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Wednesday 03 June 2015, PM

Wednesday 03 June 2015, AM

BBC 'paying prospective scriptwriters the equivalent of £2 an hour'

The BBC is paying writers working on potential scripts for soaps such as EastEnders, Holby City and Casualty as little as the equivalent of pound2 an hour, according to the head of the writers' union. quotWe're proud of our work training and supporting writers through these schemes which have been successful in helping writers to secure commissions on our shows,quot said a BBC spokeman. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

News boss 'astonished' by complaints

The director of news and current affairs said that often it was a politician saying either 'I want more of me on the BBC' or 'my side of the story is the story'. Speaking to VLV members, the news boss believed the BBC delivered on its responsibilities as a public service broadcaster but that there remain some questions. - www.bbc.co.uk

www.bbc.co.uk

Danny Cohen: cuts to BBC revenue would mean a lot less content

BBC TV chief Danny Cohen has suggested programmes would have to be cut if the corporation was forced to bear the costs of free licence fees for the over-75s or decriminalising evasion of the charge. The BBC took on a number of new funding responsibilities in the 2010 licence fee settlement, including the World Service, resulting in its pound700m Delivering Quality First cost-saving programme. - www.theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com

Tuesday 02 June 2015, PM

BBC news chief: politicians of all parties made threats to funding

The BBC's news chief James Harding has said politicians quotFrom all partiesquot threatened the BBC's future funding because they were unhappy with the corporation's election coverage. The quotHell on wheelsquot comment was made to Harding by the BBC's head of editorial policy David Jordan when the BBC News chief suggested before the election that it would be quotFunquot. - gu.com

gu.com

Tuesday 02 June 2015, AM

Danny Cohen: licence fee cuts will threaten BBC programmes or channels

Previous suggestions have included decriminalising the licence fee, to cut down the lengthy process of prosecutions, and having the BBC take on the pound500m cost of offering free licence fees to the over-75s. The annual bill is currently met by the Department for Work and Pensions. BBC Three, the channel considered aimed at young audience, is already moving online under proposals submitted to the BBC Trust under cost-cutting measures. - www.telegraph.co.uk

www.telegraph.co.uk

DAB radio changes in Yorkshire as MXR closes

There's no news on other services on MXR such as Radio Yorkshire, UCB Gospel, UCB Inspirational or XFM moving multiplexes yet, meaning some or all of them may no longer be available on DAB in the area once it closes on June 29th. Capital currently covers the whole of Yorkshire on FM, whilst Heart only covers West and South Yorkshire. For full Yorkshire coverage, Capital and Heart would need to join the join the MuxCo's North Yorkshire and UTV's Bradford and Huddersfield multiplexes but no changes have been made public as yet. - radiotoday.co.uk

radiotoday.co.uk

Monday 01 June 2015, PM

Avoiding the television licence

In February the cross-party committee published a report on the 'Future of the BBC'. It concluded quotThere currently appears to be no better alternative to funding the BBC in the near-term other than a hypothecated tax or the licence fee.quot It continued quotHowever, the principle of the licence fee in its current form is becoming harder to sustain given the changes in communication and media technology and changing audience needs and behaviours. So why not simply abolish the television licence entirely and let the government fund the BBC from general taxation, saving around pound100 million a year in collection and enforcement costs - informitv.com

informitv.com

Sunday 31 May 2015, AM

TV's 'Golden Age' Won't Last Because You're Not Watching Enough

With too many shows chasing too few viewers, say industry executives, most original programs lose money and half the shows now running probably will disappear by next year. Cable networks keep such shows on the air, hoping viewers will eventually find them on demand or in a Netflix afterlife in some cases they renew poorly performing shows because they fear blowback from viewers who've invested in the characters. - www.bloomberg.com

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