The BBC has announced ambitious plans to help it better connect with audiences across the length and breadth of the nation.
Over the next six years the BBC - which can barely afford a pot to piss in, if you believe its regular cries of poverty - has committed to spending at least another £700 million moving outside its cosy London-centric bubble and delving deeper into the Nations and Regions.
A summary of the proposed changes is shown on the graphic below.
The imaginatively titled "The BBC Across the UK" blueprint, describes how the national broadcaster will:
- Relocate national TV production from London, so that the majority is made in the Nations and Regions;
- Relocate thousands of employees and departments from London to Birmingham, Cardiff, Leeds, Glasgow and Salford;
- Launch a new version of BBC One, specially tailored for audiences in the Yorkshire, Yorkshire & Lincolnshire, North East & Cumbria and North West Regions;
- Produce a greater proportion of flagship national news and current affairs programmes from outside London;
- Produce two new long-running network drama series - one from the North of England and the other from one of the Nations;
- Increase investment in BBC Three to strengthen its role in representing younger viewers;
- Permanently base national BBC News teams around the UK;
- Launch a new network of digital community reporters, to reach the parts that the BBC doesn't currently reach;
- Double the number of apprentices accepted onto BBC work-related training;
- Reintroduce 50 local BBC bulletins via the Sounds app;
- Reduce the number of BBC properties in London and upgrade Broadcasting House, Belfast.
Speaking of the plan, BBC Director General Tim Davie said: "Our mission must be to deliver for the whole of the UK and ensure every household gets value from the BBC. These plans will get us closer to audiences, create jobs and investment, and develop and nurture new talent.
"Over the last year, the BBC - which has been an essential part of the UK's culture, democracy and creativity for almost a century - has helped inform, educate and entertain all four Nations, as we have collectively faced some of our toughest moments in recent history.
"Now, as we look to the future, we must play our part in supporting social and economic recovery; rebuilding the creative sector and telling the stories that need to be heard from all corners of the UK."
It is to be hoped that these changes deliver better quality of service and value for money for TV licence payers. Time will tell.
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