The British Broadcasting Corporation is planning to lay off an additional 500 workers over the next two years as it braces for the likelihood that its financial deficit will grow during the same time period.
The public service broadcaster has already eliminated 2,000 jobs over the past five years, reducing its employee headcount by 10 percent, executives said on Tuesday. But to address further financial woes, more employees will have to go within the next 20 months as the BBC reorients itself to take advantage of overseas commercial opportunities and employs other revenue-growth strategies.
“Over the course of the next two years, we will look to further move the money we have into the priority areas that provide real value for audiences,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday. “This means, in public service, we will close and transfer roles in some areas, and create roles in growth areas.”
The comment largely restates the BBC’s position from March, when the broadcaster said it needed to refocus around three core groups: Education, information and entertainment.
“The future of the UK, democratically, socially and culturally is at risk,” BBC Director General Tim Davie said during a speech that month. “For us to succeed, far from following where the market is driving others, we must double down on what audiences see as our unique value.”
The BBC’s domestic TV and radio operations are primarily funded through a tax imposed on television-watching households in the United Kingdom. While the license has faced opposition from some British politicians over the last few years, incoming Prime Minister Keir Starmer has committed to the model through at least 2027.
Meanwhile, the BBC is increasingly looking at different business models to generate income from outside the United Kingdom. Its main commercial arm, BBC Studios, is responsible for content licensing and distribution deals throughout Europe and in other territories like the United States, where the channel licenses the BBC brand to AMC Networks and operates a handful of free, ad-supported streaming TV channels. BBC Studios also owns Britbox International, a direct-to-consumer streaming service that offers British dramas and comedies for a monthly subscription.
The commercial side of the BBC’s business brought in £1.9 billion (around U.S. $2.4 billion) in revenue during the 2023-24 fiscal year, the broadcaster revealed this week, around 10 percent lower than the £2.1 billion (around U.S. $2.7 billion) earned during the prior fiscal period.
Meanwhile, BBC executives say the operating deficit is expected to grow to £263 million (around U.S. $340 million) this year, and projected to increase to £492 million (around U.S. $635.3 million) by 2025. Executives say the British government’s decision to increase the amount households pay through the TV tax — which it calls a TV license — was not enough to keep up with the country’s rate of inflation.
