Welcome to today's edition of the BBC in the Midlands Today.
Here is the news...
"The BBC has a continuing commitment to Birmingham"
said a corporation spokesperson to the Birmingham Post, February 2013.
11 years later, we are still waiting for a regular Midlands-made programming to appear on any BBC televsion channel in peak time. In the those 11 years, the Midlands & East of England has contributed approximately £9 billion in licence fees to the BBC, of which £6 billion has been paid from the East & West Midlands alone.
The BBC seems to be failing in its commitment to the MIdlands. A commitment that is enshrined in its Charter, but which it has been allowed to neglect.
From a solid foundation, the BBC has been making continual cutbacks to their operations, facilities, workforce and programme making in the Midlands virtually every year since 2000. Why?
The main television production studio at Pebble Mill was mothballed in 2000, followed by the demolition of the complex in 2004. Having moved into a smaller facility at The Mailbox in Birmingham city centre, there has been a continuing and almost yearly reduction in staff numbers and programme making. Why?
In 2012, the Birmingham based BBC Factual Unit was transferred out of the city to Bristol, along with the Agricultural Unit. Programme making and many production jobs went with them. In terms of programme making, months can go by before the Midlands & East will feature in peaktime BBC televsion, and there is one programme that is now made for Radio 4. Why?
Sadly, the BBC Drama Village in south Birmingham was closed in April 2024, following the announcement that highly rated daytime drama Doctors was to be cancelled.
Yet the Ofcom Midlands & East area, one of 7 that cover the whole of the United Kingdom, is the largest, containing 25% of the UK population. It contributes one quarter of all licence fee revenue: £934 million in 2023 alone. In short, the Midlands is the biggest region that sees the lowest spend and the smallest programme making output. Why?
0% of Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 5, BBC2, BBC4 and peak-time BBC1 are made in the Midlands. And only 13 minutes a day on Radio 4. WEe can at least report that the Asian Network is moving back to Birmingham (2025) and that there are now some specialist music programmes being made for DAB channels.
Here is a summary of the BBC in the Midlands Today:
• Between 2007 and 2023, BBC spending on network TV programme making increased from 32..6% to 60% outside of London. That's impressive.
• Spending increased in every nation & region outside London, except the Midlands, where it decreased.
• The BBC raises more licence fee income in its 'Midlands region' (£934 million in 2023/24) than any
other nation or region in the UK and spends less on making programmes in it
• Some £805 million of licence fee income flowed out of the Midlands & East in 2023/24
No other nation or region contributes more to BBC spending in the capital
• There are no BBC network television studios in the entire region. Yes, we have no studios!
• BBC network radio studios in Birmingham are now vastly under utilised.
• Vital creative jobs have been lost and continue to be lost
• The Midlands is absent from BBC schedules and
the region is not being represented at a national level.
There are no programmes for months on end in peaktime and sometimes on daytime too!
• The regional economy suffers directly and indirectly
• Young people must leave the region if looking for a career in broadcasting
• We pay the same licence fee (£169.50) but get so much less in return
Therefore, we are calling on the BBC - to reverse the cutbacks and to invest in the Midlands. We would like to see a genuine and continuing commitment to the region.
The Mailbox
In the West Midlands, the BBC's main base is at The Mailbox - a city centre shopping and leisure mall in Birmingham. Described as a "state of the art" production base, with only a small space for the regional nightly news, these are 'studios' without a network TV studio!
The Mailbox is home to the local radio station, programming for the Asian Network (with some programming currently made in London) and very little for the mainstream national radio networks (due to more radio cutbacks at Birmingham in 2012). The exception is The Archers which was originally commissioned by the BBC regional service in 1950 (although its radio studio lies idle for 3 weeks of every month and this gives us a cause for concern. It could be put to more productive use, such as becoming a cost effective and convenient central location for Radio 4 drama).
The Mailbox was previously the base for the highly acclaimed and award winning Factual Unit. This team produced prestigious and highly rated programmes such as Coast (countlessly repeated), Countryfile (the only programme that was made for the peak-time BBC television schedule in Birmingham) and the long running and internationally acclaimed Sky at Night, amongst many others. In 2012 this unit was closed and the staff either transferred elsewhere or accepted redundancy.
We believe that the BBC made a mistake by closing the Factual Unit in Birmingham. It was the home of highly creative world-class programme makers. Programme making should be returned to The Mailbox.
The Mailbox is reported to have cost some £40 million to open in 2004 and continues to cost the BBC over £1 million per annum in rental costs alone.
Even this investment pails into insignificance when compared to the cost of the new BBC Pacific Quay development at Glasgow (opened in 2007) at a cost of some £188 million. Or MediaCityUK in Manchester (2012) at a cost of £880 million. Then there was the £350 million spent on building new studios and offices for 6,000 employees at Media Village (2004) in west London. And let's not forget that just over £1 billion refurbishment of BBC headquarters (opened 2012) in London. And the £120 million cost of opening a new headquarters in Wales, at Central Square, Cardiff (opened 2019). It is worth pointing out that all of these other locations included network televison studio space in their specification, but for some reason, The Mailbox in Birmingham did not.
The Mailbox will be vacated in 2027, when the BBC will move to a new facility at The Tea Factory in Digbeth, Birmingham's up and coming creative quarter. We are disappointed that this too will not include any BBC Studios network studio space. A massive opportunity for the BBC to up its onw game in the Midlands is being lost by this ommission. We are watching this development very closely, as it is by no means certain that The Tea Factory will contain the facilities that the BBC would need to expand its own network radio and televsion production in the city. We hope that we are wrong!
Whilst the MIdlands might be described as Aunty's poor relation, it is also one of her biggest licence fee earners. We argue that licence fee spending around the country should be linked to licence fee revenue.
A complete section of empty desks at The Mailbox, once occupied by the Factual Unit, closed in summer 2012.
The Drama Village
The BBC entered into a joint venture with Birmingham University in 2005 by opening 'The Drama Village' using various converted buildings in Selly Oak. Opened with a fanfare of publicity, Alan Yentob, the BBC Creative Director at that time said, "The BBC is completely committed to regional production and we're genuinely excited about the future of drama in the city". Never the less, the BBC considered closing this small facility in 2008, only 3 years after opening it! There followed a local campaign and after much waiting, it was announced at the end of the year, that it was to stay open after all.
It was the base for daytime drama Doctors and an average of two daytime short-drama commissions every year. These commissions have gone on to earn multi-millions in overseas programme sales for BBC Studios, and include Father Brown, Sister Boniface and Shakespeare & Hathaway. The Drama Village specialised in making high quality programming for relatively low cost.
In October 2023 it was announced that Doctors was to be cancelled, with production ceasing in April 2024. Please read our statement about this here.
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