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BBC World Service cuts 73 jobs

The BBC World Service will cut the amount of news it broadcasts and axe 73 staff as it continues to deal with a drop in funding.

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The announcement confirms the third phase of a £42 million savings programme since the Government's 2010 comprehensive spending review.

Responsibility for funding the service will be handed over from the Foreign Office to the BBC in 2014 as part of the licence fee deal agreed in 2010.

The BBC said "changes to programming, staffing, scheduling, support costs and distribution" will save £12m in 2013/14.

The changes include news coverage declining from around 18 hours a day through the week to 14 hours and a reduction in the number of weekly documentary strands from four to three. A new programme, The Newsroom, will replace World Briefing and arts show The Strand will go, while jobs will be lost in foreign language services BBC Afghan, BBC Burmese and BBC Bengali.

Director of BBC Global News, Peter Horrocks, said: "By making these changes, we are achieving the savings required whilst, crucially, ensuring our audiences continue to receive the best programming."

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