Last month, staff at BBC local radio stations went on strike in protest at major cuts heading their way. Among locally-produced shows due to be scrapped to make millions of pounds of savings are Sunday services and religious broadcasting, mostly to be replaced by programming produced nationally. These cuts come at a time when Christians from various parts of the church have accused the national broadcaster of marginalising religious broadcasting. Is the BBC really trying to squeeze out faith from its schedules? Should Christians be fighting to defend their quotas and protected slots, or is this actually a dead end? And what is religious public service broadcasting actually for – serving niche content for the dwindling band of churchgoers, or trying to showcase Christianity to secular society at large?

Guests this week:

• Michael Wakelin, a TV and radio producer and formerly head of BBC religion