ITV to slash public service output in bid to cut costs
Monday, June 23rd, 2008Third Channel goes on a PSB-light diet
ITV plans to slash its public service output before the digital switchover in 2012 as it struggles to attract more viewers.
The broadcaster wants to reduce the number of programmes it airs, focussing its attention on those which attract advertisers. Children’s and regional programmes in particular will be affected by this change. The cuts are thought to be a response to fears that the economic slowdown will cause revenue generated by advertising to plummet this year.
Already ITV has put plans in place to ofset the decline in revenue that a move to digital will bring, by cutting down on children’s programmes and ordering a radical restructuring of its regional news services, reducing the number of regions which receive their own news bulletin. It is thought that these moves will save the broadcaster around £40 million a year. ITV is looking at cutting jobs, and is expected to announce a decision on this by the end of the year. It has already told staff that they will have to reapply for their jobs in the summer. However, it has stopped short of slashing public service broadcasting altogether from its output. Such a move would result in a fine from Ofcom, and more crucially, could knock ITV from its spot as the third terrestrial channel in digital listings published by Sky Virgin Media and others.
Ofcom, responsible for ensuring that public service broadcasting is maintained in the digital age, has admitted that the value it receives from ITV’s analogue spectrum will fall sharply from about £140 million this year to £45 million by the time of the switch-over. This also means the regulator will lose some of its power over how much public content it can demand from ITV.
However, help may be at hand, as the BBC is set today to announce measures to help commercial broadcasters make the switch to digital whilst increasing public service output. It will propose sharing its regional news resources with ITV in order to help them cut costs, and offer help to independent commercial stations in order to increase digital radio coverage, which currently stands at 90%. Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC believes that this may help allay Ofcom’s fears of a dumbing down of public service broadcasts as commercial broadcasters attempt to cut costs.
July 5th, 2008 at 9:19 am
He rised. ,