Two BBC One regions will close within weeks, as the corporation confirms it’s pushing ahead with its plans to make cuts to regional and local services in England.
BBC local news programmes from Cambridge and Oxford will be axed the week before Christmas.
The last edition of the Cambridge-based Look East is now due to be broadcast on 16th December 2022, heralding the end of the BBC sub-region sometimes referred to as ‘BBC One East West’ and the end of 25 years of separating the East TV region for news.
Following the closure, BBC One viewers in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and parts of Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire will rejoin the main BBC East region, based in Norwich. This reverses a change made back in 1997.
From 17th December 2022 onwards, Look East will be a single news programme covering the whole of the wider region.
The change was first proposed in May as part of a range of money saving measures following funding cuts and soaring inflation.
After the announcement this afternoon, Look East Cambridge presenter Mousumi Bakshi confirmed the team would not be producing a bulletin on Monday, giving viewers an early taste of a combined edition from Norwich.
Oxford
Meanwhile, the Oxford edition of BBC South Today is also due to close at the same time. After this point, BBC One viewers in most of Oxfordshire will switch to the main Southampton-based South Today. This also reverses a regional split that began in 2000 with the unwinding of the former Newsroom South East region.
Plans to close both services were met with fierce opposition from local politicians and viewers. But the BBC says it needs to cut costs following the recent licence fee freeze, leaving it short of £285 million.
Cambridge and Oxford TV news regions were two of the most recently created BBC English regions, the other being Hull, which converted from a mid-programme opt to a separate 6:30pm news programme in 2002. Each of the new regions was a response to ITV stations launching additional sub-regional services covering these areas. However, ITV has also streamlined its sub-regional service over the past 15 years. For example, Oxford’s dedicated news service from Central was merged with Meridian’s northern sub-region.
The BBC had originally planned to axe both regional services in November, so have received a short stay of execution. Technically, the closure of the regional services means the BBC will be able to close two of its BBC One feeds. This is relevant as it prepares for the launch of HD regions on Freeview, Sky and Freesat, with distribution of BBC One HD regions on satellite requiring substantial transponder capacity.
Other changes to BBC Local services
The announcement is part of wider changes to BBC Local Radio stations in England. After 2pm on weekdays and over the weekends, BBC Local Radio will switch to a regional service. Many off-peak shows will mirror existing TV news regions. All stations in England will network after 10pm on weekdays and on Sunday afternoons and evenings, except when local stations have live sports coverage.
Meanwhile, the BBC will boost online output, with improved news provision across England.
updated 22:52