BBC DG rules out closing local radio stations

The BBC Director General, Mark Thompson, has ruled out the merger of local radio with BBC Radio 5 Live or dropping the BBC Parliament channel from Freeview as part of plans to find 20% of cost savings. Mr Thompson said he would not be closing any local radio stations or merging regional TV news operations in England, but declined to rule out service closures entirely.

“We haven’t ruled out service closures yet but the work so far suggests there’s a smarter way of making savings without taking entire services away from the public … because every single service is strongly valued by its audience,” he added.

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(Source : Media Network Weblog)