BBC cut local morning TV bulletins due to staff shortages amid pingdemic

The BBC has been forced to stop making its local news programmes for over a month as a result of staff shortages amid the Covid self-isolation ‘pingdemic’.

Starting from Monday, BBC One’s Breakfast programme will no longer have local bulletins with the possibility of further regional programmes under threat if more staff are forced to self-isolate as coronavirus cases continue to rise.

The national broadcaster said it hoped to resume the production of regional morning bulletins from September.

The BBC confirmed plans to return to local updates in the autumn.

A spokesperson said: “Like employers in every area of the economy, we’re experiencing unprecedented staffing shortages caused by Covid.

“Apart from a few exceptions, we have maintained a normal service so far. Our priority is to protect the most popular news programme on TV; the regional news at 6:30pm on BBC One.

“To do this, we are implementing some short-term measures to ease pressure on our teams.”

While the current staff shortage is a direct result of the self-isolation alerts, The Guardian reports BBC staff said the situation highlighted deep cuts to staffing levels over the past 10 years.

The staffing crisis has led managers to make the decision to local content so that staff can focus on early evening news bulletins, which are among the most watched shows on television.

However, some viewers may still find that their main evening BBC news bulletin is produced by a neighbouring region while some aspects of local television schedules could completely disappear over the summer.

Despite English viewers likely to see regional updates cut, viewers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be unaffected.

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