LONDON: The BBC is to axe 500 jobs over the subsequent 20 months in a bid to avoid wasting £200 million (US$258 million) and turn into a “leaner, extra agile organisation”, the British public service broadcaster introduced on Tuesday (Jul 23).
The redundancies, to be achieved by closing and transferring some roles and creating others in “development areas”, are the most recent layoffs because the BBC copes with squeezed funding and inflationary pressures.
The broadcaster, which depends closely on an annual £169.50 licence payment paid by each UK family watching dwell channels on a tv, can be grappling with wider adjustments in media consumption similar to streaming and on-demand providers.
It is going to shed the five hundred jobs by March 2026, after already lowering its headcount by 10 per cent within the final 5 years – a discount of just about 2,000 roles.
Detailing the adjustments in its annual report printed on Tuesday, the BBC stated the transfer was a part of “accelerating our digital-first method to succeed in audiences the place they’re”.
“Over the course of the subsequent two years, we are going to look to additional transfer the cash we’ve got into the precedence areas that present actual worth for audiences,” it stated.
In his evaluation of the previous 12 months, director-general Tim Davie stated years of below-inflation licence payment settlements had “chipped away” at its earnings and put “severe stress on our funds”.
Though inflation-linked rises have been reinstated, he famous the broadcaster had skilled a 30 per cent actual phrases minimize from 2010 to 2020 and “a tricky couple of years of flat funding”.
The BBC collected £80 million much less in licence payment earnings within the final 12 months, pushed by a two per cent decline in gross sales volumes and flat licence payment pricing.
The variety of energetic licences dropped from 24.4 million in 2022-23 to 23.9 million by the tip of final 12 months, in keeping with the annual report.
“We have to create a leaner, extra agile organisation, and take advantage of the digital-first alternative to revamp our processes, minimize prices and serve audiences higher,” Davie stated.
“We additionally want to think about how greatest to fund the BBC in the long run to safe all the advantages of common public service broadcasting sooner or later.”
The BBC chief stated that might additionally require discussions with the federal government concerning the “proper method” to fund the BBC World Service at “a essential second for democracy worldwide”.
