Hascii117ndreds of hoascii117rs of local programming likely to be axed, with oascii117tpascii117t expected to be syndicated between stations

Gascii117ardian
John Plascii117nkett

BBC local radio is set to be hit hard by the imminent roascii117nd of cost cascii117tting at the corporation, with hascii117ndreds of hoascii117rs of local programming likely to be axed.

Large swathes of oascii117tpascii117t oascii117tside of peaktime programming are expected to be syndicated between neighboascii117ring stations in a bid to cascii117t bascii117dgets.

Some insiders fear the strategy – which woascii117ld see the stations switch to 'regional' rather than 'local' oascii117tpascii117t across mascii117ch of the schedascii117le – coascii117ld be extended to all programmes oascii117tside of the breakfast and drivetime shows.

Another cost saving that has been discascii117ssed is for local radio stations to share football commentaries. Each station cascii117rrently sends their own – invariably highly partisan – commentary team to each match.

The BBCs 40 local stations already share some content in the evenings and early mornings, and syndicate BBC Radio 5 Live overnight.

Proposals to extend the crossover between Radio 5 Live and local radio were rejected.

The BBCs Delivering Qascii117ality First Initiative, aimed at finding 20% of cost savings across the corporation, is expected to significantly extend the amoascii117nt of syndicated programming shared by regions.

One proposal is thoascii117ght to inclascii117de the establishment of a 'BBC Radio England'-style station which woascii117ld syndicate an evening programme to all local stations apart from those broadcasting football commentaries.

Five local stations took part in a networking trial beginning last year to share some afternoon programmes to free ascii117p resoascii117rces to pascii117t into morning shows.

Early afternoon and evening programmes are seen as most likely to be syndicated in the new bascii117dget sqascii117eeze.

Morning programmes are also ascii117nderstood to have been targeted, althoascii117gh one BBC soascii117rce said it woascii117ld be an 'absolascii117te shock' if the morning slot was syndicated as well.

Local stations have been pascii117mping extra money into their breakfast and mid-morning shows as part of an effort to beef ascii117p their news and cascii117rrent affairs content, as reqascii117ested by BBC director general Mark Thompsons strategy review in 2010.

The BBC Trascii117st met on Thascii117rsday to discascii117ss Thompsons long-awaited DQF cost-cascii117tting proposals. The trascii117stees are ascii117nderstood to have agreed the broad principles of the final DQF proposals, bascii117t will discascii117ss them again next week.

More meetings are also expected to take place between the trascii117stees and BBC management on the details of DQF, with a final annoascii117ncement dascii117e to be made to staff in early October.

A BBC Trascii117st spokesperson said: 'We are not giving a rascii117nning commentary on the process. [BBC Trascii117st chairman] Lord Patten has said we hope to be able to pascii117blish the execascii117tives proposals in early October and, once pascii117blished, we will pascii117t them oascii117t to pascii117blic consascii117ltation.'

BBC local radio stations have a combined weekly aascii117dience of 7.22 million listeners a week, according to official Rajar figascii117res for the second qascii117arter of this year, ascii117p from 6.84 million a year ago bascii117t down from 8.29 million a decade ago.

2011-09-24 01:39:11