[Stockland Hillman]

I think the BBC often has its arm twisted into these changes based upon the whims of the culture secretary and the government of the day creating hoops the BBC have to jump through to keep the license fee.

The problem is it feeds into it detractors hands which can then say “look the bbc spent all this money to do x and now only a few years later their spending more money to change x to y.”

I completely agree it has now moved to a London and Salford problem. I sometimes think the balance is tipping the other way and it’s becoming too Salford based.

IMO I’ve always thought breakfast and now the one should come from NBH as thats the hub of their global news operation. Then news teams are based across the county in areas which are known for that subject eg climate change and sciences etc. move sport to Salford. You’ve got morning live from the north but also have the one show up there. Or even have the one show based mainly in Salford but once a week it comes from a region in the uk. That’s making it far more across the uk.

The BBC are a very political organisation, that's not party politics, it's lobbying and changing things in pursuit of what it wants - that is to maintain and grow influence - hence push online and into written text content where it was set up as a audio visual broadcaster. Pushing into markets they weren't set up to cover. That's why newspapers hate the BBC, and now podcasters are becoming increasingly negative about the organisation.


They spend alot of money and time on corporate policy and lobbying to gain favour with power to maintain position and influence. They are not passive 'takers' of government whims.

The 90s/00s switch to Red news branding, non orchestral music, odd regional launches such as Hull, were all new Labour era touches designed to appeal to the political power of the time. Out with Tory blue, empire coat of arms, classical style music.

It's recognised by everyone in media that the whole industry is too London centric. Moving to Greater Manchester was more a Labour favourite plan than the Tories, which the BBC persisted with. The Conservatives post 2016 would have much preferred Birmingham, Leeds, Newcastle,Bristol over Salford.

News is Salford isn't a problem. Resources are there for Breakfast (and London is now prohibitively expensive to live in for many, so relocation back isnt viable) News is mainly packages and remotes.

Morning Live has mainly contributers as guests so location isn't a problem. The One Show is celeb heavy, so that does unfortunately mean London is the only option.