Full story
BBC cuts 550 roles
The BBC announced 550 job cuts in news, nations and TV and radio content as part of its first stage in a plan to save £500m across the corporation over the next two years.
“The BBC has announced 550 job cuts in news, nations and TV and radio content as part of its first stage in its plan to save £500m across the corporation over the next two years”
Interim CEO of BBC News Jonathan Munro outlined proposals in an email to staff including ending Radio 4’s The World Tonight and reducing the number of permanent presenters on Today from five to four from September, with a single anchor on Saturdays.
BBC One’s Breakfast will no longer be shown on Sunday morning from September and the production teams making Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg and Newsnight will merge, while Munro said the proposals include 200 job losses in the news division resulting in savings of £25m.
The BBC said several other Radio 4 programmes will end during the next year, including the Midnight News, Money Box Live, AntiSocial, The Law Show and Crossing Continents, and on the World Service The Inquiry, The Conversation and The Fifth Floor will end.
The broadcaster also said it will move Friday’s edition of Newsnight to a peak-time slot of 19:00 on BBC Two and introduce more of an international focus to the News Channel, building on the growth in viewers outside the UK.
Unions call it devastating
Philippa Childs, head of media and entertainment union Bectu, said it was "far from ideal" that the cuts are taking place at the same time as the BBC's charter renewal when the current charter expires in 2027.
Childs added, "I'm not sure how you can make informed decisions about the long-term future of the organisation when it will be in a substantially diminished place at the end of the process than the beginning."
The National Union of Journalists said the proposed cuts would be "devastating for audiences and communities everywhere," and John Sailing, the NUJ's national organiser for the broadcasting sector, said previous cuts have meant members are already being asked to do more with less.
Sailing warned that "What's worse is that there's more to come" and said the charter renewal is not going to come soon enough to stop these cuts.
Former World Tonight presenter Robin Lustig said he was "very sad" to hear the programme was being "killed off" in a post on X.
Funding gap and next steps
BBC director-general Matt Brittin said the savings announced on Wednesday are aimed at delivering about £160m of the overall £500m target, which will see an reduction to headcount of around 1,800 to 2,000 jobs.
“BBC to cut 550 jobs in cost-saving drive, including news division layoffs BBC Announces Major Job Cuts Amid Financial Pressures LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - Britain's BBC public service broadcaster will cut 550 jobs, including in its news and content divisions, it said on Wednesday, as part of plans under new director-general Matt Brittin to save £500 million over the next three years”
In an email to staff, Brittin’s predecessor in the director-general role, Tim Davie, had resigned after editorial coverage led to a 10 billion dollar (£7.5 billion) lawsuit from US president Donald Trump over the editing of a BBC documentary about Donald Trump.
Brittin said there would be a 10% reduction in the number of senior leaders across the BBC and more savings will be set out in the months ahead, including in corporate divisions where it was expected about 700 roles will close.
The BBC said it will reduce commissioning by 100-150 hours of originated programmes across all commissioning genres by the end of the 2027-28 financial year and reduce around 350-400 hours in audio across stations and genres.
The BBC also said it will run the news website's InDepth section with a smaller team and that Brittin is due to host a call on Tuesday next week for all staff to take their questions.
