BBC News presenters are facing the axe and must prove their skills in a "screen test" to keep their jobs, it's been reported.
BBC News and BBC World News channels will cut 70 jobs in the UK - including 14 presenters - as the BBC plans to rebrand as a more digitally focused rolling news service in the Spring.
There will be just five dedicated presenters of the new BBC News - that will cover domestic and world news under one banner - under plans being discussed with unions it has been claimed.
The redundancy process is said to have already begun and News channel presenters must perform a "screen test" if they want to be considered for one of the remaining "chief presenter" jobs.
The "practical test" in the studio is thought to last 40 minutes as presenters will be assessed on how they perform.
Familiar faces including Joanna Gosling, a BBC News presenter for 23 years, are claimed to be affected.
She made headlines last month when she broke down in tears reporting the deaths of three young boys who sadly lost their lives after being pulled from an icy lake in Solihull.
Others in the alleged "at risk" group include veteran foreign correspondent turned news anchor Ben Brown. He reported from Moscow during the fall of Communism in 1991 and was embedded with British troops during the 2003 Iraq invasion.
Martine Croxall, who has worked for the BBC for more than 30 years, and Shaun Ley, who also presents World At One on Radio 4, are also thought to be in the line of fire.
The BBC expects to save more than £1m a year by cutting the number of news presenters.
Big name anchors who present the BBC One bulletins – including Huw Edwards, Fiona Bruce and Clive Myrie – are understood to have their jobs protected and won't need to reapply.
With less dedicated news anchors, the new BBC News channel will feature a “visualisation” of Nicky Campbell’s BBC Radio 5 Live programme broadcast on weekday mornings.
It will be broadcast from London during UK daytime and Singapore and Washington DC during the rest of the 24 hour news cycle.
“We’ve never had to reapply for our roles before. It’s the BBC making us jump through hoops," a news insider told i News.
Explaining the changes, Naja Nielsen, digital director at BBC News, said: “The way audiences consume news is changing. Our aim is to create the best live and breaking video news service in the world – on our webpages, our apps, on BBC iPlayer and on our new TV news channel.”
A spokesman for The National Union of Journalists said: “It will be impossible for the new channel to have the same high standards of journalism that the two current channels are known for around the globe."
The BBC declined to comment when contacted by Mirror Online.
