BBC director-general Matt Brittin has warned that more television and radio services could be closed as part of a major cost-cutting programme, with BBC Three and BBC Scotland among those potentially at risk.
Mr Brittin, who has led the broadcaster since May, also said the BBC would not rule out testing AI-generated presenters for programmes produced in the future.
The 58-year-old former Google executive made the comments during an interview for the Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme. A preview of the discussion was broadcast on BBC News At One on Friday.
Speaking about the BBC’s financial pressures and changing viewing habits, Mr Brittin said the corporation’s position “may well mean” that some radio stations and television channels are shut down, allowing more money to be directed towards on-demand services.
The BBC is targeting £500 million in savings over the next three years and is expected to cut around 2,000 jobs. As part of the changes, Mr Brittin said he could not “guarantee any programme or channel will exist forever”.
He said: “If you see changes that we make in the future as we work out how best to deal with this challenge, by the way hopefully with a new charter in 18 months’ time, we will be in a position where we can make longer term decisions about funding.
“The tight financial situation means that we are having to look at some of those decisions a bit sooner than we might like but, if most of an audience is getting things on demand, we have to look at the cost and the value of all of those different services.”
Matt Brittin has warned that more BBC channels could be closed under new cost-saving measures
The BBC plans to save £500 million over the next three years and is expected to cut approximately 2,000 roles
The BBC has already cancelled several programmes in recent months, including Blankety Blank, Celebrity Mastermind, Live At The Apollo and Football Focus. The closure of BBC Three and BBC Scotland could be announced as early as October.
The possible closures follow calls from senior BBC figures for Mr Brittin to consider scrapping entire services, including the BBC News Channel, Radio 1, Radio 2 and youth-focused BBC Three.
One senior BBC insider said: “If you salami slice the BBC, you will end up with c**p and a situation where everything is done badly. In the view of a lot of people inside the BBC, managers have got to cut specific services.”
Asked by Ms Kuenssberg whether he would permit a programme to be created and presented by AI, Mr Brittin said the BBC would do so “within guardrails”.
He said: “We want to experiment with this technology and understand what it can and can’t do, but I’m here because I believe in human creativity.
“I don’t think anything we do should be replaced by AI. I think there are lots of places where AI can help us make the licence fee go further but also help us in our decision-making and creativity. But it’s not a substitute for humans.”
Mr Brittin also said the BBC could experiment with AI-generated presenters on future programmes
The BBC already uses artificial intelligence in services such as automated weather forecasts on its app and recommendations for viewers on iPlayer. However, Mr Brittin also voiced concern about the possibility of a small number of technology companies controlling access to information in the future.
“We’re also in this moment where AI is in take-off,” he added. “I think there’s a danger that six companies will control access to information in future and the creation of information and misinformation.
“There’s a lot of platforms out there, so I wouldn’t trust any platform innately. I think what you do is you keep under review how those things work and whether your content can show up in the right place and fulfil its mission.”
He added: “I think the BBC and our apps and services should be the antidote to the algorithm. Everywhere else you go is driven by some commercial interest.”
Amid the new measures, the National Union of Journalists warned the broadcaster could enter a ‘doom spiral’ caused by planned cuts.
Laura Davison, the NUJ general secretary, said: ‘The BBC’s ongoing campaign of cuts is devastating and demoralising for our members and severely undermines the broadcaster’s ability to serve audiences across the UK. The latest wave of cuts piles on the misery already being felt.
‘Audiences deserve better, too. Millions of people across the UK now live in news deserts. The public wants original, quality and genuinely local news and programming – not more syndication and reruns.’
