UK News 08-12-2004 Job Cuts Save BBC £320million who: BBC director general Mark Thompson what: Promises BBC will be better value after massive job cuts where: LONDON when: Yesterday snippet: The BBC`s director general, Mark Thompson, promised yesterday that a massive round of job cuts would usher in fewer repeats on BBC1, an end to derivative and formulaic reality shows plus, says The Guardian, "more money for high quality drama, comedy, news and current affairs and children`s programmes". More BBC productions will be turned over to independent producers and Thompson insists that the total amount spent on radio, television, new media and journalism will go up, not down. "An initial 2,900 job losses have been announced, with further cuts expected in the New Year," says The Evening Standard`s website, thisislondon.com. "The vast majority - some 2,500 posts - will go from administrative departments including human resources, finance, marketing, training and legal services." "BBC staff were also told that 1,800 employees would be transferred to Manchester, over the next five years, in order to build up a new regional centre," says The Scotsman, which notes that BBC Scotland is expected to benefit from the efforts "to counter the image of the BBC as London-centric". "The £320m annual savings target to be achieved within three years builds on the present licence-fee settlement reached in 1999, when the BBC is committed to making savings of £155m a year by the end of the present charter period in 2006," explains The Independent`s media correspondent, Ciar Byrne. "The savings represent 11 per cent of the licence fee." [... more]

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