{"id":644652,"date":"2026-06-18T04:02:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T04:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/644652\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T04:02:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T04:02:22","slug":"radio-4s-the-world-tonight-and-sunday-breakfast-show-axed-as-bbc-cuts-550-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/644652\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio 4’s The World Tonight and Sunday Breakfast show axed as BBC cuts 550 jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Angry staff<\/a> questioned whether the licence fee<\/a> would be worth paying after the BBC<\/a> axed Radio 4 news shows and warned that channels could close in a rolling series of brutal cuts.<\/p>\n

Star news presenters will undergo a \u201cvalue for money\u201d assessment under the cost-saving plans set out by new Director-General Matt Brittin<\/a>, designed to close a \u00a3500m funding gap as more people stop paying the \u00a3180 licence fee<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Radio 4 programmes including The World Tonight \u2013 the 10pm show which has run for 56 years delivering \u201cin-depth reporting, intelligent analysis and major breaking news from a global perspective\u201d \u2013 will be axed.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tShorts\n\t\t<\/p>\n

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\t\t\"TOPSHOT<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\tIs a heatwave around the corner? What the forecast says\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

<\/a>
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\t\t\"File<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\tHow inflation will affect your weekly shop\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n

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WEATHER<\/p>\n

The weather to expect this weekend<\/p>\n

\"AsCaption: As record-breaking spring temperatures continue in the capital, visitors buy ice creams on Westminster Bridge, on 26th May 2026, in London, England. The record for the hottest day for May temperature in the UK has been broken for the second day in a row, with 35C recorded. (Photo by Richard Baker \/ In Pictures via Getty Images)
Photographer: Richard Baker
Provider: In Pictures via Getty Images
Source: In Pictures
Copyright: Richard Baker<\/p>\n

Heatwave\u00a0conditions are forecast for parts of the UK this weekend as temperatures rise, with some areas set to be hotter than Barbados.<\/p>\n

Temperatures are expected to climb steadily into the high 20\u00b0Cs across the country\u00a0later this week, and 30\u00b0C could\u00a0be reached in southern parts of England by Friday, the Met Office said.<\/p>\n

What is a heatwave?<\/p>\n

In the UK, a heatwave is officially defined as a location recording at least three consecutive days with daily maximum temperatures meeting or exceeding the heatwave temperature threshold, the Met Office says.<\/p>\n

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NEWS<\/p>\n

4 min read<\/p>\n

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LIFESTYLE<\/p>\n

5 min read<\/p>\n

How hot will the UK get?<\/p>\n

32\u00b0C<\/p>\n

There is potential for 32\u00b0C to be reached in the south of\u00a0England on Sunday and even higher temperatures could be recorded on Monday, when 33\u00b0C is forecast.<\/p>\n

26-30\u00b0C<\/p>\n

In comparison, the Caribbean island of Barbados is set to see temperatures fluctuate between 26\u00b0C and 30\u00b0C on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\nHeat warnings issued\n<\/p>\n

A yellow heat health alert was issued by the UK Health Security Agency\u00a0(UKHSA) for the East Midlands, the east of England, London and the southeast of England from 3pm on Wednesday, and will\u00a0remain in place until 8pm on Monday 22 June.<\/p>\n

\"UnseasonalUnseasonal heatwaves have been recorded in southern California, as well as many other destinations (Photo: Kevin Carter\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\"LONDON,Caption: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM \u2013 SEPTEMBER 06: People sit by the fountain during the hot weather in London, United Kingdom on September 06, 2023. The British Meteorological Office (Met Office), which issued a \u2018red\u2019 alarm by predicting that temperatures will reach 33 degrees this week, predicts that the temperature record of the year will be broken this week. According to the statement made by the Met Office, a temperature reaching 32-33 degrees is expected from today until Saturday, especially in the south of the country and London. (Photo by Rasid Necati Aslim\/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Photographer: Anadolu Agency
Provider: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Source: Anadolu<\/p>\n

A yellow heat health alert means there is likely to be a \u201cgreater risk to life of vulnerable people\u201d and water\u2011related incidents may increase, including risks from cold\u2011water shock and drowning, the UKHSA\u2019s website states. <\/p>\n

