The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is cutting 110 jobs from its BBC Media Tech division, which is responsible for the development of certain consumer-facing platforms like iPlayer and BBC Sounds.
The staffers will receive pink slips in the coming weeks, with another 35 vacant job spots going unfilled, the broadcaster said on Monday. The BBC is expected to cut another 180 jobs by asking some employees to accept buyout packages.
Additional cuts are likely to come in the next two years, BBC executives warned.
The job losses will allow the BBC to save over £100 million (around U.S. $130 million) as the broadcaster looks for ways to reduce expenses amid ongoing revenue pressure. The broadcaster will replace some of its jobs with artificial intelligence (AI) technology, BBC Chief Operations Officer Kelly Kowal told employees.
“I want to recognize the uncertainty and worry this news will create, particularly those potentially affected by redundancy or worried about their role,” Kowal said. “There is no easy way to make these choices, but we will be caring, respectful and considered in how we help people work through their options.”
Unlike other TV and radio networks in the United Kingdom, the BBC’s domestic channels are entirely funded through a mandatory tax on homes that watch live television. The tax, called a TV license, costs around £180 per year (around U.S. $230 per year), and allows the BBC to invest in local TV and film production.
One upside to the TV tax is that the BBC’s radio and TV channels offer programming without advertisements. One major downside is that not everyone chooses to pay the TV license, and enforcement payment has proven harder in an era where foreign-owned streaming video services and podcasts are chipping away at the BBC’s domestic share of TV and radio time.
To address this, the British government has weighed a number of options to right the ship. One plan calls for the BBC to fund its domestic production and broadcasting initiatives through limited advertising opportunities, effectively undoing its long-time charter in that respect. Another plan calls for the BBC to wind down non-essential radio and TV networks, pushing more content online and forging additional licensing deals with platforms like Netflix, Amazon’s Prime Video and Disney Plus, while extending the TV license to those services as well.
More Stories
- BBC preparing TV, radio network closures as part of cost-cutting measure
- BBC license fee households fall by 539,000 as funding pressures grow
- BBC, Channel 4 discuss possible streaming-focused partnership
- BBC weighs bringing online news stream to YouTube in some countries
- BBC director, news chief exit after memo details unscrupulous editing of Trump speech
