The BBC’s late evening national and local news and weather will be shortened from 45 minutes to 35 minutes, the corporation has announced.
The BBC News At Ten will be shortened to make way for BBC Three youth programming on Monday to Wednesday, while on Thursday’s Question Time will start at an earlier time.
The news and weather already finishes at 10.35pm on Fridays.
New home for youth programming, showcasing @BBCThree content after #NewsAtTen on @BBCOne, beginning with #Fleabag on 4 March: https://t.co/49X5pWemHu pic.twitter.com/jYbscqrShl
— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) February 11, 2019
The network news will be cut from 31.5 minutes to 26.5 minutes from March 4, while the nation’s and region’s news and weather will go from 11 minutes to seven minutes and UK weather, shown in England only, will go from two and a half minutes to one and a half minutes.
The upcoming second series of Fleabag will air in the new time slot, as well as new dating show Eating With My Ex and make-up competition Glow-Up, hosted by Stacey Dooley, airing from Monday to Wednesday respectively.
The BBC has been running a longer News At Ten, regional news and weather package since the 2015 general election, leading to a 15-minute overlap with Newsnight on BBC Two.
The BBC has said it believes the scheduling change will be better for audiences, with those that want more in-depth news and analysis able to switch over to Newsnight on BBC Two, while allowing for a more consistent start time for viewers to watch the programmes that follow.
News and weather events will occasionally require the need for longer news and weather but this will be for moments of national or local significance, the corporation said.