BBC Two and Four could suffer biggest cuts

Reports suggest that BBC Two and BBC Four are to be the hardest hit in the corporation's forthcoming budget cuts.

Having said that digital channel BBC Four is safe from the 'axe', insiders believe the corporation will look to share content between the two channels, enabling them to reduce the total programming budget.

Broadcast suggests that BBC Two controller Roly Keating would have the final approval on dual-commissions for the channels in prime time, and that BBC Four content is likely to get a second showing on BBC Two to fill space off-peak.

Last week at a Royal Television Society event Jana Bennett, director of BBC Vision, said that she would "rather have one special piece of content-delivering impact on both channels than risk ending up with two indifferent programmes which were underfunded".