BBC may lay off quarter of online staff and close 6Music radio station
Other proposals being considered as part of strategic review include axing Asian Network, placing cap on sports rights outlay, selling off BBC magazines and cutting film and TV show acquisition budget
BBC 'to axe radio stations and halve website' in strategic review
The BBC's web output could be cut in half, with online staff numbers and budgets to be slashed by 25% following director general Mark Thompson's strategic review of the corporation's scope and activities.
Other cuts being given serious consideration as part of the review include axing digital radio stations BBC 6Music and the Asian Network, putting a cap on spending on sports rights at 8.5% of the licence fee, or about £300m a year, cutting the £100m foreign film and TV show acquisitions budget by 25%, and selling off BBC Magazines, according to today's Times. Other proposals include the closure of cross media brands BBC Switch and BBC Blast, which are aimed at teenagers.
The proposed cuts would save £600m which would be reinvested in UK-originated content and are based on the assumption that the licence fee would be frozen in 2013, the Times reported. This suggests that the BBC is preparing for a Tory government after this year's general election, as the Conservatives have threatened to freeze the licence fee.
It is understood no final decisions have been taken on the outcome of Thompson's strategic review, with debate continuing between the BBC executive board, led by the director general, and the BBC Trust — the corporation's governance and regulatory body, which will have to sign off on the changes.
The BBC is expected to announce the outcome of the review next month, or possibly in April if further debate is needed.
A source close to the BBC Trust said today that the strategic review is still "at the stage of discussions", and that no one at the corporation knows exactly what the outcome will be on services and spending priorities, because this has not been agreed.
There are understood to be a number of proposals still being debated internally within the BBC, but they remain options, rather than finally agreed changes. It is understood that the review will be discussed by the BBC Trust at its next monthly meeting in March.
The BBC and the BBC Trust declined to comment.
In November Thompson indicated that the review was likely to lead to the closure of some of the BBC's digital TV and radio services, a reduction in its website output, less money spent on foreign acquisitions and more investment in original UK production.
Proposals now being discussed by senior BBC executives and the BBC Trust include halving the number of web pages the corporation publishes, according to the Times. The BBC website will publish fewer stories and instead look to produce more original video and audio content.
The Times reported that BBC Online's current £112m budget would be slashed by 25%, as would staff numbers. The Future, Media and Technology division, of which BBC Online is one part, employs 1,400 staff.
If implemented, this cutback in the scope and budget of the BBC's web operation will be welcomed by commercial rivals, particularly given that last year the BBC Trust sanctioned a 27% increase in the corporation's annual online budget to more than £145m per year over a three-year period.
According to BBC Trust-approved figures the budget for BBC Online for 2009/10 is currently set at £133.8m. For 2010/11 it will be £135.8m.
The BBC will also introduce a hyperlink on every webpage it publishes to funnel more traffic to commercial services, a move FM&T chief Erik Huggers indicated was on the cards in an interview in December. In 2008 the BBC Trust heavily criticised the BBC website for failing in its role to act as a "trusted guide" to the internet and hoarding web traffic.
Another proposal being given serious consideration, according to the Times, is to sell off commercial subsidiary BBC Worldwide's magazine business, which publishes titles including the Radio Times and Top Gear. BBC Worldwide would also be asked to focus more on commercial exploitation of the corporation's content overseas rather than in the UK.
In November BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons told BBC Worldwide to look at a three-year action plan including earmarking a potential sell-off of the titles. Another option is to licence the magazines to rival publishers while maintaining strict brand guidelines.
In September Jana Bennett, the director of BBC Vision, said that BBC2's budget would be increased significantly over the next three years with a 50% boost in drama spend – in line with Thompson's pledge at a Voice of the Listener and Viewer conference in central London in November to focus more on "original British content".
The strategic review will also see BBC2 and BBC4 more closely together. At one point senior executives had considered merging the channels, however MediaGuardian.co.uk revealed in January that both BBC3 and BBC4 would emerge unscathed from the strategic review.
Earlier this month Caroline Thomson, the BBC's chief operating officer, admitted to the House of Lords communications committee that the Asian Network was under review and that its future was in doubt.
Jeremy Dear, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, said that the union would fight the cuts, with industrial action if necessary.
"If true, these cuts will result not just in the loss of hundreds of jobs, but the loss of valuable, quality output aimed at young people and the Asian communities. We will fight them with all our might," added Dear. "I will be meeting with BBC management today, where I will seek assurances around job security for our NUJ members at the BBC and will make clear that we will do everything that's required – including taking industrial action, if necessary, to defend jobs at the BBC."