Which areas will see spells of rain?<\/p>\n

Although it will be warm for many, some areas will experience spells of rain. Northern and western parts of the UK will be particularly affected by wet weather. There is also a slight chance of thunderstorms across southeastern England, forecasters said.<\/p>\n

\"LONDON,Caption: LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM \u2013 JUNE 4: Citizens use umbrellas and raincoats to walk through the streets as rainy weather disrupts daily life across London, United Kingdom, on June 4, 2026. (Photo by Rasid Necati Aslim\/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Photographer: Anadolu
Provider: Anadolu via Getty Images
Source: Anadolu<\/p>\n

\"LONDON,Caption: LONDON, ENGLAND \u2013 JUNE 02: Lightning flashes are seen above homes on June 02, 2026 in London, England. The Met Office issued a weather warning that heavy rain was thunderstorms were expected to cross the whole country on Monday. (Photo by Dan Kitwood\/Getty Images)
Photographer: Dan Kitwood
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe
Copyright: 2026 Getty Images<\/p>\n

NEWS<\/p>\n

Inflation holds steady as food price rises ease <\/p>\n

\"CARDIFF,Caption: CARDIFF, WALES \u2013 MAY 22: A woman holds a shopping basket of groceries on May 22, 2022 in Cardiff, Wales. Last week, the UK Office for National Statistics reported an 6% average increase of food and drink prices year on year, but some staples, such as milk and pasta, had risen by more than 10%. (Photo by Matthew Horwood\/Getty Images)
Photographer: Matthew Horwood
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe<\/p>\n

UK\u00a0inflation\u00a0unexpectedly\u00a0flatlined\u00a0last month as a slowdown in food price rises offset pressure from airfares, according to official figures.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Consumer Prices Index (CPI)\u00a0inflation\u00a0was recorded at 2.8 per cent in May, the same rate as in April. It was lower than expected by economists.<\/p>\n

\nWhat does this mean for food prices?\n<\/p>\n

The latest ONS inflation figures reveal the price of goods and services is still increasing, but at the same speed as in April.
Margarine, pizza, tea, rice and chocolate were among the groceries that saw their cost accelerate last month.<\/p>\n

\"ACaption: A customer places shopping bags in her car outside an Aldi Stores Ltd. supermarket in Benfleet, UK, on Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. UK grocery price inflation edged up in October as British shoppers flocked to supermarkets in the busiest month since the pandemic. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe\/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Photographer: Bloomberg
Provider: Bloomberg via Getty Images
Source: Bloomberg<\/p>\n

\"UndatedCaption: Undated file photo of a person holding a shopping basket in a supermarket. Trust in the grocery sector has plummeted to its lowest point in more than a decade as the majority of households grapple with supermarket prices, a survey suggests. Issue date: Tuesday August 29, 2023. PA Photo. See PA story CONSUMER Supermarkets. Photo credit should read: Julien Behal\/PA Wire
Photographer: Julien Behal
Provider: PA
Source: PA<\/p>\n

Coffee, fish, whole\u00a0milk, frozen vegetables, pasta, meat, bread and potatoes recorded a smaller year-on-year rise in price in May than in April.<\/p>\n

\nThe impact on grocery staples\n<\/p>\n

\"CARDIFF,Caption: CARDIFF, WALES \u2013 MAY 22: A woman with a shopping trolley full of groceries in a supermarket aisle on May 22, 2022 in Cardiff, Wales. Last week, the UK Office for National Statistics reported an 6% average increase of food and drink prices year on year, but some staples, such as milk and pasta, had risen by more than 10%. (Photo by Matthew Horwood\/Getty Images)
Photographer: Matthew Horwood
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe<\/p>\n

Cheese and curd<\/p>\n

The average price of cheese and curd fell 2.4 per cent.<\/p>\n

Meat<\/p>\n

The average cost of meat rose by 2.3 per cent, compared to 3.6 per cent in the year to April. <\/p>\n

\"ACaption: A shopper walks along the meat aisle inside an ALDI supermarket near Altrincham, Britain, February 20, 2023. REUTERS\/Phil Noble\/
Photographer: PHIL NOBLE
Provider: REUTERS
Source: X01988<\/p>\n

