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New BBC contract for Mark Forrest show

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Mark Forrest Mark Forrest

The BBC announced today that Wire Free Productions will continue to produce the corporation’s all-local radio evening programme, Mark Forrest, for a further year.

The show is broadcast across 39 BBC Local Radio stations in England and the Channel Islands on weekdays between 7-10 pm from studios at BBC Leeds.

Wire Free Productions was launched specifically to bid for the all-local radio evening programme when it came up for tender in the summer of 2012. The production company is chaired by the broadcaster and former senior BBC executive Matthew Bannister. Former BBC Asian Network executive, Husain Husaini, is Chief Executive.

Matthew Bannister said, “I’m delighted the BBC has underlined its commitment to the show and to us as the production team. It has been a challenging brief but we believe we’ve developed a first class show which is getting a warm reaction from listeners across England and the Channel Islands. Being re-commissioned is a tribute to our hard working team in Leeds – and we are delighted that we can continue the work we’ve started.”

David Holdsworth, Controller, BBC English Regions, said today that they’d been delighted with the creativity and direction shown by its producers and their understanding of the needs of local stations and their audiences.

Gerald Main, Editor, BBC Local Radio, commented “Mark is a class act and with Wire Free’s production, we’re confident we have the right team in place for the year ahead.”

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