[interestednovice]

I have said it a few times now, if you were the BBC and you had decided to say, close down the news channel by 2030, steps which have been taken make more sense. Of course, the BBC will always have the output or the capacity to output in major events, but I think 24 hour news channels with rolling news will be obsolete by 2030. The majority get their news via the web or recently video shorts these days. A 24 hour channel seems very old fashioned once these methods are adopted more and tailored more for news.

On the other hand, while I agree with you that phasing out the channel in the seemingly self-sabotaging way they have would explain various things, I actually believe that the NC continuing as a linear service makes a great deal of sense.

Linear outlets offering live events and breaking news are able to bring you up-to-the-minute information, which is valuable in a way that potentially old video clips aren’t. There is also something to be said for the BBC to be able to throw straight across to the NC for significant breaking news. To already have a presenter in the chair, microphone live, studio ready to go and gallery staff is a big deal. To get a team ready for broadcast (even a standby team already in the building) takes time in itself. Not if the NC is already on the air.

News is the essence of PSB output and should not be cut back in my view, it should be the last to go. When I have expressed this view in the past, then it has always come in for criticism; but the fact is that a minimal-service PBS-style model is one way of doing PSB broadcasting. If money really is that short, perhaps the BBC should reevaluate what they do and ensure that news can continue to be adequately covered. Even if it means major cuts to entertainment elsewhere. This is not just because news is so important, but also because the more “entertainment” aspects of current BBC output are more readily replaceable by commercial competitors.

Without stating my exact age, I’m actually in the supposed “younger viewer” BBC Three bracket and, despite this, I say all of that.

Things such as axing Our World to “reinvest” in BBC Sounds podcasts shouldn’t be happening. Neither should total closure of the BBC NC. The BBC is guilty of chasing “trendy” things and spending money on those quite often while cutting back elsewhere. When audiences don’t necessarily want the trendy thing, and really feel the loss of the cutbacks to some of the BBC’s more unique services.

Another example is local radio: popular with older people, which the BBC have alienated over the years by attempting to chase a younger audience that simply isn’t there.