The BBC – who recently announced that top earner Gary Lineker will receive £1.3 million – will cut 70 jobs as part of a money-saving merger of BBC News and BBC World News.
It’s to create a single 24-hour TV channel as part of measures it says it needs to take to save money afterwards culture secretary Nadine Dorries has announced that the license fee will be frozen for the next two years.
The move comes after the company announced the end of BBC Four, Radio 4 Extra and CBBC as linear channels.
They are expected to move online to the iPlayer in the coming years as part of the broadcaster’s plans to go “digital first.”
But it comes after huge salaries from the channel’s biggest stars were revealed, sparking criticism that the public was tired of paying a hefty license fee for them.
The BBC said today that the new merged channel, which will be called BBC News, is expected to launch in April 2023.
BBC News Digital Director Naja Nielsen said: ‘Our goal is to create the best live and breaking video news service in the world – on our web pages, our apps, on iPlayer and on our new TV news channel.
The BBC said today that its new merged channel, which will be called BBC News, will be launched in April
BBC News digital director Naja Nielsen said the broadcaster wanted the best news service in the world
Gary Lineker is the BBC’s highest-earning on-air talent for the fifth consecutive year and the only name to earn more than £1 million a year, new figures show. The 61-year-old pundit and former footballer was paid between £1,350,000 and £1,354,999 for work including Match Of The Day and Sports Personality Of The Year in 2021/2022 – a reduction of £10,000 from the previous year
‘The way the public consumes news is changing. In recent years, we’ve seen a massive increase in audiences coming to our live coverage, with tens of millions following live pages as big stories and events unfold.
“As the world’s most trusted source of news, with immense depth and breadth of expertise, the BBC is in a unique position to provide the public with the best analysis and explanation as these stories unfold.
“So we’re investing in new capabilities to cover breaking news, and our news channel and digital teams will work hand in hand to bring the best journalism to audiences at home and abroad.”
The new channel will be broadcast from London during the day and from Singapore and Washington DC at night.
Around 70 BBC employees from all over the UK will lose their jobs as a result of the merger. About 20 jobs will be created in Washington.
The BBC said the changes will create a streamlined organization that “gets the most value from the license fee and brings more to the public”.
Many BBC stars get an extraordinary amount of money from the broadcaster
The channel will serve British and international audiences, with flagship programs built around high-profile journalists, it said.
UK viewers will receive specific content at certain times of the day and a live breaking news team will provide a domestic stream for specific news events, the broadcaster added.
Programming on the channel will be revamped over time, with plans to air at least two new programs in 2023, including one broadcast from Washington.
The broadcaster said it will also invest in ‘visualizing programmes’ of popular radio programmes, starting with Nicky Campbell’s program on BBC Radio 5 Live, which will be broadcast on BBC Two on weekday mornings.
The BBC said the announced plans remain subject to consultations with staff and unions.
The broadcaster has already suffered several layoffs and cutbacks over the past decade, prompted by a rise in license fees below inflation.
Tim Davie, who took over as director general from Lord Tony Hall in September 2020, has overseen a downsizing of the company since he started in the position, with 1,200 employees leaving in the last 18 months.
The news comes at the back of the BBC which has to save a further £285 million in response to Ms Dorries’ announcement in January that the license fee will be frozen at £159 for the next two years.
The company faces uncertainty over the future of the license fee after Ms Dorries said talks on future BBC funding will begin shortly.
She said she wants to find a new financing model before the current deal expires in 2027, because it is “completely obsolete.”
BBC Director-General Tim Davie says the company shows ‘incredible restraint’ in paying its biggest stars, with Gary Lineker named as the top earner with £1.35million for the fifth straight year
The BBC’s director-general defended pay figures of between £150,000 and £1.3m for the company’s top stars and said the national broadcaster has “displayed incredible restraint”.
Tim Davie said that in light of “extreme hyperinflation and competition that has raised wages for some stars – and Gary Lineker remains the BBC’s top earner on air talent for the fifth straight year – this is only a ‘fraction’ of the total expenditure on personnel.
But the TaxPayers’ Alliance has argued that the Beeb’s huge salaries have “barely increased” and are instead hitting retirees and the “struggling” public “tired” of the £159-a-year license fee.
Lineker was paid between £1,350,000 and £1,354,999 for work including Match Of The Day and Sports Personality Of The Year in 2021/2022 – a reduction of £10,000 from the previous year.
The 61-year-old pundit and former footballer – who is locked in a fight with HMRC on his employment status and £4.9million in taxes he owes – topped the list for 2017/18 with a pay bracket of £1,750,000 to £1,759,999, and announced in 2020 that he had a voluntary pay cut implemented.
Lineker is also the only name to earn more than £1 million annually. Zoe Ball remains the broadcaster’s second highest paid talent, with a salary ranging from £980,000 to £984,999, but figures show her salary is falling for the second year running.
BBC Director General Tim Davie has said the company is ‘showing incredible restraint’ in paying its biggest stars
Her salary has now fallen to less than £1 million and reflects around 210 editions of The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show on Radio 2.
Alan Shearer has seen a year-over-year increase of £60,000 bringing his salary to £450,000-£454,999, which puts him in third place with Steve Wright, whose salary reflects a £15,000 drop this year.
The company’s 2021/22 annual report, which also marks its centenary, shows that four of the top 10 highest-paid names have seen their salaries drop.
Speaking at a press conference, BBC Director-General Tim Davie said: “When you look at the total spend on our top talent, I think we are showing incredible restraint in a market driven by extreme hyperinflation and competition.
Zoe Ball remains the broadcaster’s second highest paid talent, with salary ranging from £980,000 to £984,999.
‘If you look at the value we get. And I know this is a source of a lot of understandable attention, actually if you step back on the actual amount that has been paid for that group of talent, which represents only a small fraction of the 200,000 people that come on our airwaves each year, the return we get in terms of audience value is very strong.
“And actually our research shows that people want to see the best people presenting and delivering for the BBC.”
The only new addition to the top 10 is Greg James, whose salary has increased by £80,000.
The 36-year-old earns between £390,000 and £394,999 for work including the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, Rewinder on Radio 4, Radio 1’s Big Weekend and Out Out! Live, with Sports Personality of the Year also listed.
Fewer women are in this year’s top 10 than last year, from four to three
Lauren Laverne is not in the top 10 this year, with figures showing her salary has fallen by £15,000 to £380,000 to £384,999.