BBC faces pressure to cut down on costs

The BBC is facing further scrutiny to cut down on expenditure and save money.

BBC Director General, Tony Hall will tell the industry at the Oxford Media Convention that “tough choices lie ahead” for the BBC as renewal of its royal charter creeps closer.

Media Guardian reports that Hall is expected to talk about the challenges it faces from Google and Apple in the digital era. “Google is more than double the size of the whole UK broadcasting market. Apple seven times bigger. Today, I believe the BBC’s cultural influence still matches theirs. I want that to be true at the end of this charter and into the next.”

He is also expected to touch about the �580m of annual savings the BBC delivered between 2008 and 2012. Furthermore, the last licence fee settlement in 2010 led to a �700m package of cost saving under former Director General, Mark Thompson.

He will tell delegates that the average person in Britain uses a BBC service for three hours a day, at a cost of 3p per hour, with the cost of the licence fee currently set at �145.50.

Extracts from Media Guardian