Mark Sweney and Maggie Brown
Friday 26 February 2010 10.40 GMT
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010
Other proposals being considered as part of strategic review include axing Asian Network, placing cap on sports rights outlay, selling off BBC magazines and cutting film and TV show acquisition budget
BBC 'to axe radio stations and halve website' in strategic review
The BBC's web output could be cut in half, with online staff numbers and budgets to be slashed by 25% following director general Mark Thompson's strategic review of the corporation's scope and activities.
Other cuts being given serious consideration as part of the review include axing digital radio stations BBC 6Music and the Asian Network, putting a cap on spending on sports rights at 8.5% of the licence fee, or about £300m a year, cutting the £100m foreign film and TV show acquisitions budget by 25%, and selling off BBC Magazines, according to today's Times. Other proposals include the closure of cross media brands BBC Switch and BBC Blast, which are aimed at teenagers.
The proposed cuts would save £600m which would be reinvested in UK-originated content and are based on the assumption that the licence fee would be frozen in 2013, the Times reported. This suggests that the BBC is preparing for a Tory government after this year's general election, as the Conservatives have threatened to freeze the licence fee.
It is understood no final decisions have been taken on the outcome of Thompson's strategic review, with debate continuing between the BBC executive board, led by the director general, and the BBC Trust — the corporation's governance and regulatory body, which will have to sign off on the changes.
The BBC is expected to announce the outcome of the review next month, or possibly in April if further debate is needed.
A source close to the BBC Trust said today that the strategic review is still "at the stage of discussions", and that no one at the corporation knows exactly what the outcome will be on services and spending priorities, because this has not been agreed.
There are understood to be a number of proposals still being debated internally within the BBC, but they remain options, rather than finally agreed changes. It is understood that the review will be discussed by the BBC Trust at its next monthly meeting in March.
The BBC and the BBC Trust declined to comment.
In November Thompson indicated that the review was likely to lead to the closure of some of the BBC's digital TV and radio services, a reduction in its website output, less money spent on foreign acquisitions and more investment in original UK production.
Proposals now being discussed by senior BBC executives and the BBC Trust include halving the number of web pages the corporation publishes, according to the Times. The BBC website will publish fewer stories and instead look to produce more original video and audio content.
The Times reported that BBC Online's current £112m budget would be slashed by 25%, as would staff numbers. The Future, Media and Technology division, of which BBC Online is one part, employs 1,400 staff.
If implemented, this cutback in the scope and budget of the BBC's web operation will be welcomed by commercial rivals, particularly given that last year the BBC Trust sanctioned a 27% increase in the corporation's annual online budget to more than £145m per year over a three-year period.
According to BBC Trust-approved figures the budget for BBC Online for 2009/10 is currently set at £133.8m. For 2010/11 it will be £135.8m.
The BBC will also introduce a hyperlink on every webpage it publishes to funnel more traffic to commercial services, a move FM&T chief Erik Huggers indicated was on the cards in an interview in December. In 2008 the BBC Trust heavily criticised the BBC website for failing in its role to act as a "trusted guide" to the internet and hoarding web traffic.
Another proposal being given serious consideration, according to the Times, is to sell off commercial subsidiary BBC Worldwide's magazine business, which publishes titles including the Radio Times and Top Gear. BBC Worldwide would also be asked to focus more on commercial exploitation of the corporation's content overseas rather than in the UK.
In November BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons told BBC Worldwide to look at a three-year action plan including earmarking a potential sell-off of the titles. Another option is to licence the magazines to rival publishers while maintaining strict brand guidelines.
In September Jana Bennett, the director of BBC Vision, said that BBC2's budget would be increased significantly over the next three years with a 50% boost in drama spend – in line with Thompson's pledge at a Voice of the Listener and Viewer conference in central London in November to focus more on "original British content".
The strategic review will also see BBC2 and BBC4 more closely together. At one point senior executives had considered merging the channels, however MediaGuardian.co.uk revealed in January that both BBC3 and BBC4 would emerge unscathed from the strategic review.
Earlier this month Caroline Thomson, the BBC's chief operating officer, admitted to the House of Lords communications committee that the Asian Network was under review and that its future was in doubt.
Jeremy Dear, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, said that the union would fight the cuts, with industrial action if necessary.
"If true, these cuts will result not just in the loss of hundreds of jobs, but the loss of valuable, quality output aimed at young people and the Asian communities. We will fight them with all our might," added Dear. "I will be meeting with BBC management today, where I will seek assurances around job security for our NUJ members at the BBC and will make clear that we will do everything that's required – including taking industrial action, if necessary, to defend jobs at the BBC."
Mark Sweney and Maggie Brown
Friday 26 February 2010 10.40 GMT
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2010
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