Cuts to fall on Radio Berkshire as BBC looks to save £125m

CHANGES made to BBC Radio Berkshire’s schedules at the start of the coronavirus pandemic will become permanent as the broadcaster looks to save £125 million. In all, 450 jobs across BBC England are at risk – 15% of the workforce. A consultation is now in place and it is not knownwhatwill happen to BBC Radio Berkshire’s staff numbers. The BBC runs 39 local radio stations in England. Since March, it has divided the broadcasting day into four-hour chunks – a breakfast show, a morning show, an afternoon show and an evening one. Specialist programmes, which in Berkshire include Irish Eye, have been dropped and under the proposals it means that it is unlikely to come back. Each programme will only have one presenter. And other changes will see regional programmes made from 11 centres such as Southampton, replaced with ones made from six centres. The closest to Berkshire would be London. Other changes include changing the 6.30pm regional bulletins from multiple newscasters to just one, and making more programmes from Bradford, Sunderland, Wolverhampton, Blackpool and Peterborough. Helen Thomas, the director of BBC England, says: “I’m proud people have turned to us for trusted news and information in huge numbers during COVID-19, proving the importance of our local and regional services. But those services were created more than 50 years ago, have changed very little and need significant reinvention. That has meant taking some difficult decisions. “We are in the age of the Facebook community group and the WhatsApp neighbourhood chat. We must adapt to better reflect how people live their lives, how they get their news and what content theywant.” She added: “We’re going tomodernise our offer to audiences in England by making digital a central part of everything we do. “We’ll take forward lessons fromCOVID-19 that will make us more agile and more in touch with communities, while also ensuring we’re as efficient aswe can be. I’mconfidentwe can evolve our local and regional services while improving our impact and better serving our audiences.” There is no news as to what will happen to specialist programmes on local radio, which on BBC Radio Berkshire includes Irish Eye and a Saturdaymorning Treasure Hunt-type programme that sees presenter Anoushka Williams travel around the county in response to a team in the studio answering clues as to her location. A BBC spokesperson told Wokingham. Today: “The BBC faces huge financial challenges and our local services are not immune to these pressures. “We announced proposals to retain the successful changes made to the weekday daytime local radio schedules at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic on a permanent basis. “All 39 stations will continue to provide local content and further updates to individual station schedules will be reviewed at a later date.”