've been thwarted at making efforts to make cuts and everyone will be happy with us again.'

Smacks to me of just being a list of stuff the BBC could cut to save money, rather than a list of stuff they are considering cutting. Part of this will be the way the press like to report stories, it'll get readers to tell the public that local radio, f1 and wimbeldon are being dropped, far more than the likely truth of a bit of regional networking on the local radio stations (like they are trialling currently on all the stations in Yorkshire merging together at lunch time), a lower number of presenters and renegotiation of suppliers contracts to maximise value for money.

At the end of the day, these stories are nothing more than scaremongering, and are very unlikely to actually happen.

Very true, but that would have only taken up 1 page of TVF, wheras the 10 pages of drivel are much more entertaining.

I hope so!! Get rid of Eddie Jordan and David Coulthard and let's have some proper non bickering pundits like Simon Taylor and Tony Jardine like the good old days back in 1997!! And Jim or Steve Rider!

Thanks to mlt22 on Digital Spy:


Nothing too outrageous there - though The Politics Show going would probably mean even more Cash in the Attic!

I think that sounds pretty disgraceful, especially cuts to The Film Programme and to Imagine--however, the worst news there appears to be that The Politics Show is under threat--with mistrust in almost all politicians, I think it's essential that as many political programmes exist on television and radio as possible, particularly at this time of cuts and the ensuing controversies surrounding these.

Hmm..
Brilliant idea by the BBC. "Give us a small increase with the licence fee - or we'll take away one of your platforms for politicans to speak to the electorate each week on BBC One".

That may just work. The BBC have to try something spectacular here. Asking them to do far more for the same amount of money for the next five years is never going to work.

The biggest card in their pack is the "close and or merge Radio's 3 and 4". Given those are the only two stations that those in power actually listen to- throw that one around to see how quick you get a £2-4 annual increase on the licence fee.