Disappointed

Matt Brittin has followed traditional BBC routes to savings. Which are not strategic. So that's a bit disappointing.

Think of broadcast channels as taps, which provide a fairly continuous service everytime you turn them on; you recognise what comes out, and you leave it on if you like it. It's true of radio and tv, both of which will continue to live alongside 'content' (programmes by any other name) delivered by the internet. 

If you're moving from taps to provide 'content', to making little plastic bottles of 'content', to be chosen from the shelves of iPlayer, Sounds and Other People's Platforms, then you need to make two decisions: which content survives in the little bottles, and which taps should be turned off.  Turning taps off half-cock at source satisfies no-one.

Sadly, Mr Brittin has started off by making tap delivery of Radio 4 and BBC1 as intermittent as the provision of H20 by South East Water. 

Radio 4, a channel that people go to bed with, and wake up to, will have a current affairs programme at 10pm which will refer to "The British Prime Minister". It will have no major dedicated bulletin at midnight, til 6am. It's a move which won't help Today audience figures. It's a big stutter in the Radio 4 service flow and a kick in the teeth for a World Tonight team which thought it was just fighting a nasty new rota pattern. (I will return to the logic for the decision offered by Jonathan Munro...)

On BBC1, Breakfast on Sunday disappears, to be replaced by programming from a News Channel which will have even "more of an international focus... building on the growth in viewers outside the UK". The perfect answer to the rise of GB News, eh ? 

Elsewhere, BBC Local will lose 90 jobs "with more to come", and the Nations will lose 250.  All coming ahead of the appointment of new Director of News, ahead of the big strategic decision on which taps to turn off, and all apparently more important to Matt than cutting 700 jobs in "Corporate".  Is that, by the way, another 10% cut ?  Is "Corporate" 7,000 strong ?

Merge down

By the end of the day, BBC News managers may have to recall that Italian graphic artist to create a new imaginary backdrop for Sophie, that more properly reflects the number of staff.     

Recovery

GB News reached 4,047,000 viewers in May, according to BARB, back up from April's 3,726,000, but still down on 4,229,000 in March. 

Birthday honours

DJ gongs include Cerys Matthews, Anneka Rice, Judge Jules and Carl Cox. 

Ian Robertson and Garry Richardson sweep up sports broadcasting.

Can't see any podcasters yet....

Hesitant

"Do I really put this into sign language ?"

Watch out

Dear Mr Brittin, 

In the spirit of transparency, do you think you should be clearer with international readers of bbc.com about whether this "BBC Arts" feature is sponsored, 'partnered', or advertising ?

Oooh, Thommo

Former BBC and New York Times boss Mark Thompson faces a squeeze in running CNN, according to the New York Post, if and when Paramount Skydance’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery is approved. 

The merged operation would see one executive in charge of both CNN and CBS News. The company is considering several big names, including current CNN CEO Mark Thompson, NBCUniversal News Group chairman Cesar Conde and former NBC News chief Noah Oppenheim. Ben Sherwood, currently CEO of Daily Beast, and former CBS News president David Rhodes are also under consideration. 

CBS News is currently the BBC's news partner in the States. 

Rapid

So Rhodri Talfan Davies is to be "responsible for shaping and delivering the BBC’s editorial strategy, and safeguarding the public’s trust in the BBC.

"He will drive the BBC’s commitment to editorial excellence across all BBC output, including ensuring the Corporation responds rapidly and robustly to any editorial and operational issues."

Rhodri began his career as a sub-editor with the Western Mail in Cardiff in 1993, leaving within a year to become a BBC News Trainee. He spend the next six years as a news reporter and producer at a number of BBC centres including Newcastle, Manchester and London.  From 1999 to 2001, Rhodri was Head of Regional and Local Programmes for BBC West, starting in post at the age of 28.

Here's Rhodri responding rapidly and robustly in 2021.

Here’s the clip. This is Rhodri Talfan Davies in 2021. pic.twitter.com/ng7BsOc3rX

— SEEN in Journalism (@JournalismSEEN) January 29, 2026

Standards

The all-new BBC Editorial Standards Committee has published minutes from its first meeting, in March. 

It was set up after the previous Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee exploded last year under BBC Chair Samir Shah, with a failure to agree that a Trump/Panorama edit was wrong; the explosion led to the departure of News CEO Deborah Turness and DG Tim Davie. 

It's chaired by Senior Independent Director Caroline Thomson, with Shah no longer in attendance; Tim Davie sent apologies.  Four pages of minutes, which I'm sure will be shorter in future; here's one dangerous strand: 

5.2 Committee members discussed the most effective approach to the discussion of prebroadcast programme risk and assurance around their management. David Jordan and Rhodri Talfan Davies would discuss the matter offline and return to the Committee with a proposed approach.

I rather hope 'mind your own business' is the proposed approach.  Elsewhere this rather underwhelming proposal from interim News boss Jonathan Munro suggests he won't get the big job. Lower Trust is code for Reform UK and Restore voters...

8. Plan for Lower Trust Audiences

8.1 The Committee received a presentation from Jonathan Munro, Interim CEO of News and Current Affairs and Emma Theedom of News, Audiences, which provided an update on the News plan for lower trust audiences.

8.2 The Committee noted that the plan had three planks: Making Your Voice a core part of News across all platforms; rooting more journalism in local issues that matter to ‘harder to reach’ audiences; and re-establishing QuestionTime as a must watch direct audience engagement programme.

8.3 The Committee asked for an assessment of the plan’s effectiveness to return for consideration after six months.

Only at the BBC

HR works in mysterious ways the BBC. This is the Mail's take on how complaints of bullying against Victoria Derbyshire were handled.

"It was reported that the investigation failed to uphold any of the allegations made against the presenter.

"BBC bosses, however, still sought to reprimand her so the probe was seen to have been handled robustly."