Entertainment | News |BBC will not close its TV News Channel

The BBC has confirmed its TV News Channel will not be closed, as its annual report was unveiled.

The channel is under review - with a number of options for change or merging with BBC World News being considered - but closure has been ruled out, director general Tony Hall said.
The report also revealed that the amount paid to the BBC's top stars has dropped by more than £2m.
The total spend on talent of £200m fell by £8m over the past year.
In 2015 the BBC paid £8.9m to a group of nine top earners. A year later, the number earning over £500,000 has dropped to seven unnamed employees, and their total pay is £2.3m lower at £6.6m.

Analysis by BBC media correspondent David Sillito

Ninety-three per cent of Britain's adults turned to BBC News in the week of the European referendum. Fifty-two million visited BBC online on the day of the result. And that was just the beginning of 10 days of extraordinary news.
There was an audible gasp across the BBC newsroom when Boris Johnson announced he would not be standing for the leadership of the Conservative Party. A few months ago there were serious doubts about the future of rolling TV news, the BBC News Channel was under threat. There may well still be changes, more sharing of output with BBC World News, but the director general Tony Hall's answer to a question about whether it would survive was an unequivocal "yes".
There's no doubt that the amount of news we consume through our phones will continue to rise but the place of live TV news suddenly looks a lot more secure.
The number of senior managers has also fallen by 45 to 361 and the total spent on senior managers' pay is now £47m.
The BBC said it is reaching 96% of UK adults each week, which is a slight decrease on last year's 97%. 
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BBC Director General Lord Tony Hall announced the annual report 

Lord Hall also said the BBC had received a letter from Sir Cliff Richard on the topic of legal action.
Earlier this month Sir Cliff instructed lawyers to make formal legal complaints to South Yorkshire Police and the BBC over their handling of a police raid on his home.
Police investigating historical sex allegations launched an investigation in 2014, which was filmed by the BBC.
Sir Cliff, 75, was told last month that he would not face criminal proceedings.
Lord Hall repeated the BBC's apology to Sir Cliff for the "distress that's been caused" for the coverage of the raid, adding: "If the police are investigating a matter of concern....then we should report that."
The director general also spoke about the departure of Chris Evans from Top Gear.
He said he was "really grateful" to Evans, who "gave his best", added he had "closed the chapter on Chris and Top Gear".
"I think he does a great job on Radio 2," he added.
When asked if the BBC had been contacted by police regarding allegations about Chris Evans' behaviour in the 1990s he said: "We've had no contact with the police"


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