Newsnight set for major revamp as part of huge savings plans at the BBC

29 November 2023 , 14:45

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BBC Newsnight set for major revamp as part of huge savings plans at channel (Image: PA Wire)

Newsnight will become a 30-minute programme as part of the BBCs wider plans to make £500 million of savings, the corporation said.

The longrunning program will lose more than half of its 60 staffers and it will get rid of its investigative films to concentrate on studio-based debates instead. It will also be shortened by 10 minutes. Another change will also be made to BBC News at One, which will be extended to an hour and will be broadcast from Salford.

The major cuts are expected to save £7.5m, which will go towards its aim of finding £500m as a result of a two-year freeze to the price of a TV licence, where most of its funds comes from. The money-saving measures have also been impacted by inflation. In light of audiences moving from TV to online news, BBC has now said it will invest more resources in digital journalism.

In a statement, BBC News and Current Affairs CEO Deborah Turness explained that the broadcaster was in a "tough financial climate" and therefore had to make "difficult choices" to navigate the changing trends in media consumption.

"We, like many other news organisations, have streamlined our editorial teams to avoid duplication. It simply no longer makes sense to keep a bespoke reporting team dedicated to a single news programme with a small and declining audience, however good that programme is," she said.

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"Audiences have told us how much they value Newsnight as an iconic BBC debate and discussion programme, and we’ve listened to what they’ve said – we’ve made the decision to keep the programme on air five days a week, despite the financial challenges we face.

"We will offer more to audiences by investing to ensure the best investigative journalism and reporting is produced – and consumed – across the whole of BBC News."

The National Union of Journalists has said it is "deeply concerned about changes in BBC News and Current Affairs", calling the cuts "a major blow" before warning that "they will diminish these investigatory and interrogative programmes which regularly set the news agenda." Jobs will be lost in reporting, production and operational departments.

Lucy Needham