The BBC is expected to announce that the organisation will axe hundreds of jobs in a fresh round of cost cutting.

The public service broadcaster is facing a £150m-a-year shortfall and growing pressure from the Conservative government to become “leaner and simpler”.

The number of jobs culled from the current 18,000 workforce is expected to be in the high hundreds and involve the reduction of senior and middle managers, a BBC source told the Guardian.

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Director General Tony Hall is expected to warn on Thursday that the drop in people paying the licence fee has hit the BBC harder than it expected.

Internal analysis has shown that the BBC’s forecasted income for 2016-17 faces a shortfall of £150m as people exploit a loophole where people can not pay the licence fee if they only watch catch-up television online.

It comes as the government announced plans to decriminalise non payment of the fee last year and is set to debate its future ahead of negotiations over the renewal of its Royal Charter next year.

This comes just days after the BBC lost its rights to show the Olympics to Eurosport until 2024 after the International Olympic Committee signed a £920m pan-Europe deal with the channel’s parent company Discovery.

The new Arts and Culture Secretary, John Whittingdale has been branded "anti-BBC" as he is one of a number of Tory MPs who has stated that he believes the broadcaster has a “left-wing bias”.

A green paper on its future is due to be published in the past few weeks with ministers warning it could include a possible insistence that the BBC pay for the £700m-a-year subsidy for licences for the over 75s.

Currently the Treasury foots the bill after governors threatened to resign when the idea was first mooted in 2010.

Other changes include a new regulator nicknamed “Ofbeeb” to replace the BBC Trust and the threat of closure if the organisation did not deal with right-wing charges of left-wing bias.

Shape Created with Sketch. BBC's W1A in pictures Show all 16 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. BBC's W1A in pictures 1/16 W1A Ian Fletcher and Benedict Cartwright in episode 3. BBC 2/16 W1A Tracey Pritchard and Ian Fletcher in episode 3. BBC 3/16 W1A Tracey Pritchard, Alan Yentob, David Wilkes, Mary Beard in episode 3. BBC 4/16 W1A Jason Watkins as Simon Harwood in episode 3. BBC 5/16 W1A Ian Fletcher, Simon Harwood and Neil Reid in episode 3. BBC 6/16 W1A Anna Rampton, Siobhan Sharpe and Jack Patterson in episode 3. BBC 7/16 W1A Anna Rampton, Matt Taverner, Ben Rosenstern, Pilates Instructor, David Wilkes, Tracey Pritchard, Jerry Guildencrantz in episode 2. BBC 8/16 W1A Will Humphries and Izzy Gould in episode 2. BBC 9/16 W1A The cast of W1A return for a second series. BBC 10/16 W1A Coco Lomax, Siobhan Sharpe and Barney Lumsden in episode 1. BBC 11/16 W1A Coco Lomax, Barney Lumsden and Karl Marx in episode 1. BBC 12/16 W1A Jessica Hynes as Siobhan Sharpe in W1A BBC 13/16 W1A Satirical BBC series W1A return for another series...on BBC2 Jack Barnes 14/16 W1A Jason Watkins in BBC2 comedy 'W1A' Jack Barnes/BBC 15/16 W1A The cast of the BBC satire ‘W1A’, overseen by the quizzical eyes of Frankie Howerd BBC 16/16 W1A Jessica Hynes and Hugh Bonneville are reunited in 'W1A' BBC 1/16 W1A Ian Fletcher and Benedict Cartwright in episode 3. BBC 2/16 W1A Tracey Pritchard and Ian Fletcher in episode 3. BBC 3/16 W1A Tracey Pritchard, Alan Yentob, David Wilkes, Mary Beard in episode 3. BBC 4/16 W1A Jason Watkins as Simon Harwood in episode 3. BBC 5/16 W1A Ian Fletcher, Simon Harwood and Neil Reid in episode 3. BBC 6/16 W1A Anna Rampton, Siobhan Sharpe and Jack Patterson in episode 3. BBC 7/16 W1A Anna Rampton, Matt Taverner, Ben Rosenstern, Pilates Instructor, David Wilkes, Tracey Pritchard, Jerry Guildencrantz in episode 2. BBC 8/16 W1A Will Humphries and Izzy Gould in episode 2. BBC 9/16 W1A The cast of W1A return for a second series. BBC 10/16 W1A Coco Lomax, Siobhan Sharpe and Barney Lumsden in episode 1. BBC 11/16 W1A Coco Lomax, Barney Lumsden and Karl Marx in episode 1. BBC 12/16 W1A Jessica Hynes as Siobhan Sharpe in W1A BBC 13/16 W1A Satirical BBC series W1A return for another series...on BBC2 Jack Barnes 14/16 W1A Jason Watkins in BBC2 comedy 'W1A' Jack Barnes/BBC 15/16 W1A The cast of the BBC satire ‘W1A’, overseen by the quizzical eyes of Frankie Howerd BBC 16/16 W1A Jessica Hynes and Hugh Bonneville are reunited in 'W1A' BBC

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