BBC move to digital-led strategy is failing its true local listeners
IN choosing to regionalise its local radio service by making cuts to preserve its licence fee status, the BBC is acting totally contrary to its current promotion trailer claiming that, ‘the BBC is for everyone’.
Radio Stoke has been the voice of North Staffordshire and South Cheshire communities for more than 50 years with locally sourced content from local presenters and local contributors.
The station began broadcasting on March 14, 1968 with interviews with local personalities, chunks of homegrown news filtered with charttopping songs What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong, and with Tom Jones punching out Delilah.
Since then, BBC Radio Stoke has been the local live companion from dawn to evening and beyond broadcasting football matches, on air informal conversations, theatre and brass band concerts, school visits, and celebrity engagement from every corner a reporter can bring a microphone to create community engagement and stimulate interest.
Accompanying hourly news is traffic information, weather notices and topical summaries, as well as social, cultural and welfare advice. But the one thing many people tune in for is to be in the presence of the friendly voices of presenters, and that’s the one single component listeners will miss most.
Many local personalities stepped into our houses and into our car radios from Conway House.
Luminary television presenters Bruno
Brookes and Anthea Turner began their careers from the unglamorous former offices in Pall Mall Hanley.
Indeed, throughout its history, Radio Stoke presenters have become familiar companions through their own personality and consistent company.
I recall the no-nonsense interviewing clout of Jason Dean and politics guru Chris Ramsden testing the merits of our civic leaders.
And characters like Welshman and adopted Stokie Arfon Roberts, following his seminal live reportage from Aberfan’s heart-breaking tragedy; and Asian presenter Sajida Ahmed, and Pam Spall with ‘Action Line’.
Then of course, there was ‘the voice of the Potteries’ Sam Plank.
Wherever there was something happening Sam would be there with his laidback heart-to-heart conversations, often humorous, often moving.
Wherever local interest takes them, to a scout jamboree at Kibblestone, or a mum and toddler club in Fegg Hayes, there is always a Radio Stoke presenter, men and women from the local catchment, projecting well-informed material with give-and-take community exchange.
As a team they bring ‘family’ friendship to a large population in North Staffordshire and South Cheshire.
Redundancies anywhere are hateful. But the repercussions of these cuts go far beyond jobs. The reasoning is clearly influenced by the expanding way the majority of us directly access programmes.
Most young people find their sources through tens-of-thousands of global internet stations that continues to proliferate. But, and here’s my point, the population of the elderly, and the consequent remoteness and isolation caused by social media conditioning, is also increasing.
Furthermore, it is contradictory for the BBC to celebrate the huge success of its inspirational Make a Difference Awards honouring local people who ‘love to make life better for others,’ whilst at the same time shrinking the service that makes it work.
For me, the move to regional output will undermine the wide-ranging attraction of local radio.
And the BBC’S prioritisation in having a digital presence will only serve to quarantine older people who make up the volume of local radio listeners.
Evidence shows that some 5.8 million adults in England tune in to BBC Local Radio with 58 per cent of listeners over the age of 55.
There’s no doubt that in reducing the output of local radio the BBC is defaulting on its Royal Charter mission statement which is, ‘to act in the public interest, serving all audiences…”.
But this strategy focusing on becoming a digital-led broadcaster, is discriminating against its true local listeners, and it will fail in community involvement and enhancement.
Regionalisation is executively biased. Not only should the cuts be stopped, the service should be expanded. Time to think again BBC.