Beeb moving more jobs to MediaCity Agony as snake gives dad the slip
THE BBC has unveiled plans to move more roles to MediaCityUK to ‘better reflect’ all parts of the country.
Over the next six years, its output will shift away from London with more decision-making in the North – in what it is calling its ‘biggest transformation in decades.’
Currently, half the BBC is based outside of the capital, with departments including Sport, 5 Live and Children’s having relocated to Salford in 2011.
But the proposal set out in ‘The BBC Across the UK’ plan aims to give even more prominence to stories from communities across the North region, in a bid to reshape its journalism.
Viewers will see a ‘noticeable shift in portrayal of different parts of the UK in drama, comedy and factual’ shows, the broadcaster said.
MediaCityUK will become the main base for digital and technology teams, while more than 50 per cent of BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 6 Music’s broadcast hours will come from Salford.
BBC One daytime show Morning
Live will broadcast from there all year-round and there will be a new commercial operation for BBC Children’s.
The Writersroom will also be expanded in Salford, with a new Head of New Writing based at BBC North.
A new long-running drama series produced in the North of England will also be launched and broadcast across the country, while the North will get its continuity announcements with BBC One tailored to audiences in the North West, North East and Yorkshire.
News and current affairs programmes like Newsnight will be presented from different UK bases throughout the year and Radio 4’s Today programme will be co-presented from outside London for at least 100 episodes a year.
The BBC said that ‘major parts of BBC News’ would ‘shift across the UK... ensuring we cover the stories that matter most to audiences and more effectively representing different voices and perspectives.’
The move comes after former Today programme host John Humphrys previously said the BBC failed to understand the vote for Brexit.
And Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has said ‘the BBC needs to be closer to, and understand the perspectives of, the whole of the United Kingdom and avoid providing a narrow urban outlook.’
Under the new plan, a ‘clear majority’ of the BBC’s ‘UK-wide TV will be made across the UK, not in London – at least 60 per cent of network TV commissions by spend.’
Key daytime programmes on each of Radio 1, 1Xtra and Radio 2 will be made across the UK and 50pc of network radio and music spend will be outside London by 2027/28.
More than 100 new and returning drama and comedy titles will reflect the lives and communities of audiences outside London over the next three years, the BBC said.
A SNAKE owner has appealed for help in finding his beloved pet after it went missing.
Mucka the eight-month-old ball python was last seen at his home in Horwich, Bolton, on March 6. He escaped from his vivarium container after owner Mark Golding, 47, forgot to lock the door. He has since ‘ripped his house to pieces’ in a bid to find Mucka.
Although Mark believes the snake may still be in the house, there’s a possibility he could have escaped outside.
The dad-of-three is now asking anyone who may have seen Mucka to contact him immediately.
He said: “I’m devastated, to be honest. People say he’s only a snake, but he’s not. He’s family. At the end of the day, I just want my baby boy back.”
Mark, a delivery driver and fabricator, says Mucka does not bite and is not venomous.