[Keith]

Now fingers crossed that the endgame has been reached they can get the five benched presenters back on air As soon possible-this dispute has gone on long enough now.

If I recall the BBC is/was doing a separate 'review' into whether they had a sufficient number of presenters for the News channel. It was widely seen as a way for the BBC to save face when in the inevitable u-turn occurs. Presumably it also avoids any claims of unfair dismissal from other departed presenters.

Given that one of the original five chosen presenters has now left BBC News it would make it easier to appoint these five to be presenters. If I recall correctly most of the other presenter-reporter roles have yet to be filled because of this dispute. Whilst the presenter roles may cost more I'm guessing it's probably cheaper than paying for freelance presenters, whilst presumably these five have been on full pay whilst working off-screen.