EXCLUSIVE: The BBC has spent Wednesday informing staff about chastening content cuts across its TV, radio, and news services. Now, the corporation’s content chief has written to independent producers to shed more light on how they will be impacted by the changes.
In an email seen by Deadline (published in full below), Kate Phillips told suppliers that “difficult choices” were being made about prioritizing resources, meaning existing shows will be canceled, and there will be fewer opportunities to win new commissions.
Phillips revealed the BBC’s TV development budget will be slashed by 15% annually. This is in addition to the announcement earlier on Wednesday that commissioning spend will be reduced by £80M ($107M) by March 2028. Up to 150 hours of original network TV content will vanish, while up to 400 hours of audio content will also disappear.
The efforts form part of wider BBC plans to slash costs by £500M ($670M) over the next three years, expanding on an existing target worth £1.5B. The bigger picture behind the cuts is that 94% of the UK population use the BBC every month, but fewer than 80% pay the £180 annual licence fee. The BBC is attempting to bridge this gap.
“We don’t underestimate the impact [difficult choices] will have on companies, freelancers and the wider industry. London is likely to feel this the most, but there will be unavoidable impacts across the nations and English regions too,” wrote Phillips, who co-signed the email with BBC nations boss Rhuanedd Richards. “We will work carefully with you and other partners to manage programme changes in a timely, respectful way.”
Get our Breaking News Alerts and Keep your inbox happy.
Comments On Deadline Hollywood are monitored. So don't go off topic, don't impersonate anyone, and don't get your facts wrong.
Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );