[agentsquash]

That might have been so relating to those more permanent Presenters based in Salford and we just don't know the ins and outs of personal packages offered to the likes of Charlie, Jon and Naga. What I am calling out on a cost basis is the travelling to Salford from London by Presenters for only one or two days i.e. likes of Ben Thompson for one morning only which was the case last Saturday and now for the One is the likes of Tina Dahealy for what she has indicated will be two days in Salford for a couple of months. Can these people not work like everyone else five days a week! Also travelling time to Salford is non productive time sitting on a train and is at licence payer expense. The majority of the public I'm sure would love to be paid for sitting on a train as part of their weekly hours at work. I am sorry but I resent paying my TV Licence to be swallowed up on train fares, hotel costs and also non productive travelling time when a better use of Salford based Presenters could be made in the short term albeit they may not be a part of what was the regular One team (as was Tina Dahealy until now). Surely Roger Johnson is more than capable of stepping in temporarily to present a National Bulletin and then backfill his duties on North West Tonight. Yes it can be argued budget lines but that's what accountants do, change budgets. Also as a side Tina has her own job on Radio 2 so her missing for 2/3 mornings will no doubt be another cost somewhere. The BBC need to be more accountable to the Licence payer and this "not a known face" to BBC1 just does not wash any longer given the current funding issues. We have seen many different unfamiliar faces on general News Channel and even on BBC1 at weekends. Apart from the likes of those who contribute to this Forum how many viewers would actually care or complain about Roger Johnson presenting the One if they thought they could have their BBC Local Radio afternoon programme reinstated.

Jon and Naga weren’t part of the original relocation to Salford, if I recall correctly.

In the grand scheme of things, paying for a corporate rate train ticket to Manchester is far cheaper than the costs of full relocation. It also helps to have familiar faces in times of change, which help maintain trust in the brand. I won’t be surprised if we see Roger Johnson filling in sooner rather than later, though!

The trip isn’t all non productive time, either - they are still journalists and can work on the train. It’s only Salford, too - Tina can still do the Radio 2 bulletins from there, it’s not like there’s a disconnect from the rest of the world!