Sunday night Asian shows in doubt on BBC local radio services

Asian shows on Sunday nights across local BBC radio services are in doubt as a part of a cost-cutting exercise.

In plans revealed by the BBC today, it has set out plans to reshape its local services across England. Overall, BBC local staffing in England is expected to reduce by around 48 posts – this amounts to a total reduction of two percent. There will be around 131 additional roles across local news services, with around 139 fewer roles in audio teams as greater programme sharing is introduced.

A handful of local BBC radio services broadcast Asian shows on Sunday nights at 18:00 including Birmingham and Derby. These are currently in doubt after the BBC announced it will be launching a national ‘all-England’ programme. It will air across the week at 22:00 and on Sunday afternoons and evenings.

Under the plans, the only local elements that will remain on the 39 BBC Local Radio stations will be from 06:00 to 14:00 on weekdays. Since 2020 all local stations have broadcast three daytime programmes on weekdays (06:00 to 18:00), this will now reduce to two on many of the smaller stations.

The changes are expected to take place in late 2023.

At the time of filing this article, BizAsiaLive.com was awaiting clarification from the BBC.