More Repeats And Job Losses At the BBC

The BBC is set to air more repeats and less original programming, following plans to shrink the size of the corporation.

Up to 1,800 staff will also be made redundant – primarily in news, BBC programme-making and regional centres. The BBC will also sell-off its flagship Television Centre, under the plans to make up a £2 billion budget shortfall.

Director General Mark Thompson said his plan would deliver “a smaller, but fitter, BBC” in the digital age. The six-year scheme, called Delivering Creative Future, was prompted by a smaller than expected licence fee settlement from the government.

Every part of the BBC will be required to make efficiency savings.

The main changes include:

Closing 2,500 job posts over the next six years.

Creating about 1,000 new jobs, many of which will be filled internally. In total, the BBC estimates there will be 1,800 redundancies from current staff.

Making 10% fewer original TV programmes by 2012/13, focusing on fewer, high quality shows.

Establishing an integrated newsroom – merging TV, radio, and online.

Reducing the size of the BBC’s property portfolio by selling BBC Television Centre by 2012/13.

Scrapping proposals for new activities, including plans for four new local radio stations.

‘Minimum’ repeats.

Across TV as a whole, the BBC plans to commission 10% fewer hours, saving £100 million every year.

Despite press speculation, digital channels BBC Three and BBC Four will remain.

Jana Bennett, director of BBC Vision, said there would be a “significant investment” in HDTV, which launches next year, and a shift to on-demand and interactive programming.

She said plans to make programmes available through the iPlayer and other interactive platforms were “meeting the needs of our audience”.

BBC: 020 8743 8000 www.bbc.co.uk