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Kids' programming to move to CBBC and CBeebies as shows struggle against TV aimed at adults
Blue Peter is to be dropped from BBC1 as part of wide-ranging shakeup that will see all the BBC's children's programmes moved from its flagship channel after more than 60 years.
The corporation will move all children's programming to digital channels CBBC and CBeebies, as part of wide-ranging plans to cut hundreds of millions of pounds from its budget by 2017 and rejig its output for the post-analogue broadcasting era.
Blue Peter is currently presented by Helen Skelton and Barney Harwood, and airs on BBC1 on Friday afternoons, as well as CBBC. Last Friday, Blue Peter attracted 300,000 viewers and a 3% audience share, and struggles to win viewers who tune into programming aimed at adults.
On Wednesday, the BBC Trust gave the green light to director general Mark Thompson's Delivering Quality First proposals, including the children's programming switch. The DQF cuts will also see fewer entertainment shows, more repeats and reduced programming budgets for BBC3 and BBC4.
The BBC Trust said that viewing of children's programming on BBC1 and BBC2 was low and had fallen significantly over recent years.
As a result, following the completion of digital switchover later this year all children's shows will transfer to CBBC and CBeebies, which the BBC Trust said would affect a very low number of children viewers. Following switchover, CBBC and CBeebies will be available to all UK households.
The BBC Trust said that the level of investment in children's programming would be maintained, meaning that the proportion of the licence fee spent on children's output would actually increase.
"Children's output remains a cornerstone of the BBC's public service offering and one of the BBC's foremost editorial priorities," said the BBC Trust.
A BBC Trust spokeswoman added: "Children's programmes are absolutely fundamental to the BBC and that is why we have protected investment in them in the light of cuts elsewhere.
"Only a very small percentage of children still solely watch these programmes on BBC1 and BBC2 alone, so moving them to digital channels is merely following current viewing patterns and reflects the fact that CBeebies and CBBC will be universally available from the end of this year. We have asked the executive to ensure the changes are prominently publicised well in advance."
BBC1 and BBC2 currently have a shared requirement to show 1,500 hours of children's programming a year.
Digital switchover is due to be completed on 24 October, when analogue broadcasting ends in the final region to go through the process, Northern Ireland.
The BBC began broadcasting kids' programming on its TV service before the second world war, with the For the Children strand.
For the Children returned to the BBC's then only TV channel after the war in 1946 as a weekly strand and subsequently kids' programmes became an established featured of BBC1's weekday afternoon schedule, with Blue Peter launching in 1958.
BBC2 also broadcast children's programmes from its launch in 1964, with one of its earliest shows being pre-school format Play School, which transferred to BBC1 in 1983 and ran until 1988.
BBC1's weekday afternoon children's programming was rebranded Children's BBC – later shortened to CBBC – in September 1985, with Phillip Schofield presenting from the tiny "broom cupboard" continuity announcer's studio. Other occupants of the "broom cupboard" over the years included Andi Peters, Zoe Ball, Gordon the Gopher and Edd the Duck.
On other changes to BBC1 and BBC2, the BBC Trust said the two main channels would be largely protected from making significant cuts to the scope of their peak time content and output, with changes targeting less valued parts of the schedule.
BBC1 would see a small reduction in peak-time entertainment shows and the number of repeats aired in peak time would rise.
"Under this plan they will remain below 10% which we believe is an acceptable level," said the BBC Trust.
In addition, BBC1 would stop broadcasting mid-morning and 3pm news summaries and see a small reduction in the number of new programmes broadcast after the 10pm news.
BBC1 is also reducing the minimum hours of arts and music from 45 to 40, achieved through cutting episodes of shows in particular Film 2013.
BBC2 would make slightly fewer entertainment, panel and chat shows and would continue to show international news and current affairs at lunchtime and repeats of factual programmes from the corporation's archive and some live sport.
BBC2's minimum hours of arts and music will be dropped from 200 to 150, first run factual programming hours will be cut from 520 to 375.
The BBC Trust said that BBC3 and BBC4 would remain valuable but would suffer budget cuts and would support the flagship channels with more co-ordinated commissioning and scheduling.
BBC3 would reduce drama, music and entertainment programming and focus on appealing to younger audiences.
BBC4 would cut investment in UK original drama and some specialist factual output, the funding for which would move to BBC2, and take a clearer lead role in arts and cultural output.
