BBC to cut more than 100 news jobs, move two TV channels online

The BBC plans to eliminate more than 100 positions in its news division and end traditional television broadcasts of BBC Three and BBC Scotland as part of a broader effort to reduce spending by £500 million ($668 million U.S.).

The British public broadcaster announced the changes Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, as it responds to financial pressures, declining real-term revenue from its television license fee and changing audience viewing habits.

BBC News will eliminate a net total of just over 100 positions, according to an internal memo from Rachel Jupp, who became the division’s director earlier this month. The reductions are expected to save approximately £5.5 million.

The cuts are part of a larger restructuring that could eliminate as many as 2,000 jobs across the BBC as the corporation works toward its savings target.

In addition to the staffing reductions, the BBC will discontinue the linear television channels BBC Three and BBC Scotland, moving their programming to the BBC iPlayer streaming service.

BBC Three, which targets younger audiences, has previously undergone a transition to digital-only distribution before returning to linear television. The latest decision will once again remove the channel from traditional broadcast schedules.

BBC Scotland, which provides programming focused on Scottish audiences, will also shift to online distribution. The decision drew criticism from Scottish Culture Minister Mairi McAllan, who described the move as “wholly unacceptable.”

The broadcaster also plans to close Radio 4 Extra as a linear radio service. Much of its programming, which primarily consists of archived comedy, drama and entertainment content, will remain available through BBC Sounds.

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“We need to make every pound work harder for audiences as we respond to the immediate cost pressures and reinvent the BBC for a changing world. We all know that means tough choices,” BBC Director-General Matt Brittin wrote in a message to employees.

Brittin, a former Google executive who took over leadership of the BBC earlier in 2026, said the programming affected by the channel closures would continue to be accessible through the corporation’s digital platforms.

“Much of the great content they currently carry will still be found where audiences already enjoy it on iPlayer and Sounds,” he said.

The announcement follows an earlier BBC restructuring plan disclosed in June 2026 that called for eliminating approximately 550 positions across news, nations and content operations by the end of the financial year. Those reductions were intended to generate £160 million in savings.

The latest measures are part of the corporation’s broader effort to reduce costs against an annual budget of approximately £5 billion.

BBC executives have attributed the financial challenges in part to the declining value of license fee revenue, which has fallen by roughly 25% in inflation-adjusted terms since 2017.

The broadcaster has also faced changing consumption patterns as viewers increasingly turn to streaming services and digital news platforms instead of traditional television and radio.

“The way people consume news is changing rapidly, and too many audiences, particularly younger audiences, are not finding us,” Jupp wrote in her message to BBC News employees.

Jupp also warned that additional reductions could be necessary if the corporation’s financial outlook deteriorates.

Jupp assumed leadership of BBC News following the departure of her predecessor amid controversy over the editing of remarks by Donald Trump in a BBC documentary.

The corporation says its services reach approximately 94% of adults in the United Kingdom each month.

The planned workforce reductions would represent the BBC’s largest restructuring involving redundancies since 2011, according to the broadcaster’s previously announced cost-cutting plans.

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