Religious broadcasting on BBC radio dropped by 37 per cent last year, according to figures from the corporation.
The BBC’s annual report for 2013/14 showed that there was 611 hours of output in the religion genre compared with 975 the year before.
The figures show mixed results for television with BBC One clocking 80 hours of religious broadcasting, down from 99 in 2012/13, while BBC Two showed an increase to 69 hours from 47 the previous year, and BBC Four showed 21 hours of religious programming, an increase from just five the previous year.
A spokesman said the radio decrease resulted from the decommissioning of the Asian Network daily religious programme as part of the BBC’s plans to reduce spending by hundreds of millions of pounds. He added that the radio station now broadcasts religious programmes around key festivals.
The corporation’s coverage of religion has come under scrutiny recently following the move to axe the post of commissioning editor of religion programmes on television. Religion will now be grouped with history and become part of a unit that includes science and business.
The Anglican Bishop of Leeds, Nick Baines, has raised concerns about the change along with a group of religious leaders who this week wrote a letter to the Daily Telegraph.
“Religious literacy is essential to the diversity we treasure in Britain – and an antidote to the extremism and intolerance that threaten it,” the letter states. “The BBC plays a key role by its robust and rich coverage of religious life. We call on it to reinstate independent religion and ethics programming.”
The signatories to the letter include the Bishop of Manchester, David Walker, Professor Linda Woodhead, of Lancaster University who has been engaged with debate and research on faith groups, Dr Shuja Shafi, the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain and Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, Senior Rabbi for the Movement for Reform Judaism.
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