BBC News is preparing to cut around 200 roles as part of a cost-saving restructuring of the division, according to details set out by its interim chief executive, Jonathan Munro. In a memo to staff, he said every part of BBC News would be affected by the changes, including senior leaders, and that the organisation also intends to lose some on-air roles. The scale of the reductions points to one of the more significant shake-ups of the broadcaster's news output in recent years.
Munro framed the plans as very tough but considered choices, which he said had been made carefully and collectively. As well as reducing staff numbers, the changes involve closing some programmes outright and making fewer editions of others. The memo set out a series of decisions affecting radio, television and the presenting line up, signalling that the savings will be felt across the breadth of the news operation rather than confined to a single area.
Several long-running Radio 4 programmes are among those due to close. They include The World Tonight and The Midnight News, alongside Moneybox Live, a consumer rights show that has built a large and loyal following over the years. The loss of these strands marks a notable change for regular listeners, with established parts of the daily and evening schedule set to disappear.
There are also changes planned for television. On BBC One, the broadcaster intends to stop making the Sunday morning edition of BBC Breakfast, and instead show the news channel on Sunday mornings from September of this year. In a further move aimed at saving money, the production teams behind Newsnight and Laura Kuenssberg's Sunday morning programme are to be brought together rather than run separately.
The shake-up extends to the broadcaster's most prominent on-air positions. Munro said in the memo that BBC News would carry out a review of all of its chief presenter roles. From September, the Today programme on Radio 4 will also move from a roster of five presenters down to four, trimming one of the most recognisable line ups in British broadcasting.
Taken together, the measures represent a wide-ranging effort to bring down costs while reshaping how BBC News produces and delivers its output. With programmes closing, editions reduced and presenter rosters under review, the plans touch almost every corner of the division, and the coming months are set to bring further detail on exactly how the roughly 200 role reductions will be carried out.