Cuts announced for several BBC Radio 4 programmes

BBC Speech and Sounds will cut its budget by at least 10 percent and close several long running programmes from April 2027.

The changes mean Radio 4 will lose You and Yours alongside Open Country as well as Thinking Allowed and Free Thinking. The Artificial Human is also ending. The corporation wants to invest in new commissions that work on air and on demand as audiences move towards podcasts.

A refreshed consumer programme is being developed by the You and Yours production team. Start the Week and In Our Time will both expand to an hour to increase airtime for ideas and technology. The weekend edition of Farming Today is also expanding to cover rural communities.

BBC Radio 5 Live will see a reduction in commissioning spend on schedule and sports podcasts. The overall volume of the podcast slate on BBC Sounds will also be reduced to make space for new formats. Production roles will be affected and changes are being made in consultation with staff and unions.

Jonathan Wall is the Director of BBC Sounds. Jonathan said: “We are reshaping BBC speech audio to build a strong future for trusted journalism, distinctive storytelling and programmes that bring people together.”

He added: “These are difficult decisions, and they are not based on cost alone. We need to make significant savings while investing for the future.”