The BBC's Director General Greg Dyke has defended his decision to move the corporation's flagship Nine O’Clock news to 10pm. He claimed it would lead to an increase in viewing figures. But critics have accused him of dumbing down.
The move to kill off the primetime news programme, which has been running for 30 years, is designed to woo viewers of the axed ITV programme, News at Ten, and to make more room in coveted 8pm-10pm schedule for films and dramas.
The new programme is to be called the BBC’s Ten O’Clock News. It is expected that the change in scheduling will draw criticism from parliament. They objected to ITV’s axing of its News at Ten programme. ITV is thought to have lost about 1 million of its nightly news viewers as a result of the change in schedule. The independent network has since been involved in a legal battle with the television watchdog, the Independent Television Commission.
Concern has also been expressed that Panorama, BBC 1’s leading investigative programme, and Newsnight, BBC 2’s late night current affairs programme will also be sidelined.
