New digital-first TV show for Victoria Derbyshire
Award-winning journalist Victoria Derbyshire is to host a new daytime show broadcast simultaneously on BBC Two, the BBC News Channel and online and focusing on breaking news, exclusive interviews and audience interaction.
The show will develop innovative and creative ways to engage with the audience on TV, online and via social media – bringing a greater variety of stories to BBC News, and becoming the first 'digital first' TV news programme, with each video being designed for an online audience first.
It will be hosted from London but will feature regular debates around the country and draw on reporting expertise from across BBC News. It is the first time a daily programme commissioned by the News Channel will run on network television.
BBC News also announces a new business programme to run between 8.30am and 9.00am. It will focus on UK and international business issues and the main presenters will be Ben Thompson and Sally Bundock. It will feature initially on BBC World News but, following the General Election, it will be broadcast simultaneously on the BBC News Channel.
James Harding, Director of BBC News and Current Affairs, says: “I am thrilled that we are able to bring Victoria’s award-winning journalism and forensic interviewing to such a large audience, and hugely excited by the programme’s potential and ambition. It will be the centrepiece of domestic daytime TV news.
“In the year ahead, on the most important stories – the future shape of the UK, the health of the global economy – our audiences will rightly expect us to be at the very top of our game. With these new programmes, and their commitment to bringing new perspectives and powerful story-telling, we will be very well placed to meet this challenge.”
Victoria Derbyshire says: “‘I hope this programme will combine the informality of radio with the sense of drama often only TV news can bring. We’re going to experiment with innovative ways of telling original stories, and give our audience a genuine opportunity to be at the heart of a TV news programme. I’m so pleased we’re launching just before the election when we’ll bring voters and politicians together in our big audience debates.”
Kim Shillinglaw, Controller of BBC Two, says: "I'm very pleased Victoria Derbyshire is coming to BBC Two. The show's lively discussion of the day's news events is an exciting new addition to our daytime schedule."
Victoria Derbyshire’s programme will launch on 7 April. For its first four weeks it will focus on the General Election, featuring live debates and key interviews.
