The BBC has warned of further “difficult choices” and an impact on programming as a report showed it has made sweeping cuts and halved the number of senior managers.
Senior manager roles have been reduced by 56% and more than 1,000 jobs have been stripped from the public broadcaster, according to the report into efficiency savings.
The organisation warned the impact on jobs will soon extend to an impact on content, with efficiency cuts likely to be noticed by viewers and more “difficult choices” to be made.
Although 94% of the publicly funded broadcaster’s expenditure now goes directly into creating content, overhead costs at the BBC are up £12.2 million from last year.
The cost of overheads currently stands at £196.1 million from a total BBC spend of £3.4 billion.
The planned reduction in costs led to a raft of efficiency savings, including slashing the number of senior managers from 614 in 2010 to 270 in high-paid managerial roles in the 2017/18 financial year.
The BBC report also records the reduction of more than 1,000 employees across the organisation since 2006/07.
Deputy director-general Anne Bulford said: “This report demonstrates the hard work that has gone into achieving our financial goals.
“While we have sought to protect spending on content wherever we can, savings cannot simply come from overheads.
“It’s not possible to make savings on this scale without also making changes to services, which some audiences will notice. Simply put, we cannot reduce our cost base by a fifth and not see impact in our content.
“At the same time, the BBC faces significant financial challenges, from competition for talent and rights, and from rising audience expectations.
“Reinventing the BBC at a time of unprecedented pressure will require difficult choices to be made. We have made a strong start but there is still much to do.”
Overheads have been brought down at the BBC, from a 7.6%, £279.3 million running cost in 2014/15, to a 5.7%, £196.1 million running cost in the last financial year.
Despite the cuts, this is still up more than £12.2 million from the lower total of 5.2% in 2016/17.
Cuts to management are thought to have resulted in savings of £38 million, according to the report, and staffing cuts overall to have saved the BBC around £59 million since 2010/11.
Property costs have also been slashed, with the total expenditure on BBC real estate being cut from £321 million at the time of the last efficiency report in 2014 to £270 million in the last financial year.
Ms Bulford added: “The BBC is financially well-managed with less bureaucracy.
“It is a BBC that is streamlined, with visible and accessible leaders. It is a simpler BBC.”