Media Brief

I'm the BBC's media correspondent and this is my brief selection of what's going on.

The Guardian reports that the BBC World Service is stopping regular drama after more than 75 years, and axing its Proms and Wimbledon highlights programmes, as part of a new round of cost cutting. It publishes an email to staff which says these are "difficult decisions" in "an increasingly tough financial climate".

The British Council accompanies the BBC World Service on a list of quangos which may be cut or merged, leaked to the Daily Telegraph. The Telegraph says "The abolition of the British Council would be welcomed by many". The BBC's Politics Show reports the list of quangos to be abolished includes 180 organisations.

Chief executive of the "super-indie" All3Media Steve Morrison has told Broadcast that "playing" with the BBC licence fee would be tantamount to "pulling a pin out of a grenade" in the UK production sector. He said the corporation's commissioning budget must be protected to maintain the UK's position as one of the world's top TV producers and exporters.

The Guardian reports the BBC has spent almost £400,000 in five years on external lawyers dealing with Freedom of Information requests.

BBC Democracy Live shows the Welsh Heritage Minister Alun Ffred Jones has raised concerns in the Assembly about the future of S4C, after a summer of reports of proposed funding cuts and the departure of its chief executive.

The Press Gazette reports Mail Online remained the most visited national newspaper website in August - the eighth month in succession - according to figures from ABCe, part of the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

The announcement that the government is not going to revalue the council tax bands in England makes the front pages of a number of newspapers as shown in the BBC's newspaper review.

Links in full

• Josh Halliday | Guardian | BBC World Service cuts back drama, music and sport
• BBC | Leaked list suggests 180 quangos to be abolished
• Andrew Porter | Telegraph | BBC World Service and British Council face anxious wait
• Jake Kanter | Broadcast | All3 boss hits out at TV licence fee freeze
• Guardian | BBC spent almost £400,000 on lawyers over freedom of information requests
• Alun Ffred Jones | BBC Democracy Live | The future of S4C
• Oliver Luft | Press Gazette | Another record-breaking month for Mail Online
• BBC | Newspaper review

• Read my updates on Twitter

• Read my archive of media stories on Delicious

• Read Thursday's Media Brief