The has suspended the pay of its top 400 employees for 18 months and suspended its bonus scheme.
It is also set to offer only a “modest” 2009 pay rise for its other 18,000 staff.
The BBC is said to be affected by falling property prices and rising utility bills even though the £3.4bn licence feee income is guaranteed to go up by 2 per cent next year.
A “senior BBC executive” told the FT: “We cannot go blithely on as if we are above all the financial difficulty that is affecting this industry and all other parts of the economy.”
According to BBC News, the pay and bonus freeze will save £20m over 18 months.
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