[Andrew]

Essentially, from what I can gather, the proposal would reduce the *original* programming from each existing station to two programmes, Breakfast and Mid-morning.

I’m a sense, it’s devastating. Colleagues in Local Radio have been the backbone of the BBC, particularly during Covid, and to see it gutted like this is just truly a damning statement of where things have got to.

That said, the even more depressing part, in a sense, is realising that the proposals would essentially reduce programmes by half. We’re already in a situation where most evening programming is pooled and the daytime schedule exists (in the main) in four blocks (Breakfast, Mid Morn, Afternoon, and Drivetime).

Didn’t they go from 4 programmes to 3 during COVID and never went back

So it’s now 6-10, 10-2 and 2-6

Plus the regional early breakfast was axed at some stage as well

I hope they stay at least regional rather than pan-England. They did that before and nobody listened  to it, because it didn’t serve any purpose at all. Who would want to listen to a cheap pan-England show when there is already much better resourced national shows on national radio.

To be honest BBC Local Radio seemed to die when the 1st lockdown started and has never recovered. Rather than proper local speech content from local personalities, it’s all generic basic stuff with national topics, all very obvious stuff reheated endlessly, far too much music, which is also the most basic playlist as if it’s been cobbled together in five minutes and all done in a national straight jacket of three four hour shows per day.