New job cuts at the BBC

The British Broadcasting Corp. says it will shed 2,050 more jobs in a second wave of downsizing. The cuts include 420 employees in the news division, 66 in sports, 150 in drama, entertainment and children’s programs, 735 in regional operations, 58 in new media and 424 in educational programs, BBC Director General Mark Thompson told the staff this week.

Those cuts are in addition to the previous announcement of 1,730 jobs slashed from administrative services. The combined cuts amount to 19% of the BBC work force and will lead to annual savings of $682 million by 2008, $35 million more than a target set in December.

“This is all money we plan to spend on programs and content, both to improve the services we deliver to audiences right now and to build strong BBC services in the future,” Thompson told employees. “We want all divisions to figure out ways of achieving these savings through genuine improvements rather than crude cuts.”