David Eades, Joanna Gosling, and Tim Willcox leave BBC News

A steady outflow of talent from the BBC has resulted in the resignation of three of its most seasoned broadcasters.

Tim Willcox, Joanna Gosling, and David Eades chose voluntary redundancy over applying for a position on a new channel that would have combined BBC News and BBC World News.

According to sources cited by Deadline, the process of interviewing and screening a group of 15 presenters for six slots was “humiliating” considering the candidates’ years of expertise.

Presenters are reportedly forced to handle their own autocue since the studio where the exams are being conducted has antiquated equipment.

One source with knowledge of the procedure was quoted as stating, “I believe they [Eades, Gosling, and Willcox] could not face the idea of having to go through this shameful process.”

“People are glowing,” a second said. You feel like you’re 21 again and applying for your first job at the BBC. It’s embarrassing.

Despite complaints over the hiring procedure, the successful applicants may anticipate being handsomely compensated. The new roles benefit from a better pay grade that could see them earning up to £230,000 annually.

Following the announcement that the licence fee would remain unchanged for the next two years, the BBC aims to launch the 24-hour TV channel in April in an effort to save expenses.

Our goal is to build the finest live and breaking video news service in the world across our websites, apps, iPlayer, and new TV news channel, according to BBC News’ digital director Naja Nielsen.

“News viewers are consuming it in different ways.” Tens of millions of people watch live pages as major news and events develop, and we’ve witnessed a large increase in public interest in our live coverage in recent years.

The new station will broadcast during the day from London and at night from Singapore and Washington, DC. The merger will result in the employment loss of around 70 BBC employees from all regions of the UK.

While Joanna Gosling started the BBC in 1999 and has since grown to be one of the broadcaster’s most recognizable faces, David Eades has been a presenter there since 2003.

Tim Willcox, who won praise for his reporting on the 2010 Copiapó mining disaster in Chile, has worked for the BBC for more than 20 years.

In 2019, when the BBC demanded that they be paid via personal service firms rather than be treated as workers, all three were embroiled in a court battle with HMRC on their tax status.

Over the previous two years, a sizable number of journalists have departed the BBC, including outstanding talent like Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel in 2022.

Miss Maitlis, a Newsnight presenter, is said to have received a wage increase from her salary range of up to £329,999. The agreement was dubbed a “irresistible bundle” by one source.

In November 2021, Global grabbed Andrew Marr, another of the corporation’s top news talents.

After 21 years, he left the BBC to host programs on LBC and Classic FM, a move that is said to have greatly enhanced his remuneration, which might have reached £339,999.

At the corporation’s news section, recent departures have spurred rumors of a “brain drain” and a “exodus.”