The BBC is planning to cut 500 public-service positions by the end of March 2026, according to the UK broadcaster’s annual report for its 2023/2024 fiscal year. In the last five years, the BBC has eliminated nearly 2,000 roles, or 10% of its total workforce.
How this latest round of layoffs will affect the kids teams at BBC Children’s and the Beeb’s commercial sales arm BBC Studios is not yet known. As previously reported, BBC Studios Kids & Family announced that longtime development exec Liz Randall would leave the company in July as part of a planned round of job cuts that was expected to eventually affect up to 13 positions. Later, the broadcaster shared that development VP Ed Barnieh plans to exit of his own accord in August.
In 2023/2024, the BBC’s operating deficit increased to US$339 million from US$249 million in 2022/2023, and it’s expected to hit US$635 million by 2025.
The org attributed this result to the combined effects of its digital transition costs, high inflation, a difficult commercial trading environment and the final year of the flat license fee.
BBC Studios also sustained EBITDA losses, dropping from US$325 million in 2022/2023 to US$260 million in 2023/2024. And sales were down from US$2.7 billion to US$2.4 billion in the same period.
Despite these setbacks, BBC Studios is still on track to double its commercial business by 2027/2028, according to the report. “An increase to our borrowing limits has kickstarted further investment, and the recent acquisition of streaming service BritBox International demonstrates our sustainable future growth plans.”
It also noted the huge success of kids brand Bluey—particularly its strong consumer products sales—as a highlight of the fiscal year.
The Beeb’s spend on children’s content was US$118 million in 2023/2024, versus US$114 million in 2022/2023. And it also exceeded its US$19-million target for commissioning diverse kids content over the past three years, hitting 59.5% female representation, 39.3% Black, Asian and minority ethnic representation, and 8.8% deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent representation.