The BBC’s plan for local radio is an insult to listeners
AS A veteran local radio producer and presenter, I agree with reader Graham Day (Letters) about the BBC’s plan to axe much of the local content from 39 regional stations.
The man implementing the cuts, BBC England boss Jason Horton, seems to have a short memory.
I would respectfully remind him that years ago we co-presented a Christmas auction special on local radio, and the listeners who supported it were not from the ‘yoof’ demographic.
The folk who trudged across fields to outside broadcasts, asked for our autographs and bought things at that auction were older listeners — the lifeblood of local radio.
They relied on it and rewarded us with their loyalty. I catered largely for that audience for 34 years, including
28 years on one show.
One day, a BBC manager rang me and said: ‘Dick, the interesting thing is that your figures never really drop because as fast as we lose any of them through age, someone younger climbs on the other end to take their place.’ Stop listening to newbies and statisticians, Jason, and think what you are doing. You are destroying something very special. We owe these people. You owe them.
RICHARD SPENDLOVE, Harston, Cambs.
IT WAS upsetting to hear about the BBC’s plans for local radio. Evening programmes are a companion to many, and on lonely, cold, dark winter nights it is a great comfort for listeners to come together as a family, knowing they are part of a local radio community.