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Woman's Hour moving back to London.

(24 Posts)
NanKate Sun 06-Jul-14 20:58:51

Why oh why did the BBC spend all that money moving many of the BBC programmes and staff upto Salford ( nothing against Salford) and now they say that as a cost cutting exercise they are moving Woman's Hour back. I wonder who else will be coming back?

Mishap Sun 06-Jul-14 21:06:46

Passing fads - wastage of tax payers' money - happens all the time.

It seemed a barmy move to Salford in the first place - a good aim to be less London-centric, but there were cheaper ways of achieving this.

When I worked for SSD they were always reorganising for some PC reason and us oldies would look back and laugh because mostly everything came full circle in the end and back to square one. Not before loads of dosh has slid down the pan.

janerowena Sun 06-Jul-14 21:30:41

They've probably realised that nearly all the guests live near London and paying their fares and expenses is costing a small fortune. It's a bit soon, they should give it time as I think more people will eventually move up that way, but maybe they don't have the money to wait that long.

jollyg Mon 07-Jul-14 14:52:53

Too many W***ers in BBC living on fat salaries without out a thought to who is paying their salaries..
JOBS for , well should not say as I might be reported.

Remeber James Purnell ex Labour who was shoehorned in the job with no job advertised……… They really are above the law, on state money,

Who will the next chairman be? C**, his lordship, keeps his cred intact for the next shoe in, all rats in a basket

Eloethan Mon 07-Jul-14 15:18:06

jollyg You don't sound particularly jolly. Why so much bile aimed at the BBC - I'm sure there are many other worthy contenders?

vegasmags Mon 07-Jul-14 16:10:36

Woman's hour is probably not the best example, as only one programme a week - the Friday edition - was ever produced entirely at Media City, so that I can't see them saving a massive amount of money. Other programmes such as You and Yours and File on 4 moved up so that they are both completely produced in Salford.

I know there has been an argument that the only winners have been Virgin trains (only 2 hours from London to Manchester), but surely janerowena it can't be that the only people worth interviewing live in the south east?

FlicketyB Mon 07-Jul-14 17:12:36

It was a politically correct decision to move to Salford, not a rational thought through economic decision.

jinglbellsfrocks Mon 07-Jul-14 17:45:29

I just wish they'd go back to the afternoon slot. (Going back a bit) Haven't really listened to it since they moved it to mornings.

It's pretty miserable. A lot about euthanasia. Seemed to be their pet subject.

vegasmags Mon 07-Jul-14 17:51:08

I agree jingl - I used to listen more often when it was on the afternoon and was a bit less intense.

rosequartz Mon 07-Jul-14 18:10:07

I think the decision to move to Salford was made by a BBC top bod who lived in Canada. As far as I remember, the BBC then promptly rented back the London premises they had sold confused

Why worry about how much money you spend on futile exercises when it is not your own or you do not have to make a profit for shareholders? Often in public services there is a lot of change for the sake of change.

janeainsworth Mon 07-Jul-14 18:33:30

Totally agree about the afternoon slot! I would sit and listen and put my feet up, whereas in the morning I never listen - I'm busy doing things!

FlicketyB Tue 08-Jul-14 08:06:52

It isn't worth listening to these days. As jbf says all euthanasia, and all discussions on any interesting and controversial subject are all so self-righteously politically correct that you can predict the way the discussion will go before it starts - and then there are the singers, none of whom I have ever heard of and would never willingly ever want to hear sing again.

FlicketyB Tue 08-Jul-14 08:07:35

Should have added that it is a shame as it is a programme I used to really enjoy.

Iam64 Tue 08-Jul-14 08:11:23

I confess I often listen to Victoria Derbyshire on radio 5 rather than women's hour, depends what topic each programme is covering.

How on earth can the dreadful phrase 'politically correct' be applied to the decision to move some BBC stuff to Salford? Vegasmags is spot on, do people really believe the only people worth interviewing live in the south east? Some of the radio 5 programmes have been hilarious (not). When the journalist discovered that the Chorlton area is full of individual shops, excellent organic veg shop and brilliant fish mongers, you could hear the disbelief in her voice. Golly, all that, and the north…..

Just off to walk the whippets

vegasmags Tue 08-Jul-14 09:21:47

I'd love to join you on that walk Iam but I really should get on with polishing the clogs

janeainsworth Tue 08-Jul-14 09:36:51

And yer front step probably wants scrubbing too Vegasmagsgrin

vegasmags Tue 08-Jul-14 09:38:35

Or jane to use a more technical term - donkey stoning grin

penguinpaperback Tue 08-Jul-14 09:42:38

I gave up on WH a couple of years ago. I used to have Radio 4 on in the kitchen pretty much all of the day. Miss it but for whatever reason I find myself turning the radio off after a few minutes of trying to get back into being a Radio 4 listener.

janeainsworth Tue 08-Jul-14 09:48:02

Right. I'm off to clean t'brasses grin

jollyg Tue 08-Jul-14 10:37:01

Sorry you dont like my tone, Eleo, but like you we pay a fee for the BBC to satisfy ALL its listeners.

I dont listen to the music channels, not my taste. Mostly 4

I listen to the Today prog. am, but ofter turn off in disgust at the patronising stuttering nonsense peddled there,
Sarah M and Mishal H are streets away from the rest, and should I have the misfortune to hear Jonathan D on any questions Fri Pm, his misquotations as well as interruptions annoy hugely, as does his huge ego.

The Beeb spent one hundred million on a new IT system.Gone

The Beeb bought Lonely Planet at a vast sum , sold at a huge loss.

People get paid off with super sums for redundancy, and then are reemployed. What sort of organisation is this.

Paxo cant stand the new building, recently refurbed , more expense, having only been recently opened by HM.

Maybe I should also be cleaning the brasses, however the rain will spoil.

Just one grumpy Gran here .

Methinks if it was run by grans it might be better

apricot Tue 08-Jul-14 18:39:42

I'd like to know the Women's Hour demographic. I call it Feminist's Hour because of its relentlessly feminist agenda but most people listening to Radio 4 in the morning must be retired. The young working women it seems aimed at are at work, the mummies are doing the washing or at playgroup and there is very very little of interest to older women.

nightowl Tue 08-Jul-14 19:04:58

Don't you think it is possible to be a feminist AND retired apricot? I always think it's aimed at feminists of jeni murray's generation ie. many of us! I'm not sure what younger women make of it.

suzied Wed 09-Jul-14 05:03:53

I quite like Woman's Hour. I don't often listen at 10, I usually hear it on catchup. I quite often listen to the weekend one if I havent heard much during the week. If I am doing some sewing or cooking I enjoy having r4 on in the background., or LBC. I enjoy the drama in the afternoons, but I can't stand Any Questions or similar. I like the News Quiz and Just a Minute.

FlicketyB Wed 09-Jul-14 17:09:50

Still a feminist at 70, but I do know what apricot means. Over the years the programme has become heavy and humourless, which is why I rarely listen now. It used to be a mixed programme with light-hearted items as well as items addressing serious issues but I find that now even what should be light-hearted items are weighed down by the leaden humourlessness of the presenters.