trading as wdr

Cases still being made

2026-10-22T10:46:08.896+01:00

Here's a surmise. The current round of BBC cuts is being done at a departmental rather than divisional level, and there are some very big pieces of the jigsaw missing.

It's pretty clear that Rachel Jupp decided to 'arrive' early as Director of News, and whilst letting some bits of agreed 'radio news' cuts become public, she's really not impressed with the plans left by the Turness administration to cut newsgathering, tv daily news, and online news. And she's been given charge of sorting out 'integration' across BBC local radio, BBC Radio 5Live, Radio Scotland, Radio Ulster and Radio Wales; and making sense of the dash for clicks coming from regional tv newsrooms, swamping news online with dubious 'health' stories, dashcam footage and pop news. Plus there will emerge a new co-ordinated plan for long-form tv current affairs, and much less of it, merging regional and 'national' investigations with Panorama.

Sitting atop all that will have to be a convincing intellectual and financial case for all the News-lite stuff that is being produced for Tik-Tok, Facebook and Instagram.

Case not made (2)

2026-10-21T09:52:07.345+01:00

So, looking round his digital services, Controller Speech Mohit Bakaya has decided to close Radio 4 Extra. 16 years ago, under Tim Davie, the finger was pointed at BBC6 Music and The Asian Network; either would have generated considerably more savings than closing 4 Extra, and the argument was that there were plenty of other outlets delivering popular music.

Culturally, there's no rival to 4 Extra - it provides something only the BBC can. The management has been hollowed out since it first arrived as BBC7. A station editor/scheduler will be saved; financially, there's little extra work in paying out much reduced/zero repeat fees; some freelance announcers will lose work. The BBC 'owns' the prinicipal means of transmission - a Digital Audio Broadcasting multiplex, which carries all BBC network and digital stations. Radio 4 Extra gets enough bandwith for mono speech; I'd be puzzled if stopping it delivered a measurable cash benefit.

1.5m listeners reached every week, and it's not clear that the 'brand' will survive digitally for smart speakers etc - a big mistake. Radio 4 Extra's schedules give the BBC archive a recognised and friendly 'discovery' window, something that Matt Brittin says he values.

The BBC's Morning Service is left floating. Will BBC Local Radio really accommodate it in their schedules ? Why no similar imposition on Radio Wales, Radio Scotland and Radio Ulster ?

Case not made

2026-10-21T07:59:27.005+01:00

It would be presumptuous of me to engage in a 'value' v 'cost' discussion with a top businessman like Matt Brittin.

What's the 'value' of a top quality radio drama studio in Birmingham, against the construction cost, which he puts at £1.5m ?

What's the 'value' of a continuous 24 hour radio news production operation in London, compared with the cost of a move of one of three shifts to Sydney ?

On the 'cost' side, the BBC's screwball calculations help News, but hinder the BBC. Restructuring costs (i.e. paying for 26 redundancies) are 'held centrally' and merely noted on the News 'business case'. Should any candidates for the exit be entitled, they may draw down pensions 'early', and the pension scheme is a burden on the licence-fee payer; not part of the News 'business case'. I wouldn't mind betting that the costs of establishing/training/parallel running new offices and studios for 20-odd new staff in Australia mean that any marginal savings in this exercise appear in year 2.

And what price the lost 'value' of a cohesive approach to UK and World events, where handovers between shifts are face-to-face, and explanations of the sinkholes and craters that surround the delivery of even straightforward stories are passed on with more than just an end-of-shift memo. Where staff shaping the UK morning agenda have a commonality of experience with their core audience, starting their own daily lives with UK tv, radio, papers ? Perhaps even enjoying an overnight 'breakfast' with members of the Today production team.

It's entirely possible to write UK news in Blue Street, North Sydney, but, over-time, there will be stuff that's clumsy, out-of-tune, misguided - and strong stories left alone, because the local context is not obvious to someone on the other side of the world. It's why, after all, BBC News is boosted by so many dedicated correspondents and stringers overseas. In this case, the baby is on the way out with the bathwater....

G-day, UK !

2026-10-20T15:08:37.821+01:00

The World Service and BBC Radio Newsroom are going through extaordinary contortions, to save a net total of seven posts, and stop spending on night shifts.

