BBC LOOKS NORTH

Newsnight and Today will use different UK bases in huge revamp to reach audiences outside London

THE BBC unveiled its ‘biggest transformation in decades’ yesterday to tackle concerns it is too London- centric and out of touch with large parts of the UK.

The Corporation revealed sweeping changes which will see flagship current affairs shows such as the Today programme and Newsnight regularly presented from outside the capital.

Radio 3 and Radio 6 Music will be ‘rooted’ in Salford with the Asian Network fully based in Birmingham.

And there could be a new northern soap to rival Coronation Street and Emmerdale, as it revealed plans for a ‘long running drama series’ from the North. The broadcaster has faced accusations it is dominated by a metropolitan elite that is out of touch with many Britons and failed to understand the feelings behind the large numbers who voted for Brexit.

The BBC said there would be a

‘Hope these changes won’t repeat mistakes’

‘noticeable shift in portrayal’ of different parts of the UK across areas such as comedy, drama and factual output.

Big name presenters on Radio 1 and Radio 2 also face having their shows moved to the provinces as part of the £700million plan.

Last year Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said he wanted the BBC to avoid a ‘narrow urban outlook’ and to do more to get in touch with the whole of the UK. In the new ‘blueprint’, called Across the UK, the Corporation said it was going to ‘shift its creative and journalistic centre away from London’.

The BBC said the plans will see 400 jobs moved out of the capital, of which 200 will be within news.

A further 600 new roles will be created outside the M25 by the end of the six-year plan. But it said its overall headcount would continue to fall.

Sources last night revealed that there will have been 900 full-time equivalent posts closed by the end of this financial year at the Corporation.

Yesterday, staff were said to be upset about the prospect of having to move, with some describing relocation as ‘de facto compulsory redundancy’ for those not willing to uproot their families. MPs warned of not repeating ‘the costly mistakes’ the Corporation made in its expensive move to Salford.

There are also concerns most of the relocation will simply be from one metropolitan area – London – to another – Greater Manchester. Among the biggest changes are in news, where Radio 4’s Today programme will be co-presented from outside London for at least 100 episodes a year.

Newsnight will be presented from ‘different bases’ including Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow and Manchester. Radio 4’s PM programme, presented by Evan Davis, will ‘regularly’ be hosted in other locations as well. And Radio 1’s Newsbeat will be presented from Birmingham.

In what might be code for areas that voted for Brexit, the Corporation plans to launch six new peak-time local radio services in ‘communities facing some of the greatest social and economic challenges’, including Sunderland and Wolverhampton.

The BBC is hoping for specialist news teams to have moved by autumn next year and want to start moving the high-profile news shows around the country as soon as possible. It is thought the moving of Radio 1 and Radio 2 shows will take longer.

Julian Knight MP, chairman of the digital, culture, media and sport committee, said: ‘We welcome the BBC’s decision to move more of its operations to Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds and Salford which will give licence fee payers greater bang for their buck. It’s the start of greater recognition of the need to commit to and rebalance audiences outside London. However we hope these changes will not repeat some of the costly mistakes made by the BBC in its previous move to Salford.’

As part of the moves from 2022, the entire live morning output of BBC1, from 6am to 10am will come from Salford, as topical show Morning Live will from January next year be based there.

BBC Director- General Tim Davie said the ‘challenges for the BBC are real, and we must act now’. He added that ‘people must feel we are closer to them’ and said with the rise of global streaming giants ‘the jeopardy for the BBC remains high’.