The BBC has announced that due to a a shortfall in funding entertainment, comedy and factual programming at the BBC will be hit by cuts of up to £12 million. However all is potentially not lost, depending on your penchant for ‘undiscovered’ music talent, as the corporation said it would use money saved from dropping The Voice for homegrown Saturday night shows.
Presumably the chairs from The Voice will be sold off to a suitable boardroom. Or perhaps used in job interviews for companies passionate about equal opportunities. Perhaps the homegrown Saturday night shows will revolve around…revolving chairs. We don’t know. I just imagine they were pretty expensive.
The director general, Tony Hall, said BBC News will also see its budget cut by £5 million and BBC online services will be cut by £12 million as part of an over all saving of £150 million. Tony Hall said: “The BBC has and is doing everything possible to make sure the impact on the public is minimised. Wherever possible we’re targeting savings by creating a simpler, leaner BBC.
“But cuts to budgets for programmes and services are unavoidable. No director general wants to announce reduced spending on services that the public love. This is very tough, but the BBC’s financial position means there is no alternative.”
Currently the drama budget is protected. Although there will be another wave of cuts at the BBC as a result of the Tory government’s decision to make it pay the cost of over-75s licence fees. These cuts are “likely to include broad service and major structural changes to how the BBC works.”
