BBC - how does it fight back?

[Mr Q]

I'm sure Global and Bauer would do as good a job with local BBC radio as this have done with all the local commercial stations they swallowed up.

You mean the dozens of stations that otherwise would have gone to the wall?

When Global and Bauer both entered the UK market in the late 2000's, 80% - four in five stations - were unprofitable, all chasing the same middle ground.

Now we have cleary defined brands targeting very different audiences from teenager to dead.

Whilst I admit Bauer have a way to go to catch up, the industry is in a far better place because of Global.

Sure, they made them profitable. They ripped the local heart and identify out of them but they made them profitable.

Isn't it nice to have some things that can exist without having to make a profit?

This for me is a key point. The media landscape has become more global, with the internet and streaming services operating across borders. For commercial operators, scale matters. Local media, almost by definition, has a smaller audience to play with, but likely has a higher resourcing demand on a per reader/listener/viewer basis (relative to national/global outlets). That is much harder for commercial operators to adequately sustain. Nevertheless, there is a clear public interest in having strong coverage of local affairs: supporting civil society at the local level, keeping people up to date with what's happening in their local neighbourhoods, and holding local officials accountable. Reflecting the local perspective should be core business for the BBC.