Production of World Service Bulletins (which currently sustain Radio 2, Radio 5Live and local radio frequencies overnight), as well has the half-hour "Newsroom" and the 0600 Global News Podcast is being moved to Sydney.

26 London jobs will go, their work carried out by 19 new employees in Sydney, who will work eight hour shifts across seven days. Apparently the London newsroom remaining shifts, of 'days' and 'evenings', will continue unchanged.

(This plan should have become clear with the dropping of the midnight news on Radio 4; I feel I've let readers down....)

Internal comms are onside

2026-10-20T09:46:12.676+01:00

The BBC's new Director of News, Rachel Jupp, will be relieved and delighted to learn she has the whole-hearted support of BBC News' Head of Internal Communication and Engagement. Keira Hammond has shared her unclouded view with colleagues via the business network Linkedin: "My first impressions of Rachel as a leader? Calm, authoritative and with a real appetite for change. But alongside that, she’s empathetic, kind and an absolute pleasure to work with. A really exciting combination as we look ahead to what comes next for BBC News."

Tracking Trump

2026-10-20T09:37:10.566+01:00

The BBC's legal team has been keeping the Florida Court updated with news of President Trump's unavailability for a deposition on October 16th, because he was dealing with matters 'of national importance'.

The BBC submits this Notice to raise newly available information regarding the “matters of national importance” that Plaintiff claimed kept him from his scheduled deposition.

As the BBC now knows, on October 16, Plaintiff attended and addressed a campaign rally in
Dalton, Georgia, alongside Plaintiff’s favored candidates in Georgia’s upcoming U.S. Senate
and gubernatorial elections. Plaintiff subsequently traveled to his resort club and residence at Mar-a-Lago for a Republican National Committee fundraising event. In light of the foregoing, the BBC respectfully reiterates its request for the Court to compel Plaintiff to confirm a date for his deposition; notify the BBC of a secure location where such deposition is possible and any other logistics required to ensure Plaintiff’s safety; and sit for the deposition, as the core rules of discovery require.

White words

2026-10-19T10:24:47.474+01:00

Oddly, the Tories gave the BBC one of their longest charters ever: Willie Whitelaw quietly sorted a 15 year deal in 1981, and saw off calls for advertising. There was no White Paper. But those that followed adopted some pompous titles for their proposals, and Lisa Nandy has only 60 days to think of one.

1994 The Future of the BBC: Serving the Nation, Competing World-wide. Secretary for National Heritage Peter Brooke

2006 A public service for all: the BBC in the digital age. Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell

2016 A BBC for the future: a broadcaster of distinction. Culture Secretary John Whittingdale

Bits and bobs

2026-10-18T10:41:44.614+01:00

Some odds and ends, which should perhaps be viewed as contributing to a febrile atmosphere around the BBC as we await a White Paper...

The Telegraph has chosen to 'reveal' that civil servants with expertise in statistics have been given regular secondments to assist the BBC News Verify team. The placement scheme has seen 39 civil servants seconded for three-month or six-month stints in the past eight years, with four more being recruited for next year. Some have been given bylines, but with no indication of their main employment. (Note: the scheme started way before Verify, after a huge review of News' coverage of statistics, driven by the BBC Trust, which saw the creation of the role of Head of Statistics).

The Mail on Sunday says that a computer 'game' which is part of the BBC Bitesize offer for Key Stage 3 Geography, encourages open-border choices. It was launched in August 2025.

Celebrity Traitors averaged 9.6m viewers on Thursday, and 9.3m on Friday. The previous Thursday episode, in which the exit of Richard E Grant was confirmed, has risen to 14.1m views over seven days.

I don't believe it

2026-10-17T10:12:32.203+01:00

Current noise leakage from the BBC/DCMS careering Evri van trying to deliver a White Paper on time gives little indication of a quality outcome.

If they're clinging to a 'reformed licence fee', they're going in the wrong direction. Yes, it would be useful to demand fees from anyone who may have glimpsed a moving image on a screen over a year, but enforceability is the problem. Yes, it would be possible to get addresses of Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, Apple etc subscribers, but why would they pay up ? Are the Government seriously contemplating making 'proof of licence' a condition for the streamers to deliver to new accounts ? And, Mr Brittin, when you shuffle more material onto YouTube, you don't have to have even an email address to watch moving pictures on that platform.

