Mickey Clarke and Louise Cooper are to leave as co-hosts of Radio 5 Live’s Wake Up to Money in the wake of the BBC’s latest round of cuts.
The pair are familiar voices on the station’s early morning business news programme, with Cooper presenting alongside lead presenter Sean Farrington on Mondays and Tuesdays and Clarke – who has been a part of 5 Live since it launched in 1994 – joining Farrington for the remainder of the week.
But 5 Live must rein in costs following last week’s announcement that BBC News must shed 450 jobs in order to meet an £80m savings target, and Clarke and Cooper will leave the station at the end of the month.
It’s understood that the “difficult” decision to part with the pair was made in order to protect the programme’s content.
And the broadcaster is insisting that Wake Up to Money remains a key part of its schedule and will in fact be extended by 15 minutes – meaning it will start at 5am from April.