BBC3's minimum hours of arts and music changed from 35 to 30, first run factual programming cut from 125 to 100.
BBC4's minimum hours of arts and music increased from 100 to 150, factual programming is to be dropped from 110 to 60.
The BBC is also cutting back its sports right budget by 15%, with the BBC Trust noting that a good deal of this target had already been achieved through its shared broadcast deal with BSkyB for Formula One.
The BBC Trust has given guidance on how the sport rights budget should be spent telling the corporation to prioritise events that have the "greatest national resonance" and provide airtime for minority sports.
BBC News will see about 800 job cuts and as well as cuts in the BBC1 bulletins, a reduction in party conference coverage and fewer features and special reports on the BBC News Channel.
There will also be a "small reduction" in lighter current affairs output and the "targeted reinvestment in investigative resources for Panorama".
BBC News channel will also not have to broadcast business and personal finance each hour and there will no longer be co-presenters at the scene of a "breaking major international story".
Radio 1 and Radio 1Xtra will share news bulletins, outside of breakfast programmes, and will simulcast between 2am and 4am.
Radio 1 will also replace regional late night shows with a single UK-wide programme, a proposal that was strongly opposed by the public and a number of established musicians with more than 7,000 signatories in Scotland, 6,400 in Northern Ireland and 556 in Wales.
However, the BBC Trust remained unbowed and said the current schedule represents "poor value for money".
Radio 2 will reduce live music broadcasts, to be replaced by more repeats of shows like Friday Night is Music Night, and the amount of comedy programming. Radio 6Music will share some news output with Radio 2.
Radio 3 will have about 25% fewer live and specially recorded lunchtime concerts, fewer orchestral concerts in the evening, which will be replaced with chamber and instrumental concerts, and less contemporary music for Hear and Now.
Overall the number of specially recorded Radio 3 performances will be reduced from 500 to 400 annually, while new drama productions will be cut from 35 to 25 a year.
Radio 4 will have a "limited" change to programming with a 2% increase in the number of repeats and a small reduction in factual and current affairs budgets. Radio 4 Extra will see a 30% reduction in originated programmes.
Radio 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra have been tasked with reducing costs for overnight programming and sports presentation, ending some Sunday programmes including comedy in the morning.
The BBC had planned to drop a one-hour weekly current affairs show on Radio 5 Live, however the BBC Trust overturned this proposal and the programme has been moved to a more prominent slot to boost the audience.
The Asian Network has been saved from closure, however it will no longer broadcast between midnight and 6am. There will be a £1.7m cut to its annual content budget, about 18%; the amount of music will rise from 50% to 60% of output, although this will be split 50/50 during daytime; there will be reductions in sports coverage, drama and bespoke documentaries.
The BBC Trust said that it agrees "in principle" with plans to reduce medium wave transmission for local radio where there is duplicate FM coverage. However, the BBC Trust has told the corporation to do more work to establish costs and impact across the UK before it makes a decision.
The BBC HD channel is to be shut in order to allow a simulcast HD channel for BBC2 to be launched, along with BBC1 HD channels for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The BBC Red Button interactive service has "substantial costs" and as a result the number of video streams on satellite and cable TV will be cut from nine to just one. The news multi-screen service will be shut.
"It is a new experience for the BBC to see its income fall significantly in real terms," said the BBC Trust. "We understand this has been a difficult process for staff and that some licence fee payers will be disappointed by some of the particular choices we have taken as they become apparent on air."
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Corporation to drop plans for sharing afternoon shows as it reduces target from £15m to £8m
The BBC will drop controversial plans to share afternoon shows between its local radio stations with the total amount of cuts halved to £8m a year from the originally proposed £15m.
This local radio cuts U-turn, which had been much anticipated following comments by BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten earlier this year, follows protests by listeners and MPs over the scale of the proposed savings announced last year.
The savings will now be £8m rather than the originally proposed £15m, with the impact on stations' content reduced from £8.5m to £2.1m.
The majority of the BBC's 40 local radio stations in England will retain their own afternoon programmes with far fewer cuts to journalists and reporting staff.
Sport and other community output, which station managers feared would suffer as a result of the changes, will also be given more protection than originally envisaged.
But the BBC will go ahead with plans to share output on weekday evenings with a new "Radio England" programme between 7pm and 10pm, with opt-outs for live sport and local news.
The BBC Trust confirmed the scaling-back of the cuts on Wednesday, following a public consultation over the proposals and a separate consultation on the future of its local radio services.
