The BBC’s decision to take five popular TV news presenters off air last year could be reversed in the coming months, as costly decision comes back to bite BBC bosses.
- The BBC took Martine Croxall, Karin Giannone, Geeta Guru-Murthy, Kasia Madera and Annita McVeigh off BBC News in April.
- Amidst a shortage of presenters in the run up to the election, new roles are expected to be created.
The five presenters disappeared from TV screens after the BBC merged its domestic and international news channels in April. As part of the revamped combined service, most of the previous World News presenter line-up was retained. Additionally, a new rota of US-based staff was introduced at night. This came at the expense of staff who worked on the domestic News Channel, or who presented late evening news bulletins on both channels.
The cost-cutting merger was billed as a reform to BBC News based on changes in the way viewers consume news. But it left licence fee payers to foot the bill of the inactive presenter’s salaries. This is now thought to be in the high hundreds of thousands of pounds.
New roles ‘on offer’
According to The Sunday Times, the BBC is poised to offer new roles. Citing internal sources who predicted the BBC would complete a “reverse ferret” to avoid legal trouble with the presenters, the paper says the broadcaster is actually currently short of presenters.
The five have stuck together through the past year with Croxall, Giannone, Guru-Murthy, Madera and McVeigh frequently sharing social media posts of them together. In response to the posts, viewers have frequently called on the BBC to reinstate the presenters.
Their case is supported by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).
The presenter’s effective suspension from TV presenting duties while on full pay is set against reports of cost-cutting at the BBC and the loss of a number of presenters.
- A recent memo by BBC News deputy chief executive Jonathan Munro warns that funds will be tight this year. This is due to the BBC having to cover elections, wars and sporting events. Late last year, the BBC announced a round of cuts to BBC News, including reducing the status of Newsnight.
- The BBC has recently lost a number of presenters. Since April 2023, BBC News has lost three presenters: Huw Edwards, who officially remains suspended and under investigation, George Alagiah, who died last year and Yalda Hakim, who left to join Sky News.
- This year, a number of additional on-screen roles are also expected to be created. The extra roles are required to cover the election.
The BBC says it won’t comment on what it calls ‘HR matters’.
None of the five presenters involved have so far commented on The Sunday Times report.
Marc Thornham