So, it seems that we've got the beginning of the end of the BBC Local Radio evening show. BBC Radio London dropped the show some months ago, and next Monday, BBC Radio Cornwall also drops the show, with Tiffany Truscott taking on the Evening Show slot. BBC WM are also dropping their remaining airings of the show on Mondays & Thursdays, to replace it with local evening shows on those days, whilst Tuesday, Wendesday and Friday evenings are dedicated to local sport.
Other stations that have already dropped the show, include BBC Coventry and Warwickshire, BBC Radio Humberside, BBC Radio Kent, BBC Radio Lancashire, BBC Newcastle, BBC Radio Sheffield, whilst BBC Radio Stoke have just one hour of the show on a Friday evening. Other stations have hours of the Local Radio Evening Show substituted for sports coverage and BBC Introducing, amongst other things.
This is a very piecemeal way of dropping the show. Individual stations are deciding when they are dropping it, rather than having a confirmed cut-off date, where the show officially ends. Where I live, I can pick up both BBC Radio Devon and BBC Radio Cornwall, and whilst Cornwall is starting their own evening programme next week, Devon is sticking with the show, except for some Tuesday sports coverage. Also, it seems that each individual station is now doing it's own thing in the evening slot, rather than the regional arrangements we've had before. Some stations are including BBC Introducing shows in the evening schedule, and specialist music and content shows, others are just doing one long evening slot. This is the first time ever, outside of sports coverage, that BBC Radio Cornwall has gone its own separate way for the evening slot.
In the Mid 80's BBC Radio Bristol supplied evening programming between 6pm and 8pm with Al Read presenting, but that disappeared shortly before Late Night Sou'West laucnhed in 1987 with Chris Langmore hosting from 10pm. Then BBC Radio Bristol supplied the evening output with Chris Mills between 7pm and 10pm. Later, Devon, Cornwall, Guernsey and Jersey would split away from Bristol, Somerset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, and have their own evening show, then later on all the stations came back together for a while where all post 7pm output, including the late night show, was shared between all those stations. then later Duncan Warren hosted an evening programme on Devon, Cornwall, Guernsey and Jersey, with somebody else hosting the late night slot.
Now, you'll have Tiffany Truscott hosting just for Cornwall, and the only shared output, will be David Shepherd's Late Show. Very much not what I expected, I was expecting to see more regional output between 7pm and 10pm, but more local is good. Maybe it will help remind commercial radio that they should be more local than network.
