The BBC is gearing up to slash its evening news and current affairs programming as waves of Britons turn their back on the licence fee.
The public broadcaster's funding has taken a big hit in the past year after an estimated 300,000 households across the country stopped paying the fee.
The BBC is now hoping to slash its own current affairs requirements after submitting a request to broadcasting regulator Ofcom to lower its existing quotas for television.
However, it warned that more repeats will have to appear in primetime spots after funding for new programming was cut.
The BBC is gearing up to slash its evening news and current affairs programming as waves of Britons turn their back on the license fee
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Ofcom's rules mean that the public broadcaster is forced to put out 450 hours of news and current affairs programmes over the course of a year on BBC One and BBC Two.
However, 106 hours of this must be allocated to peak times, which are between 6pm and 10.30pm - and 45 minutes on BBC One on top of that.
The public broadcaster has requested the primetime quota for original current affairs scheduling is scaled down to 70 hours, with the overall 450 hours staying in place.
Despite the BBC insisting that there will not be a decrease in original programming, it was argued that if the quota were to stay as it is now, repeats would become more frequent.
The broadcasting regulator has indicated it would not stand in the way of changes to the quota
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Executives at the organisation have suggested that quotas today are essentially meaningless due to consumer trends of watching content on iPlayer.
Ofcom has indicated it would not stand in the way of changes to the quota, adding that they should remain relevant in the modern age of streaming.
The latest budget-balancing move follows last year's announcement that more than 100 jobs would be slashed from the broadcaster's news operation.
The move is expected to save around four per cent of its total yearly budget, equating to around £24million.
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In addition to the job cuts, the BBC has axed a series of programmes in recent years.
The HardTalk long-form interview show faced the chop as the organisation moved to more cost-effective live and breaking news.
Cuts were also made to radio bulletins to Radio 2 and Radio 5 Live, while the Asian Network news service was shut down.
BBC News chief executive Deborah Turness said the measures in recent years were necessary to "balance the books".
Director General Tim Davie is attempting to save £700million in a bid to fix the organisation's finances
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While director general Tim Davie is attempting to save £700million in a bid to fix the organisation's finances after a 30 per cent real-terms drop in licence fee income between 2010 and 2020.
In 2024/25, the public broadcaster raked in an estimated £3.8billion in net licence fee revenue from British households.
A spokesman for the BBC said: "These proposals reflect changing viewing habits and aim to focus on delivering new, high-quality content while achieving greater value for money for licence fee payers.
"We remain committed to providing high-impact current affairs programming."
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