\"GroceryCaption: Grocery food shopping on conveyor belt at supermarket checkout till in Lidl, UK. (Photo by: Alex Segre\/UCG\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Photographer: UCG
Provider: UCG\/Universal Images Group via G
Source: Universal Images Group Editorial
Copyright: Alex Segre<\/p>\n

Yoghurt and jam<\/p>\n

The average price of yoghurt dropped 0.6 per cent and jams and marmalades 3.0 per cent.<\/p>\n

\"LONDON,Caption: LONDON, ENGLAND \u2013 MARCH 9: Fuel prices are displayed at a petrol station in Streatham on March 9, 2026 in London, United Kingdom. Fuel prices remain volatile as peace talks have stalled between the US and Iran in recent weeks. As a result, traffic through the Strait of Hormuz continues to be restricted, impacting the global supply chain of around one fifth of the world\u2019s petroleum. In the face of rising costs of fuel, the UK government has eased sanctions on Russian oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) with a trade license that allows the import of Russian jet fuel and diesel refined in third countries, as well as the shipping of some LNG from Russia. (Photo by Alishia Abodunde\/Getty Images)
Photographer: Alishia Abodunde
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Getty Images Europe<\/p>\n

Various price changes offset each other<\/p>\n

The main upward movement came from transport with airfares, vehicle taxes and petrol prices all pushing up\u00a0inflation.<\/p>\n

ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner\u00a0said. He added that these were offset by lower food prices.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"\"\/<\/p>\n

The departing Amol Rajan will not be replaced on the Today programme, which will have four permanent presenters instead of five. Suggestions that the format will change to a magazine-style discussion with a single host on Saturdays was pure speculation, the BBC said.<\/p>\n

Familiar faces could disappear from TV news bulletins, with all chief presenter roles to be reviewed on a value-for-money basis, \u201cto ensure we have the right number of presenters\u201d.<\/p>\n

Specialist on-air editors, covering areas such as health, education and sport, will have their roles reviewed too.<\/p>\n

\u2018Loyal viewers will question licence fee\u2019<\/p>\n

One news staffer said: \u201cIt\u2019s devastating, everyone is fearing for their jobs. How can the BBC produce the quality of journalism licence fee payers expect when funding is being gutted? Loyal viewers will ask whether it\u2019s still worth paying.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Today programme insider said: \u201cThere could be an exodus now. It\u2019s the flagship show and it\u2019s already lost its dedicated reporting team.\u201d <\/p>\n

Veteran Today presenter Justin Webb reportedly met Bari Weiss, the CBS News chief<\/a> who is on a hiring spree and last week poached Sky News Sunday politics presenter Trevor Phillips. It is understood no offer has yet been made to Webb.<\/p>\n

The rolling BBC News channel survives but will be \u201ctailoring its agenda more to an international focus,\u201d according to an internal memo to staff sent by interim BBC News CEO Jonathan Munro, seen by The i Paper.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will of course continue to reflect UK stories which are of interest to the rest of the world. These changes will allow us to pursue opportunities to raise more revenue from the news channel\u2019s global footprint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s BBC Breakfast scrapped<\/p>\n

The Sunday TV edition of Breakfast will be scrapped with BBC One simulcasting the News channel. <\/p>\n

Newsnight, reinvented as a discussion show in a previous round of cuts, escapes the axe and will have an earlier primetime BBC Two slot on Fridays. But its production team will be merged with the team that makes Laura Kuenssberg\u2019s Sunday morning show.<\/p>\n

\"RitulaFormer The World Tonight presenter Ritula Shah said she was \u2018very sad\u2019 that the BBC had axed the global news show (Photo: BBC)<\/p>\n

Radio 4 bore the brunt of the cuts, which will see 550 jobs go across news, TV and radio in a bid to deliver \u00a3160m in cost savings this year.<\/p>\n

As well as The World Tonight, Money Box Live, the Midnight News bulletin, Crossing Continents, The Law Show and AntiSocial will disappear.<\/p>\n

