28 August 2007
One of the BBC's top reporters has claimed that the corporation should axe some of its digital TV channels in order to save money and improve programme quality.
According to presenter John Sweeney, the investigative journalist who recently hit the headlines following his outburst at a Church of Scientology representative, the BBC should cut either BBC3 or BBC4 channels if it was to avoid "a dark future".
He described BBC TV current affairs as "a pale shadow" of its former self, with "empty desks" and "too many people on short term contracts".
BBC and ITV have recently been accused of putting ratings before programme quality with current affairs programmes like BBC3's Me and My Man Breasts and ITV1's Ann Widdecombe vs. The Hoodies.
Speaking at the Edinburgh Television Festival, Mr Sweeney stated: "Trust and quality cost money…If we have got to make economies we should be careful about what we cut.
"If economies have to be made, it would be better to close BBC3 or BBC4 than cut current affairs again. If we cut current affairs and quality documentaries we are in danger of losing our soul," he claimed.
The comments come as a recent YouGov poll of 2,000 viewers believed that today's current affairs programmes had been dumbed down to attract more viewers.
© 2008 Adfero Ltd
Content for the uSwitch.com market news service is provided by a third party, Adfero Ltd. Whilst uSwitch.com makes reasonable efforts to check the reliability of this content, uSwitch.com does not guarantee the accuracy thereof or endorse the views or opinions given by Adfero Ltd, unless expressly stated otherwise.