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Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ savings strategy

The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ director of strategy John Tate on the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ budget cuts, Paul Dacre addresses the Leveson Inquiry into phone hacking, and why the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ wants to stop paying fees to Sky.

The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ has announced its proposals for "Delivering Quality First", a strategy to cut twenty percent of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's spending over the next five years. No Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ channels will be scrapped but there are concerns that the savings could overstretch resources and erode the quality of Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ programmes. Steve Hewlett hears about the decisions from the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's director of policy and strategy, John Tate.

The Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's proposals include big cuts to local radio and reductions in budgets for network radio although Radio 4 will be protected more than others. Radio critic Gillian Reynolds explains why she fears the cuts to Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ radio are worse than they seem.

The Daily Mail's editor in chief Paul Dacre has addressed the Leveson Inquiry into phone hacking, calling for continued self regulation of a press which he said is "vastly better behaved" now than it was when he started working in journalism. The Guardian's media correspondent Dan Sabbagh, who was at the seminar, picks out some of Paul Dacre's main suggestions.

According to a report commissioned by the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ executive, the corporation pays fees of about Β£10 million a year to Sky to carry Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ channels. The report says this is an unusual set-up as, in many countries, the opposite is true and satellite broadcasters pay terrestrial channels for their programmes. In the light of the recent budget cuts, John Tate tells Steve Hewlett the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ should stop the payments to Sky and spend the money on local radio and Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Four instead. Sky says the payments are a fair and proportionate contribution towards its running costs.

The producer is Simon Tillotson.

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30 minutes

Last on

Wed 12 Oct 2011 13:30

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  • Wed 12 Oct 2011 13:30

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