CBBC, BBC Four and Radio 4 Extra will close and become online-only services, the corporation said, as part of plans to shut down TV and radio channels to focus on streaming services.
BBC Director-General Tim Davy made the announcement Thursday in response to Culture Minister Nadine Doris’ decision to freeze the £ 159 license fee for the next two years.
He added that many of the World Service’s foreign language services will be online only, while the existing UK-focused BBC News channel will merge with BBC World to form a single global mobile TV news service.
Radio 4’s longwave service, known as the traditional home of Test Match Special and the delivery forecast, will lose its special programming before being shut down completely.
There will also be cuts to local TV and radio services in England, although the BBC has insisted that the overall budget for local journalism be maintained – with costs being redistributed instead to hire journalists to create online content.
Most of the BBC’s spending is on traditional TV and radio channels, while audiences are shifting online.
The BBC has said that around 1,000 jobs will be lost on television in the next few years, with the latest announcement being years of cuts and cuts.
Davey told employees they must accept the need to move away from traditional TV and radio channels and invest in programs designed specifically for services such as iPlayer and BBC Sounds.
He said: “This is our time to build the first digital BBC. Something really new, Reithian organization for the digital age, a positive force for the UK and the world. To do this, we need to grow faster and accept the huge changes in the market around us. “
The freezing of license fees requires the BBC to find £ 285 million in annual savings. Instead, Davey decided to go much further than necessary and reduce the budget for existing TV and radio services by £ 500 million, with additional savings being invested in new services for digital technologies alone.
Many of the reports are likely to face strong opposition from viewers, officials and politicians. Davey has experience with this since announcing plans in 2010 to shut down 6Music and Asian Network – only to step down in the face of public opposition.
Changes in the World Service may be of particular concern to the government, which sees it as a key tool for Britain’s soft power abroad. However, ministers have stopped funding the World Service as part of a series of funding cuts imposed on the BBC by successive conservative-led governments, making it difficult for ministers to stop the closure.
Among other closures, the closure of BBC Four and the conversion of its content to iPlayer alone could meet with strong opposition from loyal audiences. It has essentially been an archive-only channel in recent years, but his diet of ancient architecture programs and old episodes of Top of the Pops beat BBC Three’s youth-focused – launched just a few months ago – ratings.
The merger of the corporation’s two existing mobile TV news channels is also likely to reduce the amount of content targeted to the UK.
CBBC television ratings have been hit hard as primary school-age children deviate from streaming services such as YouTube. There are no plans to discontinue the CBeebies television service, which targets preschoolers.
Local radio stations will share more programs, while some local television news bulletins – including those produced in Oxford and Cambridge – will be shut down.
Several million Britons – often older and poorer – do not have access to the internet, while many more do not have the home broadband needed to access streaming services. These groups could be most affected by any cuts to the BBC’s traditional radio or television services.
The closure of Radio 4’s longwave service was last proposed in 2011, although the BBC did not eventually shut it down. The decision to suspend the service – which for many is synonymous with commentary on cricket on hot summer days – could also cause problems for Britain’s nuclear weapons program. There has long been speculation – although the Defense Department recently declined to comment on the allegation – that the UK submarine fleet regularly checks whether it can accept the longwave signal on Radio 4 as a sign that the nation is still functioning.
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