Government funding restrictions are forcing the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) to restructure and implement U$69.3 million in budget cuts over the next three years. 

All of the public broadcaster’s operations will be affected, and projects in development are being put on hold. But it’s too early to say exactly what the impact on children’s commissions and acquisitions will be, says director of communications and brand Jere Nurminen. 

Covering 2025 and 2026, the first phase of the cost reduction plan will involve making US$52.4 million in budget cuts. Two weeks ago, YLE started negotiating with 1,700 employees and says this could lead to roughly 375 redundancies. All told, the broadcaster has close to 3,000 employees working in 31 locations across Finland—most of whom are journalists or involved in news production in some way.  

As part of its restructure, YLE is also required to commission more content from Finnish studios and increase the amount of production services it contracts domestically by 15% to 20% over the next six years. These two changes should pump between US$11.5 million and US$15.7 million into Finland’s production industry.

In September, the Finnish government issued a critical report on YLE’s budget, which was subsequently frozen until 2027. By the end of this term, the broadcaster will be operating with US$49.2 million less than if it continued to get its traditional annual increases. 

Image courtesy of Benjamin Suomela/YLE.