Andrew Neil Show axed in latest round of BBC cutbacks and job losses
The Andrew Neil Show is one of the casualties of the BBC cuts, it has been confirmed.
Neil has been one of the BBC’S top political broadcasters for many years and has presented This Week and Daily Politics.
The corporation has announced a further 70 job cuts in BBC News on top of the 450 announced earlier this year, taking the total to 520.
The Scot’s self-titled political programme has been off air during the coronavirus crisis and now will not return.
A BBC spokeswoman said: “We remain committed to Andrew Neil’s in-depth interviews (as well as the Budget, US election and other specials).
“The Andrew Neil Show will not be returning but we’re in discussions about a new interview series on BBC One.”
Politics Live, which is currently only airing on Wednesdays, will return four days a week from Monday to Thursday. However, Neil is not expected to present the show on a regular basis.
The BBC announced in 2016 that it needed to save £800 million, with around £80m of that figure coming from news.
The corporation 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 has been axed and it was previously announced that Newsnight, 5Live and Today would be affected as part of cost-cutting plans and an effort to reach a younger audience.
Director of BBC news and current affairs Fran Unsworth said: “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 reevaluate exactly how we operate as an organisation.”
The announcement came as the Guardian newspaper said it planned to make about 180 job cuts as the pandemic created an “unsustainable financial outlook”.
Reach, owner of local papers and national titles including the Daily Mirror and Daily Record, is also cutting 550 jobs.