‘Bosses have lost the plot’: Inside the BBC meltdown over licence fee’s future

No programme or presenter is safe from BBC cuts staff fear, as bosses battle a “cash emergency” leaving the broadcaster struggling to balance its books. The BBC is scrambling to cut £500 million from its budget after executives discovered a hole in the corporation’s finances which shocked even new Director-General Matt Brittin. More famous shows are set to be axed, following this week’s decision to scrap Ski Sunday, insiders said. Morale has also cratered at Broadcasting House, and the BBC’s regional outposts, with 2,000 jobs due to be axed in the brutal cost-cutting spree. Shorts Bosses ‘lost the plot’ Senior figures are now calling on the BBC board to intervene to stop bosses who have “lost the plot” – accusing them of indiscriminately axing programmes and services which are highly-valued by the BBC’s remaining loyal licence fee payers. “Everyone is worried about what is going to be cut next. No-one feels safe,” said one insider, following a summer which has seen shows from Blankety Blank to Football Focus and Radio 4’s The World Tonight scrapped. “There will be familiar faces leaving, presenters, on-screen correspondents,” said one leading news figure. “They will be looking for a small number of expensive on-air people who they might try to persuade to leave sooner than they expected. It’s all up in the air.” The BBC was already planning to cut 10 per cent from its operating costs before Brittin arrived. Licence fee slump However, the number of households paying the £180 a-year licence fee fell by half a million last year to 23 million, the latest BBC accounts show. This a huge increase on the 300,000 drop recorded in the previous year. Brittin has now been told the BBC must cut £500 million from its budget by 2028 – with £160 million to be delivered immediately. The new Director-General admitted last week he was unaware of the “severity” of the cuts the corporation had to make when he joined in the Spring. “They found out there was a cash emergency during the course of the financial year,” one insider added. “Licence fee income was dropping more quickly than predicted. “They needed to make emergency cash savings in June to balance the books this financial year. Usually savings match income, it is very unusual for the BBC to be running out of money.” ‘Every part of the BBC will be affected’ The corporation has already announced 550 job cuts in news, nations and TV and radio content as part of the first stage in its savings plan. The number of chief news presenters, correspondents and weather presenters is set to shrink as the BBC switches resources from live TV bulletins to digital news and analysis. And in a memo to staff, seen by The i Paper, interim BBC Head of News Jonathan Munro, said 200 job closures, announced in June, would be followed by “more announcements over the next few months involving further post closures (in News) amounting to a similar level”. “We need to reduce our costs by at least £51m by next April,” said Munro. “Every part of BBC News will be affected, including senior leaders, and we’re reviewing some on-air roles.” Other cost-cutting options include axing BBC Four arts and archive channel and moving its content to BBC Two. The BBC Three youth channel could also be under threat. Insiders say Brittin has spoken personally to many journalists potentially affected to tell them he values their work. “He gets that even though 90 per cent of staff will be unaffected, many will lose their jobs and this is a time of deep uncertainty for everyone,” one said. But they added: “There is some disbelief, though, that a former Google president wasn’t aware of the seriousness of the financial situation when he went through the interview process.” ‘What is the BBC for?’ A BBC source said the measures had been “driven by a number of factors, including production inflation, our licence fee and commercial income coming under pressure, and the global economy remaining turbulent”. The corporations chief financial officer, Bérangère Michel, said earlier this year the drop in TV licences had “resulted in an unsustainable financial position”. But the senior news figure said: “The reality is we are now cutting into services highly-valued by people who love the BBC the most.” They pointed to the decision to scrap the BBC’s dedicated South America correspondent. “It’s a big deal. There is effectively a freeze on deploying people to cover foreign stories unless it’s absolutely necessary. But covering foreign news is what the BBC is for.” Others fear the departure from BBC News of Today presenter Amol Rajan this week to launch his own YouTube series could encourage more talent, if they have a sufficiently influential personal “brand”, to quit for the digital world and better–resourced streaming rivals. Apprentices anger There is also internal anger after a group of apprentices were told they could no longer expect jobs they had been promised, as a result of the cuts. The apprenticeship programme is seen as an important opportunity for the BBC to increase the diversity of its workforce. One journalist trained by the BBC said it was a warning that “management will pull up the ladder and hurt the BBC’s future talent”. The BBC said they are “exploring opportunities to retain individuals where possible”. More widely, the BBC is currently discussing alternative funding mechanisms with the Government as part of the Charter Review process. Brittin said the current licence fee is a “busted flush” and suggested it could be replaced by a mandatory household levy. The BBC said its future depends on widening the base of people who pay for it – currently 94 per cent of adults use BBC services but fewer than 80 per cent of households actually pay the licence fee. But the senior news figure added: “For Charter renewal, we need to rally the people who love the BBC. The Board and the DG need to ask: are we getting the balance of savings right? It feels like they’ve [the execs deciding where to cut] have lost the plot.”