BBC Four might not be safe from cuts, director of television warns
Danny Cohen, director of TV at the BBC, has warned that BBC Four might not survive past the next licence fee settlement.
He admitted this to Richard Bacon on BBC Radio 5 Live, blaming extra funding responsibilities such as the World Service as the reason.
"We don't know for certain what will happen with BBC4 in the future.
"The reason we made this change for BBC3 is because we face a series of financial cuts the like of which the BBC has not had to cope with before.
"In an ideal world we would not be taking BBC3 online in 18 months time, we would probably do it in three or four years time.”
He added that the BBC “can't keep offering the same with less money”, and said that decisions made with the agreement in 2016 will decide the fate of the channel.
The BBC hopes that by turning BBC Three into an online only service, it can save £65m.