The Stage

News

BBC Trust rules out closing down BBC3 and 4

Published Wednesday 19 September 2007 at 18:05 by Matthew Hemley

BBC3 and BBC4 will not be closed as part of the Corporation’s cost-cutting initiatives, it was ruled today.

The BBC Trust has told the BBC director general Mark Thompson that closing the digital channels is not an option to plug a £2 billion shortfall caused by a smaller than expected licence fee settlement.

At a meeting today, the trust told BBC management it must make annual savings of 3% over the next five years, starting in the next financial year.

It is also understood the trust told Thompson the BBC must make less programming in order to concentrate resources.

A spokeswoman for the BBC Trust could not confirm the details of today’s meeting but said an announcement would be made following a meeting between the trust and Thompson on October 17.

To contact the Stage news team email newsdesk@thestage.co.uk or call 020 7403 1818, selecting option 2 (editorial) followed by option 1 (newsdesk).
If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

Follow The Stage on Twitter and Facebook to get the latest entertainment industry news to your desktop or mobile.

The Stage Events
Loading

Latest news

Radio 4 commissions Bloomsbury group parody
Alison Steadman, Miriam Margoyles and Nigel Planner are to star in a new BBC comedy series described as an…
BBC opens applications for New Comedy Award 2012
Applications have opened for the BBC Radio 2 New Comedy Award 2012.
ITV orders 20-part daytime crime drama series
ITV has commissioned a 20-part daytime police drama that will feature stories inspired by real crimes, with actors in…
Shoreditch Town Hall to become major arts hub
Shoreditch Town Hall is to be transformed into an arts centre, which will see the building host regular, ticketed…
Equity to fight “stuffy, ineffective” image
Equity has agreed to engage with its critics after warnings that the union is seen as “stuffy, ineffective,…
Michelle Ryan to play Sally Bowles in West End Cabaret
Former EastEnders actress Michelle Ryan is to star as Sally Bowles in the forthcoming West End revival of Cabaret.

Content is copyright © 2012 The Stage Media Company Limited unless otherwise stated.

All RSS feeds are published for personal, non-commercial use. (What’s RSS?)