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BBC Axes Three Shows to Meet £500 Million Savings Plan

7/30/2026

25 2 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

The BBC will cancel Blankety Blank, Celebrity Mastermind and Live at the Apollo after a final pre-recorded series.
The cuts support a £500 million three-year savings plan targeting £100 million annual cuts and a 100-150-hour TV reduction by 2027/28.
Viewership fell to 2.3 million for Blankety Blank, 1.7 million for Celebrity Mastermind and 660,000 for Live at the Apollo, down from 5.5 million, 4 million and 1.3 million respectively.

History

Historical Context

In 2005 Director-General Mark Thompson launched Creative Futures, followed by a 2007 six-year “Delivering Creative Futures” plan that targeted 2,500 job cuts and a 10 % drop in output. On 20 October 2010 Chancellor George Osborne froze the licence fee at £145.50 and shifted World Service costs to the BBC, reinforcing a decade-long drive to trim budgets and staff.

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Story summary

The BBC will cancel Blankety Blank, Celebrity Mastermind and Live at the Apollo after a final pre-recorded series.
The cuts support a £500 million three-year savings plan targeting £100 million annual cuts and a 100-150-hour TV reduction by 2027/28.
Viewership fell to 2.3 million for Blankety Blank, 1.7 million for Celebrity Mastermind and 660,000 for Live at the Apollo, down from 5.5 million, 4 million and 1.3 million respectively.

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