BBC axes hundreds of news and TV jobs in £500m savings drive

BBC director-general Matt Brittin has announced that 550 of the planned 1,800 to 2,000 job cuts at the corporation will be taken from BBC News and TV and radio-related roles.

The 57-year-old has also announced the BBC is to axe programmes and cut content spending by £80 million, and added it would “review our broadcast TV channels and radio network portfolio” as more of its audience moves online, while attempting to sustain “output” and “audience value and impact”.

The BBC has not indicated which programmes would be axed under the plans.

[…]

In response to the announcement, head of media and entertainment union, Bectu, Philippa Childs, said it is “far from ideal” that the cuts are taking place at the same time as the BBC’s charter renewal.

She said: “I’m not sure how you can make informed decisions about the long-term future of the organisation when it will be in a substantially diminished place at the end of the process than the beginning.

[…]

“The charter renewal must put the BBC’s funding on a secure, long-term pathway or it risks death by a thousand cuts.”

So that's fairly dire for anybody hoping the BBC can shoulder a show like Doctor Who without substantial external funding.