Spending on local radio was reviewed along with the rest of the corporation's output as part of BBC director general Mark Thompson's Delivering Quality First initiative following the 2010 funding deal with the government, which saw the licence fee frozen at £145.50 until 2017 – a 16% cut in real terms.
Details of the revised cost savings were given a cautious welcome within BBC local radio.
"It's welcome in the sense that a large proportion of the cuts has been reversed, but it's still going to hurt," said one BBC source."I don't think many people are going to say it's great news. Some stations are still going to suffer more in the cuts than others; it's not a level playing field."
The BBC Trust said there had been a "fairly large response" to the local radio consultation, which was "largely unanimous in believing that the proposed cuts to local radio were too severe and would damage its core proposition".
BBC local radio, which has 7.2 million listeners a week, played an "important role" in reaching 2.4 million listeners who do not listen to any other BBC station, and 1.3 million who consume no other radio at all, the trust added.
Savings expected of local radio by management, according to the trust, "although lower in financial terms than for many other parts of the BBC, was disproportionate to the value of these services to their audience".
Sharing of afternoon programmes will be limited to a "very small number of stations, either where currently operational or where there are strong editorial reasons for not doing so".
The BBC Trust said ways would be found to "continue to protect more specialist and distinctive local content out of peak" with "sport and other community output more protected than originally proposed".
"Cuts to on the ground journalists and reporters will be much lower with additional efficiency savings targeted at reducing layers of management within local stations," added the trust.
BBC local radio executives have been asked to ensure speech output retains a local focus, following some complaints that it could tend towards "lighter and non-local topics" and to ensure their music output was "as distinctive as possible" from the corporation's national stations.
The newly outlined cuts reflect proposals put forward in a review of the BBC's local radio output by John Myers earlier this year.
The former GMG Radio chief executive said about £9m of savings could be made without affecting on-air quality. Myers's proposal that the corporation could also axe half of its senior managers has not been taken up.
Colvin was killed in the Baba Amr district of Homs in February after Syrian artillery fire struck the house she was staying in
The life of the Sunday Times war correspondent Marie Colvin was celebrated at a packed St Martin-in-the-Fields church in London on Wednesday by family, colleagues and friends, including the singer Cerys Matthews and former foreign secretary David Miliband.
Colvin, who had reported from many of the world's most dangerous conflict zones, was killed in the Baba Amr district of Homs in February after Syrian artillery fire struck the hall of the house where she was staying. Friends said she entered the hall to collect the shoes she had taken off as a sign of respect for her hosts.
The BBC correspondent Lyse Doucet told the congregation that Colvin was "the bravest of the brave".
"Marie never thought of gender when it came to the way she reported and the way she travelled," she said. "She worked with the best of the veterans in this business, the most talented and the young, both women and men."
The tributes to Colvin portrayed a generous and courageous woman. There were also glimpses of her determined character. Sunday Times editor, John Witherow, recalled a manager from the newspaper's foreign staff visiting Colvin's home in person to get her to fill out her expenses. When she refused to come to the door, he was reduced to shouting "I know you're in there!" through the letterbox. Colvin eventually relented and let him in.
"Everyone here knows we have lost someone unbelievably special," Witherow said.
Former justice secretary reveals he regularly arranged to meet the then Sun editor as they made the same train journey
Jack Straw arranged to meet Rebekah Brooks for a gossip once a week when they commuted on the same train when he was justice secretary and she was editor of the Sun, the Leveson inquiry has heard.
Straw, the former Labour cabinet minister, told the inquiry on Wednesday that they made the arrangement to sit together and used to "gossip about personalities" and what "was in the papers" as they took the hour-long journey from Charlbury in west Oxfordshire to London.
He revealed his meetings just moments after railing against politicians who had too close a relationship with journalists and criticising the press for "recording" his profession as "personality, conflict-based".
Straw said his media policy was "don't have favourites" because politicians were like "shares", in that when they get too close to journalists their price is "over-valued and there is then a crash".
He told Lord Justice Leveson he was an old friend from University of Leeds days with Paul Dacre, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Mail, and generally one of Labour's fiercest critics in the national press. But in contrast with Brooks, he only met Dacre about once a year.
Straw, who had previously been one of Tony Blair's closest allies as home secretary, had the justice portfolio between 2007 and 2010.
He said the commuting arrangement with Brooks "stopped when she became chief executive of News International" in 2009.
