BBC Expected To Announce TV & Radio Network Closures Next Week

EXCLUSIVE: The BBC is preparing to announce the closure of TV and radio services, with speculation rife that youth network BBC Three is at risk of being unplugged for a second time.

Deadline hears that the BBC is expected to unveil what one source described as “audience-facing” closures early next week, as the UK broadcaster ramps up efforts to save £500 million ($660M) over the coming years.

BBC sources said director general Matt Brittin is attempting to juggle the cuts with futureproofing the corporation. Brittin has spent his early months in the job interrogating whether the broadcaster’s output is properly meeting audience needs and is said to be clear-eyed about shifting resources away from services that are dwindling in influence.

BBC insiders and industry sources, who were not at liberty to speak on the record, believe that BBC Three is vulnerable, while there has been press speculation about BBC Scotland’s future. The corporation is also expected to announce changes to radio services. Nothing is confirmed at this stage.

A BBC spokesperson declined to comment, but senior leaders have consistently said nothing is off the table. Brittin told staff in June that the BBC will slash commissioning spend across its TV, radio, and news divisions by £80M, necessitating a review of its “broadcast TV channels and radio network portfolio as audiences move online.”

Internal announcements are being made over the coming days, with the BBC telling Manchester-based staff on Wednesday about plans to axe sports bulletins on its news channel.

If BBC Three were closed, it would be the second time the TV network has been taken off air in a decade. It was originally moved online in 2016 before former director general Tim Davie reversed the decision and the channel was restored to television in 2022.

Although BBC Three’s move to iPlayer was ahead of its time (a fact that was acknowledged by the BBC at the time), Davie’s U-turn bemused many — particularly as the network enjoyed a purple patch creatively online, launching series including beloved comedies Fleabag and This Country.

A source said Davie came close to acknowledging that this was a mistake in a March 2024 speech, when he said that the BBC would “deliver more value for younger audiences” by focusing commissioning and marketing power on iPlayer rather than BBC Three’s linear channel.

BBC Three is home to shows including RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, which was recently canceled by the BBC, and comedies including Things You Should Have Done and Smoggie Queens.

One person pointed out that switching off BBC Three would not actually save a great deal of money because it occupies the same TV real estate (known as spectrum) as children’s channel CBBC. It would be more radical for the BBC to consolidate its children’s channels, CBBC and CBeebies, into a single network, but insiders think that this would prompt political backlash.

The BBC’s £500M target expands on a previous savings goal worth £1.5 billion. The bigger picture behind the cuts is that 94% of the UK population use the BBC every month, but fewer than 80% pay the £180 annual licence fee. The BBC is attempting to bridge this gap.

Up to 2,000 jobs are at risk under the savings strategy, while the BBC is also involved in tense negotiations with unions over employee pay rises. Unions have rejected two BBC offers, meaning the risk of industrial action is increasing.

The drumbeat of BBC cuts is playing at the same time as executives are locked in talks with the government over renewing the corporation’s operating agreement, known as its charter. Weekly meetings are now taking place between government officials and BBC policy staff as they thrash out the broadcaster’s future funding arrangements.