The creation of BBC Studios – one of the biggest shake-ups in the corporation’s history – has been delayed by a month.
It had been intended that hundreds of staff who make some of the BBC’s biggest hits such as EastEnders, Top Gear and Strictly Come Dancing would be transferred into a new £400mdivision on 1 April.
But the formation of BBC Studios will not now take place until 29 April.
The corporation said the reason for the delay is the departure of BBC Studios director Peter Salmon last month.
Salmon left after just eight months to join Big Brother and MasterChef maker Endemol Shine and was replaced last week by acting director of television Mark Linsey.
The corporation said it wanted to give Linsey time to bed in before the transfer of staff takes place.
BBC Studios’ creation is part of director general Tony Hall’s plan to revolutionise the way the corporation makes many of its most popular programmes by moving from the public to the private sector.
The move is a precursor to commercialising the division in April 2017 and allowing the corporation to make shows for other channels in exchange for allowing independent production companies to make more of its programmes.
Those departments due to move into BBC Studios include drama, entertainment (an area in which Linsey formerly worked), comedy and natural history.
It is expected that those working in the new division who work in London will eventually move out of the BBC’s central London headquarters at New Broadcasting House and back to West London, in offices next to the old BBC Television Centre.
A BBC spokesman said: “Mark will spend the next month working with the Studios teams before the new division launches on 29 April.”
