Drama protected from £12m cut to BBC's TV budget

"The BBC has and is doing everything possible to make sure the impact on the public is minimised".

As much as £35m is expected to come from a sport budget that has "already been salami-sliced over the past five years", according to the Daily Telegraph.

Sports cuts of £35 million mean the service has already lost rights to the Open Golf Tournament. The broadcaster previously announced that delivering a "leaner" BBC will come from slashing £50M by eliminating divisions and cutting 1,000 posts by 2017; that work is underway.

Television will face a £12 million cut, which - with drama exempt - will instead fall on other genres including comedy, entertainment and factual programming.

The latest announcement is the first time the BBC has announced cuts to on-screen and on-air content. In June, BBC insiders said Hall's "priority is what appears on screen and on the airwaves" and "everything else must be reduced to a bare minimum".

It's expected that BBC director general Lord Hall will announce that the BBC website will pick up the slack on a few of these special events later today.

The BBC said it has been assured by the government that the loophole would be closed.

However, the corporation must identify a further £550 million of savings by 2021-22 as a result of the agreement made with the government that it will fund TV licences for the over-75s.

The £150 million set out today is part of the £700 million overall savings the BBC must find due to the flat licence fee agreed in the summer.

The remainder of the savings will be made through cross-departmental cuts, including a "phased-exit" for the broadcast Red Button service and savings in distribution costs.

Gerry Morrissey, general secretary of the Bectu union, said on Wednesday: "We will oppose any compulsory redundancies".

It has emerged that the public-funded media corporation is to make £150 million worth of additional cuts, and that one of the victims of those cuts will be the treasured Red Button facility.