New jobs worry as ITV looks for savings

Feb 23 2009 By Graeme King, The Journal

ITV staff are braced for a new round of job losses, with as many as 500 forecast, and that may include the closure of the broadcaster’s Leeds site. The company’s ringfenced programme budget is likely to be trimmed by 5%.

The broadcaster is reportedly facing a 20% drop in advertising revenues for the first three months of this year, with March down by as much as 30%.

No decision has been taken on whether ITV will sell SDN, which former chief executive Charles Allen bought for £134m in 2005. He said the business provided ITV with the capacity to launch more digital channels.

SDN holds a licence from Ofcom to broadcast channels on Multiplex A, one of the six multiplexes on the digital terrestrial platform that is principally used by Freeview. Multiplex A broadcasts over 20 channels and existing customers include Five, Disney, Turner, EMAP and Teletext.