Skip to main content

Is the BBC dropping its television and radio divisions?

bbc headquarters
mikecphoto/Shutterstock
London-based broadcasting giant BBC is planning to drop its channel-based television and radio divisions to help reshape the company’s future for “content and audience-led divisions.” The Telegraph reports that the news will be unveiled in a speech by BBC director-general Lord Tony Hall. This may be the largest organizational overhaul in the broadcaster’s 93-year history.

For the time being, the existing television channels and radio stations will stay on the air. But according to Lord Hall, the blurring of boundaries between television, radio, and the Internet will lessen the demand for traditional broadcasts.

Recommended Videos

New divisions may include BBC Entertain, which will absorb Radio 2 and televised entertainment program, and BBC Inform, in which news services and other radio stations like Five Live will be found. Each new division will have smaller ones underneath it such as BBC Youth (a subdivision of BBC Entertain), which will include the online channel BBC Three and popular music station Radio 1.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Hall’s overhaul involves cleaning house by way of letting some key executives go and merging a large part of the corporation’s management. Lord Hall wants to “flatten the corporation’s labyrinthine management structures” and put more money into what you see on the screen. Channel controller jobs have been rolled into a single position: Charlotte Moore has been appointed the new controller of television channels and iPlayer for the BBC.

The recently departed director of television, Danny Cohen, will not be replaced. Cohen quit his $465,000-per-year job after disagreements with Hall and Alan Yentob, the former creative director. He quit the BBC after being asked whether he tried to influence the broadcaster’s coverage of the collapse of the Kids Company charity. Additionally, senior executive controller Kim Shillinglaw left her job at BBC Two last month after Hall’s decision to appoint Moore as the sole executive controller of channels, etc.

Albert Khoury
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Al started his career at a downtown Manhattan publisher, and has since worked with digital and print publications. He's…
Hate the notch? Too bad, it’s on the new M2 MacBook Air
The redesigned MacBook Air at WWDC 2022.

Apple has launched a new version of the MacBook Air at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). The announcement comes after many months of speculation, finally putting to bed an endless round of rumors that a new lightweight laptop was under development in Apple’s secret labs.

The laptop comes with a number of brand-new features. It is powered by the M2 chip, the first in a new generation of Apple Silicon chips that Apple says is much faster than its M1 predecessor.

Read more
Netflix teases Knives Out 2 and the rest of its 2022 films
The cast of Knives Out 2 walks up the steps of a boat.

The new year is only a month old, but Netflix wants to send an important message about its 2022 plans: It has no intention of giving up its status as the king of the streaming services. There will be 86 Netflix original movies released in 2022, which is 16 more than the 70 original flicks that Netflix released in 2021. In short, "every night is movie night."

Netflix has released a promo video for its 2022 films that feature several A-list stars breaking character in the midst of their clips to extoll the virtues of Netflix's approach. There's even a first look at Knives Out 2, which is currently in production, with a return appearance by Daniel Craig's Benoit Blanc.

Read more
The mysterious 2022 MacBook Air may drop the ‘Air’ name altogether
apple macbook air mini led 2022 photo

Though Apple's new MacBook Pro lineup is here, the rumor mill continues to churn in regard to the next evolution of the entry-level MacBook Air.

The updated model will allegedly sport the same MagSafe connector Apple brought back to the MacBook Pro, as well as introduce Apple's next-gen M2 custom silicon. Did we also mention it may not be called the MacBook Air?

Read more