BBC To Cut Sport And Online News Budget

BBC spending on athletics and minority sports is to be cut following a £35m reduction in their TV sports rights budget, along with its Red Button service, as the corporation aims to save £150m a year before its final round of budget negotiations with the government.

According to media reports, the broadcaster will cut online news and make savings in overheads as it deals with a funding shortfall.

The Red Button services, which offer news and sport text services and are particularly popular during big live events such as Wimbledon and Glastonbury, could also face the axe.

The BBC has already guaranteed the survival of some of its most popular sports programming, including Match of the Day and Wimbledon, however, the corporation has struggled to compete for live sports rights against the likes of Sky and BT and recently lost the rights to the Olympic Games from 2022 to US broadcaster Discovery, the owner of Eurosport, and the Open Golf Championship to Sky.

In the statement the BBC said: “Meeting this savings target will be tough, particularly given the high levels of inflation in the market. We therefore anticipate this will lead to the loss of some existing rights and events. We have already made some tough choices which have contributed to the savings, for instance around the Open Golf. However, we have also recently secured a series of important rights – including Wimbledon, Premier League highlights, live coverage of Euro 2016 and 2020 football championships and Six Nations rugby shared with ITV.”

The BBC is expected to set out its final budget proposals, with savings predicted to amount to £550m, in spring 2016.