The BBC has unveiled plans to reduce production, shut down two TV channels and cut 1,000 jobs in an attempt to tackle inflation and restrict funding for licensing fees.
The restructuring, which aims to save £ 200 million a year, marks a turning point for the 100-year-old corporation and is the first indication of how CEO Tim Davie is looking to reshape the BBC for an era of austerity and “digital”. -first ”programming.
The station is under pressure on several fronts. Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has imposed a two-year freeze on the license fee, the BBC’s main source of funding; production costs increase; and the BBC’s long-term funding is under review.
The corporation has estimated that it needs to plug a £ 1.4bn hole over the next five years, and Davie has tried to use belt tightening as a way to speed up the shift of resources to digital channels and move away. of traditional transmission and radio. points of sale.
As part of these efforts, Davie will close BBC4 and CBBC television stations in 2025, making online-only services effective. The two BBC news channels, serving British and international audiences, will be merged.
Davie told staff he plans to cut or reallocate about £ 500 million in annual spending, which is about a tenth of the BBC’s annual revenue. The station’s public arm will eliminate about 1,000 jobs, about 6 percent of its workforce.
Approximately £ 300 million of the reallocated expenditure will be transferred from traditional broadcasting and diverted to online content spending, which can be consumed on demand.
The original programming of TV channels will be reduced by 200 hours, as Davie pushes the BBC to focus its spending on fewer programs that have the greatest impact. BBC World Service funding will be reduced by £ 30 million a year.
Davie said: “When I accepted this job I said we had to fight for something important: public service content and services, available for free to everyone, for the good of all. This struggle is intensifying, there is a lot at stake “.
Separately, the government on Thursday launched the BBC’s planned mid-term review of governance and impact on the market, which will examine the oversight of its publishing standards, impartiality and the way it is overseen by regulator Ofcom.
The 12-month review is part of a number of areas of work that feed into the BBC’s forthcoming charter negotiations, which will set its targets and funding from 2028. This will include a review of its funding model and funding rate. license, which the government has indicated it wants to review.
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Dorries also introduced a legal obligation for the BBC to meet its commitment to attract a quarter of its employees from low socio-economic backgrounds by 2027. He said the initiatives would help the BBC “adapt to a landscape that is changing rapidly as are all broadcasters. ” .
He added: “This review will build on our recent progress in making the BBC more accountable to its funders, increasing people’s access to the job opportunities it offers and ensuring that it continues to function at its best. public interest “.