Birmingham was a BBC radio powerhouse. Now even The Archers is leaving | Letter
Former BBC employee Owen Bentley laments the final nail in the coffin for what once was a hub of quality programming
I can understand why the BBC is reluctant to build a new drama studio for The Archers when it moves to Digbeth, seeing that there is no other radio drama being made in Birmingham that would plump out its use (BBC to stop recording The Archers in Birmingham for first time in its 75-year history, 12 October).
Is this to be the final nail in the coffin of programme-making for the national networks in the Midlands? At its peak in the 90s the Birmingham Network Radio department was the major provider of programmes to Radio 2 and 5 outside London, and for Radio 4 and 3 it had award-winning specialisms in features, environment, farming, drama and music programming plus, of course, The Archers.
The radio studios were busy then contributing more than 3,000 hours per year to the networks before, in a fit of reorganisation, all programmes other than The Archers were scattered to Manchester, Bristol and London, a route that the everyday story of countryfolk may now follow.
Owen Bentley Former BBC head of network and local radio in the Midlands • Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.