REDUNDANCY terms being offered at the BBC as part of the move north means that the corporation will not be able to draw on a large pool of experienced reporters as they look to bolster their team for coverage of the Olympic games.
Sources at Radio 5 Live admit that outside talent will have to be approached to supplement the core commentary time when the nation goes Olympic-mad next year. However, those who have given up their job by refusing to locate to Salford have a ‘cooling-off’ period in their redundancy deal which states they cannot work on a freelance basis for the BBC for a year.
Some key presenters such as Nicky Campbell have agreed to the move, while others have negotiated a delayed redundancy to incorporate an Olympic stint.