Thursday

There'll be two discussions about the BBC in Parliament on Thursday. Rhodri Talfan Davies and Jason Horton will be grilled by the Culture Select Committee about their proposal to switch money from weekday afternoon programming on BBC local radio in to "far-reaching and ambitious plans" for local digital coverage. Meanwhile the House of Lords will be debating the impact of cuts at the BBC World Service. 

As readers will know, so far the BBC is saying that the cuts to local radio are not a saving, but a re-investment of funds. In the World Service, cuts of 12% for the year ahead are on the table. Last year the BBC spent £117m on local radio content; transmission, accommodation costs are not separately listed. The BBC also spent £277m on World Service and all its accoutrements, including some money for BBC World TV. Both sums came from the licence fee.