[Radio_man]

So whilst the license fee has only risen by £13.50 in 13 years, not only are the BBC's budgets impacted by the massive real terms cuts of that tiny rise, the BBC must also now fund:
Free TV licenses for over 75s, and funding of the BBC World Service, that it was not responsible for funding from the license fee in 2010. Money from the license fee has also been taken to support the digital TV switchover and broadband rollout since 2010.
So the BBC has had its funding cut whilst at the same time it has been made responsible for funding more services from a smaller funding pot. These are government decisions.

So it's easy to bash the BBC management for the closure of the UK News Channel, but it would not have happened if the BBC had not been cut to the bone for 13 years by consecutive Conservative governments.

Anyone who is upset and angry by what the BBC has become needs to seriously consider which political party they vote for next year, as the party currently in charge has made no attempt to hide the fact that if it wins the next election, the license fee will be abolished altogether.
(It's no coincidence that BBC News 24 / News Channel and the BBC in general, was at its best and most well resourced between 1997 - 2010)

Respectfully, you are missing my point. The entire process has been executed with extraordinary chaos and mismanagement. 

I am fully aware of the figures outlined by Keith and and I am also fully aware of the feelings of the current govt, however, the current people (plural) running the show are not fit for purpose! 

For the record, hell would freeze over before I ever vote for the party currently in charge!

It's no coincidence that the decision to merge World News and the News Channel was taken by a DG who is a fully paid up member of the Conservative party. 
I've read that merging the the two channels has been proposed numerous times in recent years, including most recently under the last DG Tony Hall, but he blocked the proposal.
Then a DG and a Chairman, who are both fully paid up Tories and were appointed by the most anti-BBC government in recent times come along (along with the likes of Robbie Gibb being appointed to the BBC board), and the merger goes through in less than a year. Along with eye watering funding cuts, none of this is a coincidence.