UK public-service broadcaster the BBC warned the BBC Trust, the broadcaster’s independent governing body, that it may have to cut the length of some news bulletins due to coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Uefa Euro 2012.
According to The Guardian, BBC executives said the commitment to showing the Olympics and Euro 2012 could lead to the broadcaster failing to meet its annual regulated quota of peak-time news programming hours on its flagship BBC One channel. BBC One and sister channel BBC Three will broadcast live coverage of the Olympics, with the former set to provide daily coverage from 6.00am until midnight.
The paper quotes the BBC Trust as saying that despite the importance of the Olympic Games to the nation, and to a lesser extent Euro 2012, the network and regional news should continue to have top priority in scheduling decisions on BBC1.
The BBC Trust said, in the minutes of a meeting in November that were published yesterday, despite the importance of the Olympic Games to the nation, and to a lesser extent Euro 2012, that “network and regional news should continue to have top priority in scheduling decisions on BBC1”.
A spokeswoman for BBC News said that this year’s major sporting events “could lead to scheduling changes but our commitment to bringing our audiences all the latest news and current affairs in peak time remains as strong as ever.”