MP column: BBC needs to be “properly challenged” over digital rural services

The Conservative MP for West Dorset, Chris Loder, writes in The Bridport News this week that the BBC’s plans to cut airtime of BBC Radio Solent’s Dorset

Breakfast Show and end the text-based Red Button service will disproportionately affect rural communities in his constituency. Following Loder’s intervention, BBC Director General Lord Hall has confirmed that plans to cease the Red Button service have been suspended.

Loder argues that the continual shift of investment in on-demand and streaming services, reliant on fast internet and abandoning more traditional methods of broadcast, is unacceptable.

He maintains that poor broadband speeds in rural areas often makes these services totally inaccessible, further isolating rural communities.

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The Bridport News - MP column: BBC needs to be 'properly challenged'