Simulcasts of World Service programmes, including Newshour, will cover some of the late evening gaps. \u201cThey\u2019ve ripped the heart out of Radio 4,\u201d said one staffer.<\/p>\n

There will be 350 to 400 fewer hours of new radio programmes across stations and a reduction of around 150 hours of original TV shows by 2028, the BBC said.<\/p>\n

A BBC source said: \u201cThose are tough decisions but cutting those late-evening shows means budgets are protected where the biggest audiences are like Today, World at One and the 6pm bulletin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Munro warned there was even more pain to come. \u201cThe plans we\u2019re outlining today will save around \u00a325m, and in this phase we expect a net reduction of around 200 roles,\u201d he wrote in his email. <\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, we need to reduce our costs by at least \u00a351m by next April. We therefore expect to make more announcements over the next few months involving further post closures amounting to a level similar to today\u2019s.\u201d <\/p>\n

He acknowledged that viewers would notice changes such as the BBC Breakfast edition on Sunday being replaced by the News channel.<\/p>\n

Review of BBC Asian Network and 4 Extra<\/p>\n

In a message to shellshocked staff, Brittin announced a cost-saving review of all the BBC\u2019s TV and radio stations \u201cas audiences move online\u201d and warned \u201cwe will have to close some programmes\u201d. Only shows with the highest \u201cvalue and impact\u201d will be protected.<\/p>\n

The \u00a366m-a-year BBC Three youth channel could close with its content moved online.<\/p>\n

The \u00a325m archive arts and history channel BBC Four could be merged with BBC Two, The i Paper understands.<\/p>\n

The review is also set to ask if digital radio stations such as Asian Network and 4 Extra are providing value for money for licence fee payers.<\/p>\n

Local and regional radio stations could drop their own shows and broadcast national station 5 Live during afternoons.<\/p>\n

Roger Mosey, former head of BBC TV News said: \u201cIt\u2019s clear that the BBC has to make cuts. The questions are whether they\u2019re the right ones \u2013 and slashing news is a bad start. And how can the Government say the BBC is a vital national service and see it steadily defunded in this way?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ritula Shah, a former The World Tonight presenter, said she was \u201cvery sad but not surprised\u201d that the BBC had axed the programme.<\/p>\n

She told the Radio 4 Media Show that she felt the programme was \u201cunderappreciated within the organisation\u201d and had already faced a series of cuts which prompted her departure in 2023 after 35 years at the BBC.<\/p>\n

Risk to daytime TV<\/p>\n

Some insiders want the BBC to axe daytime TV shows in order to focus investment on high-impact programmes for prime time and the iPlayer.<\/p>\n

One senior insider said cuts could be made without axeing shows. \u201cThere are a lot of on-air News specialists paid \u00a3150,000 to \u00a3250,000 who aren\u2019t on air very much. You could start with cutting those. Tough decisions have been avoided for too long, the BBC is like working for a cult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brittin said the planned \u00a3160m savings at BBC News and further TV and radio areas was a contribution to \u00a3500m in savings needed over the next two years.<\/p>\n

\"BBCBBC director-general Matt Brittin said the broadcaster had to make tough choices (Photo: Chris J Ratcliffe\/Reuters)<\/p>\n

The new BBC boss has begun discussions with the Government over a reformed licence fee. The number of licences in force has dropped by 1.5 million since 2020, costing the BBC around \u00a31bn in potential revenue, a Parliamentary report found.<\/p>\n

The BBC wants ministers to consider extending the charge to everyone watching programmes through streaming platforms such as Netflix.<\/p>\n

There will be compulsory redundancies, with the BBC looking to close around 700 corporate roles from a total workforce of around 20,000. Those job cuts will take place over the next three years.<\/p>\n

The BBC declined to say which other programmes would be scrapped under the plans, with further details to be worked out over the summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Angry staff questioned whether the licence fee would be worth paying after the BBC axed Radio 4 news…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":644653,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[243,2515,40886,3328,96,10951,3714,128,216944,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-644652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-bbc","tag-bbc-breakfast","tag-bbc-news","tag-bbc-radio-4","tag-entertainment","tag-journalism","tag-media","tag-music","tag-today-programme","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=644652"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644652\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/644653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=644652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=644652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}