ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ

We are very grateful to those who took the time to share their concerns and offer their own thoughts on how we could strike the right balance between local online and broadcast services. Local services are precious and that is clear.

We're really proud of our local services and we are committed to all of our 39 local radio stations across England. These services remain a priority for the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ.

In October 2022 we outlined our plans to modernise ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ local services. Our goal was to provide greater value to all local audiences by strengthening our online services for communities across England. This would see an improved local news offer online and an enhanced local audio service on ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Sounds. We’d also be creating a network of investigative reporters across England.Β 

In order to achieve this, we said we would need to reprioritise some investment from our local broadcast services into online. This included the closure of the Oxford and Cambridge TV news opt-programmes (which happened in December) and the introduction of greater programming outside of peak broadcast hours across ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Local Radio. We also made clear that all local radio bulletins would be protected across the day and that local live sport provision would also be maintained.

Those plans can be found at /mediacentre/2022/local-services-update

Over the last few months we have listened carefully to the feedback we received from staff and audiences. It has been heartening to see the high regard our ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ local services are held in across England, but we have also heard from those concerned about the extent of our plans to share radio programme across larger areas outside peak listening times.

As a result we have adapted a number of our earlier proposals.

We will be:

Β· Increasing the proposed number of afternoon weekday programmes from 18 to 20 between 2pm and 6pm.

Β· Increasing the proposed number of weekend daytime shows from 12 to 18 between 10am and 2pm on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Β· Revising some of the proposed pairings of stations in response to feedback from audiences.

In addition, we are pleased to confirm we will be maintaining our commitment to dedicated programming on ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Local Radio for Black and Asian audiences. Following discussions with staff from a variety of backgrounds we are planning to make these shows more accessible by moving them from their traditional single Sunday evening slot to new programme slots on both Monday and Friday evenings. We will be increasing the number of stations featuring this community programming from 20 to 33.

On ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Introducing and ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Upload programmes, these will be broadcast as part of our schedule on Thursday and Saturday evenings. In addition, we’ll be giving more prominence to new music artists on ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Sounds and across our local radio schedule.

This information is also available online at /mediacentre/2023/bbc-plans-modernise-local-services

In December Ofcom also published an assessment of our online plans – looking specifically at whether the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ’s planned changes could harm other local online providers.Β We’re pleased they concluded that our plans would not have a significant impact on fair and effective competition. You can find more on that atΒ 

Rhodri Talfan Davies, ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Director of Nations, would like to assure people: β€œThese proposals aim to maintain the distinctiveness of our local services while allowing the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ to adapt with our audiences and ensure we remain relevant. Taken together they will ensure our network of local services – across tv, radio, online and Sounds – offer more value for audiences. Of course, change is never easy – and we will work closely with all our colleagues to introduce these proposals sensitively and fairly. ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Local Radio remains an essential service for millions of listeners – the very best local radio network in the world - but it’s also essential we make difficult choices that will enable us to reach out to many people that increasingly rely on their mobiles for local content.”