[DTV]

This is just ridiculous and a major red flag. Just totally unjustifiable for BBC World News to take 2 hours of the House of Commons this afternoon. The Chancellor's u-turns were announced this morning. They are somewhat relevant to international audiences, so it would be fair to even take them live and then cover them as a lead/major story for the rest of the day. But nothing in this afternoon's session was both new and relevant to international viewers, nor was it ever going to be.

Clear now that my initial reaction to the merger - that it would lead to an unsatisfactory smudge that served neither audience - was correct. If this is at all indicative of the editorial decision making on the merged channel, I can't see the advertising revenues staying in the green for long.

UK-centric news was always big on BBC World

Not sure this is really true. It has become more UK-centric in recent years, arguably too much so, but historically BBC World was specifically very non-UK centric - particularly during the 2000s. Indeed, BBC World often won plaudits for its incredibly good balance of international stories and only including UK stories when it was genuinely internationally relevant. And, as I've said before, the notion that some forumers have that BBC World viewers are predominantly people with a keen interest in UK politics just isn't something borne out it any evidence.