We're prepared to lose our top starsin drive to cut costs, says BBC boss

THE BBC "will lose established stars" as it goes through a series of massive cuts, director general Mark Thompson warned last night.

The Corporation’s top brass will not be exempt from the axe either with major job losses on the horizon.

Speaking at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, Mr Thompson said “top talent” pay will be reduced, adding: “Sometimes we will lose established stars as a result. When we do, we will replace them with new talent”.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Corporation recently lost two of its most high-profile stars, Christine Bleakley and Adrian Chiles, when they moved to ITV.

He also said the number of senior managers would be reduced by at least a fifth by the end of 2011 and the senior management payroll will fall by at least a quarter.

He said: “If we can go further, we will and we will look for reductions at every level in the organisation up to and including the executive board.”

The audience at the James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture were warned to expect “significant movement” on executive pay and told the next round of discussions with the Government about the licence fee “will be a moment for realism”.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Most of the speech at the Festival was a robust defence of the corporation and broadcasting in general, with Mr Thompson hitting back at what he called “exaggerated claims about waste and inefficiency” aimed at the BBC.

The BBC has come under fire from both inside and outside the corporation in recent years and has been widely criticised for the large sums of licence fee money paid to stars and top managers.

Staff are currently being balloted on whether to take strike action over plans to reform its pension scheme.