As Guido revealed in this week’s Sun on Sunday:
“The BBC has announced 1,000 jobs are to go as part of a £150 million round of cuts. These job losses would cover just £50 million of the sum, however, leaving another £100 million awaiting Aunty’s axe.
Guido hears that the BBC’s little-watched 24-hour News Channel is in the firing line, with plans afoot to shift the operation online and stop broadcasting on telly. BBC bosses are waiting until this week’s budget before a final decision.”
A story which caused a certain degree of scepticism from the impeccably dis-connected Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport:
@montie You're really commenting on drivel like this? @GuidoFawkes
— Chris Bryant MP (@RhonddaBryant) July 5, 2015
That would be our double-sourced drivel from senior BBC sources. 48 hours later, Media Guardian confirms Guido’s Sun exclusive:
“The BBC is considering making its news channel online only following a similar cost-cutting move for its BBC3 TV channel, it has emerged.
Work had already started on assessing the impact of making the news channel online only before the government unveiled a surprise licence fee settlement on Monday… A final decision about the channel has yet to be made.”
As Guido explained, the Beeb has a £100 million spending black hole to fill. Media Guardian reports the News Channel’s overall costs are just over £100 million:
“In the last BBC annual report, it said the channel’s production costs were £26.8m, while its newsgathering costs were £21.2m. In addition, the news channel spent £48.7m on content, £8m on distribution and £9.5m on infrastructure/support in 2013/14 and taking it online only would prove cheaper for the BBC, which is looking to make savings.”
If Chris needs any further help with his brief, he knows where to come…
UPDATE: The Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Chris Bryant tweets:
Well well. My apologies to all concerned. @GuidoFawkes http://t.co/KPAIKsdOos https://t.co/BYHO4ECMEy
— Chris Bryant MP (@RhonddaBryant) July 7, 2015
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