[Matrix]

I imagine if accurate these local radio changes may not go down too well with politicians, many of whom I imagine quite enjoy the platform it gives them to speak to their constituents.  Ultimately though the need to save money and make additional cuts comes from the licence fee freeze, which has been made worse with inflation at +10%. 

If there is to be more shared programmes I'd prefer it was combining counties roughly in line with regional news, rather than being across the entire England. (e.g. BBC Radio Cambridgeshire having a shared programme with just Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Three Counties.)

I’d agree, for example in Yorkshire, a programme airing across the whole Look North region would still be fairly local, and still have that northern feel. I imagine it’d be the same in other parts of the country

But an England show being like a sub-par version of Radio 2/4/5 wouldn’t serve any purpose, and simulcasting 5 Live would have been a good idea in the days when it was only on MW, but I’d imagine the vast majority of people have DAB now so it’s available in full quality already.

Will they also still be able to resource ‘emergency programmes’ like when there has been floods and bad weather. Not if there is nobody left except a newsreader from 2pm onwards

I'd agree. I suspect the synergy between Local Radio and Regions is quite a tempting one , particularly if you can collapse some into quite big regions ('The North', for example), and still maintain (just) the line that BBC Regions reflect their audiences etc. I'd also agree on the 5 Live point. It seems a bit redundant to simply lean on that, given its availability via DAB etc. It also places quite a large burden on 5 following the News Channel merger content which they're picking up. 

I think the point about Presenter/Producers is also quite important here. I suspect post 2pm bulls will increasingly fall to those who are disjointed from existing schedules but also able to turn their hand to longer-form packages or 'specials', like you say. Either way, I know colleagues are deeply unhappy this morning, which is an achievement given how low things already felt.

[Omnipresent]

The BBC has set out its proposals:

www.bbc.co.uk 

BBC sets out plans to transform its local services to deliver greater value to c…
The BBC has set out plans to reshape its local services across England to delive…
  Source: www.bbc.co.uk

In Summary:

- All 39 stations continue to have 2 local programmes between 6am and 2pm

- 18 afternoon programmes will be shared across England between 2pm & 6pm

- 10 evening programmes shared across England between 6pm & 10pm, during Saturday and on Sunday mornings

- An “all England” programme from 10pm and on Sunday afternoons and evenings

- Local News bulletins & sports commentary will be maintained

[Jon]

From Radio Today.

From 2pm till 6pm, 18 regional shows will be shared across the 39 stations. The 18 shows will air in:

Manchester
Merseyside
Lancashire and Cumbria
Newcastle and Tees
Leeds, Sheffield and York
Humberside and Lincolnshire
WM
Coventry and Warwickshire, Shropshire and Hereford and Worcestershire
Stoke, Derby and Nottingham
Leicester and Northampton
Essex
Cambridge, 3CR, Suffolk and Norfolk
London
Solent, Berkshire and Oxford
Kent, Sussex and Surrey
Devon and Cornwall
Bristol, Gloucester, Wiltshire and Somerset
Guernsey and Jersey

The 2-6pm splits aren’t as bad as they could have been been, on the whole keeping the big cities seperate from the more rural output. Some of the groupings such as Stoke being lumped in with Nottingham and Derby seem a bit weird though. And I’d have thought there was an argument for Coventry & Warwickshire to be lumped in with WM.

If they’re clever about it, each 2-6pm slot should have bespoke links and interviews relevant for that area, whilst keeping one presenter. It’s 2022 and the technology is there to make the change minimal for the listeners.

[Keith]

BBC Media Centre's PR spin on the announcement: www.bbc.co.uk 

BBC sets out plans to transform its local services to deliver greater value to c…
The BBC has set out plans to reshape its local services across England to delive…
  Source: www.bbc.co.uk

[Jon]

I wonder if they’ll be any studio closures, regional hubs to house multiple stations seems to be the way to go with larger buildings in the towns and cities that would lose out replaced by small offices.

[gottago]

It does seem odd that they're bothering with another all-England programme after 10pm when they weren't successful previously. If the listenership is so low at time to merge them all into one then why not just handover to 5Live and save even more money?

As an aside I'm amazed Jersey and Guernsey have managed to survive as separate services all these years (although judging by Wikipedia only until 2pm). Presumably they both have the smallest reach of any of the local stations?

[Josh]

From the BBC Radio Humberside breakfast show this morning:
twitter.com 

[m_in_m]

I don't understand why Essex gets to go alone but Cambridge(shire), 3CR, Suffolk and Norfolk are altogether.

[London Lite]

It does seem odd that they're bothering with another all-England programme after 10pm when they weren't successful previously. If the listenership is so low at time to merge them all into one then why not just handover to 5Live and save even more money?

I liked the all-England show when Georgey Spanswick (Radio York) took over from Mark Forrest. It felt more like a traditional LR show on a national level rather than the trying too hard to be different format it used previously.

[Newshound47]

There will be an urgent question in Parliament today about the cuts to BBC Local Radio. It will be asked by Labour MP Emma Hardy. Probably either the culture secretary or one of her junior minsters will answer it.