BBC 'planning cuts to documentaries'

The BBC is planning cuts to a raft of documentaries as a result of the lower-than-hoped-for licence fee settlement, it was claimed today.

TV industry magazine Broadcast said factual programming such as The Culture Show, Horizon, and Timewatch would be affected by current proposals.

One source told the magazine: “Documentary-makers have been sounding the documentary death knell for years – but I really believe it is here now.”

It said a memo outlining plans for each factual programming strand to have its budget cut by around 20%, or drop an episode from its run, had been sent to studio heads and production executives.

But a BBC spokeswoman said the report was speculation and budgets were not yet fixed.

She said: “Director-general Mark Thompson has made it very clear that there are difficult decisions to be made across all areas of the BBC”, adding: “Budgets are still being decided.”

The reports emerged after Michael Lyons, the BBC’s chairman, said “radical changes” could be imposed when the Trust ruled on cost-saving plans this autumn.

He told the newspaper: “Have we ruled out radical changes? No, we haven’t. It is about what you can afford to do with the money you’ve got.”

There has been speculation that BBC3 and BBC4 could become possible casualties as a result of the need to cut costs.

Michael, who gave interviews to mark his first 100 days as chairman, said the BBC Trust would reach its decisions on cuts on October 17.