Doesnt The Bbc News Today

Were, and i think thats a mistake and we do try and press ofcom harder on that. but its radio one and radio two that people worry about as being too commercial and, you know, getting into territory that they shouldnt be in? y... to a degree, although i think you have to acknowledge if youre going to allow the bbc to be in the radio business, its going to have to be in most bits of the radio business and therefore it will be in the popular—music end. but we expect, if theyre being funded the wa...

In the north on wednesday. milder by this stage. hello, this is bbc news. im shaun ley. the headlines: the former conservative minister nusrat ghani says she was sacked from herjob because of her muslim faith. the government chief whip says thats false. the justice secretary says a formal complaint is needed to trigger an inquiry. since then, nusrat ghani has said

Britain is accusing russia of planning to install a pro—kremlin leader in ukraine, as fears of an invasion grow. the foreign office in london says a former ukrainian mp is being considered as a potential candidate — along with four others who it says have links to russian intelligence services. a un official in tonga says the country will be heavily reliant on aid shipments for some time, after last weeks devastating volcanic eruption and tsunami. a national emergency team says more than 80%...

But is there really such an operation? were also looking at the apparently cosy relationship between those in government who set policy, and the media, which is supposed to hold them to account. and were asking what the new bbc licence fee deal means for the industry at large. let me introduce you to my guests. first, joeyjones was spokesman for theresa may when she was home secretary. before that, he was a deputy political editor at sky news. helen lewis writes for the atlantic. laura hughes is...

There is a big problem with the licence fee coming because, ultimately, young people arent... theyre not watching on tv. so in some ways, a licence fee has to attach it to itself to some other form of infrastructure thats more universally used. and also, young people arent consuming bbc content in the way that older people do. but thats something that needs to be considered. the argument that the government appears to want to be having is the wrong argument. ok, well, radio 4 is taking a deep di...

And the other element youve said, katie, is the bbc is extraordinarily well funded compared to the commercial sector. and i think one of our concerns has always been that they appear to be so well—funded that they can then go and do things which are simply not possible for us to compete with. whether its launching new services on a whim without really checking whether theyre filling a commercial need or outbidding the commercial sector for massive amounts of sports content on radio. in televis...

At distraction, if you like. i mean, either borisjohnson is being badly advised or hes being very well advised and hes ignoring the advice. but, whichever it is, hes ending up trying to, as i say, sort of tick—box populist policies to allow some of his potential critics on the backbenches to feel that their hobbyhorse issue is being advanced at the same time as the british public and the activists — the tory activists — can see that he looks a broken man, and those optics, i think, have a ...

Is subscription—free — theres no subscription for radio, its a free—to—air service — and no subscription company is going to throw £500 million, £600 million a year into the pot of funding free—to—air radio. then you get into whether or not you have to make the radio services ad—funded. that then has a knock—on effect for the commercial sector, as well as having, i should say, a huge effect on bbc radio, were it to be ad—funded — you can... sorry to interrupt, but basical...

As a specialist adviser during their inquiry into the wider public service broadcasting landscape. and, of course, they did havejohn whittingdale in front of them at that time answering questions. and i think that... i mean, i went into that inquiry thinking, yes, why doesnt the bbc have the courage of its convictions around some of its great content? why dont they ask people to pay for it? and they could end up maybe making more money out of that than they do from the licence fee. but what i le...

Bbc local radio and all the nations radio. they simply are not commercially sustainable, given their audience level and the costs involved. nobody would touch them in a privatised world and try and make money out of them. theyre simply not commercially sustainable. so this isnt about making a kind of kneejerk "defend the bbc" case? no, absolutely. this is about thinking about the rest of the radio industry... absolutely. ..and how the commercial world would be affected? well, not only would all ...