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Out with the old, in with the young(er) as BBC unveils new politics package
New formats aim to attract new, more youthful audiences
The BBC yesterday unveiled unexpectedly modest plans to shake up its political coverage on television in ways it hopes will re-engage the attention of alienated voters and win new audiences among the apolitical young.The eagerly awaited blueprint promises to invest an extra £5m a year on political programming, including £1m to be spent on interactive website and digital services.
It also claims to provide 36 hours more politics a year, mostly on BBC1, while BBC2 gets slightly fewer hours. The number of people watching parliamentary programmes could increase by 20%, say BBC officials, evidently wary of MPs' special sensitivity on that point.
Predictions that the BBC's director-general, Greg Dyke, would force the review - led by Newsnight editor Sian Kevill - into dumbed-down populism seem unfounded. However, some analysts dubbed the changes an "anti-politicians" strategy, one designed to replace them on air with more of an issues-orientated, consumerist approach to politics.
"The question is how much politics there's going to be as opposed to ordinary people sitting around discussing the issues. A lot of programmes that deal with politics and politicians are being replaced with programmes that don't necessarily have either," said one BBC insider.
The reaction of the main political parties was guarded. Labour denied claims that the party chairman, Charles Clarke, is furious and called the changes generally encouraging. "We wait to see how the new format works in practice."
The Conservative chairman, Theresa May, promised to keep a close eye on the moves, which will mainly be implemented in the new year. "We remain deeply sceptical as to whether these changes will avoid a deterioration in the coverage of politics on the main BBC television news bulletins. Most of the new programming is concentrated at times of low available audiences," she said.
BBC officials called that level of response "neutral to encouraging". But it could have been worse.
After months of mischievous media speculation that the corporation's shake-up would include a youth programme called something outrageous such as News Is My Bitch, possibly hosted by the page 3 model Melinda Messenger, the most eye-catching prospect to emerge was an "informal" Saturday morning programme on BBC2. It will be co-hosted by Radio 5 Live's Fi Glover and Rod Liddle, editor of Radio 4's stately Today programme, as well as being a Guardian columnist.
But not even that is certain in what BBC executives stressed yesterday is still only a provisional package, endorsed this week by the board of governors, but still subject to detailed planning.
The Glover-Liddle pilot programmes will have to compete with a rival political magazine programme produced by Bob Geldof's company Ten Alps. The idea is to offer twentysomethings an alternative to children's cartoons.
As expected the review's most conspicuous casualties are the late-night Dispatch Box programme, which captured 300,000 viewers four nights a week on BBC2, and the more established Sunday lunchtime show, On the Record, where John Humphrys' abrasive chairmanship brings in audiences of up to 1.5 million.
Richard Sambrook, the BBC's director of news, who announced the changes yesterday, insisted that personalities were not the issue. He singled out Dispatch Box presenter Andrew Neil as a man for whom he retains "the greatest admiration".
Though Humphrys' Sunday spot will now go to Jeremy Vine, a much younger man, Neil may yet chair a new Thursday night programme. It is due to be aired at 11.30 for those viewers who have already sat through the 10 o'clock News and Question Time. "You'd have to be a pretty sad teenager to sit through all that," one insider said last night.
Mr Sambrook said that the twin purposes of the review had been to improve core programming to the BBC's "heartland audience", which translates as a mainly male audience over 45, and to try new things to attract new audiences.
Disaffection from politics is not confined to the 18- to 24-year age group, but is spreading upwards, BBC research confirms. But programmers believe that blockbusters such as this week's Cracking Crime, which drew fewer viewers than last year's Our NHS, can draw in new audiences.
Vine's still-untitled Sunday programme will be an hour long, like On the Record, but will include a 20-minute regional opt-out, an attempt to double the viewing figures for the BBC's regional political programmes. Though old BBC sweats regard Vine as a promising interviewer, though not yet in the Paxman league, that is bound to shorten the heavyweight interrogations now done by Humphrys. Mr Sambrook denied ageism and cited Newsnight's David Sells - "over 70", he said.
"I certainly do not think it's a dumbing down package. It is quite the opposite. I think it is a strengthening of our core commitment and I genuinely believe it is a serious package and quite different from the speculation that has been going around in the past several months," Mr Sambrook said.
Blairite officials like Alastair Campbell have blamed the media, especially TV, for the low 2001 election turnout. And some BBC insiders claimed that Humphrys must have been a victim of a government plot. The truth is more prosaic. He has a young family and wants his weekend back.