Fire sale

2026-10-15T21:32:59.822+01:00

There's something a bit helter-skelter about today's decision to put the output of the BBC News Channel on YouTube, just like that. Over the past two years, the strategists at BBC Studios/Global have invested in hacks across the USA, with nearly 60 in Washington, looking for payback with ads on the Channel, and ads on bbc.com, plus subscriptions. The channel and website content has been shaped to appeal to the North American market. For many, it's not BBC News anymore, but BBC News About America.

Now, a key component of the $8.99 subscription offer across the USA and Canada, a 24 hours news channel, is available for nothing, nada, nowt, zip, zilch on YouTube in the USA.

Anyway, it's early days - not many picking up at 2100 BST today...

Chart news

2026-10-15T09:29:26.193+01:00

A few more viewers returned to GB News in September. Monthly reach for parent company All Perspectives was 3,357,000, compared with 3,275,000 in August, and 3,920,000 in September 2025.

BBC 'News'

2026-10-15T09:12:43.399+01:00

When the BBC next tells you the switch to regional and local news online is working, please ask them about this...

About to be deposed

2026-10-14T10:02:37.643+01:00

A number of previous US Presidents have had to make 'depositions', but usually to commissions, special inquiries, or in criminal cases. I can find no modern record of a President being interrogated under oath in a civil case.

The President says he's too busy to sit down with the BBC's lawyers anytime before December 18th, the date set for current closure of the pre-trial discovery period. The Trump team say if the BBC team agree to an extension of the discovery period, the President 'would make himself available for a deposition in the second or third week of January 2027.'

I offer these key points from the Central Florida Times, on advice for first time deposition witnesses:

"Most effective deposition witnesses follow a few simple rules that protect both their credibility and the case.

Listen to the entire question.

Do not begin answering until the lawyer finishes speaking. This helps you avoid talking over the questioner and ensures the court reporter can make a clean record.

Pause before answering.

Give yourself a beat to understand the question, formulate your answer, and allow your lawyer to object if appropriate.

Answer only the question asked.

Provide concise, direct answers, and resist the urge to volunteer extra information or speculate. If the question calls for yes/no, answer yes or no, then briefly explain only if necessary.

Tell the truth, even when it hurts.

You are under oath and subject to penalties for perjury, but even short of that, inaccurate or evasive testimony can severely damage an association’s case. If you made a mistake in the past, acknowledge it and explain how the board addressed it.

Do not guess.

“I don’t know,” “I don’t remember,” or “I don’t recall the exact date” are perfectly acceptable answers when true. Distinguish between an estimate (which you explain is an estimate) and speculation about things you have no basis to know.

Story telling

2026-10-13T10:37:18.932+01:00

Only last Thursday the BBC project team was showing off inside The Tea Factory, Digbeth. Presumably no-one mentioned The Archers

Drama drama

2026-10-13T10:00:21.352+01:00

Closing 6Music. Closing The BBC Singers. This year's BBC banana skin ? Worrying Archers fans about their commitment to the programme.

Yesterday, the BBC confirmed it has shelved plans to build a bespoke drama studio in The Tea Factory, Digbeth, ahead of a planned move there for the production team in 2027/28.

The Archers started in 1951 in the BBC's Broad Street studios, then moved to Pebble Mill. It now comes from a grand drama studio in The Mailbox, only used by The Archers. To save money, the actors are only assembled for eight/nine days a month, to record a month's worth of episodes. All the kit stays there - the Aga and key doorbells were transferred from Pebble Mill. There are live and dead areas, and compartments for rooms; a staircase with and without carpet; and the old ironing board that doubles for steel farm gates closing. The small window that might have allowed visitors a peek at the actors has been covered.

How have they got into this pickle ? Space at The Tea Factory can't be the issue; in September, the BBC said there was room for Birmingham City University to set up a journalism course. The basic building fit-out is complete, so someone is trimming the budget for the technical fit-out. The 'owners' of The Archers are 'in-house'; like News, the Arts and Sciences, the programme avoided transfer to the warm, commercial arms of BBC Studios in 2024. They might have been better off with the money people; The Archers is number 3 in the rankings of top BBC programmes downloaded around the world, behind Newscast and The Global News podcast.

There are options; assemble the cast of actors (does any of them do a Midlands accent) at Paddington rather than Euston, for a train trip to Cardiff Central Square, where The Dylan Thomas Radio Studio is on the groundfloor of New Broadcasting House. That's about 90 miles from The Old Bull Inn in Inkberrow, inspiration for The Archer's Bull; the journey from the Tea Factory to Inkberrow is around 25 miles.

