The BBC is planning to cut hundreds of millions of pounds from its annual budget, leading to job losses and “tough” decisions over future programming, under a new savings plan designed to make the national broadcaster financially sustainable for the future.
Staff at the BBC were told about plans to cut about a tenth of its costs over the next three years in a conference call held by director-general Tim Davie on Thursday afternoon. Operating costs for the BBC were more than £2 billion last year.
All parts of the BBC, including its newsroom and its Studios commercial arm, are expected to be affected by the cuts, staff were told, which are expected to include content budgets as well as jobs.
It is not clear exactly how much will be cut or how many jobs will be affected, with team managers being asked to come up with plans relating to their departments by the end of March. BBC staffers told the FT that the move would lead to “tough” choices over its output.
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Other public service broadcasters in the UK, such as ITV and Channel 4, have been forced to cut budgets over recent years as they face rising costs and audiences being siphoned away by large tech platforms.
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The BBC is also facing a $10 billion defamation lawsuit brought by US President Donald Trump, which on Thursday was scheduled for trial in February by a Florida judge.
The decision comes as the BBC enters into negotiations over its future financing as part of the process to renew its Royal Charter next year. BBC bosses are open to reforming their licence fee but have already said that advertising and subscription models are not appropriate for the universal public service broadcaster.
Executives are keen to engage with the government over its future funding, having already shown willingness to do the hard work in running a lean organisation rather than simply asking for more money. Vocal critics of the BBC have accused it of being poor value for money for licence-fee payers.
The BBC is expected to submit its ideas for the future of the corporation as well as its funding to the government by the end of the month.
The move comes despite a £5.50 increase in the licence fee to £180 — which provides the majority of funding for the BBC — in line with inflation from April.
It is still recovering from a freeze in the licence fee under the Conservative government, which contributed to a 30 per cent drop in real terms in its income over the past decade.
The BBC itself has already committed to £700 million in cost-cutting by 2028 in a separate round of savings, although much of this is also expected to be reinvested into areas of growth for the corporation such as digital services.
The move will be one of the last big strategic decisions to be made by Davie, who resigned last year following criticism over a BBC Panorama documentary that was accused of misleadingly editing a speech by Trump.
Davie has promised to stay until early April, with Rhodri Talfan Davies then acting as interim director-general until a new permanent replacement starts.
A BBC spokesperson said: “In a rapidly changing media market, we continue to face substantial financial pressures. As a result, we expect to make further savings over the next three years of around 10 per cent of our costs. This is about the BBC becoming more productive and prioritising our offer to audiences to ensure we’re providing the best value for money, both now and in the future.” - Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026
