BBC redundancy process raises fears for BBC Three and BBC Scotland

The BBC has begun a redundancy process in its TV and streaming division, the Guardian reported on 2 October, prompting staff fears that BBC Three and BBC Scotland could lose their broadcast channels. The broadcaster has not confirmed a decision to close either channel or move it online-only. For viewers and staff, the immediate development is a process affecting jobs, while the fate of the two services remains unresolved.

Dan McGolpin, director of the BBC iPlayer and Channels division, asked staff to express interest in voluntary redundancy, according to the Guardian's account of his email. He also described job-sharing, reduced hours and moving to another BBC base as options being explored to limit compulsory redundancies. The division includes the corporation's television channels, making the process relevant to the people who work across its broadcast and streaming services.

What the BBC has said about its channels

The Guardian reported that staff fear director-general Matt Brittin could announce changes affecting BBC Three and BBC Scotland the following Wednesday. That is an expectation about a future announcement, not a closure decision. Asked about the speculation, the BBC told the Guardian it did not comment on it. There is no confirmed date for a change to either channel, nor a confirmed plan in the reporting to take either one online-only.

The process sits within a wider BBC savings plan of £500m, with up to 2,000 jobs potentially affected, according to the Guardian and Broadband TV News. Those figures describe the scale of the wider plan; they do not establish how many jobs, if any, will go in the iPlayer and Channels division. The new request for volunteers gives staff a concrete sign of the savings drive before the reported meeting next week.

Why BBC Three is part of the discussion

BBC Three has already made one move away from scheduled television. It went online-only in 2016 and returned as a broadcast channel in 2022. The Guardian reported that programmes associated with the youth-focused service have included Gavin and Stacey, Fleabag, Killing Eve and Normal People. Its history makes another possible move online a specific concern for staff, although the BBC has announced no such move in the current process.

The Guardian reported that BBC Three's budget fell from about £90m in 2023-24 to £66m in 2024-25. Its reported cost per user hour in 2024-25 was 18p, against 10p for BBC One, 9p for BBC Two and 6p for BBC Four. These figures help explain why the channel's cost is under scrutiny; they are not, by themselves, evidence that the BBC has decided its future.

The Guardian also reported that the channel's highest-rated programme on the Tuesday before its report averaged 74,000 viewers in a 9pm slot. It said roughly 4% of the UK population typically watched BBC Three live in a week. Those are measures of live viewing, rather than a complete count of everyone who encounters BBC Three programmes on demand. That distinction matters when a possible switch from broadcast to online distribution is being discussed.

What the figures say about BBC Scotland

BBC Scotland launched in 2019 as a television outlet for Scottish programming, separate from the Gaelic-language BBC Alba, the Guardian reported. It put the channel's 2024-25 budget at £42m and its cost per user hour at 13p. The Guardian said 12% of people in Scotland watched the channel live. The figures describe the channel's broadcast audience and cost, but they do not settle how its programming might be distributed in future.

The BBC's 2024/25 annual report gives a broader measure of reach: it said 56% of adults in Scotland consumed BBC Scotland content in an average week across television and iPlayer, radio and online. It also said 83% of Scottish adults used the BBC in an average week, with BBC viewing there broadly flat year on year. Channel viewing and consumption across several BBC services answer different questions, so neither measure alone establishes the effect of a possible channel change.

There is already a separate savings measure in Scotland. The Guardian reported that the BBC announced plans in June to cut 60 jobs there and save £10m. The current redundancy process adds to the picture of spending pressure, but the reported Scottish cuts do not amount to a decision about the BBC Scotland television channel. Staff and audiences are still waiting to learn what, if anything, the BBC will propose for that service.

What happens next

The Guardian said Brittin was expected to update staff the following Wednesday on the BBC's savings plan. Until the corporation sets out any decision, the status of BBC Three and BBC Scotland remains unchanged in the evidence available here: possible closures or online-only futures are staff fears reported by the Guardian. The next announcement may clarify the scope of the redundancy process, the jobs affected and whether either channel is included in the BBC's plans.