The BBC has sounded the alarm about potentially significant content cuts.
In its annual plan published Thursday, the British national broadcaster expanded on plans to slash its cost base by £500M ($600M) over the next three years, which is on top of an existing savings strategy worth £1.5B ($2B).
The BBC’s 101-page annual plan used the phrases “difficult choices” and “difficult decisions” on four separate occasions in relation to content cuts.
“Cuts of this magnitude will require us to make difficult decisions about content and services in the future,” the BBC said. “These choices, which will be led by focusing on value to audiences whilst continuing to deliver on our public purposes, are expected to impact all areas of our portfolio and will reduce commissioning opportunities.”
The BBC was no more specific than this, but did signal that savings could impact its ability to deliver against its “operating licence conditions,” regulatory conditions governing how and where the broadcaster spends money for audiences across the country.
Outgoing BBC director general Tim Davie has largely resisted shutting down services, including television and radio networks. Instead, he has focused on making cuts by switching resources from traditional broadcast platforms to digital services, such as iPlayer and BBC Sounds.
Matt Brittin, the former Google executive who will succeed Davie in May, may take a different approach to legacy services as the BBC looks to bring down its cost base over the coming years. Historically, BBC bosses have found it tricky to cut services because the proposals are almost always met with significant resistance from audiences and politicians.
In a statement, Davie said: “We can look forward to a year of brilliant creativity, great programmes and the very best of UK storytelling across the BBC. But let’s be clear – the BBC, needed more than ever, is at risk like never before. Given financial pressures, infinite choice and changing audience behavior, the organization must also make some tough choices in the year ahead to reshape how we operate.”
The BBC is also drawing up radical plans to save £100M through outsourcing thousands of non-content jobs — including HR, finance, legal, and operations — to private sector companies. Deadline revealed details of the changes last year, with executives dubbing the plan Project Ada.
Despite the BBC’s gloomy noises, the corporation revealed in its annual plan that total content spend will increase by £180M to £2.7B over the coming year. One reason for this will be the FIFA World Cup, which takes place in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada this summer.