BBC 'set to impose big cutbacks'

The Times claims the measures are part of a plan, due to be made public next month, to shrink the corporation’s overall services and focus more on quality over quantity.

A spokeswoman for the BBC said last night that she would not comment on “speculation”.

If true it will mark a reversal of the expansion that the corporation went through in recent years.

The Times reports that Mark Thompson, the director-general of the BBC, will say that the broadcaster has become too large and must downsize its operations to give greater opportunities to commercial rivals.

The newspaper states that among the services being cut will be the digital radio stations 6 Music and Asian Network.

Mr Thompson will also announce the closure of BBC Switch and Blast!, which are targeted towards the teenage market.

If approved, the proposals will see 600m in savings being redirected to higher quality programming, the Times reports.

Quoting BBC Trust sources, the newspaper states that the director-general is also being pushed to slash the budget for imported shows such as Mad Men and Heroes by a third.

nAn all-female audience will grill politicians on Question Time for the first time in the show’s 30-year history.

The special BBC1 show will take place on March 11 in Dewsbury and will follow the same format with questions from the audience on topical subjects, the BBC said. The episode will fall during International Women’s Week.