Asked what he would talk about he said: "We would talk about what was in the papers, what was the gossip about personalities, that sort of thing."
But he added they could never get into too confidential a discussion because it was a busy commuter line.
"There were all sorts of people around ear-wigging so there was a kind of limit to what one was going to say either way," Straw said.
He remained a friend of Brooks and was one of several top politicians at her wedding to Charlie Brooks in June 2009, along with David Cameron and the then prime minister Gordon Brown.
Earlier the inquiry heard how the Sun had been "ruthlessly hostile" to the Labour party and that owner Rupert Murdoch enjoyed playing "a power game" with politicians, according to Straw.
Unlike other witnesses to the inquiry, such as Alastair Campbell, who testified earlier this week that the Sun backed Labour because it was a winner, Straw was of the view that the News International tabloid did have the power to make or break politicians' fortunes.
"Few of us who took part, for example, in the 1992 general election, are in any doubt that the Sun's approach lost us seats. That was the purpose [of the hostile coverage] and it is disingenuous for anyone to deny it," Straw said.
He added: "The Sun played a huge part in the fortunes of the Labour party."
The 1992 election saw the then Labour leader Neil Kinnock "knocked mercilessly" by the Sun. He was pilloried as a "Welsh windbag" and on the day of the election the Sun splashed with the headline "If Kinnock wins today will the last person to leave Britain please turn out the lights".
Straw said the Sun attacked members of the Labour party in the runup to the election. Just days before polling day in April 1992, the paper branded him "a hypocrite for preaching socialism from the luxury of three houses". He complained that this was already in the public domain but that now "every burglar in west Oxfordshire knew that the one day of the year" his house would be empty, was election day. His house was burgled and property stolen but when he complained to the Sun he got the "glazed-eye look", Straw said.
He said he had a run-in with Brooks when she was editor of the News of the World and had launched the campaign for "Sarah's law" to allow parents to check whether people with access to their children were sex offenders. At the time Straw was home secretary.
"I felt there were better ways of controlling the predatory instincts of sex offenders than having them bluntly subject to a mob outside their doors," he added.
He said newspapers should "calm down about the effects of autonomy from politicians" and acknowledge that statutory regulation would not been state control. That, he said, was "nonsense".
Straw said he believed newspapers had debased public discourse about government and democracy and had contributed to the low turnout at elections because they portrayed politics as "boring" and "completely self-serving".
In a barbed remark about journalists, he said: "As John Major famously said, 'the only people who've never made a mistake are the people who have never made a decision'. To which I would simply add: they are called journalists."
Straw told Leveson he was in favour of radical reform of press regulation, which had "palpably failed" over the past 50 years.
He said some sort of "statutory" regime which would provide remedies for fast-tracking cases of defamation and breaches of privacy.
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Foie gras, made by force-feeding geese, is banned from production in the UK, though it is still a legal ingredient
Hundreds of complaints have been made to the BBC after two chefs competing on its Great British Menu programme were shown preparing dishes including foie gras.
Johnnie Mountain made foie gras ice cream while Aiden Byrne served black cherry and foie gras terrine in an episode screened last week.
Production of foie gras – made by force-feeding ducks or geese until their livers are enlarged – is prohibited in the UK, although it is still a legal ingredient.
The BBC said it had received 418 complaints following the programme, which was watched by 2.1 million viewers.
Two animal rights groups have been campaigning to persuade the broadcaster to stop promoting recipes using foie gras either on its programmes or on its recipe websites.
In a letter to the BBC director general, Mark Thompson, Yvonne Taylor, senior programme manager for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) said: "Foie gras is uniquely cruel in that it is one of the few 'foods' that is produced by intentionally inflicting illness on animals.
"The scientific consensus against foie gras is so strong that its production is banned in more than a dozen countries, including the UK. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts, the Brit awards, Wimbledon, Lord's cricket ground and the Royal Shakespeare Company have all pledged not to serve or sell foie gras, and Prince Charles refuses to allow it on royal menus.
"Almost every major shop in the UK, including Selfridges and Harvey Nichols, has dropped foie gras because its production is so cruel. As condemnation of this vile industry continues to grow, we hope you'll agree that this 'torture in a tin' is worthy of neither promotion nor praise on the BBC."
Viva, which promotes vegetarian and vegan lifestyles, has written an email for supporters to send to the BBC. Part of it says: "Foie gras is not produced in Britain, as the government has made it clear that its production would contravene existing animal welfare regulations, but sadly it is still perfectly legal to import it.
