The BBC is looking at cutting some of its digital TV and radio services after the analogue TV signal is switched off in 2012. Weird? You betcha, but that’s what BBC director general, Mark Thompson, is saying. Thompson said there would be “reductions in some kinds of programmes and content” including a look at the “current scope of our website”.

He promised that, after the switchover, a higher proportion of the licence fee would be spent on “original British content”.

It seems that emphasis will go on making news, children’s programmes and “content of every kind that builds knowledge and shares music and culture, a long-range commitment to outstanding British drama and comedy, national events that bring us together”.

Thompson conceded that it may seem “slightly counter-intuitive” to be talking about cutting digital services when viewers were being encouraged to switch to digital TV. However, he reckons that us viewers were now consuming TV in different ways (online, mainly) and that Auntie had already cut the number of interactive services it offers via the red button on digital TV.

“We’ll have conclusions from the review early in 2010. Without preempting them, I can tell you something about the direction of travel,” he told a Voice of the Listener and Viewer conference in central London today.

“Importantly, we’ll lay out new boundaries for the BBC,” he said. “Once our boundaries were obvious. They were set by medium and spectrum scarcity: the BBC offered two TV channels and a fixed number of radio stations.

“Expect to see reductions in some kinds of programmes and content – a look, for example, at the current scope of our website – and a close examination of the future of our service portfolios once switchover has been achieved.”

Talking about the BBC’s website, Thompson said it was important to make sure that the “many millions of pages that are up there needs to be there”. “Is it sufficiently up to date, is it relevant?” he asked. “It might be a slightly smaller website. It might be stronger, making sure we are playing to our strengths.”

He added: “At a time when so many other broadcasters are struggling with programme budgets, the licence fee’s importance as an engine of creative investment in British talent is more important than ever.

This will no doubt, once again, shift focus to BBC Three and BBC Four, which have a smaller viewership than the other channels, yet cost a fair old whack. It also seems to be a preemptive strike before any potential new government comes in and starts hacking up the licence fee.

We’ll have to sit tight and see how this hits us all… here’s to hoping that the quality of programming doesn’t slip. One ray of hope is that Thompson has pledged to create more home-grown TV, rather than importing shows from the USA.

[via Guardian]