BBC (Credits: Deadline)
The BBC is merging its TV and audio commissioning teams in a major restructure that will see around 100 roles closed in its content unit. The plan was set out in an internal memo from content chief Kate Phillips earlier this week.
Phillips told colleagues the department would have to make tough choices as the corporation continues its belt-tightening drive. The merged teams will cover comedy, arts and classical music, with the new structure taking effect from January 2027.
One Team for TV and Audio
Under the plan, commissioners who previously worked separately on television and audio output will be combined into single teams organised by genre. Phillips framed the change as a way to create more opportunities for commissioners to collaborate, share ideas and develop stronger content for audiences wherever they are listening or watching.
The logic reflects how audiences actually consume BBC output now. A comedy idea might start as a podcast, move to radio, and end up on television — and the corporation wants its commissioning structure to follow that journey instead of treating each platform as a separate silo.
Part of a Bigger Squeeze
The cuts do not land in isolation. The BBC has been steadily reducing costs across its services as it tries to protect frontline programming while its funding comes under sustained pressure. Content teams are being asked to do more with less, and merging commissioning functions is one of the clearest levers available.
For producers who pitch to the BBC, the change matters too: from 2027, a single combined team will shape what gets made in some of the corporation’s most high-profile genres. What that means for the range of programmes that reach air will become clearer as the new teams settle in.
The January 2027 start date also gives staff and producers a clear runway. Teams that currently pitch separately to TV and audio will be preparing for a single conversation instead, and the genres affected first — comedy, arts and classical music — are areas where the BBC’s radio and television identities have always overlapped most strongly. How the merged teams balance established TV brands against audio-first ideas will be one of the first real tests of the new structure.
Source: Deadline — read the full story there.