ITV Plans To Axe 400 Jobs In Cost Cutting Move
ITV has announced a raft of job cuts that could see up to 400 roles at Central Television made redundant as part of the wide-ranging cost cutting programme at the newly merged broadcaster.
The announcement, which was made this morning to staff at the company’s Nottingham studios, comes just days after the appointment of former Bank of Scotland chief executive, Sir Peter Burt, as the company’s new non-executive chairman (see ITV Appoints Ex-Bank Of Scotland Boss As New Chairman).
The job losses are part of a push to reduce costs at the merged ITV company, which senior shareholders believe can deliver annual savings of around £100 million, a figure which is almost double the £55 million agreed by Carlton and Granada during their pre-merger negotiations (see Investors Call For Radical Cost Cutting At Merged ITV).
It is understood that arrangements will be made for programming and news operations previously operated at Nottingham to be moved to Birmingham and for the company’s Nottingham studios to be completely decommissioned, a move which has sparked some concern over the validity of local news being broadcast from outside its target area.
Commenting on the job cuts, Andrew Canter, broadcast director at Media Planning Group, said: “The whole point of having a merger is to save money. Money, unfortunately, equals jobs but the problem is if it affects the message in terms of what’s coming out and what’s being put on the screen.”
On the topic of news programming, Canter added: “Looking at it from an objective point of view, news can be transmitted from anywhere, whether its in Nottingham, Birmingham, Liverpool or Manchester. I don’t really think it makes a difference. There has to be some compromise somewhere.”
The upheaval at Central Television comes just days after Charles Allen, chief executive of ITV, was told his job was secure following rumours that new chairman Sir Peter Burt was keen to replace him in the position (see New ITV Boss Claims Allen Is Safe As Chief Executive).
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