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Factual hit hardest at BBC Vision

By Press Gazette

Factual programming is to be most affected by the cutbacks at BBC Vision with ‘less middle ground’programming, according to the director of the corporation’s commissioning and production arm.

Jana Bennett said the corporation would seek to replace ‘middling types of factual programming’but insisted that this focus would be on programmes that the BBC had not yet made rather than on axing parts of the existing schedule.

The emphasis would remain on ‘landmark’programming like its current affairs output including Horizon and Panorama, said Bennett. The ‘lighter factual entertainment’strands would be decreased in future. One factual strand – Wild – will close.

Storyville will be subject to cuts but these ‘were not decided yet”, said Bennett. Shorter programme lengths may be considered as well as decreasing the number of editions to add more to each episode budget, according to Bennett.

A petition had been set up to save the programme from annual budget cuts from £2.2 million to £1 million, according to reports.

Bennett said the emphasis would be on ‘defending the peak time schedule with less investment in the off peak slots”.

There will be more sharing of content between BBC2 and BBC4 – including the best of BBC4 on BBC2.

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