BBC boss Tony Hall has cancelled £10million budget cuts for local radio stations
Director General Tony Hall has decided to mark the 50th anniversary of the first BBC local radio station by making sure that local radio stations will not need to find £10m worth of savings
BBC Director General Tony Hall has cancelled the £10m budget cuts for local radio stations — to mark the service’s 50th anniversary.
Lord Hall made the revelation during a speech at Coventry Cathedral to mark the launch of the first BBC local radio station in Leicester on November 8 1967.
He said the Beeb will instead invest in radio with the aim of making it even more local and more creative.
Tony Hall said that five decades after it began, the service “is in the DNA of our communities” and the BBC is committed it continues to be so in the future.
He said: “Local radio should be for everybody – it’s there to serve the Facebook generation as much as the rest of us.”
Ending cuts to local radio will mean the service will not be required to make £10m worth of savings.
Auntie says it will instead rely on its “broader efficiency savings” to protect local radio budgets.
The BBC will set out a full plan for the service, and how it will be funded, in 2018.
