BBC to Cut 185 News Jobs to Save $31 Million

The BBC is cutting 185 jobs in a cost-saving measure, with the majority of those cuts coming from its news division, according to an internal memo.

BBC chief executive Deborah Turness made the announcement in a Tuesday email to staff, saying the cuts were part of an overall effort to trim costs. The cuts — which the publicly funded broadcaster said it plans on offsetting, at least a bit, by opening 55 new roles — will save the BBC £24 million, or about $31.2 million.

“We have worked hard to find savings that don’t require us to close roles,” Turness said in her email, which was obtained by the Press Gazette. “In fact, more than 40% of these savings will come from non-staff measures including reductions to spend on contracts, suppliers, distribution and physical buildings. 

“But with staff costs accounting for 75% of our overall budget, I’m sorry to say that post closures are unavoidable.”

The job cuts come as the BBC is looking to reduce headcount by about 500 people by March 2026. (The BBC had 17,592 people working for it at the end of March.) Hardtalk, a Monday-Thursday current affairs program on BBC World News and Click, a technology show, are two BBC programs that are axed as part of the new job cuts.

Hardtalk host Stephen Sackur, in a post on X, said it was “sad news” on a personal level, and “much more important, depressing news for the BBC.”

Turness, in her email to staff, said the BBC will focus on “continuous live and breaking output” on its news channel moving forward, as well as “promote the high impact interviews and important conversations that are happening every day across our platforms.”

The BBC job cuts add to an already brutal year for the media world. Scripps recently announced it’s “winding down” its TV news business and cut 200 jobs. And the year started out with a flurry of layoffs at outlets like the Los Angeles Times, NBC News, Business Insider, and Forbes, among others.