BBC director-general Lord Tony Hall (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
The BBC plans to stage a nationwide roll-out of a new scheme promoting the UK’s up-and-coming storytellers, poets and writers.
The programme, called BBC Upload, was piloted in Bristol and will be extended across the corporation’s local radio in January.
BBC director-general Lord Tony Hall will make the announcement at the Royal Television Society’s conference in Cambridge on Thursday.
BBC Introducing championed Florence Welch (Matt Crossick/PA)
Lord Hall will say he hopes BBC Upload will see the same results as BBC Introducing, which has championed musicians such as Florence + The Machine and Jake Bugg before their ascent to stardom.
He will say: “BBC Introducing has just given us Lewis Capaldi as its latest discovery, following in the footsteps of Rag’n’Bone Man, George Ezra, Florence Welch and Jake Bugg among many others.
“Now I’m delighted that we’re rolling out BBC Upload. It’s going to do for speech what Introducing does for music.
“It’s already live in Bristol and will be rolled out across local radio in January – giving storytellers, poets, writers and new voices the chance to share their story and their hidden talent.”
The RTS Cambridge Conference runs until Friday.
BBC Upload to promote poets and storytellers in bid to boost spoken word talent
