Heard it before ?

Radio 4 has always championed quality, but will cutting out 12 new plays a year make the remaining 200 or so better ?

Mark Damazer has used the "investing in quality" argument to defend the end of the Friday play (from 32 original plays a year in the slot, to 12, and now zero). "This will enable us to maintain investment in the quality of the hundreds of plays we broadcast elsewhere across the network."

It's second cousin to the posts currently gushing from the BBC tv controllers drooling at the thought of the £600m of reinvestment they believe is coming their way. (It doesn't take on Gillian Reynolds' concern about the London drama team reporting to Documentaries, with a UK-wide head of drama in Wales). But while tv bosses must hope their cash will reduce the number of repeats, Mark is promising drama repeats and "omnibus history narratives" (joined up repeats) in the Friday slot. Improved quality, but more often ?