BBC announces plans for 1,800 job cuts

By Kate Holton

LONDON (Reuters) - The BBC announced plans on Thursday to cut 1,800 jobs and integrate its TV, radio and Internet news operations to confront the digital-age shift away from traditional media.

The corporation said 2,500 posts would go, but it will also create new positions to offer content when and where the audience wants it.

"Media is transforming, audiences are transforming," BBC Director General Mark Thompson told staff. "I care too much to see (the BBC) drift steadily into irrelevance."

"It would be easy to say that the sheer pace of this revolution is too fast for the BBC ... but I think we can see both here and around the world the price you pay for taking what looks like the safe option."

News and factual departments will be hardest hit in the move, which follows almost 4,000 job cuts announced in 2005. The public service division employs about 18,000 people and most job cuts are likely to happen sooner than the plan's 2012-13 deadline.

Staff have said morale at the BBC is terrible and unions, fearing a cut in quality, demanded to meet with the company or said they could strike.

The media landscape has been transformed over the last decade, with younger people spending more time on the Internet and turning away from traditional sources of entertainment and information such as the BBC.

The corporation, which is funded by a tax on all television-owning households, says it must adapt to stay relevant and has launched a host of new TV, radio and Internet services to appeal to as many people as possible.