LONDON — The BBC announced more than 100 job cuts in its news operation and the closure of two television channels as broadcast services, as the U.K. broadcaster aims to save £500 million over the next two years, AFP reports.
BBC News announced the net closure of just over 100 roles in an internal note by director Rachel Jupp, representing £5.5 million in savings and forming part of some 2,000 job cuts the broader organisation is eyeing. Jupp was appointed this month after her predecessor stepped down amid a row over a misleading edit of U.S. President Donald Trump in a BBC documentary last year.
The channel changes move viewing online: BBC Scotland and the youth-oriented BBC Three will end as broadcast channels and be available on the iPlayer streaming platform instead, and Radio 4 Extra, which carries mainly archive programmes, will close with its content moving to BBC Sounds. 'Much of the great content they currently carry will still be found where audiences already enjoy it on iPlayer and Sounds,' Director General Matt Brittin told staff.
Scotland's culture minister Mairi McAllan called moving BBC Scotland online 'wholly unacceptable.' The cuts follow a June announcement of plans to axe another 550 roles by the end of the financial year to deliver £160 million in savings, against licence-fee income that has fallen by around a quarter in real terms since 2017.
