BBC To Send Home 450 Employees To Save Ksh8 Billion

UK-based British Broadcasting Corporation is set to send home at least 450 employees from BBC Newsin new plan to save the media house £80 million (Ksh8 billion) by 2022.

In a story published on their website, BBC announced that the departments to be affected include BBC Two’s Newsnight, BBC Radio 5 Live and the World Update programme on the World Service. BBC Two’s Victoria Derbyshire programme is also set to be closed.

BBC News boss Fran Unsworth said there had to be a move away from traditional broadcasting and towards digital.

BBC News currently employs around 6,000 people, including 1,700 outside the UK.

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“The BBC has to face up to the changing way audiences are using us. We need to reshape BBC News for the next decade in a way which saves substantial amounts of money. We are spending too much of our resources on traditional linear broadcasting and not enough on digital,” said Unsworth.

The corporation announced in 2016 that it needed to save £800 million, with around £80 million of that figure coming from News.

Just over £40 million – around half – of the savings required in BBC News have already been found over the past four years.

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The corporation says that the remaining savings will be found in large part by restructuring the newsroom to adopt a “story-led” model, which will see planned stories each rolled out across a greater number of programmes and outlets.

The BBC said this would avoid the duplication that occurs from several programmes putting resources into the same news stories.

Unsworth also said there would be a review of the number of presenters BBC News has and how they work.

Victoria Derbyshire and World Update will also be closed.

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