Source : The Sunday Times

Ever since Mark Thompson became the director-general of the BBC in May, in the wake of the Hutton report into the death of the government scientist Dr David Kelly, there has been speculation about how he would make his mark on the corporation.

Despite Thompson's casual, bearded appearance and relaxed manner, he is known in the media as a sharp and incisive thinker. This week will see the results of his questioning and probing when he unveils four strategic reviews on Tuesday. The results are likely to lead to some of the most radical changes in the corporation's history.

Two themes are expected to run through the reviews: the need to spend the BBC's annual pounds 3.6bn budget more efficiently and a refocusing of the corporation's remit to produce public service broadcasting.

Thompson's aim is to slim down the organisation, make it more agile and ensure that it still delivers a genuine public service as more and more people are enticed by digital television and the dozens of channels on offer.

The plans come as the BBC seeks to renew its 10-year royal charter, which is due to expire in 2006, and to justify the television licence fee that largely funds the corporation.

Thompson's conclusions are expected to include plans to cut thousands of the BBC's 28,000 staff. In the past few months estimates of the job cuts have ranged from 2,000 to an astonishing 14,000. However, executives outside the corporation predict that about 6,000 will be axed, although this will partly be achieved by outsourcing to the private sector. Combined with other measures, this is designed to save hundreds of millions of pounds that will be ploughed back into programming.

Between 1,000 and 1,500 staff are expected to be relocated from London to Manchester. Staff working for a whole television channel, probably a digital channel such as one of the children's channels on Freeview, are also expected to be relocated to the city.

Thompson's four reviews will each cover a different topic: the commercial aspects of the corporation, the supply of content that the BBC broadcasts, value for money, and relocating jobs from London.

Central to the refocusing of the public service remit will be a renewed emphasis on news, with more current affairs broadcasting. The BBC has recently been criticised for its news coverage, most notably in the Hutton report. But it also suffered embarrassment last week when it emerged that the corporation had been duped by a campaigner purporting to work for Dow Chemical. (The alleged campaigner claimed Dow would take responsibility for victims of the Bhopal disaster and pay up to $12bn in compensation.)

But despite its strengthened status, even news will be touched by the need for greater efficiency. "Do you realise how many people we had covering the US election?" one executive says. "It was 395, with 195 of them in the USA. I'm sure news will be a top priority for the BBC, but you do have to ask if we really needed that many people covering an event like that, and ask if perhaps we could have spent the money saved elsewhere."

Thompson's plan to refocus the BBC's approach to public service broadcasting will probably see an end to so-called "derivative" programming - shows that mimic what is already in the private sector. So-called makeover shows such as Ground Force and Changing Rooms are likely to be axed.

Thompson's reviews will say that parts of the corporation, such as the BBC Broadcast division, which provides technical services, should be sold or turned into joint ventures with private companies.

But what will really make Thompson's name is putting all this into practice in an organisation that - at present at least - is not as agile as he wants it to be.

© Sunday Times