Have YOU got a story? Email tips@dailymail.co.uk See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred SourceBy JENNIFER RUBY Published: 17:27 BST, 27 August 2026 | Updated: 18:26 BST, 27 August 2026
With a future that’s looking increasingly uncertain, the BBC is facing staff culls, programme cancellations and the decimation of entire departments.And now, director-general Matt Brittin has admitted that he had been unaware of the ‘severity’ of the cuts that the corporation had to make to meet its savings target.The former Google executive, who succeeded Tim Davie earlier this year, had been ‘concerned by the financial situation’ at the Corporation, he told the Edinburgh Television Festival today.Despite culling programmes such as Winterwatch, Blankety Blank and Live at the Apollo, Brittin described reports that Newsnight was for the chop as ‘nonsense’, as Top Gear was also confirmed for renewal.But Mr Brittin said that, like ‘every media organisation,’ the BBC was concerned with ‘rapidly changing consumer behaviour’ and ‘the power of the AI revolution.’The BBC, which is tasked with making savings of £500million in the next three years, is expected to cull 2,000 jobs, with Brittin warning that management roles were also at risk. Director-general Matt Brittin has admitted that he had been unaware of the ‘severity’ of the cuts that the corporation had to make to meet its savings target Brittin described reports that Newsnight was for the chop as ‘nonsense’, as Top Gear was also confirmed for renewal‘On the financial side, I knew that cuts had been announced and that savings had been announced, but I hadn’t really understood the severity,’ he said during a talk with Kirsty Wark.He admitted that the BBC had been ‘inward looking’, adding: ‘You’re publicly funded, and the charter rightly requires a level of quality and responsibility that’s higher than others. I completely get that.’He added: ‘You’ve got very loud critics, many of whom are the commercial rivals of the corporation, and you’ve got political pressure on everything that you do journalistically.‘You’ve also got, when you make a mistake, you’ve got a lot to deal with on the opinion side. I think that leads to a bit of risk aversion and a bit of caution.‘At the moment, the world’s more uncertain than ever before for our audiences, for our industry, and for all of us as business as well as citizens.’Brittin also said he had ’signed up to the job because I believe in the mission’ and is ‘conscious of the responsibility’ of leading the organisation.Fans of Winterwatch were left devastated when the programme was scrapped this year after a 14-year run. Comedy show Live at the Apollo has also been axed after 22 years.Light entertainment shows Blankety Blank and Celebrity Mastermind have also been cancelled, leaving producers and showrunners fearful of what will be next.But Top Gear, which has aired on the BBC in different formats for nearly 50 years, will be revived.‘There has been a lot of speculation about this and we can confirm that Top Gear is coming back,’ said Ed Havard, the BBC’s director of entertainment, at the festival.On speculation that comedian Jimmy Carr could be in the running to host the new iteration of the car show, he said: ‘Jimmy would be a great host but I won’t be discussing that today.‘We will have more information on Top Gear shortly.’
