The lingering demise of the BBC is a gigantic bluff

BBC begins move towards online-only TV – these channels and shows are at risk

More channels could be axed following the closure of BBC Three and BBC Scotland as the corporation begins its move to an online-only future.

The BBC is poised to shut the two poorly-performing TV channels next week and move their content online, sources claim, as the broadcaster seeks to make £500m in savings and avert a financial crisis. The future of the Radio 4 Extra archive channel is also under scrutiny.

The closures would also kick-start a wider strategy, which could ultimately mean the end of scheduled channels like BBC One, with viewers instead finding programmes on-demand on iPlayer, under genre headings like Drama, Entertainment, News and Sport.


The slow, soap-opera crumbling of BBC finances seems intended to squeeze every drop of sympathy for, or at least acceptance of a last minute rescue by the UK Government. Which is inevitable of course.

I'm reminded of the arts being described as a gigantic bluff in one of Somerset Maugham's short stories. The lingering, constantly reported financial demise of the BBC is a gigantic bluff too.

She had a natural and healthy contempt for the arts. She genuinely looked upon the whole thing as a gigantic bluff, and deep down in her heart was an amused sympathy for all the people who were able to put it over on the public.

W. Somerset Maugham - The Voice of the Turtle (1935)