Farewell to Design and Transmission
More than 125 years of BBC history come to an end this month, as two backbone departments disappear from the Corporation.
Transmission Department, split into domestic and World Service sections, passed into private hands at the beginning of March, nearly 75 years after 2LO, the BBC's first radio station, began broadcasting from London's Strand.
At the end of March, most of TV Design department will close completely, ending a prestigious life that began in earnest at Alexandra Palace in 1946 when TV broadcasts resumed after a war-time break.
Both departments are victims of Birt's new model BBC, and the Producer Choice system.
Design succumbed to high internal overheads, and stiff competition from freelance Make-up, Costume, and Scenic staff who were able to undercut the in-house rates.
Transmission, ostensibly sold off to raise money for investment in new digital production equipment, actually fell prey to the fashion for privatisation that swept through public institutions in the late 80s. With the rest of the BBC remaining in the public sector in spite of the government's wishes there was a need to "throw the cabin boy over the side" as one Conservative minister put it.
Over 800 staff in Design and Transmission are affected.
In Transmission, most staff have transferred either to CTC/TDF, the consortium which bought the domestic stations, or Merlin, a management buyout which takes over the World Service's transmission chain. The split was so complicated that some staff had to choose which of the two companies they preferred to be employed by.
In Transmission no staff were allowed to opt for redundancy as an alternative to being handed over to their new employer, but BECTU managed to win the right for anyone over 50 to retire early with undiscounted pensions, and secured a commitment that both buyers would set up "mirror image" pension schemes to continue BBC pension benefits for the staff they have taken over.
In Design, all 124 staff in Make-Up, Costume, and Scenic Design, will be made redundant by March 31, except for a few who remain on the BBC's books temporarily to finish off programmes.
Visual Effects and Costume Store will remain as the last vestiges of a mighty creative department which boasted more than 2,000 staff in 1984. During the mid-80s the department expanded its operations with a purpose-built scenery factory and wardrobe facility at North Acton, both of which closed two years ago.
Since the introduction of Producer Choice there has been a spiral of job cuts at the end of each financial year as the books failed to balance, sapping staff morale. The union achieved several benefits for members in the department, including a right to opt for pay in lieu of notice, and a loyalty bonus for staff who had to continue working beyond December 31 last year.