The BBC Continuing cuts of up to £600 million will result in job losses and the end of some programming, amid concerns over a decline in the number of license fee-paying households.
Tim Davie, the outgoing director general, told staff that the broadcaster was not a “protected breed” and would have to cut 10% of the BBC’s costs over the next three years.
That means the savings are steep enough that job losses and changes in output have to be part of the plans.
Despite massive changes in the media world with the rise of digital platforms and streaming platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, Davey told staff that the broadcaster “owns us”. He said the BBC was needed more than ever as media groups around the world cut back on their coverage.
However, he said it now had to be “very aggressive” in restructuring its public service broadcasting and that it was a “tough environment for households”. Savings are estimated to be between £400m and £600m.
Lee Tawajiwa, the BBC’s chief operating officer, told staff that license fee payers were falling faster than the corporation had predicted. The BBC’s last annual report showed Another 300,000 families Payment of fees has stopped.
The Guardian published a major news story The BBC cut the program last year. All departments will have to find savings, but that could involve outsourcing some functions, sources said.
A BBC spokesman said: “Over the past three years we have delivered savings worth more than half a billion pounds, much of which we have been able to reinvest in our output across the BBC. In a rapidly changing media market, we continue to face significant financial pressures. As a result we are looking to make further cost savings of around 10% over our next three years.
“This will make the BBC more productive and prioritize our offer to audiences to ensure we are delivering the best value for money now and in the future.”
Philippa Childs, head of the Bectu union, which represents people in the creative industries, said: “Additional cuts of this scale will inevitably damage its ability to carry out a vital national function. BBC staff are deeply concerned by the news, and Bectu will urgently engage with the BBC to understand the implications.”
It came with the emergence of Donald Trump A multi-billion dollar lawsuit A year was set against the BBC over editing one of his speeches. A Florida judge has rejected an attempt by the BBC to keep internal documents from disclosing a Panorama episode containing a spliced version of Trump’s 2021 address, damaging the corporation.
Trump gave a speech in Washington before supporters stormed the US Capitol. The BBC apologized for cutting the two parts of the speech together without making the edit clear to viewers, but denied it defamed the president.
Lawyers for the BBC in the US have argued that the process of disclosing documents related to legal proceedings should wait until a judge decides whether the court has any jurisdiction to rule on the case. Trump: A Second Chance? The program was never aired in Florida and the lawyers said they will try to get the case dismissed at the earliest stage.
They said the process of disclosing documents, called innovationwould be an “unusual step” regarding questions about whether the episode actually aired in the state. The judge dismissed the argument.
Court documents from the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida confirmed that Judge Roy K. Altman set a trial date of February 15, 2027.
The BBC is trying to find a replacement for Davey, Their resignation A part of the fall formed from the row. The Panorama edit, which used two segments of Trump’s speech spanning nearly an hour, showed him instructing the audience: “We’re going to go to the Capitol and I’m going to be with you and we’re going to fight. We’re going to fight like hell.”
