BBC announces 550 job cuts as first part of £500m savings plan

BBC announces 550 job cuts as first part of £500m savings plan 3 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on Google Alex Kleiderman Getty Images The BBC has announced 550 job cuts in news, nations and TV and radio content as part of its first stage in its plan to save £500m across the corporation over the next two years. In an email to staff, interim CEO of BBC News, Jonathan Munro, outlined the proposals including ending Radio 4's The World Tonight, and reducing the number of permanent presenters on Today from five to four from September, with a single anchor on Saturdays. BBC One's Breakfast will no longer be shown on Sunday morning from September and the production teams making Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg and Newsnight will merge. Munro said the proposals announced on Wednesday include 200 job losses in the news division resulting in savings of £25m. New BBC boss warns that 'tough choices are unavoidable' BBC to cut almost one in 10 staff to make £500m savings BBC suggests licence fee could be cut if more people pay Some TV production at weekends will be shared across the News Channel and BBC One bulletins and there will be a review of the chief news presenter roles "to balance audience needs with best value for money". Several other Radio 4 programmes will also end during the next year - the Midnight News, Money Box Live, AntiSocial, The Law Show and Crossing Continents. On the World Service, The Inquiry, The Conversation and The Fifth Floor will end. The reduction in the number of Today presenters will coincide with the previously announced departure of Amol Rajan who leaves in September. From April, instead of The World Tonight, weeknight audiences on Radio 4 will hear a domestic bulletin at 22:00 followed by a simulcast of the World Service programme, Newshour, in a new time slot. Meanwhile, 5 Live Weekend Breakfast will become a two-hour programme. Viewers on Sunday morning will see the News Channel instead of Breakfast. Other proposals in the announcement include: A review of broadcast TV channels and radio network portfolio as audiences move online A reduction of 100-150 hours of originated programmes across all commissioning genres by the end of the 2027-28 financial year A reduction of around 350-400 hours in audio across stations and genres Moving Friday's edition of Newsnight to a peak-time slot of 19:00 on BBC Two, following an earlier refresh of its format Introducing a more of an international focus to the News Channel, building on the growth in viewers outside the UK Running the news website's InDepth section with a smaller team Jeff Overs/BBC Brittin took over from Tim Davie as BBC director-general in May The BBC, which has about 21,500 full time employees, gets most of its income from the licence fee, but the number of TV licences sold has been declining in recent years. BBC director-general Matt Brittin said the savings announced on Wednesday are aimed at delivering about £160m of the overall £500m target, which will see an red