BBC to close BBC Three, BBC Scotland and Radio 4 Extra linear services in spring 2027

What the BBC confirmed

BBC Three and BBC Scotland stop being television channels in spring 2027 and become online-only. Both will keep producing and hosting content on BBC iPlayer, without the need to fill a terrestrial schedule. Radio 4 Extra, which largely airs speech programmes from the archive, also ceases linear broadcasting, with shows moving to BBC Sounds. The Daily Service will be on BBC Sounds and local radio. Some output stays on television. BBC Scotland remains a channel on iPlayer, and selected programmes will also air on BBC One and BBC Two in Scotland.

BBC Three commissions will sit on iPlayer and on other platforms including YouTube, with the BBC promising increased investment in content for younger audiences. One programme does not survive the move: Reporting Scotland: News at Seven will not transfer to iPlayer and will end when the BBC Scotland channel closes. The BBC says Scottish news is still served by Reporting Scotland, The Sunday Show, Radio Scotland Breakfast, Debate Night and Scotcast. Radio 4 Extra does air some original programming, but its schedule is predominantly archive material, much of which is already on BBC Sounds.

The job cuts behind the savings

The BBC is aiming to cut between 1,800 and 2,000 jobs, almost one in 10 of a workforce of about 21,500, to save £500m over two years. Around 550 of those had already been announced in BBC News, and more than 30 at BBC Sport. On the same day, BBC News announced a further net reduction of just over 100 roles, expected to save about £5.5m. The channel closures bring additional losses, including about 10 roles in Scotland. The savings run through news, sport, local radio and the media technology division, where the Guardian reported 110 compulsory redundancies.

Why the channels are going

Matt Brittin, the director-general, said the decision was necessary. "We need to make every pound work harder for audiences as we respond to the immediate cost pressures and reinvent the BBC for a changing world," he said. "We all know that means tough choices."

He said the content would survive the move online. "Much of the great content they currently carry will still be found where audiences already enjoy them on iPlayer and Sounds," Brittin said. BBC Three moved online in 2016 and returned as a television channel in January 2022. The BBC lists Fleabag, Normal People and Gavin & Stacey among its hits. BBC Scotland launched as a channel in 2019.

Sir Peter Bazalgette, former chairman of ITV and Endemol, told BBC News the package was "modest and pretty well-judged". He said the BBC had lost 30% of its revenue in 10 years.

Equity, the entertainment union, disagreed. It said the announcement "does not signal a thriving BBC" and questioned whether the corporation can meet its duties "to the fullest".

The pressure inside the BBC

The Guardian reported on 5 October that morale had been dented by what staff called a gradual "bloodletting", as cuts were announced department by department over several weeks. Staff feared further waves in the new year. The paper quoted one insider saying: "We have our problems, but we seem to be creating new ones."

Programmes have gone too. RuPaul's Drag Race UK, Blankety Blank, Celebrity Mastermind and DIY SOS are among the titles cancelled or rested. The BBC also dropped plans for a purpose-built studio for The Archers at its Birmingham headquarters. Children's television has been protected, the Guardian reported, though staff there were asked whether they wanted voluntary redundancy.

What happens next

The linear closures are due in spring 2027. Rachel Jupp, the new director of BBC News, will set out further news savings early next year, and other divisions will confirm their plans in the coming months. The £500m target is dated to 2028. The BBC says further savings will still be needed beyond the measures announced so far.

The bigger question is funding. The Guardian reported that weekly talks between the BBC and the government over the licence fee could widen it to cover anyone who watches a streaming service. That would change who pays for the output the BBC is now moving online.