[DX] news....

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--
Luulenpa, ettà tÃmà vaikuttaa aika lailla BBC:n jÃljellà oleviin 
keskiaaltolÃhettimiin....

BBC makes Â320m cuts 

Owen Gibson and Matt Wells
Tuesday December 7, 2004
The Guardian 

The BBC's director general, Mark Thompson, will today unveil a radical 
blueprint for the future of the corporation, making savage cuts designed 
to save Â320m and safeguard the licence fee in the digital age.

The Guardian has learned that Mr Thompson will announce plans to cut the 
BBC's army of support staff in half, and will promise to move its 
children's channels, sports department and Radio 5 Live to Manchester.

Non-programme-makers will be hardest hit, with 2,500 redundancies across 
finance, human resources, policy, legal, strategy, marketing, PR and 
related back-office functions. Over the next three years, up to 6,000 
jobs could go.

Mr Thompson will this morning tell staff that the BBC is entering a new 
phase, during which it must cut in-house costs by around Â320m and be 
more collaborative in its dealings with independent producers and 
commercial rivals.

Last night he told a "subdued" meeting of 300 senior managers that the 
swingeing cuts were vital if the corporation is to secure a favourable 
licence fee settlement in 2006, when its royal charter is up for 
renewal. During the meeting, he told executives that Â150m worth of cuts 
had already been identified to bring the BBC's overdraft down to zero.

But he argued that further savings would have to be made in the next 
three years if the BBC was to prove to the government that it deserved a 
10-year deal to guarantee annual above-inflation rises in the licence 
fee.

Programming departments will not be immune from the cuts, with budget 
reductions averaging 15% across the board.

BBC Factual and Learning, the department responsible for hits such as 
the Blue Planet and Walking With Dinosaurs, will be among the hardest 
hit, with 400 job losses. News and current affairs will also be forced 
to make cuts, but not until March.

Today, Mr Thompson will also unveil a new programme strategy for the 
BBC, promising to abandon makeover and reality shows in favour of news, 
comedy, family entertainment and drama.

Mr Thompson, who instigated a series of internal reviews on his 
appointment in May, will promise to redirect hundreds of millions of 
pounds to boost key current affairs programmes such as Newsnight and 
Panorama.

He is expected to announce plans to sell some of the corporation's 
commercial interests, and will demand that its commercial division 
doubles its profits to Â200m.

Staff face an agonising wait over Christmas and many, including senior 
managers, will find it hard to accept such cuts are necessary. There is 
a school of thought that Mr Thompson is going too far in his efforts to 
convince the government the corporation is slimming down to justify an 
above-inflation licence fee settlement.

But Mr Thompson, who argued as chief executive of Channel 4 that the BBC 
was wallowing in a "jacuzzi of cash", believes the corporation has 
become too large and cannot justify an increase in cash if it does not 
cut costs first.



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