BBC do not want me, presenter tells his radio fans
A WELL-KNOWN award-winning BBC presenter in Yorkshire has been has been told he is “no longer needed”, he has revealed.
David Burns presents The Burnsy Show on Radio Humberside every weekday between 10am and 2pm. He also commentates on Hull City games, where he got his nickname of Burnsy.
Announcing his departure, he said the last few months had been “unnecessarily painful” and expressed support for colleagues who “face a very uncertain and unsettling time”.
Local radio presenters were “finding out if they keep their jobs or face compulsory redundancy”, the local branch of the National Union of Journalists said earlier this month.
Some had already decided to take voluntary redundancy rather than go through the process.
It came after the BBC announced local radio stations would share more content and broadcast less programming unique to their areas.
This would mean local programming restricted after 2pm and afternoon programmes shared between 39 local radio stations.
Around 1,000 staff walked out on strike in March in protest. Another strike will follow on May 5, local election results day.
Mr Burns, a three-times regional radio broadcast presenter of the year, wrote: “The BBC has told me I won’t be needed as a presenter. I’m eternally grateful to them for the opportunity. I’ve loved every minute, though the last few months have been unnecessarily painful.”
The news sparked an outpouring of condemnation, with all three Hull MPs attacking the move. Hull City Retro lamented the loss of the “voice of Hull City on match day” while others described him as “an absolute titan of local broadcasting”.
The NUJ has criticised the BBC for “raiding local radio budgets to fund its Digital First strategy”.
The BBC previously confirmed 48 jobs would be lost across local staffing in England.
Last month it said there would be no overall reduction in staffing levels or local funding, adding: “Our goal is a local service across TV, radio and online that delivers even greater value to communities.”