The BBC, the U.K. public service broadcaster, will cut around 550 jobs, slash content spending by £80 million ($107 million) over two years and “review” broadcast TV channels as part of a big cost savings push.
The moves are part of the effort by the team of new BBC director general Matt Brittin, a former Google top executive, to slash costs across operations and functions.
The staff reductions will hit the BBC’s Content, Nations and News teams, with the BBC also eyeing further job reductions in corporate and other areas to the tune of around 700, Brittin said in a staff memo on Wednesday, in which he highlighted that “we live in very uncertain times.”
Content commissioning spending across the BBC’s TV, radio, and news divisions will amount to £80 million over the coming two years, the leader shared on Wednesday. Brittin also said that the broadcaster would “review” the viability of linear channels, meaning some could disappear, as well as content, meaning that “some programs” will be axed.
Broad cost savings have been in the works for a while. In an internal email in April, which was leaked, the BBC’s deputy director general, Rhodri Talfan Davies, said the broadcaster would have to save £500 million ($670 million) from its annual operating costs budget worth around £5.0 billion ($6.7 billion) over the next two years. He signaled that the total job number at the BBC could drop by up to 2,000.
