Britainupdated 1h ago2 min read
BBC Closes BBC Three, BBC Scotland, And Radio 4 Extra In Spring Savings Drive
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BBC closes BBC Three, BBC Scotland, and Radio 4 Extra linear services, shifts content online. Savings target of £500 million by 2028 drives the closures.
BBC shifts to digital
The BBC will close BBC Three and BBC Scotland television channels in the spring, and it will also close Radio 4 Extra, as the corporation continues to make £500m of savings over two years. Director-general Matt Brittin told staff, "We need to make every pound work harder for audiences as we respond to the immediate cost pressures and reinvent the BBC for a changing world." The BBC said BBC Scotland will remain a channel on iPlayer, with some content also broadcast on BBC One and BBC Two in Scotland, and it said BBC Three commissions will be available on BBC iPlayer and on other platforms including YouTube.
The BBC said the closure of Radio 4 Extra will move its programming to BBC Sounds, and it said The Daily Service will be on BBC Sounds and local radio. The BBC also said Reporting Scotland: News at Seven will not move to BBC iPlayer and will cease when the linear channel closes.
Jobs and savings target
The BBC is aiming to cut between 1,800 and 2,000 jobs, almost one in 10, in an attempt to save £500m over two years as it faces "significant financial pressures." Rachel Jupp, the newly appointed director of BBC News, announced that a further £5.5m of savings were being proposed, which would represent the closure of around 100 roles. The BBC said around 550 job closures have already been announced in news, while more than 30 job cuts have so far been announced for BBC Sport.
Equity responded to the announcement by saying it "does not signal a thriving BBC, and we are concerned about the UK's preeminent public service broadcaster's ability to meet its duties to the fullest." The BBC said the closures will be accompanied by cancellations of high-profile series, including RuPaul's Drag Race UK, Blankety Blank, Celebrity Mastermind, Live at the Apollo, Football Focus, Ski Sunday and Radio 4’s The World Tonight and You & Yours.
Union and political backlash
Mairi McAllan, Scotland's Culture Secretary, said the decision to move BBC Scotland to a digital-only format was "completely unacceptable." Equity said the loss of Radio 4 Extra in its current format would be "a significant blow to the income of audio artists" because the channel currently airs archival programmes and its members are paid for these repeats. Equity said that from April 2027, only some of Radio 4 Extra’s content will be available on BBC Sounds, and it warned that this would be "a reduction in income for audio artists and in the BBC’s overall output of scripted audio."
“Mairi McAllan, deemed the decision to move BBC Scotland to a digital-only format as ‘completely unacceptable.’”
The BBC said it would keep content available digitally, and it said "Much of the great content they currently carry will still be found where audiences already enjoy them on iPlayer and Sounds." The BBC said its restructuring would also affect the program schedule, including the end of Reporting Scotland: News at Seven at the close of the linear channel.