Radio presenter for many years. Watching the destruction of BBC Local Radio from the inside

Joined April 2023
Undervalued broadcaster retweeted
Please also ask the DG why the BBC repeatedly refuses to run a single promo campaign for Local Radio. It should be a jewel in the crown of public service broadcasting. We don't need to be told about Sara Cox (again).
The Archers was born in Birmingham and is a key part of our broadcasting heritage. I’m very disappointed by news that the BBC plans to move its production out of the city. The BBC has made clear commitments to growing its presence in the West Midlands - especially with the move to the Tea Factory. So, moving one of its most established programmes out of the region sends the wrong message. We have the talent and the facilities here. There is no good reason why we should lose a programme that has called Birmingham home for decades. I’m meeting the BBC’s Director-General, Matt Brittin, this week. I want to understand the reasons behind this decision and discuss every available option to keep The Archers here. The BBC promised to invest and support our regions, this is entirely the opposite of that. And it can’t be allowed to happen. birminghammail.co.uk/whats-o

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Undervalued broadcaster retweeted
I am genuinely sad about what’s happening at the BBC. I worked there (in chunks) for nearly a decade and left three and a half years ago. It’s not the same place I left and the challenges are really nuanced (I know nuance is tough on X but it’s important)đŸ§”
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Please read this
 it’s just spot on radiotoday.co.uk/2026/10/blo

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Undervalued broadcaster retweeted
I pointed out at the time the Consultation was flawed and not in keeping with Ofcom’s guidelines. The BBC was not ‘wanting to do more local programming’ it was doing less. And it did not consolidate any extras into the Licence - so needn’t do them. And it hasn’t. I’ve written to Ofcom about this - and Ofcom’s failure to decide whether to investigate my complaint about the BBC’s failure to reach its required local hours in 24/25. It should have decided whether to investigate in 15 days - it has taken 7 months to date.
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Undervalued broadcaster retweeted
Replying to @trevjrho
Nobody was available. Wow. Chris Burns? Jason Horton? Nobody from BBC Local? Too busy? Come on, come forward and defend your strategy so I can understand the rationale. The importance of BBC Local/Regional is a hill I would die on. Even after what happened to me and others.
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Undervalued broadcaster retweeted
The local media section is very weak, unsurprising as MPs didn't invite anyone from the sector as a witness UK local/community media & esp. news is close to collapse - the BBC can and should reinvigorate it. Instead, the report ho-hums about the impossible tightrope act of LDRS
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Undervalued broadcaster retweeted
This is bad news and I think it’s the wrong thing for the BBC to do. Local broadcasting and reporting on local democracy, organisations & events is arguably more vital now than ever. Fewer outlets do but it is true public service to do so. Much original journalism starts locally.
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Nail
head. THIS
Precisely. The BBC has spent years chasing audience metrics while progressively cutting many of the things that made it distinctive. By scrapping services others won’t provide in order to compete for clicks on the things everyone else already does, it risks rendering itself obsolete. Local radio is a good example. Done well, it helps hold communities together. That matters when communities are fragmenting, and if government is serious about national resilience, it will need to step in and save the BBC from itself.
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Undervalued broadcaster retweeted
Politicians have starved the BBC of funds, but it's successive waves of BBC managers who have taken an axe to unique public services, which will be almost impossible to rebuild once we realise what a catastrophic mistake this has been.
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Undervalued broadcaster retweeted
What’s not clear is whether “sustainable” future funding in any way reverses the cuts being made now. They are so damaging to BBC News and the nations and regions that we seem at risk of losing some high-quality content for ever.
“Income is falling and that means the cuts have to bite somewhere.” @katierazz asks Lisa Nandy MP whether she is surprised by the “scale” of cuts at the BBC, with the Culture Secretary adding “through the Charter we are determined to put the BBC on a sustainable footing.”
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Undervalued broadcaster retweeted
Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary, said: "Our members deserve better. Audiences deserves better. The BBC is at risk of entering an inescapable doom spiral if it continues in this direction. "The union is writing to the Chancellor calling for urgent intervention in the Autumn budget to protect jobs." nuj.org.uk/resource/bbc-head

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Undervalued broadcaster retweeted
Exactly this. The BBC is a PSB. It's meant to be ensuring the things that aren't covered commercially get covered too and you can't do that if you're chasing clicks. I believe in & value the ethos of the BBC but it's being run by maniacs presently who are doing it intense harm.
The BBC focusing on 'most-read' stories - which are no doubt being widely reported elsewhere - is the exact opposite of what a publicly-funded broadcaster should be doing. Click-chasing, pure and simple.
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Undervalued broadcaster retweeted
Yet again it seems the biggest threat to the BBC's future is its senior management. A deep ongoing flaw in editorial judgement in news and fresh deep cuts which look like removing even more of what it does that's unique or better than its rivals.
New: The BBC is expected to announce the closure of TV and radio services early next week. Speculation is rife that BBC Three is at risk of being unplugged for a second time in a decade. Nothing is confirmed at this stage. deadline.com/2026/09/bbc-ann

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This is the huge flaw at the heart of the whole BBC strategy, initiated by Tim Davie et al
Replying to @martynziegler
It's a feedback loop (Matthew Effect). Prioritise what's most-read and the popular gets more space, so it gets read more, so it gets more space. Audience data shows what people read, not what they may or would read if shown it. A commercial strategy, not a public service one 👎
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Whoever would’ve thought? Er
 maybe “linear” isn’t a dirty word after all

Radio’s human presenters and curated playlists are attracting younger listeners seeking new music, according to research from MIDiA. radiotoday.co.uk/2026/09/you

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Undervalued broadcaster retweeted
Sitting in my local barbers listening to GK Barry on BBC Radio 1. I’m sure she’s great at what she does and this isn’t a dig at her personally but when will radio bosses stop confusing a huge social media following with the ability to do great radio? Being an influencer doesn’t automatically make you a broadcaster. Radio is a craft.
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Undervalued broadcaster retweeted
This terrible news . Along with cuts at the BBC UK public service media is being decimated . We should all be worried .
Grim media news: Channel 4 will cut more than a quarter of its workforce before the end of the year. The 340 redundancies are the biggest round of layoffs in Channel 4's history. deadline.com/2026/09/channel

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Undervalued broadcaster retweeted
We’re still waiting for the government to tell us how it’s going to protect public service broadcasting. The risks to its future are now dangerously high.
Grim media news: Channel 4 will cut more than a quarter of its workforce before the end of the year. The 340 redundancies are the biggest round of layoffs in Channel 4's history. deadline.com/2026/09/channel

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