Cuts at the BBC to save £500M, Radio 4 programmes to be axed

[nauticant]

The BBC has announced 550 job cuts in news, nations and TV and radio content as part of its first stage in its plan to save £500m across the corporation over the next two years.

In an email to staff, interim CEO of BBC News, Jonathan Munro, outlined the proposals including ending Radio 4's The World Tonight, and reducing the number of permanent presenters on Today from five to four from September, with a single anchor on Saturdays.
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Several other Radio 4 programmes will also end during the next year - the Midnight News, Money Box Live, AntiSocial, The Law Show and Crossing Continents.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgmqrrlej5o

The real loss for me will be The World Tonight, I've long thought of it as the most classy of the news programmes of the day. Far more considered than the noise of the Today programme or the PM programme. Losing Crossing Continents will also be a shame.

perhaps some of the presenters could take a pay cut?

A lot of the programmes are made by foreign correspondents and other journalists. Will these cuts mean they have more time on their hands and then there will be cuts?

What are they going to replace the world tonight with? The cutting of news is weird and I think it shows the new DG doesn’t really understand the public service broadcasting element.

I really resent paying the licence fee tbh which I don’t ten years ago

The World Tonight is to be replaced by Newshour from the World Service. From what I heard I think they're going to shift its broadcast time on the World Service so that it ends up being broadcast simultaneously on Radio 4. But I'm unsure if this will result in a 10pm start time.

tbf I often have WS 9pm news hour on and then listen to WT and there is a lot of repetition

^^This most of it is absolute crap. Whilst we’re at it get rid of The Media Show, who cares, and When It Hits The Fan. I’m finding What’s Up Doc increasingly irritating and the Kitchen Cabinet or whatever it’s called but I really don’t think you’re average person is that interested in it.
I used to be an avid R4 listener
been listening since I was a small child so 60 years but increasingly I’m turning it off. I’m not sure who they are trying to attract a younger audience I suspect but I doubt this is working and I’m would have thought they are increasingly alienating people of my generation.
I’ll really miss Amol!

I am not at all sorry to hear The Law Show is being axed. I gave it a go but found it unbearable. Yet again they got rid of something that worked and tried to make it more 'now', as they have done with so many programmes. It happens so often it feels intentional. They don't want a new audience, they know they're not going to get that but they don't want us loyal forever listeners either.

And while we're here why TF does Evan bloody Davis have to wander off to all corners of the UK to hear from 'ordinary people' for PM, which isn't an easy listen any more either, every two minutes. So much as a sniff of something political and there he is, swanning off to Aberdeen or Aberystwyth. It seems to be every time I can bear to tune in he's somewhere else for his little jolly. When I think back to the Eddie Mair days, he was so good, it's a cross between heartbreaking and infuriating.

@LaurenAction

This is an excellent stealth username. I'll be smiling ruefully to myself all day, I loved that programme.

I agree. I am sad The World Tonight going.

Well Beardy this is a result of people not paying their licence fee. News is expensive.

Agree about fewer license fee payers some legitimate.

The BBC should cut Mrs Browns Boys first before anything else.

I listen to crossing continents every episode, it’s really informative

Well quite - but sadly the people still paying the licence fee are probably more interested in the news input (and older…)

I resent paying the licence fee for a lot of the crap or unnecessary stuff they show that could be on commercial TV. But I pay it for the radio and news offerings

Andrea Catherwood on Feedback yesterday said You & Yours is being axed. It's one of the few programmes I'll actively tune in for, you can learn a lot from it. I enjoy Winifred Robinson's presentation of it, she's very good. I hope they don't have their eyes on Scam Secrets.

These are useful programmes. And listenable, unlike some of the screeching, in your face shite they are replacing so many with.

@LaurenAction
I was really upset when I heard today they were axing You and Yours.
I used to have Radio 4 on for the best part of the day, most days. In recent times though there are very few of their programmes I can bear to listen to. But You and Yours is so good. And like you I actively turn the radio on to listen to it.
It's such a useful programme. Helpful and informative to ordinary people. And Winifred Robinson is brilliant.
I am so disappointed. I'm going to get in touch with the BBC to complain about them axing this programme. Not that I have any hope of it doing any good but I'm fed up of the way they have made what was a decent radio station into something absolutely not worth tuning into much of the time.

Same @Blankitout .

they have made what was a decent radio station into something absolutely not worth tuning into much of the time

I've said before that it feels like such an intentional dumbing down, for want of a better phrase, so that when the time comes to pull the plug on it they'll say "Well, it was your own fault for not listening".

As a PP said upthread, they're throwing our money at the wrong things. There's a reason the BBC are not asking questions, or listening to complaints, about why people stop listening to or watching their output.

Bbc on the whole has gone downhill. Radio2 is unlistenable now apart from one or two presenters. The whole thing needs a revamp and im not surprised so many people has stopped paying the licence fee. But maybe the way forward is a slimmed down subscription type service. Pay your licence fee get a code to log into iplayer or sounds.

I used to have R4 on all the time but with the dumbing down and repeats I rarely listen anymore. It’s a shame.

I'd say I listen to R4extra more than R4 nowadays, I'm glad it's available, for now. It's not all to my taste but much of it is more bearable than a lot of R4's output.

I’m going to miss You and Yours simply because of Winifred Robinson, she’s such a wonderful presenter and a great listener.

Another one who loves You and Yours. I download it for the walk to work. It's so informative.

I think that in the BBC’s race to win viewers and listeners, they’ve gone for mediocrity of programming (soaps/dramas, unfunny comedy, celebrity this, that and the other) and sacrificed the one thing they were uniquely known for; thoughtful, insightful, educational and informative programs, aimed at those with a high degree of intellect and curiosity. They’ve now added their output to the rest of the beige slop in TV/Radio land and are wondering why people are refusing to pay for it.

I agree. They’ve made the mistake of thinking the only audience out there is young people but they don’t seem to understand how to appeal to younger audiences either

I would be interested to know if any young people are listening. And, if so, what they think of what they're hearing.

I love Radio 4 and didn't really get into it until my late twenties on a long car commute. I think unfortunately anything further dumbing down our population is a disaster. Moneybox live was really thought provoking.

My young people don’t listen to any BBC radio and don’t really watch the tv output either. This is despite them being raised with it on in the background etc

neither trust the BBC as a source of information any more than what other news outlet either

i don’t think the BBC can survive in its current form as it’s losing its identity