EXCLUSIVE: Huw Edwards says BBC staff are mourning ‘end of an era’ and are ‘sad the news channel is losing its identity’ after he pays emotional tribute to ‘best live news team in the business’ as Beeb merges its domestic and world TV news channels
- Huw Edwards, 61, told MailOnline BBC staff are mourning the ‘end of an era’
- The Beeb will merge its domestic and world TV news channels on Monday
Huw Edwards has revealed BBC staff are mourning the ‘end of an era’ as the corporation is set to merge its domestic and world TV news channels on Monday.
The BBC News at Ten stalwart, 61, told MailOnline that Beeb staff were sad that the domestic channel was ‘losing its distinct identity’.
The BBC is merging its domestic and world TV news channels to create a single 24-hour TV channel called BBC News.
Edwards told MailOnline: ‘There’s a real sense of the end of an era with experienced colleagues leaving and sadness that the news channel — a hugely successful platform for BBC News — [is] losing its distinct identity.
‘But colleagues are also determined to try to make the new channel work for our licence payers.’
Huw Edwards (pictured) told MailOnline that BBC staff are mourning the ‘end of an era’ as the corporation is set to merge its domestic and world TV news channels on Monday
Pictured: Huw Edwards and the BBC News 24 team celebrating the 20th anniversary of the channel in 2018 with then-Director General Tony Hall (centre, cutting cake)
At a BBC leaving party on Friday, broadcaster Clive Myrie (pictured) told staff who were taking voluntary redundancies that those remaining would ‘miss you all, no question’
Meanwhile, at a BBC leaving party on Friday, broadcaster Clive Myrie told staff who were taking voluntary redundancies that those remaining would ‘miss you all, no question’.
The merger is part of cost-cutting measures the BBC said were needed to save an extra £285million after then-Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries announced last year that the licence fee would be frozen at £159 for two years.
On Saturday Edwards paid an emotional tribute to the BBC News 24 crew, which he called the ‘best live news team in the business’.
He shared photos of the team and himself as a younger man in a tweet yesterday afternoon.
BBC presenter Martine Croxall (left, with Creative Diversity Lead Nina Goswami) thanked her audience and said it had been ‘the greatest privilege to broadcast to you’
Familiar faces such as Hashi Mohamed (left) also made an appearance at the party. The merger will axe around 70 jobs
Edwards wrote: ‘From day one of BBC News 24 onwards with 14 years of BBC News at Five along the way. The news channel team was the best live news team in the business.
‘Thanks to everyone who contributed over the decades. It was a privilege.’
The merger will axe 70 jobs and comes after the corporation announced the end of BBC Four, Radio 4 Extra and CBBC as linear channels.
They are expected to move online to the iPlayer in the next few years as part of the broadcaster’s plans to become ‘digital first’.
Edwards shared photos of the team and himself as a younger man (pictured) in a tweet yesterday afternoon, before the new channel launches on Monday
The BBC’s new channel, called BBC News, is set to be launched by the corporation on Monday
The new channel will be broadcast from London during the day and Singapore and Washington DC overnight.
Around 70 BBC staff from across all areas in the UK will lose their jobs as a result of the merger. Around 20 jobs will be created in Washington.
The BBC said the changes will create a streamlined organisation that ‘drives the most value from the licence fee and delivers more for audiences’.
The channel will serve UK and international audiences, featuring flagship programmes built around high-profile journalists, it said.
BBC news reader Joanna Gosling became emotional as she signed off on her final broadcast for the corporation by thanking viewers and colleagues
The presenter and journalist, who joined the broadcaster 23 years ago in September 1999, was met with applause from inside the studio as she came off air just before 1pm
UK viewers will receive specific content at certain times of the day and a live breaking news team will provide a domestic-only stream for specific news events, the broadcaster added.
Programming on the channel will be refreshed over time, with plans to air at least two new programmes in 2023, including a broadcast from Washington.
There have been a swathe of voluntary redundancies following the merger announcement.
Big names to go include Joanna Gosling, David Eades and Tim Willcox.
Newsreader Gosling became emotional as she signed off on her final broadcast for the corporation on January 26.
The presenter and journalist, who joined the broadcaster 23 years ago in September 1999, was met with applause from inside the studio as she came off air just before 1pm.
She said: ‘Now it is just about time for me to say goodbye for the last time.
David Eades (left) and Tim Willcox (right) will also be leaving the Corporation, it emerged today
‘I am signing off after 23 years at BBC News and before I go there are just a few things I wanted to say. I know this job is personal.
‘We come directly into your home to tell you what is happening – good, bad, funny, sad.
‘And in doing my work I always consider how you might be responding to the news you are hearing and what you might want to know.
‘But your response to me leaving has been completely unexpected and I have been really touched by the wave of warmth and kindness from you, and I want to say thank you for all of your good wishes. It really has meant a lot to me.’
READ MORE: Ofcom blasts BBC over cuts to its TV and radio news operations that has seen presenters Joanna Gosling, Tim Willcox and David Eades quit
Gosling also thanked those who had shared their stories with her as well as her colleagues ‘past and present’.
She added: ‘I have learned from you, I have loved working with you and I have valued your support since I started out at 22.
‘I have never failed to be impressed by the talent, skills and dedication of the people around me. We are a team, but it has felt like family.’
‘Lucky me to have had this great job that has never felt like a job. Thank you for having me,’ she concluded.
David Eades has been a BBC presenter since 2003, while Tim Willcox, who gained plaudits for his coverage of the 2010 Copiapó mining accident in Chile, has more than two decades of BBC experience.
A significant number of journalists have left the BBC over the past two years, including top talent such as Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel in 2022.
Newsnight presenter Maitlis is believed to have receive a bumper pay rise from her salary band of up to £329,999. One source described the deal as an ‘irresistible package’.
Global poached another of the corporation’s top news stars, Andrew Marr, in November 2021.
He quit the BBC after 21 years to front shows on LBC and Classic FM, and is thought to have significantly increased his pay of up to £339,999 in the move.
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