BBC Three and BBC Four may be cut as budget maneuver

Television viewers in the U.K. have reason to fear for some of their favorite broadcast stations, as rumors run rampant that cost-cutting maneuvers by the BBC will result in both BBC Three and BBC Four getting the axe.

BBC Three is best known for its comedy programming, including The Mighty Boosh, and BBC Four handles most of BBC's music programming. Nothing has been made official yet, but BBC director Tony Hall made a speech last week in which he set a goal of cutting £100 million as "savings," and that he hoped to avoid cutting across the entire business. In other words, he aimed to cut a lot from specific places within the BBC.

Many analysts believe those places will be BBC Three and Four. The budget for the former is around £85 million, while the latter has a budget of around £49 million. Hall wouldn't need to cut both entirely in order to reach his savings goal, but subtracting a total of £100 million wouldn't leave much left for the pair to work with.

More outrage is coming from the comedy corner of the media at this point. Comedian Jack Whitehall tweeted his support for BBC Three.

"I really hope reports that the BBC may kill BBC3 are just rumours," he wrote. "Their support of new comedy in particular is vital! #saveBBC3."

Keep in mind that nothing is official yet.

"Tony Hall set out some of the very real challenges the BBC faces at his speech in Oxford," said a spokesperson for the company. "He made clear that we will face tough choices about our budgets, and while nothing is off the table, no decisions have been made."

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