BBC local staff vote in favour of strike over radio cuts

Workers at BBC‘s regional services in England will stage a 24 hour strike next month over plans to merge some local radio shows including BBC Introducing.

• READ MORE: Inside the fight to save the local BBC Introducing shows: “It’s so much bigger than just radio play”

The walkout is set to take place at 11am on March 15, on the same day as the Budget, after 83 per cent of members of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) voted in favour of the move.

A spokesperson said they were “disappointed at the outcome of the ballot”, reports BBC News but NUJ General Secretary Michelle Stanistreet said its members had shown “their determination not to stand by and see local radio output dismantled”.

It comes after the BBC has announced plans for its 39 local stations to share more shows in afternoons, evenings and at weekends.

Under the proposals, the stations would keep their own weekday morning programmes but then share 20 afternoon weekday shows, 10 shows after 6pm and a single all-England programme after 10pm. Weekend output will also be affected.

The corporation’s 39 BBC Introducing shows, a scheme to support up-and-coming musical talent, will also be cut to 20 but with extra timeslots to ensure a broad range of music can still be played. The ‘Introducing’ platform has helped to launch the careers of artists including George Ezra, Ed Sheeran and Florence + The Machine.

There were fears from a group of music organisations, that BBC Introducing, would be scrapped entirely.

In a letter to BBC’s chairman, Richard Sharp – the likes of Mark Davyd, CEO of the Music Venue Trust, Jon Collins, CEO of LIVE and the CEO of the Association of Independent Music, Silvia Montello – said BBC Introducing plays a “vital role” in supporting new musical talent in the UK.

Music fans also previously greeted the news with dismay, foreseeing potentially harmful consequences for the British music industry. In response, BBC 6 Music broadcaster Tom Robinson launched a campaign in which he encouraged listeners to post messages of support for local BBC Introducing presenters to his blog, in order to raise public awareness of the situation. “It would be devastating if these shows were cancelled. BBC Introducing makes [new music] accessible to listeners who wouldn’t otherwise hear these artists,” read a comment from BBC Introducing Solent listener Jennifer Clark at the time, neatly summarising the sense of community that these shows inspire.

Artists also shared their disappointment at the time. Lewis Whiting, guitarist of Leeds’ English Teacher, said that the continued support they have received from BBC Introducing has been “invaluable,” adding: “It’s the main thing local bands strive for: you can see that, from the past, local BBC Introducing airplay has produced results and made bands’ careers more tangible. It gave us a future.”

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