BBC TO TIGHTEN ITS PURSE STRINGS

The British government’s new austerity budget, which includes a freeze on the license fees that pay for the operation of the British Broadcasting Corp., will require significant cuts in the BBC’s budget, the chairman of the BBC Trust has told the London Financial Times. “Let us not be under any misapprehension: the notion we can look for a 16 per cent reduction in budget, and then sail on as you are, is inconceivable,” Michael Lyons told the newspaper. He said that the BBC is already working on determining what could be cut and indicated that there would be greater transparency over the issue of salaries of its top executives and on-air personalities.