BBC News and BBC World to merge

[DTV]

My view, for what it's worth, is that if the BBC is producing a news channel, it should be focused towards its core licence fee paying viewers in the UK. An international news channel is something of a luxury, not a necessity. Yes, I do know all the reasons why BBC World's existence is good, but if they are cutting costs then the focus should be on providing the UK with the best possible output.

Also, I've never understood the notion that international viewers would be more interested in the political turmoil in Sri Lanka than the UK. Why? Why would viewers around the world not be interested in the UK? I'm in the UK and I'm interested to a degree in the news from Sri Lanka. Why, then, would someone outside the UK not be at least vaguely interested in the political turmoil in the UK last week?

I don't see what the problem is with creating a news channel that has the UK at its heart but also includes stories from the rest of the world if they are editorially relevant.

Aside from my earlier points that still very much stand, the only people that really watch the BBC News channel for any length of time are news junkies - many of whom would be perfectly fine with an international news channel. Live events that are relevant only to the UK will still be covered on Sky News and the BBC still has multiple outlets to broadcast UK relevant news, as well as the ability to break into BBC One/Two when relevant (and supposedly opt-out of the new channel). BBC World News's audience is an order of magnitude greater than the BBC News channel's, is the only BBC television news for most of the world and, crucially, brings in money to BBC News. Any fall in this audience limits the BBC's ability to turn a profit and runs the risk of making the channel a loss-making enterprise.

Also I wasn't saying that international viewers don't care about UK politics, but they only do in proportion to its relevance. BBC World News covers the Sri Lanka crisis as the main story, before moving on to others. By contrast, the Conservative leadership contest is largely monopolising the BBC News channel's coverage at the minute. On a channel for the international market, the total collapse of a national government is more important and newsworthy than the minutae of a leadership election. The BBC should obviously give more coverage of the contest than other international broadcasters, but it would be ridiculous for it to lead the news for weeks on an international channel.