The BBC reportedly plans to axe digital stations BBC 6 Music and Asian network, as well as shut half of its website as part of a major service overhaul to be announced next month.
According to The Times, BBC director general Mark Thompson will admit that the corporation has become too big and must give more room for commercial players to operate.
Following his strategic review of the whole BBC operation, Thompson will signal an end to 6 Music and Asian Network, while also placing a cap on sports rights spending at 8.5% of the licence fee, around £300m.
The review will further recommend the closure of youth-orientated services BBC Switch and Blast!, but digital channel BBC Three will remain in operation. Thompson’s planned changes are currently being reviewed by the BBC Trust, but will be made public in March.
BBC director of policy and strategy John Tate, a former head of the Conservative policy unit, has produced the strategic review, which aims to show that the BBC is sensitive to the needs of commercial rivals.
Under the plans, around £600m in cost savings would be re-directed towards producing high-quality programming as part of a new focus on content.
Thompson wants to inject a further £25m into the BBC Two budget and also give the channel a new remit to pursue more upmarket programming.
However, the £100m budget on foreign acquisitions of shows such as Mad Men and The Wire would be cut by 25%, although the Trust would actually prefer a 33% cut on import costs.
The BBC website will be halved and its staff numbers trimmed by a quarter as part of a 25% cut in its £112m budget. The site will also have to work harder to drive traffic to rival news providers.
BBC Worldwide will be told to focus on its overseas activity, potentially requiring the sale of its British magazines division, which includes tiles such as Top Gear and Radio Times.
The end of 6 Music, which has an annual budget of £6m, would herald greater efforts to commission more documentary and comedy programmes for BBC Radio 2.
However, the closure would be met with a mixed response from licence fee payers as the station has a small but committed fanbase.
6 Music recently grew its weekly audience to 695,000, but a report by the Trust indicated that only 20% of the UK adult population are aware that it even exists.
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