"It is my understanding that foie gras is not served to staff at the BBC, which is commendable. However, allowing it to be cooked and served on TV helps publicise it and the abject cruelty behind its production. I also find it highly offensive that part of my licence fee indirectly goes towards doing so. Why can't chefs be told not to cook with it?"
The BBC said in a statement: "There is currently no ban on the use of foie gras in the UK, and while we appreciate it is a controversial matter, many people do enjoy it. As long as foie gras remains legal and freely available there is the possibility that it could be used as an ingredient in cookery programmes, just as it remains on restaurant menus around the world. If it were to be banned we would of course no longer allow it to be used."
Former NI chief executive and her husband attack decision to bring charges of conspiracy to obstruct the cause of justice
Rebekah Brooks has hit out at the decision to charge her with three counts of conspiracy to obstruct the course of justice, describing the case against her as "an expensive sideshow" and a "waste of public money".
Looking tired and nervous, the former News International chief executive chose to speak after her husband, Charlie, making a set of brief remarks in which she attacked the Crown Prosection Service's decision to bring charges on Tuesday morning.
Speaking live to camera outside the central London offices of her lawyers, Kingsley Napley, shortly before 5.30pm on Tuesday, Brooks said: "Whilst I have always respected the criminal justice system, I have to question today whether the decision was made on a proper impartial assessment of the evidence.
"I understand and know that there needs to be a proper and thorough investigation, and I am baffled by the decision to charge me. More importantly, however, I cannot express my anger enough that those closest to me have been dragged into this unfairly.
"One day the details of this case will emerge and people will see today as an expensive sideshow, and a waste of public money as a result of an injust and weak decision.
"I was the editor of the News of the World and the Sun, and chief executive. Even News International's harshest critics can't wish to see today, people with no involvement of the central issues being treated like this."
Standing shoulder to shoulder with her was her husband, who spoke first. Charlie Brooks will be charged with one count of conspiracy to pervert to course of justice.
"I feel today is an attempt to use me and others as scapegoats, the effect of will be to ratchet up the pressure on my wife, who I also believe is the subject of a witch-hunt," the racehorse trainer and Daily Telegraph columnist said, in a tone noticeably more strident than that used by his wife subsequently.
He continued: "There are 172 police officers, the equivalent of eight murder squads working on this; so it is no surprise me that the pressure is on to bring prosecutions, no matter how weak the cases will be.
"I have no doubt that the lack of evidence against me will be borne out in court, but I have grave reservations that my wife can ever get a fair trial, given the huge volume of biased commentary that she is constantly subjected to. We will fight this in court."
With both statements read out on live television the couple walked back into the lawyers' office. One reporter present shouted out: "Have you had a message of support from the prime minister?" but neither acknowledged the question as they headed back inside.
• This article was amended on 15 May 2012 to clarify the number of charges brought against Charlie Brooks by the CPS.
Presenter of Radio 1 breakfast show approached about 1980s pop music project which would be his first Radio 2 outing
Chris Moyles has had talks about presenting a show on BBC Radio 2 in a move that is likely to prompt further speculation about his departure from the Radio 1 breakfast show.
Radio 2 executives are understood to have approached Moyles about the project, which would explore his interest in 1980s pop music.
Industry sources said he would continue to present the breakfast show on Radio 1, in addition to the new Radio 2 series, if it goes ahead.
However, it would be his first show for Radio 2 and a significant development in the career of the presenter who has been in the Radio 1 breakfast hot seat since 2004.
A spokeswoman for Moyles said: "The show would give Chris an opportunity to show people his knowledge about music rather than just his Radio 1 persona.
"It was an idea that came from Radio 2 and it is something that Chris might be interested in doing at some point."
As well as being one of the BBC's most popular presenters, Moyles is also one of its most controversial, not least for his infamous on-air rant two years ago that he had not been paid. He later explained that he was "not a great morning person".
A Radio 2 spokeswoman said: "Radio 2 is in constant dialogue with presenters both inside and outside of the BBC about future presenting opportunities on the network over the coming years.
"However, there are no confirmed plans for Chris Moyles to present any programmes or series on Radio 2 in the near future."
Radio 1 is in the process of overhauling its lineup to target a younger audience, with Greg James recently switched to the drivetime slot in place of Scott Mills and a revamp of its specialist DJs that saw the exit of Judge Jules and Gilles Peterson. James is tipped as a possible replacement for Moyles on the Radio 1 breakfast show.
