If like me you think this is unfair then make your opinions known.

(Also take a look at the threads on this site called "What you can do to save BBC Birmingham" and "What is happening at BBC Birmingham?").


You may wish to consider the following points if you decide to do something:


A) The Midlands has already seen many cutbacks at the BBC in the last 11 years and many staff have already gone.

B) It is unfair and inequitable for a publicly funded broadcaster to scale back its presence in the second largest conurbation in England: we need the jobs, the investment and the profile for the region.

C) The BBC does not have a single network TV studio anywhere in the Midlands but they have opened new studios in Glasgow, Cardiff, Manchester and London in recent years. Why are we the poor relation?

D) They do have a number of radio studios at the Mailbox but these could be used much more (they will be used much less under the new proposals).

E) We pay the same licence fee (£145.50 per annum) as London, Scotland, Wales and the north west of England but we are getting so much less in return.

F) The BBC has invested in the north because its research showed that it was less appreciated by northern licence payers. What effect will its current proposals have on licence payers in the Midlands?

G) 'Doctors' and 'Land Girls' are daytime dramas. 'The Archers' is a short daily drama on Radio 4. Good as these may be, they certainly do not amount to "substantial network drama" (quote taken from the BBC's cutback proposals). With such a small production base as this, the BBC could make more cuts in the future. Shouldn't they be making more programmes than these in the Midlands?

F) The BBC is regulated by a Charter laid down by Parliament. This sets out a number of Public Purposes, one of which is to represent the regions to the nation. It could be argued that the Midlands is already not getting any near as much representation as other parts of England or the UK. If the proposed cut backs go ahead, the BBC will most definitely not be meeting this charter requirement - not as far as the Midlands is concerned. Taking from one region and giving to another makes a nonsense of a "...commitment to the regions".

G) Excellent factual programmes are made by the team at BBC Birmingham. No savings will be made by moving these programmes elsewhere (or at least very little). The BBC has a 15 year lease left to run at the Mailbox for which it pays over £2 million each year. They should be finding ways of using the facility to its full capacity.


...all of which begs an important question: What is it about our city / region that the senior BBC management seem to dislike so much? We don't seem to be in favour no matter how you look at it. Are we too industrial? Too multi-cultural perhaps? Is it our unique accents? Are we too middle England? Whatever it is, it cannot be our broadcasting heritage because we have got a fine one (see the threads mentioned at top).

If the proposed cut backs do go ahead, then can we have a 'Midlands Licence Fee Rebate' please? Or, could we have our own Broadcasting Corporation to represent us and make programmes here? Or might the British Broadcasting Corporation consider a change of name to reflect their new structure? Of course, none of these things should be considered. We want the Midlands to be at the heart of the BBC with a thriving production base in Birmingham. A new TV studio would be a nice place to start!