SMITH URGES BBC TO RETHINK NEWS

CULTURE Secretary Chris Smith has urged the BBC to rethink their decision to move their Nine O’clock News bulletin to 10pm.
Smith’s comments followed the agreement reached between ITC and ITV to reschedule their Nightly News bulletins to 10pm on four weekday nights.
Interviewed on BBC News 24 Smith said that he hoped the BBC would reconsider moving their Nine O’clock news bulletins as the ‘head to head conflict that would arise between ITV and BBC would make no sense’.
The BBC issued a statement saying that in light of the ITC announcement they saw no reason to change their plans to move the Nine O’clock news to 10pm.The BBC said: “It’s difficult to believe that this is a serious long term solution. There’s hardly a channel in the world that doesn’t have its main evening news at a fixed time, five days a week. Under this proposal, ITV’s commitment to news is clear, the 20 minute nightly news will be scheduled at 10pm, except the two nights its not. This will confuse everyone especially the viewers.”
The BBC claimed that the agreement between ITC and ITV could mean that the regional news could come up after midnight if ITV choose to play a movie at 10.20pm, precluding the commitment to regionalism that the ITC was seeking. The BBC announced its plans for the evening news at the Edinburgh Television Festival in August.
While Smith welcomed ITV's decision, he said he would have preferred the news to appear on regular five, rather than four, day a week schedule.
BBC Director-General Greg Dyke will now have to persuade the Board of Governors that going head to head with ITV news at 10pm will be beneficial to the BBC.