BBC cuts 10 top presenter jobs ahead of news channel merger

EXCLUSIVE: The BBC has told 10 of its most senior newscasters that they have lost their coveted roles as presenters on the broadcaster’s current news channel.

Deadline can reveal that journalists including Jane Hill, Martine Croxall and Ben Brown were told yesterday that they will not be among the main presenters of a newly launched BBC news channel.

The BBC is combining its international and national news channels into one offering as the company seeks to cut costs and reinvent its production for a digital age.

The merger has been rumored for months, but in one day 10 moderators were effectively told that their services would not be needed when the merged channel launched around April. News editor Jess Brammar called moderators to break the news.

Annita McVeigh, Geeta Guru-Murthy and Shaun Ley are also among the unfortunate presenters. Together with Croxall and Brown, they spend most of their time presenting on the British channel.

A number of presenters are expected to leave the BBC altogether. Some may apply for other screen roles on the merged channel — eight positions will open for correspondents with studio presenting duties — though that could mean a pay cut. Other presenters can be found on alternative news programs such as BBC1 Bulletins.

Five journalists managed to snag a main presenter role and earn a whopping £230,000 ($284,000). These include Matthew Amroliwala, Yalda Hakim, Christian Fraser, Lucy Hockings and Maryam Moshiri.

Sources said the majority of the jobs had gone to BBC World News presenters rather than UK presenters, with one person describing it as the UK channel’s “de facto closure”. “The new service will be a version of World News under a different name,” a second person said.

A third insider added: “We were told that the new channel would be global in scope, but what we didn’t think would amount to a purge, a defeat of the local news anchors. Questions will certainly arise here. about what it means for the paying audience at home.”

Presenters were already tired of the “humiliating” recruitment process, which involved on-screen testing in a small studio with a manual auto-scan. And this despite the fact that many have decades of experience with live presentations.

A source close to the process said it was fair and competitive and the global presenters would be known to the British public. Fraser fronts for example the context, which airs in the UK. Amroliwala will also be familiar with anchoring elections and other political reporting to the UK public.

Deborah Turnness, chief executive of BBC News, said: “The editorial leadership, talent, knowledge and flair of this team make them the ideal presenters to bring proven BBC journalism to people in the UK and around the world and the audience by leading the news, great stories when they break.”

There has been an exodus of journalistic talent at the BBC over the past two years. Last month, Deadline announced that veteran presenters David Eades, Joanna Gosling and Tim Willcox had voluntarily resigned ahead of the news channel’s changes.

Tim Davie, the BBC’s chief executive, said last month that the company needed fewer news presenters. “Of course it’s sad when people choose VR [voluntary redundancy] and go, but you need less [sic] moderators and I think that’s appropriate,” he said. “Sorry to be blunt.”

The BBC first proposed the channel merger last May as part of measures to plug a £1.4 billion hole in its finances after the license fee was frozen. The channel will carry more international news but will be split for key UK news to offer tailored coverage to local audiences. It will anchor from London during the day and evening and from Washington DC and Singapore at night.

BBC News Channel Lineup presenter

In
Matthew Amroliwala
Christian Fraser
Yalda Hakim
Lucy Hockings
Maryam Moshiri

Down (confirmed so far)
Ben Brown
Martin Croxall
Karin Giannon
Geeta Guru Murthy
jane hill
Rebecca Jones
Shaun Ley
Kasia Madeira
Anita McVeigh