[article]Ch-ch-changes at the BBC?

mike65

Times of London has published an article which suggets the beeb will slim down certain "peripheral" activities and spend money on boosting the core services

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/media/article7041944.ece

The BBC will close two radio stations, shut half its website and cut spending heavily on imported American programmes in an overhaul of services to be announced next month.

Mark Thompson, the Director-General, will admit that the corporation, which is funded by the £3.6 billion annual licence fee, has become too large and must shrink to give its commercial rivals room to operate.

In a wideranging strategic review, he will announce the closure of the digital radio stations 6 Music and Asian Network and introduce a cap on spending on broadcast rights for sports events of 8.5 per cent of the licence fee, or about £300 million.

He will also pledge to close BBC Switch and Blast!, leaving the lucrative teenage market to ITV and Channel 4. But BBC Three, which is aimed at 16 to 35-year-olds will not be touched.

The report is being considered by the corporation’s governing body, the BBC Trust, and is due to be made public next month.

As part of a pledge to focus on quality over quantity, Mr Thompson will boost the BBC Two budget by £25 million and give the station a mandate to go upmarket. This will be funded by 25 per cent reduction in the corporation’s budget of £100 million for foreign acquisitions such as Mad Men and Heroes. BBC Trust sources said, however, that they would try to push the Director-General to a 33 per cent cut in the import budget.

Would hate to see Mad Men get dropped I have to say, dropping Radio 6 also seems counterintuitive. Radio 1 is what needs dumping.

Minstrel27

It is a shame to see 6 Music go.

byte

Minstrel27 wrote: »

It is a shame to see 6 Music go.

Especially considering there's worse (IMO) garbage they could eradicate instead.