A Point of View
BBC Radio 4 is axing one of its most distinctive programmes
01 April 2025
Last week, the BBC announced that it is axing its weekly ten minute essay A Point of View from Radio 4. This programme picked up from Alistair Cook's weekly Letter From America, which ran from 1946, so this is an end to an 80 year tradition of having an informed single voice essay on a Sunday morning.
Why am I sad about this? It comes down to what I think the BBC is for.
Many years ago, the BBC was for just about everything: news, sport, comedy, drama, education and the rest. Today, there’s a plethora of alternative, high quality media that I can turn to for all of these.
However, there are two things that I can only get from the BBC.
One is the ability to watch or listen to media that isn’t trying to sell me something – I can watch the rugby on the BBC and on ITV, but only the Beeb will give it to me without filling every break with commercials for consumer products.
But perhaps the most important thing that the BBC gives me is informed and challenging opinion, often exposing me to ideas and stories that I would never have sought out. There’s a lovely word for it, ‘serendipity’ (in fact I think there used to be a Radio 4 programme that went by this title). Radio 4's Commissioning Editor, Hugh Levinson, explained why A Point Of View was being axed. One reason he gave is that single voice essays are now available in other places. Yes that’s true, but to hear them I have to seek them out, I have to already know that I’m interested in the topic or presenter, which means I’m likely to be drawn to people who are already in my bubble. I won’t get the diversity of opinion that is offered by a programme that invites different presenters from different cultural backgrounds.
Another of Hugh Levinson’s arguments was about cost saving. This is perhaps the most depressing part of all, because while I realise that the BBC is under huge financial pressure, ten minutes of single voice radio can surely be produced for a small fraction of the cost of ten minutes of TV, to reach a similar size of audience.
Let’s imagine a dystopian future in which BBC funding is to be axed by 95%. What would I save? I would save radio ahead of TV, because for its reach and influence it represents far greater value for money. If I had to choose within BBC radio, I would save a single channel – Radio 4 (with BBC World Service in the small hours). With this channel I would get my regular diet of informed news from across the world, critical insights into politics, consumer advice, satirical comedy, drama, exposure to a range of music (thanks in particular to Desert Island Discs) and updates on sport beyond just football.
And if I couldn’t save the whole of Radio 4, then I’d pick out the programmes that are topical, thoughtful, intelligent and distinctive, and which speak to our times. A Point of View would be one of those.
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