[DTV]

This is a budget question, not a rota question.

Do we really think the BBC are preparing to allocate a sizeable year round budget for (PEAK TIME) travel and when required, accommodation to and from Salford for existing presenters who've only recently transitioned full time to the Network team. It was only two months ago there was confusion about their futures in London when the merger happened, including Hill, Chakrabarti and Brown. The Network team is already on the heavy side as it is with some presenters only getting one or two slots a week.

From a budgetary perspective, it wouldn't actually be that significant an amount, especially considering it would largely replace some of the travel arrangements that already exist for network presenters. But, if it does happen, I'd imagine that they'd only really need one 'regular' presenter, who they'd presumably offer relocation for, with gaps filled as necessary.

And, while the network team is perhaps a bit heavy at the minute, I expect this is partly deliberately transitional - with three of them already in their sixties, some will likely be retiring out in the foreseeable future - having an oversized roster at the minute helps smooth over the inevitable changes.