Katie Razzall: BBC closures make business sense, but far more savings are needed

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   Katie Razzall: BBC closures make business sense, but far more savings are needed

   BBC NewsPublished Oct 20, 2026Checked Oct 20, 2026

   “The BBC's announcement that it will close three of its linear broadcast channels - BBC Three, BBC Scotland and Radio 4 Extra - makes sense financially. BBC Three's most popular show on Monday night was a repeat of an old episode of Top Gear. Around 77,000 people tuned in. BBC Scotland's TV channel was watched, according to this year's annual report, by a weekly average of 12% of the Scottish population. Scots simply aren't tuning in in the numbers to make it cost-effective. (Interestingly, BBC Alba, which is aimed at Gaelic speakers and learners, reached 43% of Gaelic viewers in Scotland weekly - was it boosted by its rights to broadcast Italian football's Serie A?) It's hard to argue - although no doubt some will - that there is a business case for keeping BBC Scotland's TV channel open. The same goes for BBC Three, although the hokey cokey that has gone on with that channel - launched to fanfare in 2003, later made digital-only, then brought back to linear in 2022, now back online only again - has looked indecisive. Bizarre even. But the bigger picture is that viewers and listeners are already migrating online - increasingly finding the BBC's programmes not via those linear TV and radio channels but on iPlayer, BBC Sounds, and, more recently, YouTube. So that's the business case - and the BBC needs to save £500m over the next three years. That figure is concentrating minds. But axing the three linear channels is a drop in the ocean financially.”

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   BBC (Wikipedia)

   WikipediaChecked Oct 20, 2026

   “The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current state with its current name on 1 January 1927. It is the oldest and largest local and global broadcaster by stature and by number of employees, with a total staff of 22,000. The BBC was established under a royal charter, and operates under an agreement with the secretary of state for culture, media and sport. Its work is funded principally by an annual television licence fee which is charged to all British households, companies, and organisations using any type of equipment to receive or record live television broadcasts or to use the BBC's streaming service, iPlayer. The fee is set by the British government, agreed by Parliament, and is used to fund the BBC's radio, TV, and online services covering the nations and regions of the UK. Since 1 April 2014, it has also funded the BBC World Service (launched in 1932 as the BBC Empire Service), which broadcasts in 43 languages as of 2026.”

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   BBC News (Wikipedia)

   WikipediaChecked Oct 20, 2026

   “BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online news coverage. The service has over 5,500 journalists working across its output including in 50 foreign news bureaus where more than 250 foreign correspondents are stationed. Deborah Turness has been the CEO of news and current affairs since September 2022. In 2019, it was reported in an Ofcom report that the BBC spent £136m on news during the period April 2018 to March 2019. BBC News' domestic, global and online news divisions are housed within the largest live newsroom in Europe, in Broadcasting House in central London. Parliamentary coverage is produced and broadcast from studios in London. Through BBC English Regions, the BBC also has regional centres across England and national news centres in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.”