BBC Radio 4 is to lose a raft of shows while Radio 5 Live will see its commissioning of new content scaled back as part of the broadcaster’s programme of cuts which has already seen TV shows axed and jobs cut.
Radio 4 shows You and Yours, Thinking Allowed, Free Thinking The Artificial Human and Open Country programmes are all to be axed.
The BBC is making £500m in savings as it seeks to match spending with reduced income caused by a sustained drop in the number of households paying the Licence Fee.
As audiences increasingly embrace streaming of both TV and audio content, many no longer need to pay the LF which only covers the viewing of BBC content or live video content on any other broadcaster.
Ministers are currently reviewing multiple options to fund the broadcaster over the next decade as part of the regular Charter Review.
Despite the ongoing decline in the number of households paying the £180 annual fee, the BBC continues to argue against requiring viewers to hold a valid TV Licence in order to access iPlayer.
Additionally, it opposes the introduction of any form of advertising on BBC-branded channels despite already owning one of the UK’s largest and most profitable portfolios of advert-funded channels through its UKTV subsidiary.
Instead managers and BBC outriders are seeking to persuade the government to replace the charge with an inescapable levy imposed on either broadband or council tax bills.
Such a change would see viewers who don’t watch any of the BBC’s content still forced to pay for it.