BBC Closes 3 Channels for £500 Million Savings as BBC Three and Scotland Move Online
Updated
Updated · bbc.co.uk · Oct 20
BBC Closes 3 Channels for £500 Million Savings as BBC Three and Scotland Move Online
3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Oct 20
Summary
Spring closures will take BBC Three, BBC Scotland and Radio 4 Extra off linear broadcast, with the BBC keeping much of their programming on iPlayer and BBC Sounds instead.
£500 million in savings over two years is driving the shift, part of a wider cost-cutting plan that targets 1,800 to 2,000 jobs as the broadcaster faces what it calls significant financial pressures.
BBC Scotland will keep an iPlayer presence and some shows on BBC One and BBC Two in Scotland, but Reporting Scotland: News at Seven will end when the channel closes.
BBC Three, restored as a TV channel in 2022 after going online in 2016, will continue commissioning for younger audiences, while Radio 4 Extra's archive-heavy output will largely remain available on BBC Sounds.
The channel closures add to broader retrenchment at the BBC, which has already announced about 550 news job cuts, more than 30 in sport, and cancellations or pauses for several TV formats.