Millions of elderly Britons are at risk of being ‘left behind’ by the BBC‘s ‘digital-first’ strategy, age campaigners warned today after it emerged Radio 4 long-wave and 5 Live medium-wave services will both be dropped.
The crackly sounds of Test Match Special and the Shipping Forecast on Radio 4 long-wave have been a comforting voice to many for decades, but the service is set to lose its dedicated programming before being shut altogether.
At present, two of the four Shipping Forecast broadcasts go out on Radio 4 FM and digital radio as well as BBC Sounds online – and these will continue when Radio 4 long-wave ends in the coming years. Test Match Special, which has been on the BBC since 1957, will also still be available online when the long-wave service is pulled.
BBC Four and CBBC will also end as linear TV channels as part of the broadcaster’s plans to become ‘digital-first’, while Radio 5 Live on medium-wave will close by 2027 and Radio 4 Extra will only be available on BBC Sounds.
But Age UK today raised concerns about the phasing out of analogue radio stations, saying many older people are ‘still getting good use’ from older radios and ‘more should be being done to recognise and respect’ their interests.
The charity’s director Caroline Abrahams told MailOnline today: ‘FM/MW radios were generally built to last so many older people are still getting good use from them. It’s a shame if before too long they will no longer be able to tune into Radio 5 Live or Test Match Special through them, forcing them to buy new kit or do without access to programmes they appreciate and, in some cases, are an important part of their lives.
‘This may seem a trivial example but we often hear from older people who feel shut out of things they would enjoy doing and have always done, simply because they do not have the latest technology. As digital increasingly becomes the norm, we should spare a thought for those being left behind. There are millions of them, they have rights and interests too and at Age UK we think more should be being done to recognise and respect that.’
MailOnline asked the BBC to respond to Age UK’s statement, which also comes after the corporation’s director-general Tim Davie told staff yesterday that ‘too many of our resources are focused on broadcast and not online’.
Radio 4’s long-wave service was marked for closure in 2011 although it never happened, but social media users are now joking that the move to end the service could cause issues for Trident nuclear weapons programme.
It has long been rumoured that the submarines check that the country is still functioning by establishing that Radio 4’s long-wave output is still running, although the Ministry of Defence will not confirm or deny this.
He told the Telegraph: ‘If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. It’s a dreadful thing. But they have no idea, the people running the Beeb. Lots of good people work for the Beeb. But the bosses? My God. They wouldn’t get a job in the real world.’
TMS has been broadcasting coverage of cricket since 1957 and it has been part of Radio 4’s schedule since 1994. It has also aired for the last two decades on Radio 5 Sports Extra which is only available on digital radio or online.
And Henry Blofeld, a TMS commentator for 45 years who retired in 2017, also told the Telegraph: ‘Anything that restricts the coverage of TMS and the amount of people who are going to listen to it is extremely sad.
‘It’s always been a little bit surprising that the BBC have such a programme that has been such a winner over such a long time but are still reluctant to showcase it as a winner. If another long-wave home is not found for it, this must be the case again, mustn’t it?’
A BBC source told MailOnline: ‘To be clear, Shipping Forecasts are not coming to an end. Rather, this is about the BBC no longer having a separate Radio 4 schedule running on LW compared to FM.
‘We already broadcast two of the four Shipping Forecasts on Radio 4 FM and DAB and BBC Sounds and will continue to do so. Also, we will be consulting our colleagues at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency about opportunities presented by FM, DAB and BBC Sounds for further broadcasts of the Shipping Forecast.’
Meanwhile the BBC said it would axe CBBC and BBC4 as traditional TV channels as part of a dramatic savings plan announced yesterday.
Corporation chiefs will also merge its BBC News and World News channels into one 24-hour service.
The corporation announced there would be up to 1,000 fewer people working for its public service arm over the next few years, with major job cuts in the pipeline.
Broadcasting of archive station Radio 4 Extra will also be stopped, bosses revealed, as part of wide-ranging cuts in response to a two-year licence fee freeze.
The BBC said BBC Four, CBBC and Radio 4 Extra would stop broadcasting ‘after the next few years’.
And it signalled the death knell for long-wave radio by saying it will close the platform in the coming years.
The corporation runs one of the main long-wave transmitters in the UK and the signal from it covers most of England and Wales.
The BBC has claimed the new licence fee deal, announced in January, will leave it with a £285million annual funding gap by 2027 and that the moves it announced yesterday will contribute £200million to this annually.
It came as Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries issued a ‘legal direction’ to the BBC to ensure at least 25 per cent of staff are from working-class backgrounds as part of its mid-term review.
The BBC said its plans, which include ploughing more money into shows for its iPlayer service, were a ‘blueprint to build a digital-first public service media organisation’.
This includes a potentially controversial commitment to cancel shows popular on traditional TV channels but are ‘not doing enough’ to drive people to its on-demand iPlayer service.
The body also warned it will reduce the volume of programming it commissions for network TV by about 200 hours. There are expected to be significant cuts to drama and entertainment shows and a surge in repeats.
Director-general Mr Davie yesterday told staff: ‘This is our moment to build a digital-first BBC. Something genuinely new, a Reithian organisation for the digital age, a positive force for the UK and the world.
‘Though broadcast channels will be essential for years to come, we are moving decisively to a largely on-demand world. Too many of our resources are focused on broadcast and not online.’
Mr Davie added that if the BBC did not respond faster to technological changes ‘we will cede too much ground to those who are not driven by public service values’.
He said the corporation would be ‘re-allocating’ significant money every year ‘into video that delivers on iPlayer’.
But one BBC News insider said staff were ‘livid’ at the plans. ‘Staff who worked all through the pandemic feel that what they do is misunderstood by managers,’ the said.
‘They feel they have got the worst of all announcements. Cuts are coming but there’s no idea of the scale, in the midst of a cost of living crisis, with people on modest salaries.’
The BBC also said it would be scrapping regional TV news bulletins for Oxford and Cambridge – merging with the BBC’s Southampton and Norwich operations – as well as regional current affairs show We Are England.
As part of plans to close long-wave operations, it will stop scheduling separate Radio 4 content
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