There is a long tradition of Radio 1 DJs moving to Radio 2 including Jo Whiley, Mark Radcliffe, Dave Pearce, Trevor Nelson, Zoe Ball and Chris Evans (albeit with an eight-year gap).
Moyles signed a new £1m contract with the BBC last year that will keep him at the corporation until 2014.
However, it remains to be seen whether he will remain on the breakfast show – or at Radio 1 – for the duration of the two-and-a-half-year deal.
BBC Radio 1 controller Ben Cooper refused to be drawn on Moyles' future in an interview with the Guardian in February.
Asked about his contract and whether he would still be around to celebrate his 10th anniversary on the breakfast show in 2014, Cooper said: "That is a private and confidential issue, but he has got a contract with Radio 1.
"Whether it's breakfast or Radio 1, that is for me to know. Chris and I have talked about it and that's something that will stay between me and him."
A Radio 1 spokesman said: "Chris is not leaving Radio 1. He continues to present the Breakfast show, where he remains incredibly popular."
• This article was amended on 16 May 2012 to add comment from Radio 1.
Sir Michael Lyons says there is not one standout successor to Mark Thompson within the corporation
The former chairman of the BBC Trust, Sir Michael Lyons, has said the search for the corporation's next director general must look outside the small group of internal candidates who have applied.
Lyons said he does not believe there is a single standout successor to Mark Thompson within the BBC, due to a failure to institute succession planning.
"There isn't one. I don't believe Mark has a preferred candidate either. It is important that there is as wide a search as possible... basically to look elsewhere in the public sector," he said, in an interview for an article in the May edition of Television magazine, journal of the Royal Television Society.
"You do need someone with management skills ... but someone who is in the public sector," added Lyons, who worked with Thompson for four years when he was trust chairman, until May 2011 when he was replaced by Lord Patten.
"As long as four years ago I was pushing, because we did not feel the BBC Trust had inherited a succession plan. We were pressing him [Thompson] to get one and invest, with the aim of bringing on a handful of candidates – George Entwistle, Tim Davie, Helen Boaden – with the chance to play a bigger role."
They were eventually given more responsibility and public profile last year after deputy director general Mark Byford, who headed up BBC news and current affairs left and Jana Bennett, director of Vision, moved to BBC Worldwide.
Entwistle, Davie, Boaden and Caroline Thomson, BBC chief operating officer, are all understood to have applied for the director general job.
The former management consultant and Birmingham city council leader said during his period as chairman there were areas where the current management came unstuck, notably the proposal to close BBC Radio 6 Music, and local radio and TV regional current affairs cuts.
"Both issues needed to be explored at much greater depth before being brought to the trust," he added.
Lyons is also worried that in the current era of Delivering Quality First cutbacks, BBC News may end up inadequately resourced and not setting its own news agenda, unless a decision is taken on the scope of activities, which have to be somewhat reduced.
"If so that is a serious failing. Panorama occasionally takes risks, but there is not enough investment in it, [though] it's a touchstone. The BBC does not want to be constantly following others," he said.
"It has made great strides in specialist news and staff, my worry now is that it is cutting corners on riskier stuff. Also there's a danger, of taking premature positions on international news – the BBC was enamoured of the Arab spring. What about tougher questions, who is being backed in Libya and Syria?
"I see the really questioning and challenging stuff on Radio 4, usually in the evening, and not during the daytime programmes. I worry about homogenised news, industrialised news after the merger [of BBC News and the World Service at Broadcasting House]."
Gary Lineker and Sue Barker to head coverage, which will take in 26 TV channels, three radio stations and the internet
The BBC has promised viewers they will "never miss a moment" of the London Olympics as it unveiled full details of its 2,500 hours of TV, radio and online coverage headed by Gary Lineker and Sue Barker.
London Olympics coverage will be on 26 TV channels, three radio stations and online, including blanket coverage on BBC1 and BBC3.
Match of the Day presenter Lineker will host the main evening coverage on BBC1 with Barker anchoring the flagship channel's live afternoon show.
The opening and closing ceremonies will be in the hands of BBC1's 10pm anchor, Huw Edwards.
Other presenters viewers will get to see plenty of on BBC1 during the Olympics include Clare Balding, Hazel Irvine, Gabby Logan and The One Show co-host Matt Baker. BBC3's Olympic coverage will be anchored by Formula One presenter Jake Humphrey.
