BBC News sees three presenters quit ahead of channel merger

Three BBC News presenters have quit the broadcaster ahead of a controversial merger between its international and domestic news channels.

According to Deadline, David Eades, Joanna Gosling and Tim Willcox have all taken voluntary redundancy after they were asked to re-apply for their jobs.

Eades has already left the corporation and presented his final show on the BBC News Channel last week. Gosling will depart the BBC later this month while it is still unclear when Willcox will leave the broadcaster.

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The new BBC news channel will be joined with its world service to create one 24-hour rolling news channel.

As part of the recruitment process the BBC wanted presenters to reapply for their jobs through an audition process.

Eades, Gosling and Willcox all declined take part in the screen tests for the new channel. There are only six presenting positions with the news channel, with 15 hosts auditioning for the roles.

Deadline called the process "humiliating" for the veteran presenters who between them have decades of experience fronting rolling news broadcasts.

It is also understood that higher profile presenters such as Huw Edwards did not have to go through the same screen testing process as their lesser known colleagues.

The new roles will also see the presenters get a salary bump with the hosts earning £230,000 a year.

The new channel is expected to launch in April and is part of the broadcaster's plan to cut costs and evolve its TV output.

A number of journalists across the corporation have left in recent years with cuts being particularly focussed on regional services.

High profile talent such as Vanessa Feltz and Dan Walker have also left the BBC for the private sector.

Yahoo reached out to the BBC for comment.

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