Financial Crisis, BBC Plans Layoffs amid Trump's Lawsuit

ILLUSTRATION/PHOTO Christine Matthews via Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) plans to cut its annual budget in the next three years and lay off employees to save costs.

"In the midst of a rapidly changing media market, we continue to face significant financial pressures. Therefore, we plan to make further savings of around 10 percent of total costs in the next three years," said a BBC spokesperson, as quoted by the British daily Financial Times, reported by ANTARA from RIA Novosti, Friday, February 13.

The operating costs of the British public broadcasting institution were reported to exceed 2 billion pounds (about Rp42.5 trillion) last year, so that budget cuts are estimated to reach around 200 million pounds.

BBC Director General Tim Davie, who announced the plan in a teleconference, said the reduction in employees would affect all divisions, including editorial and commercial studios.

The decision was taken after the government raised the television licence - the BBC's main source of funding - by 5.5 pounds to 180 pounds ($250) a year. All television owners in Britain are required to pay the fee.

Other media reports say the increase in membership fees comes amid fierce competition from paid media such as Netflix, so that the BBC is having difficulty meeting the demands for quality (value for money) from TV viewers.

On Tuesday, Davie said the BBC World Service's budget was at risk of running out in March because there was no agreement with the Foreign Office on extending the budget.

The British government began reviewing the deal after US President Donald Trump sued the BBC in December and demanded compensation of US$10 billion (around Rp158.5 trillion) for allegedly distorting his speech regarding the January 6, 2021 event.