Informed 07


Broadcasting BBC blitz on jobs


A raſt of cuts announcements at the BBC has resulted in a total of almost 2,000 jobs, the vast majority front- line rather than management posts, due to go. Hardest hit has been the English


regions, where 450 posts are to be cut and savings of £25m will have to be made by 2022, with the BBC proposing that: 142 jobs will be lost in online and TV news; 139 in local radio and the Covid-19 schedule, reducing daytime output from four shows a day to three, will continue; 29 jobs will go from the award-winning current affairs Inside Out programmes; seven from the London-based wire service; plus 125 further redundancies. BBC Scotland has been told it must


make £6.2m in savings, the equivalent of about 60 posts. Wales is expecting to lose 60 posts and Northern Ireland between 30 and 40. BBC News had already announced 450 job cuts, but that figure has risen to 520 because of extra costs incurred during Covid-19.


Following pressure from the NUJ, the BBC launched a pan-BBC trawl for volunteers for redundancy but the union is concerned that such an enormous reduction in roles will have a severe effect on the quality of journalism produced. More than 60 MPs and peers from across the political spectrum wrote to Dame Melanie Dawes, chief executive of Ofcom, about the atack on national and regional BBC news and political programmes. Te leter asked the broadcasting regulator to assess whether the cuts would endanger the BBC’s ability to fulfil its statutory duties. More than 100 personalities, from journalism, the arts, sciences and politics also wrote to BBC management in defence of


Disney sparkle eclipses the news


Te news boost created by people turning to public service broadcasters (PSBs) searching for trusted information during the pandemic has proved short-lived, according to a report by Ofcom, the broadcasting watchdog. Te BBC and ITV are now losing out to the big American streaming services, such as Amazon and Netflix, with the relative newcomer Disney+


becoming the third most popular adult streaming service. By June 2020 the combined viewing share of PSBs fell to 54.6 per cent, its lowest level since August 2019. Te report (Atitudes to PSB – 29 July 2020: htps:// bit.ly/2PsLJfu) said the pandemic “showed public service broadcasting at its best, delivering trusted news and UK content that viewers


regional currents affairs and politics programmes. A row has also broken out over the


future of the award-winning current affairs strand, Inside Out, which has been cut from 11 regions and switched to a new programme produced from six “regional hubs”, with Inside Out staff having to apply for the posts. Michelle Stanistreet said: “Te government should step forward to fill this Covid-19 funding gap, rather than inflict further cuts on an already financially challenged BBC. Tere must then also be a broader debate around the funding of the BBC so our public service broadcaster can be


taken off the critical list and its future health and independence secured.”


Te general secretary recently met


Tim Davie, chief executive of BBC Studios, the corporation’s commercial subsidiary, who will replace Lord Hall as director general in September.


really valued”, but they faced fierce competition from streaming services. It is a particularly tough time for commercial public broadcasters. Ofcom estimated television advertising revenues would fall by 17-19 per cent in 2020 and said Channel 4’s reliance on advertising made it vulnerable. In its results for the six months to June 30, ITV reported a 50 per cent fall in adjusted earnings, while advertising revenues fell by 21 per cent. Sky reported a 15.5 per cent year


on year fall in revenues. Te BBC has also come under fire since announcing that people aged over 75 will now have to pay for their TV licence and the NUJ is calling for the government to pick up the bill. Te corporation had delayed passing on the cost because of the pandemic and this and other Covid-related costs amounted to £125m. Michelle Stanistreet praised the BBC and its staff for its Covid-19 response and said: “Te government must fund this fee and not make the BBC the villain of the piece, as it is being portrayed.”


BBC


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