When we were at the BBC, we got used to being told to cut costs. Some things never change and this week it was announced that the BBC has a target to save £500m over 3 years. This huge figure cannot be achieved without cutting programmes and making staff redundant. It has been announced that the following programme cuts and redundancies will begin to make this happen.
BBC ONE
Sunday morning BBC Breakfast to stop from September, with BBC News Channel to be simulcast instead.
Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg and Newsnight production teams to merge
RADIO 4
The World Tonight, Midnight News, Money Box Live, AntiSocial, The Law Show and Crossing Continents to close this year
From April, weeknight audiences from 10pm will hear a domestic bulletin followed by a simulcast of the World Service programme, Newshour, running in a new time slot.
The Today programme to have a roster of four permanent presenters rather than five and move to a single-anchor format on Saturdays, from September.
5 Live – Weekend Breakfast to become a two-hour programme, down from three
BBC World Service – The Inquiry, The Conversation and The Fifth Floor to close by the end of the year
News Streaming to be brought into team making News At Six and Ten – ensuring bulletins ‘continue to evolve with a digital focus’
Up to 150 fewer hours of programmes will be commissioned by the BBC by the end of the 2027-28 financial year.
700 hundred roles expected to go across its corporate division. 10% to senior leader roles.
In a note to staff DG Matt Brittin said, he was focusing cuts on areas that would help shift BBC content to digital platforms, where audiences were growing. He said the BBC would “review our broadcast TV channels and radio network portfolio as audiences move online”.
The outlook for viewers and staff appears grim. Let’s hope these drastic measures will help the BBC get on track with its finances and programmes.
