BBC ‘could axe’ long-running TV show with millions of viewers by next year
The BBC sign above its London base, New Broadcasting House (Image: Getty)
A renowned BBC show watched by millions for decades may be facing the axe, staff behind the scenes fear.
Newsnight staff told The Sun they believe the programme’s could disappear from TV screens by the end of next year. It comes as cuts are hitting the BBC as the corporation must save £500 million to make ends meet, new Director-General Matt Brittin said in June.
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“The scale of savings requires tough choices, careful work and won’t all be ready at once. All divisions will be making significant savings,” he wrote in an email to staff. It confirmed one in 10 jobs would be made redundant.
Newsnight faced a major overhaul in 2024 when bosses cut its investigative journalism teams. Since then the show — fronted by Victoria Derbyshire, Matt Chorley, and Paddy O’Connell — has centered around debate and political guests discussing the big events of the day.
The move slashed Newsnight’s headcount from 57 to 23. More savings were made in June, when the BBC merged the production of Newsnight and Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.
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A BBC spokesperson did not deny the claims reported in The Sun when asked for comment.
They said: “Since its reformat it has significantly increased its audiences and won an award.
“The BBC needs to save £500m over the next three years. News will play its part in contributing to those savings.”
Long-running presenter Kirsty Wark carried Newsnight for 30 years into its new format (Image: Getty)
Launched in 1980, Newsnight has been responsible for some TV news’ biggest ever moments.
Millions tuned into Emily Maitlis’ bombshell interview with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in November 2019, when she grilled the then-Prince over his links to Jeffrey Epstein.
And, back in 1997, long-time host Jeremy Paxman infamously asked then-Home Secretary Michael Howard if he ‘threatened to overrule’ prisons boss Derek Lewis 12 times during a live clash about Howard’s decision to sack Lewis two years earlier.
