BBC to lay off 1000 people to make up for $234m in lost revenue

BBC announced on Thursday it's cutting 1,000 positions in an effort to make up for about $234 million in revenue lost by customers viewing content online.

The broadcasting company said it's cutting the jobs by merging divisions, cutting down management layers and reducing managers. The reductions will affect a number of divisions, including marketing and communications, finance, human resources, technical support, and legal, a news release from the company said.

"A simpler, leaner, BBC is the right thing to do and it can also help us meet the financial challenges we face," BBC Director-General Tony Hall said. "We've already significantly cut the costs of running the BBC, but in times of very tough choices we need to focus on what really matters -- delivering outstanding programs and content for all our audiences."

BBC said the cost-saving measures -- which also include reducing administration and property costs, and airing more daytime reruns -- are due to an expected drop of $234 million in licensing fees for fiscal year 2016-2017.

The broadcaster is funded in part through licensing fees that are levied as a tax against each household with a television in Britain. Each household must pay $230 a year to the BBC.

But the number of households with a television has been on the decline thanks to the rising popularity of on-demand, free content viewed on mobile phones, tablets and computers.

The news release says the drop in fees "provides further evidence of the need for the license fee to be modernized to cover digital services."