BBC director-general says more channels face the axe with BBC3 and BBC Scotland potentially at risk - as he also welcomes idea of AI presenters

The director-general of the BBC has said more channels could face the axe as part of new cost-saving measures - with BBC3 and BBC Scotland at risk.

Matt Brittin, who has fronted the broadcaster since May, also confirmed he would not rule out experimenting with AI generated presenters fronting future programmes produced by the company.

Mr Brittin, 58, made the comments as part of a discussion on the BBC's financial situation in an interview for the Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme, with a preview broadcast on BBC News At One on Friday.

The former Google executive said the BBC's finances and changing audience habits 'may well mean' some radio stations and TV channels could close to divert funding into on-demand services.

The company is aiming to save £500million across the next three years and is projected to cut approximately 2,000 roles. As part of the measures, Mr Brittin said he could not 'guarantee any programme or channel will exist forever'.

He said: 'If you see changes that we make in the future as we work out how best to deal with this challenge, by the way hopefully with a new charter in 18 months' time, we will be in a position where we can make longer term decisions about funding.

'The tight financial situation means that we are having to look at some of those decisions a bit sooner than we might like but, if most of an audience is getting things on demand, we have to look at the cost and the value of all of those different services.'

Matt Brittin has said more channels could face the axe as part of new cost-saving measures at the BBC

The BBC is aiming to save £500million across the next three years and is projected to cut approximately 2,000 roles as part of its efforts

The BBC has cancelled a series of programmes in recent months, including Blankety Blank, Celebrity Mastermind, Live At The Apollo and Football Focus; while the closure of BBC3 and BBC Scotland could be announced as early as October.

The potential cuts come as senior figures at the company previously urged Mr Brittin to axe entire channels, including the BBC News Channel, Radios 1 and 2 and the youth channel BBC Three.

One leading BBC insider said: 'If you salami slice the BBC, you will end up with c**p and a situation where everything is done badly. In the view of a lot of people inside the BBC, managers have got to cut specific services.'

And when asked by Ms Kuenssberg if he would allow a programme to be made and presented by AI, Mr Brittin said he would, 'within guardrails'.

He said: 'We want to experiment with this technology and understand what it can and can't do, but I'm here because I believe in human creativity.

'I don't think anything we do should be replaced by AI. I think there are lots of places where AI can help us make the licence fee go further but also help us in our decision-making and creativity. But it's not a substitute for humans.'

Mr Brittin also confirmed he would not rule out experimenting with AI generated presenters fronting future programmes produced by the company

The BBC already uses AI for systems including their automated weather forecasts on the BBC app and iPlayer recommendations for viewers. Despite this, Mr Brittin also acknowledged concerns about a handful of tech companies having control of information in the future.

'We're also in this moment where AI is in take-off,' he added. 'I think there's a danger that six companies will control access to information in future and the creation of information and misinformation.

'There's a lot of platforms out there, so I wouldn't trust any platform innately. I think what you do is you keep under review how those things work and whether your content can show up in the right place and fulfil its mission.'

He said: 'I think the BBC and our apps and services should be the antidote to the algorithm. Everywhere else you go is driven by some commercial interest.'

Amid the new measures, the National Union of Journalists warned the broadcaster could enter a 'doom spiral' caused by planned cuts.

Laura Davison, the NUJ general secretary, said: 'The BBC's ongoing campaign of cuts is devastating and demoralising for our members and severely undermines the broadcaster's ability to serve audiences across the UK. The latest wave of cuts piles on the misery already being felt.

'Audiences deserve better, too. Millions of people across the UK now live in news deserts. The public wants original, quality and genuinely local news and programming – not more syndication and reruns.'

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