Global ambitions at risk as news channel forces BBC cutbacks

The BBC has cut jobs and news bulletins from the British channel that was taking on America's CNN across the globe and winning. Paul McCann, Media Correspondent, explains how everything must be sacrificed for the little-loved domestic 24-hour news channel.

A fresh row is brewing at the BBC because its new 24-hour TV news channel is costing so much that the corporation has had to cut jobs from its global news channel BBC World.

BBC World, which broadcasts outside the UK to 50 million homes in 187 countries, is to lose 24 posts and is having some of its international output replaced by a simulcast of the recently-launched domestic channel BBC News 24.

A number of BBC World's senior editors will be made redundant, freelancers have been dropped and casual workers contracts will not be renewed because of the need to save money for News 24.

The decision has provoked anger with BBC Worldwide, the BBC's commercial and international arm which has been developing BBC World for the past three years. Sources at BBC Worldwide claim that their international channel is exceeding all targets to reach new viewers and attract advertising revenue. In many countries BBC World has replaced Ted Turner's CNN on local cable and satellite services because of its Ameri-centric world view. BBC World has been able to make rapid inroads because of the high reputation of the BBC's World Service radio broadcasts.

Now, however, some at BBC Worldwide believe its battle with CNN is being threatened by the need to support News 24 - a service that can be seen in Britain by only a few cable homes and those who watch once BBC goes off air at night.

"One has to wonder if the game plan isn't to subsume more and more of BBC World under a service that is not meant for international viewers," said one BBC source. "It seems that the time spent creating an international news service has been wasted. I don't think the BBC at home has ever understood how appreciated World is globally."

Until last year, BBC Worldwide had full control of BBC World, but last year another BBC restructure placed it within the News & Current Affairs Directorate where it has had to share budgets with News 24.

The expense of running News 24 has impacted on other parts of the News Directorate and last year provoked a revolt by the presenters of Radio 4's Today programme and Newsnight over plans to make news programmes share editors and budgets to save money.

A spokesman for the BBC said that the shared broadcasts would at present amount to just one and a half hours of programming a day and that all redundancies would be voluntary. "The BBC is taking advantage of the opportunity to jointly produce some bulletins to ensure optimum use of resources."