Rachel_Sandford
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Culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, had once accused the BBC of “extraordinary and outrageous” waste. Perhaps one of the factors that led to the freezing of the corporation's license-fees. With less money to spend, the BBC has been forced to rethink and re-strategize their plans for the next few years and figure out how to save money. Lord Patten of the BBC Trust said just a few months ago that the BBC would not look the same following the review that the broadcaster underwent.
Now, the review is out. Aptly titled 'Delivering Quality First,' it reveals a plan that can save the BBC somewhere between £200 million and £670 million of license-fee payers money, but deliver the output it is best known for.
Surprisingly, apart from the HD channel, no channel or radio station will be shut down. Though they had originally planned to close the Asian Network and BBC 6 Music, these were saved by public protests. Instead, the corporation is “salami slicing,” making cuts here and there in order to save more. BBC Director General, Mark Thompson had said that sacrificing an entire channel or station would have saved less money than decisions like cutting sports rights by 15%.
To start, BBC is looking for cheaper ways of working, and according to the Beeb, most of its savings will come from this plan. This includes selling some of its property in West London. They are also to move out of Television Centre and head to the north of England, moving 1,000 jobs and cutting 2,000 more, including 300 members of the senior management posts and several hundred in BBC's news division.
The decision to cut the news staff has been critcised by Michele Stanistreet, General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists. Stanistreet said that news is a core priority of the broadcaster, and cutting so many jobs goes against that. “It's obviously a bad watershed moment for the BBC today and a really bad day for British journalism... Our members will be reflecting on the impact of the cuts in their own areas when we meet next week, and I would imagine strike action is inevitable,” he said.
Despite the possibility of strikes (Bectu, the technicians union had also said strikes are likely before Christmas) and the fact that reductions may make work a bit more difficult, it is likely to be a good move for BBC. As Lord Patten had said: “You won't find a politician who doesn't have a story about being interviewed by 90 people from the BBC. I exaggerate, slightly.”
In terms of its channels and shows, BBC is generally cutting budgets across the board. Asian Network and 1Xtra will have their budget cut, there will be fewer lunchtime concerts on Radio 3, daytime shows on BBC Two will be replaced by news and repeats of factual programmes, local radio stations will share programming outside peak listening times, children's programmes will move off BBC One and Two to CBBC and CBeebies, and digital TV channel BBC 3 and Radio 4's consumer programme, 'You & Yours' will be moving to the new office in north London, along with some other shows.
Some stations and channels, seen as more central to the corporation's core purposes, will not be getting their budgets cut, though they will have to put less money into factual programmes and show a few more repeats. Both Radio 4 and BBC One will benefit from the reinvestment money of the corporation, with the former to produce a new factual series like 'A History of the World in 100 Objects,' and the latter to fund drama and comedy programmes. BBC Two and BBC Four may also get a bit of funding for Panorama as well as serious arts, business, history, natural history, and science programmes.
The changes are not yet final, and the BBC Trust is starting a three-month consultation that will ask license-fee payers for their opinion on these proposals, but it seems that for the most part, the BBC has kept its promise to deliver as much as they can considering their circumstances. The questions some people are asking is why didn't the broadcaster cut back on expenses before? And will the public be happy with what they will get?
Now, the review is out. Aptly titled 'Delivering Quality First,' it reveals a plan that can save the BBC somewhere between £200 million and £670 million of license-fee payers money, but deliver the output it is best known for.
Surprisingly, apart from the HD channel, no channel or radio station will be shut down. Though they had originally planned to close the Asian Network and BBC 6 Music, these were saved by public protests. Instead, the corporation is “salami slicing,” making cuts here and there in order to save more. BBC Director General, Mark Thompson had said that sacrificing an entire channel or station would have saved less money than decisions like cutting sports rights by 15%.
To start, BBC is looking for cheaper ways of working, and according to the Beeb, most of its savings will come from this plan. This includes selling some of its property in West London. They are also to move out of Television Centre and head to the north of England, moving 1,000 jobs and cutting 2,000 more, including 300 members of the senior management posts and several hundred in BBC's news division.
The decision to cut the news staff has been critcised by Michele Stanistreet, General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists. Stanistreet said that news is a core priority of the broadcaster, and cutting so many jobs goes against that. “It's obviously a bad watershed moment for the BBC today and a really bad day for British journalism... Our members will be reflecting on the impact of the cuts in their own areas when we meet next week, and I would imagine strike action is inevitable,” he said.
Despite the possibility of strikes (Bectu, the technicians union had also said strikes are likely before Christmas) and the fact that reductions may make work a bit more difficult, it is likely to be a good move for BBC. As Lord Patten had said: “You won't find a politician who doesn't have a story about being interviewed by 90 people from the BBC. I exaggerate, slightly.”
In terms of its channels and shows, BBC is generally cutting budgets across the board. Asian Network and 1Xtra will have their budget cut, there will be fewer lunchtime concerts on Radio 3, daytime shows on BBC Two will be replaced by news and repeats of factual programmes, local radio stations will share programming outside peak listening times, children's programmes will move off BBC One and Two to CBBC and CBeebies, and digital TV channel BBC 3 and Radio 4's consumer programme, 'You & Yours' will be moving to the new office in north London, along with some other shows.
Some stations and channels, seen as more central to the corporation's core purposes, will not be getting their budgets cut, though they will have to put less money into factual programmes and show a few more repeats. Both Radio 4 and BBC One will benefit from the reinvestment money of the corporation, with the former to produce a new factual series like 'A History of the World in 100 Objects,' and the latter to fund drama and comedy programmes. BBC Two and BBC Four may also get a bit of funding for Panorama as well as serious arts, business, history, natural history, and science programmes.
The changes are not yet final, and the BBC Trust is starting a three-month consultation that will ask license-fee payers for their opinion on these proposals, but it seems that for the most part, the BBC has kept its promise to deliver as much as they can considering their circumstances. The questions some people are asking is why didn't the broadcaster cut back on expenses before? And will the public be happy with what they will get?