BBC Looks for Another £300M in Savings, But Not Before Christmas

The BBC needs to find another £300 million ($400 million) in savings, and a big announcement is very unlikely before Christmas. That is the word from Rhodri Talfan Davies, the corporation's deputy director general, who spoke to journalists at a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch, as Deadline reported. He said the BBC's executive senior team is now weighing options for the next stage of cuts.

The savings drive is already well under way. The BBC is carrying out a £500 million savings plan, and it has said it will close the BBC Three linear network, the BBC Scotland channel and Radio 4 Extra. "Linear" means channels that run on a set timetable, as opposed to shows you call up whenever you like. In April, the BBC announced about 2,000 layoffs and said it would offer voluntary redundancy first, to avoid compulsory job losses. In June, it said 550 jobs would go, including roles in its news and content divisions.

Davies also said most of the new savings must be found before the end of the current BBC charter in 2027/28. The charter is the agreement that sets out the corporation's purpose and funding, and it runs for a fixed period. The 10% savings target was set earlier this year by Tim Davie, the BBC's director general at the time, with a deadline of 2028/29. That date falls beyond the current charter. Matt Brittin is now the BBC's permanent director general.

Davies was also asked about the lawsuit filed by Donald Trump, who is seeking $10 billion in damages from the BBC. Defamation is the legal term for publishing a false statement that harms someone's reputation. Davies said the BBC's case to have the suit thrown out of a Florida court is very strong. The argument rests on jurisdiction, meaning whether that court has the power to hear the case at all.

Behind every savings figure sits a working team. When Davies was interim director general in April, he told staff that press briefings had "undermined" his plans to explain the £500 million plan to them first. Now the question for the BBC is how it explains the next £300 million, and how it does so without the detail reaching the public before the people it affects.

For viewers and listeners, the practical result is slower news than the headlines suggest. Davies has signalled that the next big decisions are not coming in the next few weeks, and the bigger decisions have until the charter ends to land.