Radio 4's longwave transmitter and cuts to Ö÷²¥´óÐã radio
It's all a bit like the budget really. The Chancellor makes his statement in the Commons, the Government's PR machine goes into overtime spreading the good news, and then gradually, as detailed scrutiny begins, rather less positive headlines emerge.
So it was last week with the Ö÷²¥´óÐã's launch of DQF - Delivering Quality First. To begin with it seemed as if Radio 4 had got off unscathed since it was to suffer no reduction in its 'content spend', whereas Radio 5 live for example, was being cut by 7.5 per cent.
Then a few days later the Ö÷²¥´óÐã's own in house newspaper Ariel came out with this headline "Radio 4 takes a hit it wasn't expecting". The paper reported that shortly after the DQF launch by Director General Mark Thompson, Radio 4 producers are up in arms over proposed job cuts and changes to their department.
The Corporation accepts that the overall number of Ö÷²¥´óÐã producers will drop, but says the assistant producer total will go up, resulting in an overall net reduction in staff in the Radio production department of five per cent.
The DQF launch also revealed that Radio 3 is facing a cut in its content spend of 2.9%, but this again is not the full story. They are going to be looking into the Ö÷²¥´óÐã orchestras which provide much of the network's music. Lots of rumours I hear say one is likely to be cut which would certainly be controvertial.
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Of course DQF has also been reported as handing down a death sentence on Long Wave. However it is rather more complicated than that so in Feedback I also talked to Radio 4's Network manager, Denis Nowlan about when the sentence would be carried out and the consequences for listeners who still value it.
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If you want to take part in the consultation about DQF, which runs until December 21st, a questionnaire is available on the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Trust website. We'll be tracking that process over the next few months before the conclusions are published in the spring.
Meanwhile the drive to increase productivity, which some call cuts and make other savings has already begun. Don't feel too sorry for the Corporation though. It now knows what its income is for the next few years and that is around £3.5billion. Hardly peanuts.
Roger Bolton presents Feedback
- About the the Ö÷²¥´óÐã: Delivering Quality First
- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Trust: Delivering Quality First
- Listen again to this week's Feedback, produced by Karen Pirie, get in touch with the programme, find out how to join the listener panel or subscribe to the podcast on the Feedback web page.
- Read all of Roger's Feedback blog posts.
- Feedback is on Twitter. Follow .
- The picture shows the Ö÷²¥´óÐã's national transmitter in 1934.
Comment number 1.
At 15th Oct 2011, newlach wrote:Should Ö÷²¥´óÐã management not be saving money by getting rid of some pen-pushing executives instead of pencilling in longwave for the chop?
Nowlan could not tell us how much the Ö÷²¥´óÐã would save by axing longwave because many of the costs are "commercially sensitive". Would a total figure have revealed commercially sensitive information? I don't think so. Instead Nowlan told us how much the electricity bill is for running the longwave transmitters.
A point Nowlan has previously made is that longwave audiences will be catered for by other Ö÷²¥´óÐã services, yet when asked by Roger Bolton for specifics he said: "it is too early to speculate".
I found Nowlan inconsistent and rambling. At times a stranger to the truth.
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Comment number 2.
At 15th Oct 2011, Peter Household wrote:My comment is that I'm completely lost. All I want is to find the page with In Our Time comments (The Ming Voyages). But everything has changed and I haven’t clue how to navigate my way around this new blog site. It all used to be so simple. Look at the In Our Time page and click on comments. Please help! Peter Household email : [Personal details removed by Moderator]
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Comment number 3.
At 18th Oct 2011, This is a colleague announcement wrote:Good. Perhaps another mainland European broadcaster can fill the channel. I enjoy France Inter on 162 kHz, a bit of Italian on 198 kHz would be nice for a change when I'm driving.
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