Another option: Get BBC Studioworks to develop a contract to lease back the drama studio at The MailBox - surely a new tenant would rather raise revenue than pay for some very expensive demolition work ?

The third option: ease the specification for the studio at Digbeth. I presume that argument has already been lost.

Letters coming

2026-10-12T15:18:52.756+01:00

A federal judge in Florida has cleared the way for the BBC to serve witness subpoenas on Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Attorney General Eric Herschmann by post. It means the BBC can bypass Secret Service security blocks by using certified mail and email to demand statements and documents.

The judge was grumpy with Trump's legal team; "attempts at conferral were unreturned"

You nailed it

2026-10-11T10:39:10.470+01:00

For those unfamiliar with the conventions of Linkedin, the business networking site, when you make a big speech, you post something about it, and wait for the congratulations and 'whoops' to follow in the comments.

So after Manon Dave, the BBC's Head of Future World Design, gave a presentation to staff in the BBC Radio Theatre and online, alongside his 'homie', Matt Brittin, he found this picture to mark the event.

80 people have enthused about it.

For those who think there may not be an opportunity to thin management layers away from programme-making, I offer these as a job titles.....

Organisational Development Partner
Head of Content Discovery
Director of Investigations and Whistleblowing
Assistant Editor (Technical)
Vice President of Technical Operations, Global Technology
Senior Digital Fandom Lead
Connectivity Specialist
Lead Project Manager (BBC Group Strategy and Transformation)
Group Digital Director, BBC Studios
Head of Strategy
Content Marketing Producer
Principle (sic) Service Manager
Head of AI Enablement
Global Business Resilience Lead

Team building

2026-10-10T10:26:20.420+01:00

As Rachel Jupp contemplates her approach to the job of BBC Director of News, which she formally takes over in November, she might like to consider how to handle her thwarted competitors. Acquaintances of Jonathan Munro have used phrases including the words 'blood' and 'spitting' about his response to not getting the top job; we also learn that James Bond-expert Richard Burgess, the newsgathering manager begotten by Munro, also had a pop at the post.

Re-defining news

2026-10-09T13:14:17.587+01:00

Is this 'news' ? Really ?

I've been with my boyfriend for two years and don't know his salary

It's currently the ninth most-viewed story on the BBC News website.

Flailing

2026-10-09T10:33:52.522+01:00

"The government expects to publish a white paper in 2026, setting out its preferred policy direction for the future of the BBC."

Don't you feel there are too many things going on at the same time ? Deputy DG Rhodri in weekly meetings with the DCMS, trying to get a favourable and credible White Paper sorted, while middle managers engage in serious self-harm to meet 10% cuts by April ? And Matt Brittin dashes round Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV and YouTube to plead for space on their front pages ?

The cuts to "Speech", Radio 4 and 5Live, seem chaotic, driving Radio 4 to a skeleton of news and current affairs (til 6.30pm) padded out with podcasts. Entertainingly, we are told some podcasts will stop - to be replaced by others. So not a cut ? BBC Sounds has 4.8m users per week, 80% of them coming for 'live' listening; BBC Local Radio has a weekly reach of 6.9m.

The question is not "What has the BBC done for me ?" . It's "What is the BBC for ?"

Thee and thine

2026-10-08T11:48:24.360+01:00

Your and Yours, now cancelled, first started on Radio 4 in 1970, 'tackling topics of direct concern to you'. Edition Number One had presenter Joan Yorke discussing "modern" packaging, measles vaccination and buying your first home. Joan had been a stalwart reporter and occasional presenter of Woman's Hour since 1950.

It was clearly driven by Controller Tony Whitby. The BBC noted: "Each week day edition had a themed subtitle. Monday was Money while Tuesday was devoted to home and family. On Wednesday, Guarantee dealt with rights and responsibilities. Thursday was Surgery, about health and welfare. Friday's programme looked forward to the weekend with Your Own Time." In fact, the You and Yours brand subsumed previously separate strands, "Can I Help You", "Listening Post" and "Parents and Children".

"Very often you'd groan and think 'I'm not going to do school uniforms again'" said presenter Nancy Wise about her time with the programme in the 1970s. I wonder what Winifred Robinson thinks...

