The Culture, Media and Sport committee grill the BBC over its expansion plans into local news plus a series of radio cuts.
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00:00 Thank you very much. I do have a problem with this. It feels to me like
00:03 You've taken a torch to what is a very delicate ecosystem of local news and current affairs
00:08 Bear with me as I kind of set out my thinking on this
00:12 Okay, see what you've done is taken away very valuable local radio coverage from some of our most vulnerable constituents people
00:18 People who treasure it people for whom it's a lifeline. It's a friend. It's a
00:27 Huge asset to their lives and you know and in doing so, you know, according to the radar figures your
00:33 Local radio listening is down 14% year-on-year at the same time
00:38 You very proudly talk about your
00:41 expansion into local online news
00:44 By rolling out your 34 websites and 130 more jobs to deliver more regional news
00:51 You're you're you're delivering in areas that are already covered by a lot of local commercial independent publishers
00:58 like, you know in my area the Portsmouth News which have a
01:01 website
01:03 Who are already struggling because of the decline of local print because of the line of local print media or print media across the board
01:10 So
01:13 After stroke you're effectively blowing up the services the local radio services that some
01:20 People absolutely treasure you're undermining the financial
01:23 financial
01:26 viability of some of our local independent
01:28 publishers and now
01:31 In the press yesterday. It talks about the BBC's proposing to carry advertising on some of its radio
01:37 Services so effectively now coming out in competition with some local radio provision
01:43 Tim talk to me about this because it just seems to me like you know
01:47 What you've done is you've started picking away a very delicate ecosystem and your role as a public service
01:52 Broadcaster is at one stroke seemingly trying to undermine every other aspect of the local
01:58 News and public affairs which current affairs which we all value so dearly
02:03 Indeed, and I think they're all very fair considerations. I
02:08 think
02:10 Any changes are very sensitive. This is very precious and
02:14 We don't estimate that I would margin push back on blowing up
02:17 You know
02:18 We're keeping all of our 39 services if you look at the I think the numbers are a bit before the change
02:22 But we'll see how this goes. I
02:24 Think you know, it has been a big decision to keep all 39 stations keep
02:29 You know output local from six to two where by far the majority of the listening is and then you know
02:36 We're not the afternoons are still good radio shows and we're doing 20 of them across the land in a way now
02:41 I know I don't I'm not underestimating the enormity of this but the idea we're blowing up the ecosystem
02:47 Or my vision has been to collapse local radio
02:49 It's just not true the vast majority of our money
02:51 You know in these goes and you know in us in our local offices goes to and will remain it stays in
02:57 linear services
03:00 Broadcast television book and but the idea that we and then we get to the second point
03:04 So look, I think we've got to watch how we go
03:06 It's incredibly sensitive and if people read it and understandably concerned, well, this is just a thin end of the wedge. I understand that