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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Fionnula Hainey

BBC's Andrew Neil show axed amid further job losses due to coronavirus

The BBC's The Andrew Neil Show has been axed amid further job cuts, the broadcaster has announced.

A further 70 job cuts at BBC News have been confirmed on top of the 450 announced earlier this year.

The BBC said that increased financial pressure on the industry due to the coronavirus pandemic will lead to a total of around 520 job losses at BBC News.

The Andrew Neil Show, a weekly politics programme which has been off air during the coronavirus crisis, will not be returning.

But the BBC says it remains "committed to Andrew Neil’s in-depth interviews" and that a new BBC One series is being discussed.

Director of BBC News and Current Affairs Fran Unsworth said: “Covid-19 has changed all of our lives. We are still covering the most challenging story of our lifetimes.

“During this crisis audiences have turned to BBC News in their millions and I’m incredibly proud of what we, as a team, have been able to achieve.

“But if we don’t make changes, we won’t be sustainable. This crisis has led us to re-evaluate exactly how we operate as an organisation. And our operation has been underpinned by the principles we set out earlier this year – fewer stories, more targeted and with more impact.

“We’re aiming to reach everyone, every day. For BBC News to thrive, and for us to continue to serve all our audiences, we have to change.”

In 2016, the BBC announced that it needed to save £800 million, with around £80 million of that figure coming from its news outlets.

It has since announced plans to reduce its “pool of presenters”, while more correspondents will increasingly be asked to work across a range of content.

Victoria Derbyshire’s BBC Two programme was axed earlier this year and it was previously announced that Newsnight, 5Live and Today would be affected as part of cost-cutting plans and an effort to reach the young.

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