News Broadcasting
BBC to prune workforce by the thousands: report
MUMBAI: The BBC in the UK is said to be finalising plans to cut up to a quarter of its 28,000-strong workforce in the biggest single reorganisation in its history.
A report in The Times states that the changes, being masterminded by BBC director-general Mark Thompson, could lead to thousands of jobs being lost in the news and production divisions.
While the BBC has not commented on the number of job cuts, around 6,000 jobs are expected to be under threat from next year, according to the report.
The proposed reorganisation comes as the BBC faces the debate on whether its ten-year Royal Charter that ends in 2006 should be renewed. By demonstrating that costs are under control, the BBC believes that it can justify accepting a lot of public money. Last year’s income from the licence fee was ?2.8 billion.
Another report in The Sunday Mail states that there are four reviews under way. The first is examining the future of the commercial arms of the BBC. The second is looking at its content supply system, which regulates who makes programmes.
The third is considering whether the corporation should move more of its activities outside London. The final ‘value for money’ review is looking at the corporation’s efficiency.
The reviews are expected to be completed in early December. Thompson and BBC chairman Michael Grade have targetted savings of ?2 billion before the earlier mentioned Royal Charter comes up for review. Ernst & Young has been assigned to conduct a study that will examine the BBC’s departmental spending.
News Broadcasting
Book Cricket gets a digital century on News18 amid T20 fever
Nostalgic classroom game revamped in English, Hindi plus Telugu on web and app.
MUMBAI: When the T20 World Cup fever hits fever pitch, News18 decides to flip the script straight back to the classroom. The digital news platform has revived the timeless schoolyard favourite Book Cricket as an interactive online game, perfectly timed to ride the cricket wave gripping fans across the globe. The reimagined Book Cricket ditches textbooks for smartphones, blending old-school nostalgia with modern gameplay. Once a sneaky recess pastime played by flicking book pages to score runs, the digital version now offers seamless fun for anyone craving a quick cricket fix between overs.
Available in English, Hindi and Telugu (with more languages planned across News18’s network), the game sits within the platform’s fast-growing gaming portfolio of over 20 titles, all built in-house. It joins event-driven hits like ‘Kursi Catcher’ and ‘Result Rewind’ during the 2025 Bihar Assembly Elections, plus festive specials such as ‘Durga’s Astras’ for Durga Puja and ‘Mouse Modak’ for Ganesh Chaturthi.
News18 Digital CEO Mitul Sangani said, “Gaming is a key pillar of our engagement strategy. At News18, we uniquely combine our newsroom agility with immersive gaming experiences. By blending credible content with interactive formats, we are creating meaningful engagement in an era defined by shrinking attention spans and evolving consumption habits.”
Select titles have expanded beyond News18.com to CNBC-TV18.com and Firstpost.com, reflecting the network’s push to deepen user interaction across platforms. The Book Cricket game is live now at https://www.news18.com/games/book-cricket/.
In a tournament where every boundary counts, News18’s digital Book Cricket proves the simplest games can still deliver the biggest smiles no syllabus required, just pure cricket joy one page-flip at a time.