Lineker described sport as the "ultimate reality [TV] show" and revealed he had spent the last few months researching the finer points of less familiar Olympic events such as fencing and taekwondo.
"I've been studying hard for a good few months now. You've got to do it – I'm on three and a half hours every night on BBC1. This is enormous," he said.
"No-one here is an expert on all the sports and no one is expected to be. The fact I have completed at the highest level of sport gives me a slight advantage and understanding and probably a degree of respect from whoever I'm interviewing, which is important."
Radio 1 chart show host Reggie Yates and former England cricket captain Michael Vaughan are also part of the BBC team, along with former Olympians such as Sir Matthew Pinsent and Jonathan Edwards.
BBC1 will be devoted almost entirely to the Olympics for all 17 days of the games with regular BBC1 shows such as EastEnders switched to BBC2.
The main channels will be complemented by a further 24 dedicated Olympic digital services available on satellite, cable and online via the BBC red button.
Between them the 26 TV channels will broadcast 2,500 hours of sporting action – 1,000 more than from Beijing in 2008 – out of an estimated 3,000 hours of Olympics competition.
Flagship events, including the men's 100m final, will also be broadcast in 3D for the first time and in "super HD" at specific venues.
The Olympics will be a big ratings winner for the BBC with the final of the men's 100m, which will take place in primetime on BBC1 on Sunday 5 August, expected to be the most watched event, together with the opening and closing ceremonies.
During the Athens Olympics in 2004, the last in a European timezone, six events drew more than 10 million viewers on BBC1 including Kelly Holmes' gold medal wins in the 800m and 1500m and Paula Radcliffe in the marathon.
As one of the media organisations commissioned to provide coverage of the London Games by the host broadcaster, Olympic Broadcasting Services, the BBC's pictures will also be seen by hundreds of millions of viewers around the world. It also has bespoke cameras specifically dedicated to following the fortunes of Team GB athletes.
The BBC's director London 2012, Roger Mosey, said at the corporation's Olympics launch on Tuesday that its coverage would show that the "claimed obsolescence of the BBC is nonsense". He said that the theme of the BBC's programming would be that viewers will "never miss a moment".
As the event's host broadcaster the BBC's pictures will also be seen by hundreds of millions of viewers around the world.
BBC Radio 5 Live's Olympics programming will be led by Mark Pougatch. Coverage will also feature on digital station 5 Live Sports Extra and a temporary digital radio station, 5 Live Olympic Extra.
Adrian Van Klaveren, controller of Radio 5 Live and 5 Live Sports Extra, said the "ambition is to capture every British gold medal" on the stations. But cricket fans need not fear – Test Match Special, broadcast on 5 Live Sports Extra as well as BBC Radio 4 long wave, will not be affected.
The 24 streamed TV channels will be four times as many as the BBC has previously broadcast during the Wimbledon tennis championships. The BBC will have cameras at all 32 venues, covering 26 Olympic sports and 39 disciplines.
Action not broadcast by the BBC will include some tennis matches — it will broadcast a maximum of five at any time — and preliminary rounds in events such as shooting.
Many of the extra digital channels will broadcast live uninterrupted coverage of events, often without commentary.
Balding denied that the slew of new channels and ways to watch would lead to a more fragmented viewing experience. "That shared experience becomes even more valuable, you have to watch it live. BBC1 will be trying to hit the big live points as they have done at any Olympic Games. The middle Saturday of the Games in Beijing, I was in the studio when we had to suddenly go to the taekwondo and you will still get that," she said.
The BBC will provide extra on-screen information about each sport, helping viewers with disciplines with which they may be less familiar, and alert them to the big events of the day with an interactive online video player.
BBC1's coverage will only be interrupted for its lunchtime and evening news bulletins, when its Olympics programming will switch to BBC2.
BBC1 controller Danny Cohen said the corporation had thought carefully before deciding to devote almost the whole of his channel and BBC3's schedule to the games.
"We discussed it and looked at it in detail. It's only 17 days and BBC1's main purpose is to draw the nation together," said Cohen. "The key is to make sure we are offering viewers who don't want to watch the sport a wide range of choices across the portfolio. That's why BBC2 and BBC4 will focus on non-Olympic programming. It's a limited period and a complete treat."
From Friday the BBC's Olympics website will broadcast continuous coverage of the torch relay around the country.