BBC to pursue cuts of up to £600m as bosses point to fall in licence fee income

Tim Davie has said 10% of the BBC’s costs will have to be cut over the next three years. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

The BBC is to pursue cuts of up to £600m that will result in job losses and the end of some programming, amid concerns at a decline in the number of households paying the licence fee.

Tim Davie, the outgoing director general, told staff that the broadcaster was not a “protected species” and that 10% of the BBC’s costs would have to be cut over the next three years.