Nils Blythe
The BBC is to launch a new daily business programme on its 24-hour channel as part of its strategy to beef up its coverage.
Business Today will be on air Monday to Friday in the primetime slot of 8.30pm and will last half an hour.
Presenting the show will be Nils Blythe, who has previously worked on BBC2’s The Money Programme and was business correspondent for Radio 4’s Today programme.
Blythe said the new show, which will launch in June, "places business news where it should be: on primetime television every day".
He added that his aim was to make the new show essential viewing for anyone interested in business and draw in a wider audience of viewers who might not think business programmes are for them.
"This is a fantastic opportunity to prove that business stories can make compelling television," he said.
Business Today will include reports from the City and a regular slot from the US. The new programme is the latest to be added to the BBC’s armoury after director general Greg Dyke criticised the corporation’s business coverage. Jeff Randall, former editor of Sunday Business, has joined the BBC as its first business editor and plans are in the pipeline for a shake-up in the business department as part of the drive to meet Dyke’s criticisms.
"The launch of Business Today means that our financial coverage will now match the breadth of our news output in other areas," said Rachel Attwell, head of BBC News 24.
By Julie Tomlin
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