BBC Three faces new closure threat in £500m savings drive
September 24, 2026 12.40 Europe/London By Julian Clover


The BBC is preparing to announce the closure of television and radio services as it looks to deliver £500 million in savings, with BBC Three reportedly among the networks under consideration.

Deadline reports that the BBC could announce what sources described as “audience-facing” closures early next week. BBC Three is regarded by insiders as vulnerable, while there has also been speculation surrounding the future of the seven-year old BBC Scotland television channel. No individual closure has yet been confirmed by the BBC.

The plans would represent the first significant reshaping of the BBC’s channel portfolio under director-general Matt Brittin, who took over earlier this year. In June, Brittin said the corporation would review its broadcast television channels and radio network portfolio as audiences increasingly moved online, alongside an £80 million reduction in commissioning expenditure across Content, News and Nations in 2027/28.

BBC Three would be particularly notable because the corporation has already taken the channel off linear television once. It closed as a broadcast channel in February 2016 and continued online before returning to linear schedules in February 2022. The BBC argued at the time that restoring the channel would help it reach younger viewers who retained a linear viewing habit but were lighter users of on-demand television.

BBC Scotland is also facing scrutiny. Giving evidence to a parliamentary committee earlier this month, BBC Scotland director Hayley Valentine said around 60 roles were expected to disappear in Scotland this year as part of approximately 2,000 job reductions across the BBC. She also outlined reductions to English-language programming and radio news output in Scotland.

The prospect of channel closures therefore goes beyond individual programme cuts and points towards a further acceleration of the BBC’s transition from maintaining a broad portfolio of traditional linear networks towards concentrating resources on services with greater audience impact, particularly BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds.

On Wednesday, it emerged the BBC was planning to cut lunchtime and overnight sports bulletins on the BBC News channel with the loss of 41 jobs.

The BBC declined to comment on Deadline’s report.