Plans for the BBC South Today Oxford Bulletin to be axed have been announced in a series of cuts to local news.

The regional TV news programme is planned to merge with the Southampton regional programme in November, ending the local bulletin service, currently presented by Geraldine Peers and Jerome Sale, that has been going since 2000.

BBC Nations director Rhodri Talfan Davies said it was a "difficult decision" but he wanted to "strengthen" local online news services.

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Mr Talfan Davies said while the Oxford programme had "delivered some fine journalism over recent years, it attracts a smaller audience than other regional news shows in England".

In an email sent to BBC England staff and referenced in the piece, BBC Nations director Rhodri Talfan Davies said the decision was made “against the backdrop of a licence fee settlement that is frozen over the next two years”.

Rather than rising with inflation, this January the TV licence fee was frozen at £159 until 2024 to help families facing rising living costs. 

It comes ahead of further announcements of cuts expected on Thursday.

He said while roles were not "at risk of redundancy today", this could change in mid-July when more clarity is given.

A BBC spokesperson said: “We’re proud of our Oxford service, which has served viewers well and produced some great journalism.

"We need to make tough choices as we change our services in line with audience needs. The Oxford service is one of our lowest performing programme and viewers already get news broadcast from Southampton at other times of the day.

"We’ll maintain a presence in Oxford.”

The Oxford programme employs 18 staff and is broadcast on weekdays at 18:30 from its Summertown studios.

Read more from this author

This story was written by Shosha Adie. 

She joined the team in 2022 as a digital reporter.   

To get in touch with her email: Shosha.Adie@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter: @ShoshaAdie

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