Cuts may be windfall for Scotland as BBC's centre changes focus

Published on Sunday 29 August 2010 17:01

FORMER BBC chairman Michael Grade has insisted the corporation's output from Scotland is likely to increase over the next few years — despite calling for the BBC to be reduced in size.

Mr Grade, chairman for two and a half years from May 2004, told the Edinburgh International Television Festival that the BBC had become "almost unmanageable" and "too big".

He also said the BBC should be forced to share some of its licence fee with Channel Four.

But speaking after his appearance, Mr Grade said Scotland was likely to benefit hugely from the BBC's drive to move more and more productions outside of London.

"The centre of gravity with the BBC is moving more and more away from London, with the whole focus been on decentralisation. It is clearly going to move a lot of production to other parts of the UK.

"Scotland is not going to be immune to cuts within the BBC but I certainly don't think it's going to bear an unfair brunt."

BBC's director general Mark Thompson warned at the festival on Friday that the corporation would lose star names as a result of cuts. He also pledged that the number of senior managers would be reduced by at least a fifth by the end of 2011.

Grade said: "The real issue is how big should the BBC be? Does it need all those digital channels, all those radio stations, does it need to occupy all the territory that it does?."

He said it was up to licence fee payers, through the BBC Trust, to decide what services it stopped providing, adding: "The BBC has to contract. It's just too big. It's almost unmanageable."

Meanwhile, star festival attraction Katie Price pulled out at the eleventh hour. Her publicists would only cite "unforeseen circumstances".