Cultured

2026-10-08T10:09:57.962+01:00

BBC Media and Culture Editor Katie Razzall need not be unduly alarmed by a new job ad for a BBC Culture Editor.

This job is posted by BBC Studios, who are "seeking an ambitious, skilled and collaborative senior editor to lead the Culture team on BBC.com and the international BBC app.... The Culture team publishes a regular cadence of features, including text and video, providing lively analysis and thought-provoking context."

Sounds big ? Katie's salary, incuding some Newsnight and The Media Show, is £215k+; This post, in London, gets £50,000- £60,000 + London Weighting (£5,441).

In the 'desired, but not required' attributes of a strong candidate, we find "Experience developing ideas for an international, primarily North America-based audience."

Manon is the source

2026-10-08T09:56:41.525+01:00

BBC DG Matt Brittin yesterday introduced Manon Dave of BBC research and development to the wider organisation, in a streamed presentation from the Radio Theatre. Manon talked about modifications to the iPlayer to produce both 'personalised' and 'random' suggestions of programmes to watch. It seems these gizmos are concepts.

Manon, 41 (Reed's, Cobham; BSc Computing with Business Management, Kingston University, a course in AI at Said Business School, Oxford) joined the BBC in June last year. He seems to have chosen his own title "Head of Future World Design". Manon's invented a range of electronic studio and music tools over the years, as well as writing and producing. Collaborators have included Will I.Am, Pharrell Williams, and Idris Elba (shown with Manon and Snoop Dogg).

His products at the BBC so far include Signals, an new experimental interactive 'layer' that ran alongside BBC coverage of Wimbledon. He says he often works with five or six AI tools open at the same time, and engages in 'creative dialogue' with AI assistants.

Closedown

2026-10-07T11:19:47.281+01:00

BBC Scotland's comms team are rolling the pitch for the expected announcement of the end of a separate BBC Scotland tv channel soon-ish - they've dropped releases about "A brand new high stakes legal drama Counsels coming to BBC iPlayer in early 2027", set in Glasgow with "Scottish writers"; and posted trails for the "BBC Scottish comedy channel on YouTube".

The much-anticipated closure of BBC Scotland's dedicated linear channel is but a punctuation mark in the unsteady story of the BBC and Scotland. Hark back nearly thirty years to the growing campaign for a "Scottish Six", the demand from Scottish politicians for a 'national news bulletin' from Scotland, with a combined 'national' perspective on Scottish, UK and international affairs. It was firmly opposed by John Birt, who, in his autobiography, admitted discussing how to deal with the issue with Tony Blair; concession might lead to a bridgehead to break up the union.

In 2008, the Scottish Broadcasting Commission was set up, under former STV and BBC editor Blair Jenkins, and, in 2010, it made the case for a 'new digital network'; they estimated the cost at £72m a year. The campaign was left aside in the 2014 referendum, with Blair Jenkins as chair of "Yes, Scotland".

The idea of a Scottish Six came off the backburner in 2015, lead inside the BBC by Ken Macquarrie, the Gaelic-speaking Director of Scotland, and endorsed by luminaries such as Allan Little. Under DG Tony Hall, pilots were attempted for a 'News Hour' for Scotland, mixing items for the 6 O'Clock News with Reporting Scotland, and promising Scotland a handful for additional correspondents. The Telegraph accused Lord Hall of 'buckling to SNP pressure'.

Lord Hall moved in a different direction in 2017, announcing the creation of BBC Scotland, with a budget of just £32m, and its own news bulletins. It launched in 2018, and the first night attracted and average of 700,000 viewers, with a reach of 13%. In 2020, weekly reach was just 20% of the Scottish population; last year it was down to 13% a week. That compares with 43% who at least try Gaelic-channel BBC Alba (usually for football with the sound off) once a week.

It falls to Director of Scotland Hayley Valentine, launch editor of The Nine, to perform the last rites on the channel.

At home

2026-10-06T08:55:26.707+01:00

In 2023, King's College, Cambridge, staged an exhibition of 50 photographic portraits of King’s women, taken by Jooney Woodward, to mark the 50th anniversary of the admission of women as students to the College. They still hang, now placed around the college.

This is Rachel Jupp, the new Director of News at the BBC, at home in north London. She was at King's from 1996 to 1999, leaving with a BA in Social and Political Science.