Veteran broadcaster David Dimbleby has criticised the BBC's decision to drastically reduce its dedicated events broadcast team, calling it 'crazy' and warning it will harm coverage of major national occasions.
The 87-year-old, who has presented more than 30 Remembrance Sunday services at the Cenotaph, said the team's work is vital for events such as Trooping the Colour, royal jubilees, and state funerals. He told Newsnight: 'What worries me is the BBC closing down the events department... it is a very small unit devoted to doing that, and it’s a difficult job.'
Dimbleby highlighted the extensive preparation required, noting that the Cenotaph service takes three months to organise and Westminster Abbey events a month. 'You have to have a group that can negotiate these things,' he said. 'The BBC should know that.'
The events team is reportedly set to be cut to just one person, supported by freelancers. Dimbleby dismissed this approach, citing his experience covering Nelson Mandela's funeral in South Africa: 'Those were massive operations... You can’t just do it with freelancers – they don’t have the continued involvement.'
He concluded: 'The peaks of the BBC are the things that other people don’t or can’t do... those are the things you should guard above all else.'
