Month: August 2025

The BBC has appointed Robert Thompson as Interim Director of Production, BBC Local from 9th September.

This follows the announcement that Jason Horton has taken up a 12-month attachment to become Chief Operating Officer for BBC Nations.
Robert is currently Senior Head of Content Production for London and East and is a member of the BBC Local Senior Leadership Team.
He has worked across a wide range of BBC output including regional and national news. He has also been involved in developing skills and innovation across BBC Local services.
Robert  said: “Leading BBC Local is a real privilege. In a world that’s changing fast, our role in connecting communities has never been more important. What we do matters – and I’m excited to build on all the incredible work the teams have already done.”
Robert will also join the Nations Board to help shape the BBC’s local strategy across England. The recruitment process for a new Senior Head of Content Production to succeed himwill begin shortly.
Rhuannedd Richards, Director, BBC Nations, said: “Robert has built a broad career across regional and national news, with a strong track record in TV and digital production.
“He has championed local talent and storytelling, whilst also supporting innovation. Robert’s passion for local broadcasting shines through his work, and we’re excited to welcome him into this role.”

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Ofcom has ruled that Absolute Radio breached the Broadcasting Code after finding that a breakfast show competition was not conducted fairly.

The case concerned a feature on The Dave Berry Breakfast Show which ran between 3rd and 7th March this year.
Listeners were invited to text in their names for the chance to be randomly selected to play a quiz on air. Each contestant was given a series of questions, and the amount of money won depended on how they answered and what choices they made at the end of the round.
Two complaints were made to Ofcom about how the promotion was run. The complainants said they were unclear about which day’s draw they had entered, and whether all listeners had an equal chance of being selected.
Station owner, Bauer explained that a single pool of entries was used across the week, instead of separate daily entry pools as the on-air trails had implied. This meant that the chance of being chosen decreased as more people entered over the five days.
Ofcom said this was a “significant condition” that should have been explained to audiences in advance, and therefore the competition misled listeners.
The regulator also found a separate breach on the final day. Ofcom said that 126 people texted in to take part in the competition on 7th March but were excluded from the draw because the three contestants had already been chosen from the earlier pool that morning.
Although Bauer offered those affected the chance to win £2,000 in a follow-up prize draw, Ofcom ruled this did not change the fact that the original competition had not been run fairly.
In response, Bauer accepted that human error was involved and told Ofcom it had taken steps to prevent future issues. These included refreshing training for production teams, clarifying competition terms on air and in writing, and tightening compliance checks around listener promotions.
Ofcom welcomed these changes but concluded that listeners were not given the information they needed to understand how the competition worked, and that Absolute Radio had therefore breached the Broadcasting Code on two counts, Rules 2.13 and 2.15.

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Ofcom has ruled that Boom Rock breached the Broadcasting Code after airing offensive language during a Counting Crows track.

The incident happened on 30th May at 6.35pm, when the song Spaceman in Tulsa was played containing seven uses of one offensive word and one use of another. Ofcom said this was the most offensive language broadcast at a time when children were particularly likely to be listening.
The station said that it “regret[s]” that the track was “inadvertently broadcast” but argued that it is a niche service aimed at older adults and marketed largely online, making it highly unlikely that children were in the audience.
The Licensee told Ofcom that context should be considered under Rule 1.14 and stressed that children were not “particularly likely” to be listening to Boom Rock, even at that time of day. It also referred to Ofcom’s own guidance which recognises the importance of audience composition and expectations.
Ofcom concluded that Rule 1.14 prohibits the broadcast of the most offensive language at times when children are likely to be listening, regardless of audience profile or station type.
It said the repeated use of the strongest language at 6.35pm meant the station failed to comply and ruled the programme was in breach of Rule 1.14.

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