[Keith]

I'm guessing this confirms that BBC Breakfast's extension is also from the very beginning of January? Unless I'd missed that being confirmed elsewhere...

So with BBC Breakfast taking an extra 15 minutes and Morning Live 30 minutes, they're basically removing one of the 45 minute shows from the morning block?

Have to admit I'm slightly surprised that it's being extended by 30 minutes. That said it probably ticks a lot of boxes, as it's outside of London and presumably quite a few of the pre-recorded pieces/films featured are from indys. It'll be interesting to see if Morning Live will still take an occasional break for the likes of Rip Off Britain. Presumably as well as additional presenters on screen the crew will have also increased slightly, depending on how much their budget has increased by.

I guess by retaining a 30 minute programme in the daytime schedules instead of a 45 minute one it allows it to be reshown later in the year during primetime, without having to re-edit episodes to make a different length version.