ITV News Channel axed (original) (raw)

ITV is closing the ITV News Channel after five years on air.

Executives and staff were being told at a meeting this morning by the ITV chief executive of nations and regions and news, Clive Jones, and the ITN chief executive, Mark Wood, that the service was being axed.

ITN News admitted that as many as 70 jobs could go.

The money saved by the demise of ITV News will be ploughed into new international bureaux. ITV News' northern operations will also be given more money and new bulletins are to be launched on digital channels ITV2 and ITV3 instead.

The future of ITV News Channel has been in doubt since its hours on Freeview were halved two months ago to make way for ITV's new children's channel, which is due to launch in February.

The service will go off air by the end of January.

Fears it was under threat were heightened after a memo outlining the "imminent closure" of the service was left on a printer at the channel's Gray's Inn Road headquarters in London.

The memo was circulated among news channel staff but they were told no decision had yet been made.

ITV was faced with the problem that it needs to find space on Freeview for its new children's channel, due to launch on February 14.

The rolling news station had been winning plaudits but had its broadcast hours halved on Freeview, the platform on which it performs best. From 6pm to 6am the channel has been replaced by ITV4.

Without the Freeview slot, the ITV News Channel would only run only on satellite and cable, damaging its audience.

Staff had been hoping for a reprieve until after Christmas after ITV delayed a decision on its future at the beginning of this month.

Only a fortnight ago it hired former Sky News presenter Scott Chisholm to host the news channel's breakfast show, which launched on Monday.

The death of ITV News Channel now leaves the market open for rivals BBC News 24 and Sky News.

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